Surf's Up

Our time on Maui is quickly winding down.  How fast two months can fly by!  There has been little wind the last few days - actually a light Kona wind came up today - but that hasn't kept us off the water.  Last spring during a period of no wind we decided we should give this surfing thing more of a try.  We have been staying in a lovely house in Waiehu, which happens to look down at a local surf sport known as "sand piles".  Actually not much sand there now, more like rock piles, but maybe there once was...

Looks like rock piles to me

While the trades are on this can be a blown out choppy break, but after they fade the east trade swell lives on for a few more days only without the wind - and piles can become a very fun place...

Sand Piles with fun surf

We can see piles from our porch here and last spring during one of the no wind - nice wave episodes we were in Costco and picked up a pair of their soft top "wave storm" boards.  $100 each.  Now I know what you're thinking - cheap boards from China.  True.  But we had nothing else and very little surf experience and besides (let me catch my breath) I watched an instructor give lessons to a student at piles on this very board and she caught some waves.  More interestingly, after the session was over he took the board out for a solo sesh and not only caught waves but made some turns with this board that proved that it could, well, at least turn.  Which is nice.

Plus we got to try one ourselves at sand piles and I was able to catch enough waves to feel like I was accomplishing something.  So we got a pair of these boards, which are essentially 8ft thick mini-tankers, and rode them several days there, and took them to the south shore, and Launiupoko, and lowers and weird wave (Kanaha), and when the waves were small enough (which seems hard to believe was ever possible considering the non-stop back to back giant surf we're getting now) to Hookipa.  We were having fun with these boards and I thought, what would a "real" board be like?  So we rented an 8.5 ft Elua Mikani from Second Wind and we both had a fun day riding it.  I was concerened this board would feel too small and be hard to paddle or catch any waves, but on a easy 3-5ft day at Launiupoko neither of us had any problems. So at least we knew we had the potential to move up from the "wave storm".

Now we normally wake up before dawn because I work on a west coast schedule here.  A cool sight to see on mornings when the wind is totally calm right after the trades have quit is all the SUPs catching rides before sunrise.  Yesterday was like that, with clean overhead waves and about a dozen SUPS out before the sun cleared the slope of Haleakala. 

How they all know so early that conditions are right is a mystery to me, must be an early warning sand piles SUP dawn patrol alert system, but after they go off to work or whatever they do, then the paddle surfers take over.  (OK - I realize there is a bit of a turf war between paddle and SUP surfers, but at least here the SUPs get out early enough to leave some waves for everyone else).

After watching a bit, Julia and I drove to Maui Windsurf Company to rent a pair of NSP 7'6 Funboards . We'd seen these when demoing the Goya board (these guys are the Goya test center and they're really nice so check this place out next time on Maui) and Stephan over there thought we should be able to catch rides with these sticks.  Now a 7'6 board is way smaller then anything I'd tried before, but these are epoxy and therefore light, and, as I discovered, thick and wide enough to float me decently.  We paddeled out into what turned out to be some overhead sets (bigger then we thought). Julia got tumbled by a wave pretty good and didn't stay out too long, but I was able to catch enough waves to be stoked that such a small board could work for me.

Today the waves at piles were a touch smaller, though the north swell was much bigger (piles gets some north wrap but is fairly protected) and we got in another quick sesh before returning the boards.  This time we both had no problems catching and riding, the board felt quick and responsive, stable,, and I could even duck under the bigger waves when going out.  In other words, this was a "fun board".  So when we come back in the spring we're going to be looking for some surf boards and the question is what to get?  Seems like everyone tells me based on my relative lack of experience that I need to get at least a 9 foot ot maybe even a 10 ft long board.  Uh, that won't fit in my car dude, and I don't have a rack.  These 7'6 boards seem to work so nice, I'm wondering why not try to find something like that, or maybe 7'10 or 8' at most?  Plus I'm pretty convinced we want epoxy boards (SouthPoint, or NSP maybe). So, any thoughts out there on that?

Jaws Forecast

OK, I mentioned earlier there was a big north swell today.  Yeah, just 20-26ft.  Pretty much nothing considering what's lining up behind this. Check the forecast table below and note that Saturday is showing up to 30 ft waves. That's already Jaws potential. Now check out Monday: 36-46 ft waves! This is the really huge day we've all been talking about. And it could be bigger - in fact the "better exposed outer reefs", which I suppose is another way of saying "Jaws", can add another 50% to the wave height due to the magic mojo that Jaws posseses. So maybe 60ft waves at Jaws is possible. We'll just have to wait and see.

FORECAST DATE	SWL HGT	DMNT DIR	DMNT PD	H 1/3	H 1/10	HGT TEND	PROB	WIND SPD	WIND DIR	SPD TEND
THU 12/03	10	NNW	16	20	26	UP	HIGH	17-21	SW	UP
	2	SSW	16	2	4	SAME	MED
FRI 12/04	6	NNW	14	10	12	DOWN	MED	11-16	N	DOWN
	4	NNE	13	6	8	UP	MED
	3	SSW	15	4	6	UP	MED
SAT 12/05	12	NW	14	24	30	UP	MED	7-10	E	DOWN
	3	NNE	9	4	6	DOWN	LOW
	3	SSW	14	4	6	SAME	LOW
SUN 12/06	8	NNW	14	14	18	DOWN	LOW	4-6	VRB	SAME
	2	SSW	14	2	4	DOWN	LOW
MON 12/07	16	NW	18	36	46	UP	LOW	4-6	VRB	SAME
	2	SSW	14	2	4	SAME	LOW

Kuau Re-Visited

Alrighty, now in another post I sort of talked about Kuau but didn't actually follow up with any photos or anything. Well I didn't have any at that time. Today, what with this wimpy little minor league swell that we're having, I decided to give Kuau a closer look.  Just to better understand what it might be like to sail or surf there on a not so big day. 

First off, here's a nice small wave breaking just outside the channel at Kuau. (As I'm sure you already know, you can click any of these photos to get an enlarged view).  So you would need to clear the little wave you see below to get to the outside.  Now consider that these waves will be more then twice as high in a few days...

 Occasionally another small wave lines up right after the first one, just to make it interesting...

This wave you might have to jump before you can get to the outside...

Julia is modeling for us below, showing the nice clean sand that you can rig on...

Ok, there are a few rocks around, but the view is nice!

Another look at the break just outside the Kuau launch. In the foreground is the channel itself.  See the ten feet of sandy bottom "channel" that you must come in and out of to get to the not so sandy beach?  If you miss this channel then you are totally screwed (or just swimming a very long time actually)...

Another look at the Kuau launch.  Makes you wonder why we ever bother with Kanaha.  Note the little 20ft waves lining up at Lanes down to Hookipa...

Again a look at a few waves just outside Kuau, just waiting for you.  Waiting for anybody actually.  Where is everyone?

Actually Dale Cook stopped by for a chat while I was taking these shots.  As you can see there is a touch of kona wind blowing a wee bit of spray off the 25ft grinder you see below, which will be closer to 40ft or more in a few days.  Not enough kona wind for any sailing this day, but Dale assured me that when there is enough he and his buddies are out there shredding up waves just like this.  I'd like to be there to see that.  Actually there won't be much wind for at least a week, but at least the surf is up!

These waves you see below are breaking just west of Kaua.  You're looking at the west Maui mountains in the distance.  If you should sail at Kaua on a normal trade day, and the wind should die or something breaks, and it was a nice small wave day like today, then this is what you might have to swim through to get to the only other possible exit a few miles down the coast.  Dale says there is a ten foot gap somewhere down there in the rocky ledge that covers almost all beach around here.  And you wouldn't want to miss that gap cause thats it.

At the end of the day we sat at Mama's beach watching the folks parking their cars so they can buy $20 drinks before their $100 dinners.  Meanwhile Julia and I were sipping our home made mai tais (much cheaper) and watched a couple of SUPs who launched from Kaua and then totally shreded these waves.  These guys, buddies of Dale, were amazing.  I'm still wondering how they managed to not get crushed by some of the bigger waves.  They always seemd to just make it over a big set right before it crashed down on them.  Then they turned around and rode the next wave, from Lanes all the way to Hookipa.  The shot below is a wave pealing just outside of Kaua, and is pretty typical of the waves they were catching.  They made it look fun (PS - these were the only dudes out, no surfers, windsurers, or kiters).

Something Very Random But Cool

Julia has had a board for sail on Craig's list.  She decided she only needed one board on account of the Mistral 76 twinzer we acquired over the summer working so well for her.  So we didn't need the 07 Goya 68 custom wave, though she never rode it much and it was a very nice ride for Julia on the windier days.  We're just trying to keep things simple here.  Plus we pay for storage.  So the board's been on Craig's list for a month and we're leaving in a few days and we hadn't heard nada, even though the price was very reasonable IMO.  Finally I updated the posting and added my phone #.  I assumed it was good enough to have my scrambed email address in there. Actually I'm still not sure that for whatever reason the email address ever worked.  I get emails from Craigs list but never one from a potential buyer.  I even sent myself a test message and got nothing.  How do we know Craigs list is not dropping half the emails?  No way to know.  Its free so you get what you pay for and everyone's happy even if the system sucks, right?  Opps, sorry I just went off on a rant there.  Ok, so I added the phone # and almost instantly we get a call from a guy with a foreign accent (which is cool) who says has name is Shaka, or at least sounds like that. We finally arrange to meet in Paia and it turns out that "Shaka" is really Shahar Zubari (and pronounced a lot like Shaka). Shahar is no less then the Isreali olympic windsurf champion, and he won a bronze medal in the Beijing 2008 games.  And he bought our board!  Which I think is random but very cool!

Long Swim at Lowers, Helped by a Kiter, Huge Waves are Coming!

The forecast called for north waves 12-16 ft with gusty NE trades in the 20-30 range.  So when we got to Kanaha we were very disappointed to see the wind was not at the advertised speed.  In fact it was light and onshore - NNE (30 deg) at about 15mph or so (though Kihei was trying to make up for this by blowing 30-40 - thanks a bunch!) .  Here's the day's iWindsurf graph for Kanaha to better illustrate our situation..

We patiently waited in the parking lot for the wind to come up.   Nick Warmuth actually didn't need no stinkin wind - he slogged out on his 5.3 and OES 75 lt board.  And by slogged I mean board completely under water, no chance  of planing, SLOG!  We watched in amazement as he slowly worked his way up to weird wave, caught a little ride upwind, and eventually got to upper's outer reef where he promptly started catching big rides. Well that's Nick for you. The only other person out was Sven Zedlick on a 7.0 and a 115 lt slalom-ish board.  He wasn't slogging but no one else has gear like that.

[ BTW - Sven's son Bjourne is intervied in the latest November 2009 Windsurfer International Magazine - see the Future Forms feature.  Or just check out the entire issue, great stuff as usual.]

Now where was I?  We waited to about 2:30ish when the wind came up a bit.  I rigged my biggest kit, a 5.3 Ice North Sail on a 90lt Goya custom wave.  This board is sweet on a wave but is not an early planing machine.  Now I should mention that this board is a 2007 model and I have taken the latest 2010 Goya 89 twinzer out for a spin (see pic on right), and that board is IMO improved in many ways.  It seems to plane sooner, stick on the waves a bit better, never spun out on me or did anything weird, and it was fine for doing what little tricks I can do (fwd loops, heli tacks, etc).  I wanted to be on that again, but today I was back on the 2007 and a very underpowered.  I slogged out anyway to see what the waves had.

And they were big, much bigger then I thought.  Seems that the white water on the inside was big enough to make the waves outside look not so big from the beach, but on closer inspection the channel between lowers and uppers was often closing out with a 10ft + wave, and lowers itself was throwing down something that looked 16ft or maybe even 20ft at times.

And these waves were different then the usual lowers waves.  They seemed to have more force.  Maybe it was the size, maybe it was the direction, or the combination of swells, maybe it was the full moon and rising tide, or maybe just the fact that the wind was so onshore.  Either way I noticed a few things 1) the inside breakers tended to pitch harder and slow me down more then usual 2) there was almost no wind in the impact zone (onshore wind again) 3) there was a lot of current 4) the swell was pretty big.  Let's turn to the Waimea buoy to see if this is imagined or not...

Note the sudden rise of a 12 ft 12 sec NW swell right in the middle of the day.  Another N swell was hanging around 10ft and looks like it bounced down and back up again.  Not sure if this is exactly what we experienced on the water but a 12ft swell at 12 secs is likely to produce something close to 20 ft waves, and who knows what that other swell was doing out there. 

I continued my slog out through the channel and caught a decent mid sized wave back in.  I was only really moving when on the wave.  I tried to get back out through the break and was rejected not once but twice. At this point I noticed that the life guard was buzzing around on his jet ski keeping an eye on me (and others I presume) as I barely water started and headed away from the waves.  This time I went back out through the channel (with some wave take downs to make it interesting) and then caught a nice sized wave.  Managed a decent bottom and top turn or two and then rode up the line back to the channel.  Feeling good about that, I headed back to the outside.  This time I noticed that Julia had joined me (see pic).

Barely moving this time I made it to the outside, just as a really big swell passed under us.  I could see a large wave closing out the channel up to weird wave, and watched the swell that just passed rise up and throw down what looked like a 20 footer and a wall of spray on the inside.  This was followed by three or four equally large swells. We both did slog jibes though Julia was a bit more powered up and passed me headed in.  I was hoping to catch a larger wave this time, considering the swells we just saw.  But I was really slogging and as I got closer in I was nervous that a large set would break outside and catch me in the dead zone.  I tried to catch a medium-ish wave but had no juice at all.  Julia manged to get on this and I saw her ride up the line into the channel.  I was still slogging bad, there was really no wind in here!  I looked over my shoulder and sure nuf, there was a huge wave pitching up behind me, rising about 18-20 ft or so, and looking to break about  on my  head.  I pumped hard and the wave broke just behind me. For a second or two I thought I could stay in front of the white water which was over my head but it out ran me and next thing I knew I was tumbling trying to hold on to my rig.  Which was then almost instantly ripped out of my hand.  I continued to tumble and when I came up I barely had time to catch a breath before the next wave was on me.

This continued for three or four more waves and by the end I didn't care where my rig was, I only wanted to get out of the white water and survive this.  I wasn't trying to swim as much as just relax and catch my breath.  This was my first experience with 1) really losing  my gear (I rarely let go and if I do I'm usually not too  far away), 2) being in breaking waves large enough to leave me short of breath 3) feeling a wee bit of anxiety as I considered where my gear might be.  I floated on my back and rode the inside break until the waves were no longer thrashing me.  Then I looked for my gear and it was a long, long ways away.  The wave first caught me almost at the channel and now I could see my gear was about down to kite beach.  I wasn't even sure if it was mine - just assumed based on that it was the only rig in the water I could see.  I stated swimming but I was still sucking wind from the beating I just took.  Didn't take long before I realized that I was not closing the gap at all.

There were a few windsurfers around but they really didn't look at me. Honestly there wasn't much they could do.  There were also a bunch of kiters and I waved at one dude and he dropped next do me.  I asked for a lift to my gear and he said no prob!  I grabbed his harness handle (which now seems pretty convienent to have) and held onto his directional board as he basically body dragged me down to my gear in what seemed like 30 secs.  Sweet!  About this time the life guard circled back and I gave him the thumbs up and got going.  Kiter dude - whoever you are - thanks much for the lift and hopefully you will get some good karma for that.  As for me, I'm going to smile at every kiter I see for a long time.

After that the wind seemed to have come up a bit but I was in no mood for more beatings, so I headed upwind staying on the inside working on tacks until I got back to our usual location (upper parking lot).

So an interesing day.  Hopefully not the last wave sailing day for us but we are scheduled for departure on Friday and right now the forecast looks light for wind.  However there will be waves, lots of waves.  Here's the last part of Pat Caldwell latest surf forecast ...

In the northern hemisphere, models show the Aleutian low from the surface to the jet stream forming a huge gyre centered just east of the dateline starting this weekend. A broad area of severe gale to hurricane force winds to within 1000 nm of Hawaii should equate to giant surf locally starting around Sunday night, lasting several days from 300-340 degrees. Local winds to vary day to day from around the compass.

And the rumors have already started that HI could be getting one of the biggest swells in many years from this.  In fact Pat made mention of the famous Dec 4th, 1969 storm 40 years ago that up until now is known for creating the largest swell in modern times.  This swell also helped to cement Greg Noll's fame. Watch the movie Riding Giants (2004) if you want more on that story.   What Pat said is basically the weather set up looks similar to then.

I'm curious what the models are actually showing for this period so I snuck a peek.  Check out the giant storm predicted for Sunday 6th December with a fetch from Siberia almost all the way to HI.  Wow!

Harness Left at Kanaha on 1/28

We now interrupt the usual stream of pointless drivel for a public service announcement.

[ Update - the mast has been claimed,  We still have a lady's (we think) harness looking  for its owner. ]

FOUND : at Kanaha on Saturday (11/28) a mast and a harness (not together).

If either one is yours please leave a comment here. Describe it and it is yours! Also we're going to be at Kanaha on the east side of the parking lot so you can track us down there (ask for Ben & Julia).

Jaws went off - and may again soon

So Jaws in fact did "go off" in a pretty good fashion on Wednesday.  We had driven up to Haiku and heard early reports that it "wasn't that big".  But I guess not that big is all very relative , right? Maybe not 60ft but it looks like it hit around 45ft on the bigger sets.  To me that seems plenty big enough.  We're sort of kicking ourselves for not driving down there, but we also heard that non-4WD drive cars might not make it.  Again this wasn't entirely true. The access road was in pretty good shape, though I suppose in the winter with enough rain this could be a very different situation.

Fortunately some folks did make the drive and got some great shots of the action.  The first picture is from Nayra's blog and shows Francisco Porcella skipping down the face of a huge wave which then sucked him up and through him over the falls.

Francisco Porcella wishing he had a "Jaws" board.

Tormod's blog has an interview with Francisco Porcella concerning his Jaws experience and its very entertaining. The amazing thing is that Francisco stayed out there and after the wind came up he rode Jaws again, this time windsurfing.

The sail is 15ft high so the wave is ... 45ft?

Again check out those blogs for more pictures and stories. Now I've been reading the surf forecasts a lot lately and its nothing but swell after swell, even on the south shore! Here's some snippets to give you an idea...

Outlook through Thursday Dec 3: ... surf is expected to build on Saturday morning, peaking in the moderate to marginally high bracket late Saturday. Moderate surf from 320-350 degrees should hold on Sunday... more marginally high surf locally building Sunday night and holding on Monday. Surf should lean below moderate levels by Tuesday afternoon... a new episode locally, with a slow rise due to the long travel distance starting on Wednesday morning from 315-325 degrees, reaching the high category late Wednesday...a storm-force system SE of New Zealand on Thanksgiving into Friday has generated seas over 30 feet, as validated by the jason altimeter. This could give a moderate to near high episode starting next Friday into Saturday from 185-200 degrees.

And if all that wasn't enough, check out this last paragraph in Pat's surf forecast:

In the northern hemisphere, it will be the 40th anniversary next week of the hugest surf of the last 50 years, a series of episodes with the peak day on December 4, 1969. That episode was a typhoon-fueled, extratropical source. Presently, there is a typhoon in the western Pacific, nadi, to watch for re-curvature into the central north Pacific mid next week. It is too early for specifics, though the potential for the gender bender, meaning a tropical warm core low turning to a mid latitude cold core low, ups the surf potential ante.

To be sure, look at the NPAC map below and you will see Nadi, currently a super typoon with winds of 150-180kts, in the western pacific in a location favorable for gender bender potential. We probably won't be here for this swell event if it should happen, though tickets can be changed...

Turkey Day Feast Maui Style

For our our first Thanksgiving in Maui (Turkey Day) we had dinner with some of our new friends up in Kula. This house had stunning views, artwork, food, and it was generally a festive occasion for all. Pictures below. Cheers!

• P1
• P2
• P4
• P5
• P6
• P7
• P8
• P9
• P10
• P11
• P12
• P13
• P14
• P15
• P16
• P17
• P18
• P19
• P20
• P21
• P22

The sun was slowing setting

Almost gone

Julia looking glamorous

The view from Jeff's Kula house looking west

Jeff had some very nice art - Hookipa

Waves on the beach

Textured wall sculpture

The view from the table

Table before food

The feast is served

Our awesome host - Jeff!

My plate - yummy!

Desert - pecan pie, apple pie and of course pumpkin pie

Debbie the photographer

Me and my girls

Francine showed us her famous cork blowing technique - how does it stay up there?

After dinner Jeff and girls entertained us

The piano man

Then Deb and Garth had to dance

Debra as ballerina

We danced until the dogs ran home

The Big Wave Day Finally Arrives

NWS had been predicting some giant surf on Wednesday for many days, 20-30ft with higher surf possible at "select outer reefs". We got scattered reports that Jaws was in fact breaking but mostly around 25ft (but see update below). Originally we thought about checking out the action there but we weren't sure if our little mini-van could make it down the pineapple access road (reports said it was drive-able but definately sketchy after the afternoon rain). The direction of this swell, 330 degs, might have caused some energy to be blocked by the smaller islands NW of Maui (at least for Hookipa and points west). Also the swell did not have the most optimal period. It was around 16 secs at the peak in the early morning and then dropped to around 13 secs by the evening. Which made the surf a bit chaotic and closing out at least later in the day. No surfers at Hookipa and definately no windsurfers - the lack of wind took care of that (except for very late in the day at Kanaha).

Anyway, the surf was still pretty impressive from Hookipa. We took some pictures around noon with my tiny camera (very tiny compared to some of the huge-mongo cameras out on the bluff). You can get a pretty good idea what the surf was like from these shots - click each tab below for a view.

[ Update: I got reports today that Jaws was firing at around 40+ ft at the peak of the swell. Tow-in surfers were on it in the morning. In the late afternoon the wind came up and some windsurfers gave it a go. Not sure if that worked but Kanaha was apparantly fun in the late evening as well. ]

Enjoy!

• Coast
• Current
• No One
• Lip
• Rocks
• Splash
• Big Set
• 25 ft
• DD 1
• DD 2

Looking down the coast from Hookipa as a big set closes out

Strong currents indeed!

Wonder why no one is out?

Wave with a big fat lip looking for someone to crush

Not a good place to launch from

Lots of force in these waves

Big set just east of Hookipa

Maybe 25 ft to the peak of the outside wave

Debbie Devaris took this photo.

Another Debbie photo