More Swell Pictures

The giant NE swell has slowly turned into large short period east trade waves/chop.  I took a "looking out the window" picture of Sand Piles (Waiehu) to show how it looks on a dark and stormy big wave day. See my previous post for a calmer sunnier view. Very different indeed.

Wiehu on a dark and stormy day

Meanwhile the low that stirred up all this fun has moved on and the trades are back, in a strong and gusty kind of way. Initially they were a bit SE leaving us Kanaha regulars in a wind shadow. However there was some wind to be had at the more easterly beaches, that is Kuau and Hookipa. Most windsurfers know about Hookipa, but Kuau is a different story. It has a similar wave to Hookipa, fast and steep, but without the pro crowds.

Not to say that great sailors aren't ripping it up at Kuau. Dale Cook, one of the better sailors from our home territory, Hood River OR (the "Gorge" - see picture on left), spends much of his winter sailing out of Kuau. I've included a video of some of Dale's jumps, but you really have to experience this up close in 3.7 gorge conditions to truely appreciate them.

Dale Cook = big air

So back to Kuau - I have to admit I've never sailed from there. It's mostly a local's spot for a few good reasons - rocky beach/rigging area, tiny sketchy launch channel, wind shadow on the inside, strong current, very limited parking, no grass, no shower, no water, no pottie. However it does have a nice wave (did I mention that already?)

Rick Zolcinski, a windsurfer from Melbourne Australia just spent several weeks on Maui. Before departing for Oz he sent me some great wave sailing shots of Kuau (correction - most of these are of sailors at Hookipa, but the wave is similar), so you can see what I mean by a nice wave. Actually the first picture is looking at Lanes as a SUP tried to catch a few rides.

Big SUP on a much bigger wave (possibly Michi Schweiger)

The rest of these pictures were taken on Nov 13 - the day the wind was too light at Kanaha to sail - showing the action down at Hookipa.

Pascal


GP (of Maui Surf Report


Art


Some French guy (according to GP)


Same French guy with big air


Looking toward West Maui from Mama's

Rick - thanks for taking and sharing these great shots! Hope you have a good summer down under and looking forward to seeing you again on the rock.

Note - Maui Surf Report (GP) has posted an epic story that covers much of the same subject (big NE swell).  Rick sent us both pics so he has been published twice - good on you!  Again great shots, they deserve the exposure for sure.  And because of GP's post I was able to better credit the sailors in the pics - or just go to GPs post for more details.  Mahalo!