I'm starting to run out of creative titles for these posts. I added a little narrative below the pics.
I just got a comment from my friend Gary that suggests this is Moroccan superstar Boujmaa Guilloul. I checked his blog and this info looks correct. Thanks!
I couldn't help but notice that Kauli's board has a quad fin set up that looks very similar to all of Keith Teboul's recent quad shapes. I've got one of those and I'm loving it in all the Maui conditions I've experienced so far. So you don't have to be a pro to appreciate the quad advantage.
The white sail is a Goya prototype. The Goya / Quattro designers and riders, Keith, Jason Diffin, Francisco, Pascal, Levi, Jake Miller, put in a ton of R & D time on the north shore and the performance of their gear really shows it. Every year it seems like they add some dramatic improvement.
Kauli often rides the wave inside on a reverse tack and then tacks around as the wave dies. It's pretty cool to watch.
Elena was also out there, sailing just as hard as the boys. I might have mentioned this before but Elena also designs swim wear. Very sexy swim wear.
I guess all that studying hasn't effected his wave skills.
Hmmm - I think those quad fins are working pretty well. Our friend Kai from Norway is on the next wave.
Check out Glenn's windsurfing videos at Viemo. Very cool!
And once again Whit gets the picture of the day for me. Off the lip into a ... ponch?
When Every Thing Goes South...
So there was still this big south swell, and it was Sunday morning and the entire island knew about it and everyone and their dog was headed to the south beaches. Julia and I had a lazy breakfast and went to Hookipa instead. There was some decent north waves still to be had, and pretty much no wind and no one was there, so we took out the surf boards and paddled out to "girlie bowl". The tide was low and the waves were a bit choppy and then every so often a fairly big overhead set would come in. We caught some decent rides but the wind starting coming up a bit making the chop worse. Finally we both got taken out by some large waves and decided to paddle in. Besides the windsurfers were rigging up now.
So we had a picnic on the bluff while I took these shots. The wind was about 10-25 with the inside definitely more on the 10 side. I've considered sailing at Hookipa (or Kuaua) but every time I've come close the wind always seems too light and I wait another day. This was one of those days. The waves were definitely big enough to get some decent action, as you see above.
After the photo shoot we drove around west maui to see the south swell. And yes, it was incredibly crowded at most spots. But now it was late enough that the majority of surfers were well into miller time (or primo). We drove all the way to rails again, where the wave looked super clean. And the amazing thing is we had the break to ourselves once we paddled out. The waves were much bigger on the water then they appeared from the guard rail (the cleaner the wave the more deceptive I decided). Plus there would be nothing for almost ten minutes, and then a set would come in that would last almost ten minutes. Depending on when you looked, it was either totally flat or going off.
At one point during the flat stage we had paddled out deep, and there was absolutely no one else around to judge the lineup. So we sat on our boards just the two of us hanging out... eventually a couple of swells came in and broke maybe twenty yards in front of us, so we decided we needed to be further in. And then of course the biggest waves of the entire time we were there rolled in. Julia was further out and was able to paddle through the wave just before it broke. I was not so lucky. The wave looked about 10-12 ft and was throwing a perfect lip almost exactly on top of me. Now what to do? a) jump off the board and swim under wave b) try the turtle c) paddle hard at the wave and try to duck dive an 8'6 long board just before getting crushed. d) go hard the other way and hang onto board hoping you can get some kind of ride out of it. Well I tried door d and managed to hang onto the board but still got tumbled. Now I have to wonder how dudes on 10 ft boards manage to get out in really big surf. Anyway, besides that we managed some fun rides in uncrowded surf. What more could you ask for?
How about this. Another extra large swell is heading for the North Shore.
... surf should rapidly climb and deliver heights well above the high mark. The episode should build in the wee hours Tuesday from 320-340 degrees. It should peak Tuesday afternoon at low-end extra-large levels...
Sheeze! How many times has that happened just since we've been here? Extra large means 24-32ft possible on the biggest sets at the best exposed breaks. No wind right now so this could be another photo shoot day with maybe a south shore surf session later.
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2 comments:
SUPERNICE!
GREETINGS FROM SNOWY SWEDEN!
Mr. Unknown = Moroccan Superstar Boujamma Guilloul?
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