And then...

Busy busy busy. What can I say. We've had some really good days in the past two weeks. And not much time for blogging.

So first some of the 2011 Halloween pictures. All from Moana Cafe in Paia,  and courtesy of Rebecca .

BTW - There are some very well known windsurfers lurking in that crowd.  Folks were extra festive because everyone knew a huge swell was soon coming with Jaws breaking potential.  And that Monday had an interesting setup - starting with flat conditions, the forerunners would soon arrive bringing the waves up to potentially 10-15 ft, and then that evening and night the real big stuff was going to show up with the surf quickly building to 30-40 ft (on select outer reefs - ie "Jaws").

The only question was the exact timing of all this.  Kanaha was flat as a pancake in the morning, morphing into 20-30 ft waves by that night.  Plus the wind was very light.  So it was some trepidation that we rigged up and ventured into lowers on this day, really not sure what to expect.  And what we got was, in fact, an awesome day.  I found out later that we were getting not exactly forerunners, but the swell from the earliest beginnings of the storm when it was furthest away.  This resulted in a 23 second period.  Now in the past several years of studying waves here in Maui I have never seen anything close to 23 seconds.  Perhaps 17 seconds for some of the bigger swells last year. I'm not even sure if it's possible to get a north swell greater then 23 seconds (as distance to source and period are closely related)  So what does a 23 second period mean for a windsurfer?  First the incoming swells were very easily to spot, because between them it was so flat.  Second the conditions were extremely smooth and glassy between the waves, making the surfing part of the experience that much better.  Plus it was way easier to get out over even the biggest waves.  JP has a video from this day on his blog which nicely shows the conditions.  I could go on, but this day was definitely one of the best I have ever experienced, and it was so unexpected.  And nothing better then unexpected goodness!

I should also mention how much I love the 92 Goya quad board that I now have.  It makes these light wind days so much fun!  I've been able to go out with a 5.3 Goya eclipse on super light wind days (one day it was averaging 12 for awhile and I was still able to slog upwind to uppers and catch waves).  Once on the wave I feel like I'm riding a small wave board that can turn as quickly as I want.  The quad fins guarantee no spin-outs or slip ups no matter how sharp (or sloppy) my turns are.  This subject requires a separate post, but it was definitely a key to having fun on this particular day.

Before continuing, all this swell talk reminds me to include a link to this excellent explanation of wave and swell fundamentals.  Read it and be educated.

Also this day featured some drama at the end. A few of the Kanaha windsurfers at Uppers tried to milk the light conditions a bit too late.  Since this wasn't really a trade wind, but more of an on shore breeze (just enough for my 5.3 and 92 quad board combo), it quickly died as the sun set.  (Julia and I had come in long ago before the complete shut off).  In fact the wind actually turned a bit off shore.  And by this time the really big waves were just starting to show up - not a good time to be swimming with gear!  About four or five dudes were still out in the break.  For the young studs (Nick and Riley) this was no big deal - they quickly de-rigged  just before getting pulled into weird wave and swam it in (years of practice).  But we had a slightly older friend who was somewhere out in the waves and it was almost totally dark. His wife was more then a little nervous (as were we when we realized the situation).  Fortunately, a group of SUPs and surfers had gone into lowers as the wind died, and they ended up helping our friend (gave him a surfboard) and de-rigged and brought in all his gear.  So a big thanks (!!) to those guys and gals for bringing in yet another stranded windsurfer (most of them are also windsurfers so it's good karma all around).

Now on to the day we finally made it to Jaws.  First the pictures...

This day started out with an amazing sunrise.  I'm normally up before the sun (gotta make the doughnuts)  but I don't always catch or notice the sunrise (which never seems to get as much credit as sunsets, maybe because we're all still sleepy).  Our friend Geoff gave us a call that he was driving down to Jaws a bit later and we accepted the offer of a ride.  I had work to do so I couldn't get there any earlier then noon (and unfortunately just as all the tow-ins were finished).  We met up at Hookipa were the sets were totally closing out.  The beach was being scoured of sand, the water was reaching the parking lot, and a seal, obviously seeking a calm refuge to take a nap, swam up and hiked onto the beach (there was a tiny corner of sand that was mostly wave free).

So we got to Jaws just as the last tow-ins were leaving.  That was a bummer, but seeing these huge waves for the first time was definitely worth the effort.  Hopefully you can get a sense of the size even without tiny specs of surfers on them.  In fact I kind of like these "all natural" waves, because almost every shot you see from Jaws has surfers or windsurfers all over them.  TIP! Yes I have a tip for anyone driving down to Jaws in the future. First car pool if you can. Second, the dirt road down isn't great, but assuming it hasn't rained much, any decent car should make it. If it has rained (much) please don't bother. And when you drive out, instead of turning 180 and taking the same road out, thus causing a traffic hazard in the process, note that the road heading west from the Jaws lookout is actually a loop back to the same starting point.  If you take this road out then you don't have to squeeze by all the traffic coming in.  Also you'll get to see the really cool wrecked truck in the photo above (which was stripped, flipped over, blown up and burned, then covered in graffiti).  Nice!

After leaving Jaws, Julia and I drove to the west side and discovered that some of the giant north swell was wrapping around and we surfed some nice head high waves. All by ourselves in fact.  Pretty amazing I might add.  Two monk seals wer also napping on this beach.  I can only guess they had left their usual hangouts on the north shore which were being pummeled by giant waves, in order to find some peace and quiet. Of course all the tourists had to start taking their pictures, waking them up in the process.  The next day the waves in the north shore were still huge, and the wind was stronger but very north.  Julia and I drove back to the west side but the sweet waves from the day before were gone - probably because the swell was smaller and more north and thus wrapping less.  We continued to drive north through Lahiana (and a massive traffic jam) and eventually ended up at Kahanna. A good twenty or so windsurfers out playing in the head to loge high surf. I had a hunch this might be the case and we considered joining them.  However we got there literally just as a driving rain started up with the wind going down.  Very bad timing!  But we did get a chance to check out the "secret" launch and I have to admit it should stay secret because in fact there is only enough parking for about ten cars.  That and a shallow reef plus fluky wind combined with a long drive means it's not likely to replace Kanaha anytime soon - but it's good to know the option at least exists (I've heard it can be good once or twice a year).  I think we had great sailing the rest of the week, though honestly I can't recall so well as we just had some really great days recently and it's all starting to blend together in my head.  More on that later...

The Waves, The Wind, and the Cross Island Shuffle

As advertised and eagerly anticipated, the first winter swell showed up this week.  The wind wasn't so consistent, and wasn't always from the optimal direction, but at least we had some.  Jaws went off, and we saw it for real and for the first time, surfed some very fun waves on the west side, found "the secret windsurfing spot", and had two of the best wave sailing days in a long time at Kanaha.  And there was a lot of driving involved to see and do all this - thus our cross island shuffle.

All Hallows Evening

Before the big waves  arrived, we spent the day of All Hallows Evening, otherwise known as Halloween, at Hookipa, torn between the certainty of surfing at pavilions vs. a possibility of windsurfing.  (Ironically no one cares anymore about All Hallows, otherwise known as All Saints Day.  Historically this was a day of solemn commemoration of all the saints who sacrificed themselves for others. Because it was **so solemn** parents gave their children a bit of a break the night before by letting them bob for some apples.  Whoot!  This has now morphed into a night of drunken semi-naked revelry for adults.  Kind of like Mardi-Gras.  Not that I'm complaining or anything).

So the wind at Hookipa was very light and we had our surf boards waxed up.  And then the pesky wind picked up a notch and the first bold windsurfers started rigging. Our friend Geoff insisted that we should rig as he did, which was very tempting as we watched him launch and catch some waves.  But the wind seemed fickle, so we proceeded with the surf plan and managed to catch some decent rides.  Now I should mention some of the reasons for our reticence to windsurf Hookipa on this particular day: First the wind was never very strong and constantly threatened to die.  I'm not a fan of swimming back at Hookipa and we did in fact see several dudes end up "on the rocks". Second, Hooks has been very crowded as many pros are tuning up for the competition in Cabo Verde (Nov 14-23). Everyone is trying to bust their big moves right now, even when the surf is relatively small.  Which is very cool to watch! (see photos below).  But I feel that my (and Julia's) presence on these same waves might not be so appreciated under the circumstances.  I should also mention that I was run over at Hookipa in much less crowded conditions last year (and not my fault, some dude was just "going for it" at the wrong time and place), so that possibility is always present when it's so crowded.  And maybe the fact that we insist on wearing helmets makes it more obvious that we are non-regulars (the whole helmet issue will be an exciting future blog post).

And a bigger reason is... in the grand total of two times I've sailed Hooks, I know I'm not "going for it".  I sail very conservatively there with the goals of not getting in the pros way, not getting run over, not ending up on the rocks, and making it back to the beach generally unscathed (which so far I'm only one for two).  Which means I'm not having that much fun, nor am I learning anything.  It's not like sailing Hooks is totally out of the picture, but with the crowds as they are right now, probably not likely.  I feel that at Kanaha, even with the generally smaller waves (plenty big this week though) at least I'm throwing forwards, trying the occasion back splat, wave 360's (not really on the wave, but there was a wave somewhere), tacks in front of waves (occasionally dry), etc.  Also often catching the best of what waves there are, and sometimes sharing these same waves with friends (but only if they wave first).  At Hooks there are no friends - if you're on the wrong wave at the wrong time you will be run over, and that's that. Then it's the rocks for you! OK, maybe it's not that bad, and I hope to sail Hooks again in the future, maybe once I start landing backs (cause forwards just don't mean anything anymore).  And there's also the possibility of trying Kuau (which I was told was also super crowded on this day).

And finally I really enjoy surfing!  I was actually somewhat disappointed to see the first windsurfers launch at Hooks because I knew this meant the wind had come up and the waves wouldn't be as smooth. Surfing is still a new enough experience that catching a wave, making the drop and the cutting the first genuine turn is a thrill unto itself.  I actually look forward to the very occasional non-wind day as long as there's enough waves to wax up the boards.  And I'm convinced that learning to surf will make me a better windsurfer (note that the word "surf" is part of the sport).  It's no coincidence that most of the best wave sailors in the world are also top notch surfers - the skills are very complementary.

After our surf session, we walked up to the bluff to watch the pros.  Keep in mind that the wind was really light on the inside and never more then 20 outside.  Even so these guys (and gals) managed to put on a show.

We spent the evening of festivities in Paia, which has been gradually taking the place of Lahaina as the  Halloween semi-naked drunk location of choice in Maui.  This year Lahaina continued to refuse to close their main drag, which in the past provided a large and safe stage for the all the Halloween-ers to put on a grand show.  The logic for letting cars endanger lives is that this revelry had became too crazy and popular and was not "culturally sensitive".  OTOH recent economic studies have indicated that the town (and Maui) has taken a 30 million hit in tourist revenues with the diminishing of the occasion.  So in time the streets there will probably be closed again in an attempt to bring back the lewd and lascivious, as dollars and jobs long ago trumped cultural sensitivities as the driving force in Lahaina (why else would they need a hundred outlets selling "It doesn't lick itself" t-shirts).  Meanwhile Paia had the mis-fortune of getting a fair dose of rain on this evening, driving everyone indoors, and with Jacques now closed (and the only free large parking as well) there was little choice but to jam into Cafe Moana and dance to the cool grooves of Pio Marasco (MFC).  We got there early enough to avoid the long line to get in and danced before the crush of hot sweaty bodies became too much.  Actually it was a lot of fun (and a good chance to see more windsurfing pros shake their booty) - I didn't have my camera handy but others did so in time I hope to post some pics).

Monday

(to be continued - I will be updating this post with description and pictures of Jaws breaking, etc.  But for now it's time to go surfing!)