Halloween Hookipa VideoWednesday, October 31, 2007 at 9:30 am HSTHappy Halloween! It's not exactly scary, but here's a short video of the action at Hookipa yesterday. Not a lot of big name pros out there, but there were a couple, including France's slalom specialist Antoine Albeau showing that he can rip it up in the waves and even throw himself into some wave 360s, and Keith Taboul playing the part of wave-slasher. Winds this morning are looking kind of light, but I suspect they'll increase enough for a sailable day. The bouy's aren't reporting much of a swell, so it looks like it should just be a mellow sailing day, nothing radical. The forecasters are calling for winds to lighten even more and possibly go away over the weekend, probably returning early next week. |
Maui Wind ReportTuesday, October 30, 2007 at 6:20 pm HSTSorry folks. No video today, just a report on the last few days of sailing and some new photos from Hookipa today. There was no shortage of wind for the weekend warriors here on Maui over the weekend. Saturday brought very strong winds, averaging in the 30s and most people sailing on their smallest gear. Sunday was a pretty frustrating day of sailing with wild fluctuations in wind strength and direction. Not many people I talked to had anything positive to say about the sailing on Sunday. I sailed 5.0 but it didn't really matter what you rigged - it would be the right sail for a few seconds and then the wrong sail for a lot longer. Winds got more consistent yesterday but were still very strong. I foolishly rigged 4.7 and headed down to Lowers, but one reach and I knew I needed to head back in and rig down to 4.2. Toughed it out for a couple of waves, but I was getting brutalized on the 4.7. With the 4.2 I went straight up to Uppers. Still plenty of power most of the time. Waves were kind of weird since there was a kind of cross between a north swell and an east swell. There were some big sets at Uppers but not lined up as good as we had last week. Today things were a lot lighter. Tweaked my back a bit yesterday when a monster gust hit me midair on my 4.7, so I thought unless it was epic, I'd sit the day out, maybe go to Hookipa and shoot some video and photos. The wind stayed in the upper teens most of the day today, so I opted for a Hookipa photo/video session. Hookipa wasn't really firing like last week. Lots of people out, some occasional logo-high sets, interspersed with lots of smaller stuff. Didn't get many good photos - here's the best of what I did get.
I also got a few minutes of video. Not as good as the footage from last week, but I'll do a quick edit and get it posted tomorrow probably. |
Robby Naish Hookipa VideoSunday, October 28, 2007 at 5:10 pm HSTHere's some video of Robby Naish at Hookipa last Tuesday: |
Girls Rock Hookipa VideoFriday, October 26, 2007 at 4:20 pm HSTIt's certainly true that most of the windsurfing women don't get their fair share in the windsurfing media. While at Hookipa shooting the other day, there were some very good women out sailing so I thought I'd try to do my part to shine the spotlight on the ladies. So, here's a little video dedicated to the ladies, featuring Japan's Junko Nagoshi (Simmer), Holland's Anne Marie Riechman (Naish - H98), and Maui's own Tiffany Ward (Naish) and Paulina Pease (Maui Sails), plus one woman on the black Simmer that I don't recognize. Another windy day today on Maui, but conditions weren't that great. Some of the adjectives expressed from other sailors include: brutal, tricky, technical, easterly beasterly, washing machine and mangy (referring to the waves). I sailed 4.7 for about a half an hour. Needed a 4.0 in the gusts and 5.3 in the holes and it was extremely shifty. Not a lot of fun. Kind of surprised since there weren't any squalls to mess things up. Just the way it goes sometimes. We had a couple of epic days earlier in the week, so we have to have some marginal days to offset that. More wind in store for several more days and a large swell due in on Monday. I might have some Robby Naish video to post later on the weekend and I'll hopefully get some new video of the big wave action on Monday. |
More Hookipa PhotosThursday, October 25, 2007 at 6:15 pm HSTFirst off today, more photos from Hookipa on Tuesday.
Stopped by Kanaha early today after running errands. It had all the looks of a gusty day so I prioritized work over sailing today. From the looks of the graph, it was pretty up and down throughout the day. Less moisture upstream from us tomorrow so I think it should be good as far as wind goes. In between major north swells at the moment - next big swell arriving Monday. Working tonight on a girls-only Hookipa video of the ladies at Hookipa on Tuesday. Should have that posted some time tomorrow. |
Hookipa VideoWednesday, October 24, 2007 at 8:40 pm HST
Ok wind junkies, here it is, fresh out of the video oven (don't you just love the smell of fresh-baked video?), the first video of the wavesailing action at Hookipa yesterday, featuring the likes of Robby Naish, Levi Siver, Jason Polakow, Kevin Pritchard, Robby Swift and many more. Check it out: As for the sailing today, a lot like yesterday, except the waves were a bit smaller. We caught the lunchtime Lowers session from 11:00 to about 12:15. Great fun on mostly head-high waves, some waist-high, some logo-high. Nice clean rides. Crowds weren't bad until about 11:45, then sailors and kiters started arriving in droves. Wind was around 20 - 5.3 and 95L for me (wanted to try the big board again, could've been on my 85L). Wind came up at the end of the session to 4.7 - 5.0 range. Before heading in, I went up to Uppers to check it out. Not many people up there at that time, but while I was there the waves weren't nearly as nice as they were yesterday or as good as Lowers. All in all, another great day of Maui wavesailing. As for videos, looking through the footage I've got, it looks like I've got lots of Robby Naish so I'll probably do a video of just Robby. Also got a lot of video of some of the rockin' ladies - Anna Marie Riechman, Junko Nagoshi, Tiffany Ward ... so, I'll be editing a ladies-only video too. Stay tuned for that plus more photos from yesterday as well. |
Hookipa Photo & Video TeaserTuesday, October 23, 2007 at 9:00 pm HSTWow! What a day! Wind and big waves both returned to Maui today after a couple of days of light wind. Forecasters were saying trades were going to return today. I was dubious but hopefull given the forecast for a moderate swell to hit the north shore today. By 10:00 winds at Kanaha were in the mid-teens. I was anxious to try out a big wave board I'm demoing so I quickly rallied to get down to the beach. On the water at 11:15 with my 5.7 and 95 liter Tabou prototype, I made a beeline to Lowers which only had a half dozen guys out and I snagged a juicy clean swell that quickly formed into a head-high beauty. Lots of turns and cutbacks on that sweet thing. Gotta love it when you can score a great wave within 30 seconds of hitting the water. That would set the pace for me for the next 45 minutes or so. Lowers was sweet head- to occasionally logo-high, with long clean rides. Awesome! Stoked! By noon though the crowds were starting to exceed my comfort level as guys were literally stumbling all over themselves to try to snag waves before someone else. Time to head in and refuel, then head up to Uppers. The wind had come up so I opted to go in, get some food and rig down to 5.3/85L. Headed out to Uppers. Not many folks out there yet and there were some absolutely beautiful logo- to mast-high waves at Uppers. Best rides were further upwind toward Camp One. A couple of logo-high rides will be etched in my memory for quite awhile - clean, smooth, nobody on them and 5 or 6 bottom turns per wave. Hard to beat that. By 2:00 I was drained and I was itching to get up to Hookipa and check it out. Arrived to Hookipa to find it firing and packed with windsurfers on the water ripping it up. Lots of big names out scoring; Robby Naish, Kevin Pritchard, Levi Siver, Jason Polakow.... Got some decent video footage and photos. Here's a real quick, short teaser video of what you can expect to see here over the next several days.
I've got enough footage to make several videos, so all you folks hungry for windsurfing video action can expect to see several new videos up here in the next several days. Also got some photos too. Haven't even had time to check most of them out yet, but here's a few to whet your appetite.
Swell should be on the decline tomorrow, but there should still be some waves and the wind will probably build. It actually got pretty windy today, averaging in the upper 20s at Kanaha - probably 4.5 there while I was filming at Hookikpa. |
TransitioningSunday, October 21, 2007 at 12:15 pm HSTWe seem to be in the midst of a marked transition into winter sailing here on Maui over the last few days with the arrival of some solid north shore surf and the imminent arrival of our first shear line of the season in the next day or so. After Thursday's first big swell at Kanaha, Friday brought continued waves, though a bit smaller than Thursday. I actually had more fun on Friday than Thursday. I got on the water Friday around 12:30 (5.0/85L) and after seeing that there weren't that many people at Lowers, I decided to try it first. The waves at Lowers were only about shoulder-high but there were some pretty clean, long rides - a lot cleaner and longer than up at Uppers on Thursday. And it wasn't too crowded either. I heard that Friday was super crowded at Hookipa, that a lot of Hookipa refugees that had sailed Lowers on Friday, went back up to Hookipa on Friday. That made a huge difference in the crowds at Lowers. Scored a ton of waves and had a great time, but kept looking upwind to Uppers, longing for something a little bigger. Uppers didn't look very crowded either so I finally decided to go check it out. Scored again. Hardly anyone up there, logo-high sets still rolling in, pretty clean ... Scored some pretty sweet logo-high waves without worrying about anyone snakeing my wave, except a big turtle on one who surfaced right in front of me as I was about to bottom turn! Not sure which of us had right of way, but I yielded and went around him. He showed his appreciation by throwing a shaka at me with his flipper. After a bit at Uppers the wind took a big drop so I headed in to refuel. Lots of people were showing up to the beach and wondering what to rig. The wind came back after a little bit and I headed back out for a second session around 2:00, but by this time the waves were starting to get pretty crowded. As I mentioned, I heard that Hookipa was firing on Thursday and Friday with lots of windsurfers scoring. Sounds like maybe the tensions between the surfers and windsurfers that we've seen there over the last couple of weeks, might be dropping off a bit. A lot of folks were starting to worry about the future of windsurfing at Hookipa, but after Thursday and Friday, it sounds like things are cautiously getting back to normal. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about and want some details, Giampaolo has a lot info about it on his blog. Yesterday was kind of a transition day, with another good sized north swell arriving, but with the winds transitioning from trade winds to light and variable winds. We didn't make it down to the beach yesterday, but from what I've heard it was logo- to mast-high at Lowers and 5.7ish wind for a few hours from noon to 3:00ish. After that it sounds like the wind plummeted. Today we've been becalmed. Trade winds have disappeared, probably for at least 2 or 3 days. Great surfing weather though since there's still some north shore waves and new swells arriving every few days this week. Looks like trade winds will start trying to make a comeback maybe on Wednesday. Exact timing depends on when the shear line clears out and allows high pressure to take hold again, allowing trade winds to return. An upper level low is being mentioned in the forecast discussions too though, which, in my experience, tends to complicate the weather pattern, making the atmosphere more unstable and raising the probability of gusty conditions. Comments: Your right about the transition. Here in Bend, Or the transition was to snow 1" in town and close to a foot at the MT. So we sure appreciate the surf reports. Nothing quite like lowers on a good with a small crowd. Wish I could have been there to make the crowd just a bit larger... T |
Best Kanaha North Swell This SeasonThursday, October 18, 2007 at 9:30 pm HSTToday we saw the best and biggest north shore swell at Kanaha so far this season. I started the day kind of skeptical that the wind would cooperate - things looked pretty light in the morning. But by late morning, just before the iWindsurf network went kaput, it looked like the wind had come up to sailable levels. My plan was to head to Hookipa to get a little bit of photo and video action, then meet up with my wife at Sugar Cove where she was scheduled to do a lesson. I arrived at Hookipa to find logo-high sets and enough wind to sail, but the surfers had control of the break so the two windsurfers that were out, were down at Lanes. I got a little bit of video of Maui Sails' Phil McGain and what looks like maybe a prototype Neil Pryde sail down at Lanes. Here's a quick chainsaw-edited video clip of the Lanes action around 1:00pm today.
The other non-Phil McGain guy didn't stick around Lanes too long, before heading up wind and catching a nice wave at Middles before coming into the beach.
It didn't look like the surfers were going to relinquish their hold on Hookipa and I was jonesin' to sail so I packed up and headed down to Sugar Cove. Down at Sugar Cove, the wind was super light inside with a pretty gnarly shore break so after debating it a bit, we called off the lesson and headed down to Kanaha. At Kanaha I initially rigged a 5.3 since it looked kinda light, but one reach out to Uppers proved that I could get by on a 5.0 and smaller board. Plus, my boom was feeling kinda mushy - not a good thing when you're in logo- to mast-high surf. Came in to rerig and sure enough, one arm of my carbon boom feels like it's kind of articulated. Hmmm. Not good. Rigged up a 5.0/85L combo and headed back out. Much better combo, but I probably could have been on 4.7. It would have been nicer to have the smaller sail on the wave face, but having the 5.0 was nice to get back upwind. The waves at Uppers were the biggest and longest waves I've seen so far this season. Finally, a true north swell! I thought the wind was a bit up and down and the sets weren't as clean as they can be sometimes, but this was the best we've seen since April or May, so I won't complain. Got a few good rides on logo-high waves (maybe mast-high, but I don't want to exaggerate), with several turns on each. Nice to get 4 or 5 bottom turns on a wave instead of the one-hit wonders we've been getting. Quite a few people out at Uppers, but not nearly as bad as Lowers. I heard from Charles O. after my sesssion that Lowers was pretty sweet. I thought about going down there, but it looked like a damn regatta down there with so many sailors out. Probably a lot of Hookipa refugees hitting up Lowers today. Just got off the phone with Jazz who hit up Hookipa around 3:00 today. Sounds like the surfers cleared out around 2:00, leaving some nice logo- to mast-high clean sets for the hungry windsurfers. Jazz sounded pretty stoked about his session, so it sounds like it must have been pretty good there. The north swell is supposedly on the decline, but another reinforcing swell is due to arrive Saturday, followed by an even bigger swell on Monday. Too bad the wind is scheduled to go away for a few days starting this weekend. Optimistically I think we might get another day of sailable wave sailing tomorrow, but then I think it might be surfing weather for a few days, possibly into the middle of next week. Comments: The other sailor was micah buzianis. maybe we could see some more of this clip? That was about all the video I shot that day except for a little bit of the kiters who were down there too.
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Small Surf, Crappy WindTuesday, October 16, 2007 at 7:10 pm HSTThe headline about sums it up today. Our plan today was to hit Sugar Cove in the afternoon. Got there around 2:30 to find really offshore wind, super light inside, hard to tell how windy outside. There were a couple people sailing Sprecks as you can see in the photo below.
Decided to bail on Sugar Cove and check out Kanaha. Kanaha looked a little windier. Gray skies dominated, the surf line didn't look like anything special and people were telling us to rig big - like 5.8 to 6.5. Hmmm. Didn't really look like it was worth it there either. Good news at Kanaha is that some of the new sidewalk has been poured. Progress! I hear Hookipa was logo-high but pretty light winds and the break was dominated by surfers. There's a lot of tension between surfers and windsurfers at Hookipa right now, so the wise windsurfers passed and let the surfers have the break. Looking into my murky, weather and surf predicting crystal ball, winds should stay in the sailable range through Friday-ish and a bigger north swell should bring moderate waves some time on Thursday into Saturday. Looks like starting around Saturday the winds have a good chance of going pretty light for several days. |
Maui Weekend Windsurfing ReportSunday, October 14, 2007 at 9:10 pm HSTMixed bag of sailing this weekend. Yesterday was really light on the north shore, so light I didn't bother. I hear Kihei was sailable though. Based on yesterday's meager winds and paltry forecast for today I wasn't expecting to sail today. But, first check in the morning showed readings at Kanaha in the upper teens and by noon it was blowing in the low 20s! WTF! They were predicting "light" or "gentle" trades today and that an upper level low would squash the pressure gradient.... Score another one for the contrarian approach to windsurfing forecasts - whatever the weather "experts" say, plan on the opposite. Anyway, Kanaha was today's venue for us. I sailed 5.3 which was mostly about right, sometimes too big. There was still a small section of sloppy, small surf at Uppers with a kajillion sailors vying for their chance at the one-hit wonders there. Too crowded for my taste so I cruised further upwind to Camp One and played in the backside surf and outside rollers up there. Thought about sailing up to Sprecks but, from Camp One it looked pretty crowded up there too. I hear Hookipa had some nice chest to head-high surf but was also really crowded. Forecast for the upcoming weak is for the high pressure ridge to move further south, closer to the islands, thereby reducing the pressure gradient and the trade winds. So, following the contrarian approach, it oughta be nice 5.0 sailing. We'll see. In the wave forecast, according to the official Hawaiian surf forecast, a small north swell is expected to arrive late Monday and last into the middle of next week. If you're like me, you've been wondering where are the big north shore waves this year. We've had a couple of small swells that have generated some logo- to mast-high conditions at Hookipa a couple of days, but Kanaha really hasn't seen a really good north shore swell yet in my opinion. Based on Pat Caldwell's surf discussion from Friday it looks like I'm not too off base in my assessment though. According to Pat, "Based on north shore surf observations since 1968, the average first day of the season for high surf is 9/28 with a 12 day standard deviation. It appears this year will be close to two standard deviations behind schedule ... In the north Pacific, models show a more southerly track to the zonal jet mid next week, leading to a small to moderate NNW to N swell around 10/20. Late next week, models show a jet track setting up from Japan to the central Aleutians, that could lead to moderate to high NW surf locally around 10/24." |
Maui Windsurfing NewsSaturday, October 13, 2007 at 8:45 am HSTGot a few news items to cover this morning, but first the sailing report from yesterday. Yesterday was a lot like Thursday with light onshore winds on the north shore, but just a tad windier - enough to get me moving on 5.7/95L. Got in a short session at Uppers from about 2:30 to 3:30. Nothing epic wave-wise. I heard that the waves at Hookipa Thursday were over head high, but the wind was so light it was a surfing day. On to our first news item of the morning. If you're looking for something to do this evening, tune in to Windsurfing Talk Story. Windsurfing Talk Story can be heard every Saturday evening live at 6PM on 89.5FM-LP RadioPio, Paia, Maui, HI, and over the web live at www.pyccmaui.org. Tonight's guests include pro windsurfer and owner of the Goya brand of boards and sails, Francisco Goya, Quatro shaper and pro windsurfer Keith Taboul and Pio Marasco of Maui Fin Company. Should be an interesting program. For those who can't make it, I'll be working with the folks at Windsurfing Talk Story to archive the shows and make them available for download over the Internet. I'll let you know when and where that will be available. In continuing news about Kanaha Beach Park, I got a note from Dr. Suzan a few days ago about her planned radio program last Tuesday with the deputy director of the Department of Parks and Recreation. He wasn't able to make it to the show today but did send her some comments, which I've received permission to include below. "We have plans to improve Kanaha Beach Park through a joint effort with our Department and Community WorkDay Program. Our biggest priority at the moment is to provide a healthy and safe environment for everyone. Installing new barbecue pits, picknic tables, side walks from the parking lot to the beach, for the general public and for ADA requirements. We have added new sign- ages around the entire park to better educate the public regarding park closures, camping boundries, etc. Trimming and removal of broken large tree branches near the beach park areas have been steady due to strong winds and drought conditions. We've added outdoor showers and faucets for the camping area. A mobile trailer will be stationed near the campsite and the canoe hale for future Parks/Rec. personnel to monitor and to be available for questions and to education the public as needed. We are planning to add additional parking near the existing campsite and the first park entrance to the park. Parking is a big problem during peak hours for beachgoers, Kite sailors, and windsurfers. We are confronted with a big problem regarding the homeless population utilizing the camping area as a means of a shelter (home). The camping ordinance does not help either. It allows anyone to camp at any of our campsites on Maui (Kanaha and Papalaua), without any limitations. However, every Tuesday and Wednesdays the camp grounds are closed for maintenance. We sure could have the public lobby to our law makers and suggest that we limit the amount of camping allowed per year for each person. Like for example; a camper could only camp no more then 21 days per year. We are also planning on increasing the camp fees for local residents and non residents. We also should lobby the Council to include 'NO OVER NIGHT PARKING' at Kanaha Beach Park along the road side in certain designated areas. Especially where the homeless people are heavily using right now. We have plans to make a large sign that will identify the entire park and its use. This sign will be installed next to the trailer. This trailer as I said earlier will be used for the Parks/Rec Staff to provide information on the Park and it's benefits. We are working closely with Jan Dapitan of CWD and volunteers such as Mike Perry. They have done an unbelievable job restoring the undeveloped area of the park, protecting the native plants and animals, and maintaining the wetlands as well. The Department has been very cooperative with working hand in hand with the volunteers. Our Parks and Recreation staff and Kalima o Maui has been doing a great job in maintaining the park. Our two Park Security Rangers have been monitoring and securing the park 7 days a week. It's an on going situation. Non stop. We have no immediate plans to do any major park improvements or development. I am sure when that time comes, we will ask for community imput. We need to implement more rules and regulations for campers. We encourage the public to give there input and ideas. We don't have all of the solutions right now. But I see a great deal of improvement and it will only get better. The biggest improvement since the Mayor took office is removing all of the homeless (70 plus people) from the sewer plant to Ka'a point. That in it self was a huge accomplishemt. Thanks to all that was involved in the work. The main issue here is with the campers (homeless) and there vehicles that are parked in front of the campsite. Maybe we should close the camp site temperarily (60 days) to do a major clean up and face lift. If we have adequate manpower like, more security patrol officers, maybe a Park Caretaker living on the premises on a permanent basis, maybe then, things will improve. No matter what some citizens may write in th Maui News about Kanaha Beach Park, we are all in it together. When you have a park like Kanaha, yet it's so close to the business area, and yet it seems so far. A park that is so..remote, can be isolated, and it is very accessible for visitors, our local people, fishermens, the homeless, the drug and alcohol users, kite sailors, windsurfers, canoe paddlers, and beachgoers, and other types of people. Thousands of people go through this park. This park is a save haven for some people. You can hide at Kanaha Park and get away with it. You have over 63 plus acres, and only 33 acres that is developed. We install gates with locks and sometimes people cut the locks. I would think that maybe the state and county should team up and adopt this park for on the job training and for educational purposes. Just an idea. We sure can't please everyone, but we may please a few. The main thing is that we continue to strive and move forward and improve the park as best as we can, we will eventually succeed." |
South Shore Wind, North Shore WavesThursday, October 11, 2007 at 7:20 pm HSTLooks like I jinxed the wind again. Seems like whenever I say we'll get sailable winds, they drop off. Whenever I say they'll drop off, they don't. Winds on the north shore were light and onshore all day. I stopped by Kanaha around 3:00 thinking it might be sailable, but the light winds were almost dead onshore and everyone was telling me 7.0 was the call. There was a bump up in the waves. Looked like small glassy surf at Uppers. Just didn't think my 5.7 would be enough to get me out to them though. For those wanting wind, looks like Kihei was probably the place to be, as it often is when the winds turn very northerly. |
Moderate Trades ContinueThursday, October 11, 2007 at 11:00 am HSTWe continue to enjoy moderate trade winds this week on Maui. Despite forecasts that the winds would lighten up, it has been blowing around 20 on average each afternoon. Yesterday I sailed Kanaha from about 2:00 to 3:30 on 5.0. Had to work it, 5.3 would have been just the extra bit of horsepower I needed to be really powered up. Not really much in the wave department, just a small section of small, sloppy one hit waves at Uppers and Camp One - mostly good for jumping not riding. A new small swell is supposed to be arriving today and lasting a few days, but the bouy readings are looking pretty small, so I'm not expecting much. Kanaha park continues to be kind of a mess, with lots of sidewalk and grass torn up as they install new sidewalks and showers. Got word that the 1st Annual Unsponsored Classic will be held at Secrets this weekend, probably starting around 10:30 or 11:00. Everyone under 18 is invited to compete. For more info, go to Bernd's website and click on the Contest link at the top. |
Maui Surf ReportTuesday, October 9, 2007 at 9:30 pm HSTFirst on the agenda this evening, today's windsurfing report. Sailed Sugar Cove briefly this afternoon. Sailed 5.0/85L and cruised up to Secrets. Had the place to myself for awhile but it just wasn't setting up. Cruised back down wind to check out Sprecks. Not really happening there either. Yesterday's light winds must have diminished the wind swell. Wind dropped and got a bit flukey after a bit, so it was a short session for me. On to the surf forecast. Just checked out Pat Caldwell's surf forecast and thought I'd share some comments from his forecast. First the short term: "Surf along north facing shores will rise to heights of 4 to 6 feet Wednesday. Outlook through Monday Oct 15. The south swell will peak Wednesday night and Thursday then gradually diminish by the end of the week. A small to moderate sized north swell is anticipated through the remainder of the week." Now for the long term: Into the long range, surface cyclones steered by the zonal jet stream along the Aleutians are spaced about 2-3 days apart from Kamchatka to the longitude of Hawaii in the models out about a week, keeping below average surf locally next week. The strongest storms of the north Pacific are expected to favor the same area west of the northwest America next week, not affecting Hawaii with surf. This is a pattern typical of a La Nina winter, which is forecast for the upcoming season. Roughly 75% of such winters since 1968 have had below average counts of high and extra-large days of surf for the November through February period. For extreme or giant surf, La Nina winters have 50-50 odds of one or two days of such heights during this period." If you're interested in waves at all here in Hawaii, whether it be to sail, surf or tow-in, Pat Caldwell is THE forecasting source. Check out his full forecast here. |
Kanaha Beach UpdateTuesday, October 9, 2007 at 8:30 am HSTI got a comment a few days ago from a local woman who runs a radio program called “Real Talk with Dr. Susan” on KAOI 1110AM from 2-3 pm on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Her planned guest this afternoon, though still to be confirmed, is the deputy director of the Department of Parks and Recreation. He is supposed to do a follow-up on the many questions regarding issues at Kanaha, some of which I touched on in this blog a few days ago. If you're on island and interested, tune into KAOI 1110AM at 2:00pm today. For more information on her show, see the information below*. Sailing didn't happen for me yesterday. Turned out I got slammed with work, but the wind commiserated with me, going light and gusty, so it wasn't even a temptation. Winds are supposed to be light this week so it's time to break out the big gear. *On “Real Talk” Dr. Frieder discusses issues of the mind and heart. Dr. Frieder and her guests discuss relationships, communication skills, alcohol and drug addiction, recovery, domestic violence, depression, anxiety and other related topics. Dr. Frieder also takes phone calls from listeners and answers questions. Dr. Susan Frieder has 25 years experience as a licensed clinical psychologist and marriage and family counselor. CommentsT wrote: I would sure like to hear what the Parks people say. I was just over for a few weeks and am concerned that Kanaha is getting abandoned. What happened to the life gaurd tower. I see it is down by the canoe shed now but no guards ?. Seems like there used to be allot of local kids using the swimming area but not this year with the tower moved. I think the Parks dept needs to take out the overnight camping due to the misuse of that facility. I thought the new construction work was probabily dissabled acces but don't know for sure. Still its a great park and we had a great time sailing, just hope it can stay that way.... T |
Sugar Cove & Sprecks Weekend VideoSunday, October 7, 2007 at 6:00 pm HST
Spent the weekend sailing Sugar Cove with a mixed bag of sailing yesterday and today. Yesterday we had more of the same gusty conditions that we've seen all week along with gray skies most of the time and occasional rain squalls. Sailed 4.7 and headed upwind to check out Spartans and Secrets to see if there was anything breaking. Secrets wasn't really happening. The outer reef at Spartans had some big mast high rollers though. They weren't breaking but they were a lot of fun to ride and there was no one else on them. Pretty fun. Sprecks was sporting small waist high sloppy surf, but lots of people were out getting the most out of that. After I was done sailing Spartans I came in and shot some video of the action down at Sprecks. By contrast, today was the sunniest day we've seen in about a week and the wind, although not epicly consistent, was the best wind all week as well. 5.0 was the call today and once again I headed up to check out Secrets and found a birthday party in session there. As it turns out it's young Bernd Roediger's (of Team Naish) birthday today and just about every windsurfing kid on the island was up partying on the fun little waves at Secrets, along with parents and other members of Team Naish. Not wanting to crash the party I tried a few waves then headed down to Sprecks to check that out. Not really lining up right down there, and it looked like some of the birtday clan was heading in for cake and ice cream so I headed back upwind again and had some good fun on the little wave up there. Turned out to be the funnest day of sailing in about a week in my opinion. Looking into the coming week, winds look like the may start lightening up some, but hopefully still be sailable. And it looks like there's a small to moderate north swell due sometime in the Thursday - Friday time frame. Breaking News ...This just in, got an email from Bernd's dad about a wave contest for kids this coming weekend, the 1st Annual Unsponsored Classic. Everone under 18 is welcome. No entry fee but every competitor must bring a prize to contribute to the prize bag. Locations; either Hookipa or Secrets. For more info, go to Bernd's website and click on the Contest link at the top. |
Kanaha Park ImprovementsSaturday, October 6, 2007 at 9:45 am HSTI thought it might be interesting for some of you who are familiar with Kanaha to see what's going on there the past few days. Here's some photos of the work that's being done. Thanks to K. for taking the photos.
Wind yesterday was much like it's been all week - very wacked. I sailed 4.7 which was about right sometimes, too much at times, not enough at times. |
Erratic IIFriday, October 5, 2007 at 8:50 am HSTAnother day yesterday of gusty, erratic winds. Like Tuesday, I had planned to catch the late afternoon session only to get a beach report phoned in that condions were crappy and all over the place. Not interested in sailing nasty conditions so I canceled my sailing plans for the day. Even though we've had wind all this week, I'd have to say that the quality level has been pretty low. I'm not a meteorologist, but my theory for this is that there's an upper level low to our northwest that is destabilizing things, plus a lot of high clouds streaming in from the south and west, plus a lot of moisture coming in with the trades plus a high inversion layer all making for a jumbled mess of turbulent air. And it looks like these conditions are going to stick around through the weekend. Overall trades look like they'll continue through midweek next week, but all these other variables look to me like conditions will be sub-optimal. After Wednesday, the forecasters are hinting that a shear line will force the high pressure to our north down on top of us, which usually either shuts things down completely or turns the wind to light northerlies on the north shore and making Kihei the best bet for sailing. Okay, enough amateur meteorology for one day. In other news that affects anyone traveling here with windsurfing gear, I was talking with one of the local pros yesterday who recently just returned from Sylt. He commented that all airlines are now requiring that all windsurfing gear goes on standby. That will obviously have disastrous consequences for all the pros traveling with their gear trying to make an event, but also for all you traveling windsurfers, traveling with your own boards or sails. If you're planning to take your own gear on an upcoming windsurfing vacation, I'd suggest checking with the airlines on this new rule. Or, consider renting gear instead. The shops here on Maui have the lastest and greatest gear around. Why not try some out. After all, it is gear testing season with the Windsurfing Magazine gear testing crew on island for their annual test. If you're at Kanaha, you'll probably see them hanging around Lowers. |
ErraticThursday, October 4, 2007 at 7:45 am HSTPretty erratic wind yesterday. Got to the beach around 11:30 to find solid white caps and squally-looking conditions upwind. It was a tough call. It was easily 4.5 at the moment, but the presence of squalls upwind usually makes for windier than normal conditions. Then when the squall clears the wind dies or drops. Went with the 4.5 anyway, and got one meager, underpowered reach in - the squall was clearing and the wind was dropping. Came in and considered rigging up to 5.3, but within 10 minutes the wind picked up again - another squall was looming on the northeastern horizon. So, might as well get out and sail powered 4.5 for a few minutes until the squall hits. That lasted about 15 minutes then it backed down again. Came in again and waited a few minutes then it was back... yep, head out again. Even when the wind was up it was pretty gusty and shifty. The water was churning and bumpy. The waves, pretty much the same as they've been the last several days - nothing to get too excited about except for some nice ramps. The question at Kanaha the last few days is what the hell is the Parks Department doing now? Digging up sidewalks, fencing off sections of the grass.... It's already bad enough at Kanaha that we've had an influx of homeless people to the park (thanks to the stupid Super Ferry - half a dozen homeless cars got free rides from Oahu to come camp out full time at Kanaha), now we lose valuable rigging area and have to put up with jack hammers and backhoes all day long. If anyone know what the hell they're doing to the park now, I'd love to hear it. |
Disappointing SwellTuesday, October 2, 2007 at 6:30 pm HSTThe wave forecast for yesterday and today was for a small northwest swell to arrive. Good thing I didn't have high expectations. My first stop yesterday was to check out Hookipa. I arrived around 12:30 to find very light winds, lots of surfers and two sailors out slogging around trying to catch tiny waist high waves. Not worth sticking around for. On to Kanaha, where the wind was at least stronger. Sailed 5.0 for about an hour. Nothing epic. Pretty sloppy small waves there too. Best waves were the wind swell up at Camp One - more backside riding. I shouldn't complain, but I've had something like 4 or 5 months now of backside riding at Camp One. Kinda in the mood for down the line wave riding. I didn't make it down to the beach today. I was planning to head down around 3:00, but I got a call that it was super gusty, 4.0 to 4.2 for guys and no improvement in the wave department. So, opted out of that in favor of getting work done. On the bright side, the overall forecast over the next week or so is for trade winds to continue. Another small northwest swell is forecast for Thursday, but from what I've read it will be even smaller than the non-event we had yesterday. Finally, in the Huhhhh???? Department, I got this comment from a reader: Did anyone happen to see what those bumper stickers read that were affixed to the vacant storefront across the street from The Fish Market last week ? There were two of them. Thanx! I have no idea what they're talking about. But, if anyone out there can help answer the bumper sticker caper, drop be a line so I can report back. ;-) |
