Maui Wind - April 25 - April 30, 2004

It's been a rather light week for winds on Maui this week. The tradewinds have been blocked by a low pressure system to the north which has turned the winds more northerly. The result has been light onshore winds on the north shore and light but sailable north to norheast winds in Kihei.

The park at Ohukai street in Kihei has been packed with desparate windsurfers trying to get in some sailing. It's been mostly light slalom and cruising conditions with average guys needing 6.0 to 7.0 sails. I got out on a 5.8 and my RRD Avantmove 65 on Thursday. Sailed powered up for about a half hour in the afternoon, but then the wind dropped and shifted and I ended up slogging back to shore and calling it a day.

Things are due to change over the weekend however. Trades are supposed to come back online sometime tomorrow afternoon and stick around for at least a week (if you can believe the weather guys). Some large surf is also due to hit the north shore on Saturday. The low pressure system to our north has generated some large swells which should arrive tomorrow. The combination of wind and waves could make for some epic north shore conditions. Stay tuned.