Pre-Halloween Sailing

The week before Halloween have been anything but a nightmare for windsurfers here on Maui. On Thursday the Trades bumped up a notch over Wednsesday's levels and yesterday saw another bump up in wind strength. I had to make it an early session yesterday in order to go play tour guide for visiting family. The wind look fairly light at 11:00am as I was about to hit the water with my 5.0. Once I got to the wind line however the wind attacked like a villain in a teen thrasher movie. As I tail-walked my board up to Uppers, sheeted out the whole way, monster gusts tried thrashed and bashed. I opted to tailwalk back downwind to Lowers where it is often lighter. Sailed a few reaches there and even caught a nice shoulder high wave, but I couldn't depower the sail enough to ride down the line. Went in and flattened the beejeebers out of the sail and went back out. Lots of people arriving asking my "How is it out there?" They all looked at me incredulously as I told them I could easily be maxed out on my 4.5 - it still looked pretty light from shore.

Went back out with my newly flattened out sail and sailed until noon, barely managing to stay under control. The gusts continued to be horrific. When I returned later in the afternoon to check on conditions, the word of the day from everyone was 'gusty.' I stopped by Ho'okipa mid-day to watch bit. A small north swell was brining head-high waves along with the high winds.

Today sounds like it may be similar and then on Halloween day, tomorrow, the winds are forecast to start turning southeasterly.

Trades Returning After Brief Rest

Winds were pretty light Monday as we saw some heavy clouds and rain associated with a low pressure system cut off our trade winds. They returned late in the afternoon. Winds at Kanaha in the late afternoon yesterday were really easterly - light inside the reef, but 5.0 outside the reef. Unstable air made it pretty gusty.

Today was a bit of an improvement. Winds kicked in earlier. I sailed 5.0 and CultWave mostly powered up most of the time. Light waves, winds a bit easterly still.

Portugal Invades Kanaha!

Early this weekend, Kanaha beach park was under invasion from portuguese-man-o-war. Dozens of the little buggers with the small plastic bag looking body and blue stringy, stinging tentacles could be found up and down the upper part of Kanaha beach park. Curiously though I didn't see any in the water. I had planned to practice body drags that day, but thought better of it.

Wind yesterday (Saturday) was pretty light. I had to break out the 5.8 and big board and even then I was only marginally powered up and planing. The wind was out of the north-northeast. There were some tiny little waves rolling in which made up for the lack of wind. Today seems to be trending even lighter. Winds are in the upper teens and it's a grey day. Could probably sail the 5.8 and big board again, but I'm invoking the windsnob clause and taking the day off from sailing. Next few days are supposed to be pretty light southeast wind and then trades are supposed to return on Thursday. On the wave front, nothing is really forecast for the next few days at least.

Oops, Getting Behind Again

Looks like I'm getting behind in my reports again. Tuesday was mostly a light day throughout the day - upper teens. I got a call from the beach late in the afternoon that it was a nice 4.7 day and the pager corraborated that. But on checking the airport sensor a little bit later it read lower so I opted to stay home and work. The wind did drop but it sounds like it would have been 5.0 to 5.8.

Yesterday I sailed 5.0 on my big board in the later afternoon. Pretty mellow conditions. Nothing epic. No waves. Just a good post-work day session.

I quit work at mid-day today to get head down since it was looking good. Rigged 5.0 and CultWave but then the wind dropped. Took out the big board instead, marginally powered most of the time. The wind kicked into to serious 4.5 conditions for about a half hour at the end of my session then started dropping in earnest.

Lots of activity among the pro windsurfers at Kanaha lately. Nick Baker has been there all week. Looks to be testing some North sails and/or Mistral boards. Team Gaastra has also been out in force with Phil McGain, Barry Spanier and Matt Pritchard. Matt is still rehabing his wrist injury but is hoping to be sailing again in a couple of weeks. Also seen, Nori Hubbs out sailing with her new husband, Collette Guadaningo teaching for Hawaiian Sailboarding Techniques and Jace Panebianco throwing himself and his gear around with some cool freestyle tricks.

Kanaha Kicks In

Though winds were light yesterday, they kicked in strong today. Got to Kanaha in the early afternoon to 4.0 - 4.5 conditions. Rigged 4.5 and my Cultwave. Very powered up.

Earlier, I had parked next to Gaastra's The Team, Phil McGain and watched as he meticulously rigged a large cambered race sail, taking measurements and making notes. After tacking on my second reach I followed Phil out (or tried to as he approached warp speed). As he was heading near the weird wave, I glanced upwind and saw a brilliant explosion of white in my peripheral vision. Oooooh! Massive wipeoout. I sailed up to the clearing explosion to see Phil in the water with a broken mast. I asked him if he wanted a tow. He was so nonchalant about it and said no, but I could go tell the lifeguard to bring the jetski out and tow him in. So I did that.

After scoring my karma points for the day I sailed a bit longer but decided the smaller board would be in order, and perhaps a smaller sail as well.

I came in and got my JP77 and opted to just flatten out the 4.5. I saw Barry Spanier, head sail designer for Gaastra show up and start scanning the water. I assumed he was looking for Phil and told him that yonder jetski would be towing Phil in shortly.

I headed out and proceeded upwind to Uppers where waist to shoulder high waves were rolling in. The wind was cranking. The 4.5 was more than a handfull. What a rush to be sailing so powered up through the break, launcing off of the ramps, tail-walking in to catch a wave.... the adrenalin was pumping. Looking at the iWindsurf graphs, it shows average windspeeds around 30. I believe it. It was cranking. As I was sailing back and forth, overpowered on my little 4.5, I saw Phil McGain zoom past me on at least a 6.0 blasting past me. That guy sails so fast he induces a time-warp as he sails past you!

Later, back on shore rehydrating, I watched Phil and Barry as they measured sails and took detailed notes on luff curves, luff panel dimensions, etc. It's amazing the amount of detail these guys put into designing and testing their sails. I don't sail Gaastra sails and in fact I've never even tried one, but I have the utmost respect for the time, dedication, passion and devotion that these guys put into their work. I think Phil broke two or three masts today while doing R&D. The fact that he kept getting back on the horse and testing his product says a ton to me about the blood, sweat and tears these guys put into this sport. After today, I'll definitely give Gaastra a good look when I'm in the market for new sails.

Amazing Day at Kanaha

Guest Author Windsurfing Wonder Wahine reports on yesterday's wind:

“You guys, it is so AMAZING out there!” I exclaimed to Makani, Jazz, and Jonathan as I ran up the sidewalk at Kanaha to change boards. The guys grinned at my enthusiasm.

From the first reach, I had been in a state of flow. A north swell was rolling onshore, kicking up perfect take-off ramps for jumping, and cresting, thigh-to-waist-high waves for carving and surfing. The mild, balmy side-onshore wind powered my 5.0 sail perfectly, supporting me and my board as I flew off the peak of a wave and floated down gently to a planing landing. I felt enveloped in soft tranquility, like the best powder skiing day I could imagine. For fifteen minutes, I had a vast, shape-shifting terrain park all to myself, and sometimes I heard myself laughing out loud in pure delight, or whooping with joy as I soared and carved.

Riding out, I jumped, and swerved my way through the shifting terrain. Coming in, I swooped in the swells that arose where the reef got shallower, sheeting the sail in and out in perfect synchrony with the carving I coaxed from the board by flexing my knees and ankles, pressuring first the ball and then the heel of my rear foot.

We’d gotten there late in the afternoon, staying home to give Alex, the plumber, access to our apartment to begin repairs of the leaky shower upstairs. The iWindsurf readings had been mostly in the mid-to-upper teens, and there appeared to be squalls passing through off shore, so we weren’t in a hurry. But the forecast for the next few days was for light wind, and we hoped to get another sailing day first. It was overcast and cool when we arrived, and people were slogging in, downwind and discouraged, saying it had been fifteen minutes on, fifteen minutes off, all day. We’d noticed the north swell, evidenced by foamy waves breaking offshore, and several people had mentioned the waves were pretty good. I decided it looked like I could have some fun on a 5.0 with my big board (93 liter Mistral Flow) so I rigged, while Makani ate and socialized.
I went out, a little hesitant because of the clouds, while Makani pointed out the sunny spots on the water and suggested I practice my “hovering” skills by staying in them. I was pleasantly surprised when I quickly planed up and took off, passing safely through the triangle, just upwind of the weird wave.

I sailed essentially alone for fifteen minutes, then a handful of other people were drawn to my patch of water, just outside of the beginner’s cove and first Sprecks houses. After another fifteen minutes, the wind came up substantially, and I was very powered up and less comfortable. The waves were jacking up higher and more frequently, closer together, and I made it through and over a few when I lost power going up one steep head-high wave and wound up in the foamy whitewater zone as a couple waves passed through. After one or two more reaches, I went in for the smaller board (77 liter JP Freestyle Wave) and gave the 5.0 more downhaul.

The equipment change took only ten minutes, and I went out for another twenty or twenty-five blissful, intoxicating, vivid minutes, with the setting sun making rainbows upwind and on shore, and gilding the edges of the gray clouds in the west. It was one of my most serene, joyful, memorable sailing days ever.

Windsurfing Wonder Wahine

Play Hard or Go Home

I pretty much sailed myself to exhaustion this weekend. On Saturday I got on the water early at 11:00 with 5.8 and big board and sailed about an hour blasting around the blue, uncrowded waters on a beautiful warm sunny day.

The wind picked up – time for 5.0 and CultWave. Nice long session, not much waves to play in so I practiced my swan jibes and started trying some one-handed jumps – prep work for doing some rail grabs some day.

After lunch it was time for another 5.0 session. Wind lightened up some so it was more work. Since the wind was lighter it was more work to stay upwind – time to practice tacks and heli-tacks. My portside tacks are pretty good but my heli-tacks suck. Spent a lot of time in the water.

The wind kept getting lighter so I put the 5.0 on the big board for my 4th session of the day. More tack practice, more splashes, more waterstarts. I’d forgotten how much energy you can waste waterstarting. I have a newfound appreciation for the freestyle guys for all the splats and subsequent waterstarts they have to go through to learn a given trick.

Yesterday (Sunday) turned out to be pretty light. Got there early again which was the right call. Sailed barely powered on 5.0 and CultWave in the late morning. Then it just kept getting lighter and lighter as more weekend warriors showed up.

Back on the Water Again

After several days of really light wind, the trades started returning yesterday. Winds were pretty light and sketchy most of the day. I sailed 5.8 and big board, moderately powered up in the gusts, but slogging in the holes. Winds were ENE and pretty shifty.

There were still remnants of waves from the high surf advisory earlier in the week. Lowers was PACKED with probably 100 or so sailors on the water at any given time, vying for the waist high waves. Every now and then a bigger head-high set would roll in.

Meanwhile, Uppers was comparatively deserted. When I counted the 100 sailors at Lowers on my lunch break there were maybe half a dozen at Uppers. The waves at Uppers were breaking too and at times I could see some mast high sets pretty far upwind. With my lumbering freeride board though, I didn't even attempt to play in the waves.

So is the wind back? I don't know. Forecast is pretty crappy for today, but the actual readings are already beating the forecast. So, I think it will blow.

Maui Has So Much To Do Besides Windsurf

If you've got plans to visit Maui anytime in the next week or so, you'll have a great chance to try some of the many things that Maui has to offer besides windsurfing. Winds have been light the past couple of days and will continue to be for at least several more days.

If you surf and have enough experience to ride sizeable waves, you'll be in luck. A high surf advisory was just posted for the north shore. Starting tomorrow we should start seeing high surf with faces in the 12' to 15' range.

If you don't surf, well, you can always, go snorkeling, go out to Molokini, hike up to Haleakala, hike the Iao valley, go to Hana ....

Sunday Afternoon on the Water

Today was, in my opinion, the way an October Sunday should be. None of that raking leaves crap. None of that sittin' on your ass, stuffin' potato chips in your mouth watching football crap. Nope, just several hours powered up on a 4.5 and JP 77, blasting around Kanaha. It was sunny. It was warm. It was windy. It was fun.

And to top it off, how many sports are there where you can be sailing along side by side with a couple of great professional athtletes! I went out for my third session of the day and Josh Stone and Nick Warmuth were out hucking contorted moves all over. Let's see. If you're into professional football, basketball or baseball can you go play on the same court or field as today's hot pros (I can't even think of any current hot pros in football, basketball or baseball. ... shows you how little I really care about that)? I think not. And to top it off. These guys are hella-nice guys. In fact all the pros I've run into here are very cool, very down to earth.

Anyway, the show inspired me to work on something new, so I decided to work on my pathetic excuse for duck jibes. I can make them with some regularity on the inside now. They're just ugly. After one particularly ugly duck jibe I said to myself, "Wow, that had to be the ugliest duck jibe ever." Then it occured to me. It's not an ugly duck jibe. It's a Swan Jibe!!!! (For those of you who don't get it, go brush up on your Hans Christian Anderson stories). Indeed! I'm the swan jibe master!!!!

Saturday

Fun day of sailing on Saturday. I got on the water right around 11:00 on my 5.0. Well-powered. Sailed up to Uppers and played in the waist high waves for awhile. Winds kicked in to the point where I was wishing I could magically have a 4.5. Got back and looked at the pager. It was saying the average was 19! B.S.!!!! A fine example of "you can't necessarily trust the pager."

Took a long lunch break and decided to head back out with the 5.0 again since the wind seemed to have dropped a quarter notch since I had come in. This time I went down to Lowers since there was a little wave breaking there occasionally. That was fun but it was even more crowded than Uppers so I went back to Uppers and played to exhaustion. Wind once again ramped up at the end of my session.

After I was done I watched Jace Panebianco and Nick Warmuth throwing some hella cool freestyle tricks 10 feet from the beach. Very cool.

Friday Offshore Winds

Trade winds finally picked up a notch to normal strength on Friday. The direction however was kind of weird. Sailing at Kanaha the wind was pretty offshore, making for a tricky launch and slog out to the wind line. I slogged my CultWave and 5.0 out and once at the wind line was pretty powered most of the time.

There were some small waves at Uppers, maybe waist to head high. The wind was pretty up and down. That combined with the direction made it pretty weird at times, but it was good get out nonetheless.

Today and tomorrow look sailable then it looks like winds will turn light for awhile. The weather geeks are even hinting at Kona winds later next week.

Light Wind Still

We're still plagued by pretty light wind here in paradise. Wind was sailable yesterday in Kihei if you had formula gear. Tons of people were at Maui Sunset, but most were either slogging or on the grassy lawn there.

Today has been light also, but shows promise of the wind returning tomorrow maybe. The winds at Kahaha may have been sailable today on 6 - 7 meter stuff. Starting to go through withdrawals and needing a wind-fix.

No Wind

No wind to speak of. A shear line was stalled over Maui most of the day, cutting of the trade winds. Maybe Wednesday or Thursday. Oh., and the waves were only about waist high I was told.

Non-sailing Sunday

Light winds prevailed on Sunday. Kanaha was in the low-teens. Kihei might have been a little better, but still not sailable for wind snobs like myself.

Mellow Cruising Wind

Fairly light wind today - 5.8 and big board only marginally powered. The wind was pretty steady, probably in the mid-teens. It was a beautiful sunny day. No waves to speak of. Normally I wouldn't have bothered but the wind is supposed to drop off for several days, so I figured I better get it while I could. Very mellow, sesh.

A fairly big north swell is forecast to arrive tomorrow, but winds should be light. Time to dust off the surfboards. It might be a problem finding some manageable surf for my 10'2" longboard though.

Theyyyyyyyyyyyyyy're Baaaaaaaaaaaaack

The waves that is! The waves are back on the north shore. Yesterday (Thursday) initially didn't look that good, but the wind kicked in later in the afternoon. Got to Kanaha to see waves at Lowers, the return of the Wierd Wave, and bigger waves at Uppers. Went out on 5.0 and CultWave. Wind was pretty puffy and holey. Waves at Uppers were head-high to mast-high and bigger. Riding out side the break at Uppers, I saw a couple of waves where the backside was mast high. I don't quite have big enough balls yet to venture into them when they're that big. Wind slacked off as the session went on, but it was definitely a much more intersting session with a genuine north swell event. No laid-back, auto-pilot sailing that's for sure.

Today pretty much sucked. Lots of clouds, up and down wind. I dashed down to Kanaha when the pager showed 21, but I arrived to see barely white-capping conditions, lots of slogging and walks-of-shame going on and dark rain clouds off-shore and upwind. Didn't even bother to rig.