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
“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
posted by Jeff at
8:19 PM
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