Kihei Kona Winds
We've seen Kona (south to southwest) winds here for the last several days. I didn't bother going over Friday, but I've been told it was somewhere in the mid- to upper 5s range for guys, even 6 and above for the racer types.
The wind was forecast to go up a notch yesterday so I pulled a Maui-style dawn patrol and headed over to Kihei at 8 am in order to get parking before it got too crowded. Sailed 5.8 and big board initially, but then the wind kicked in another notch and I was able to go to 5.0 and my 83 liter CultWave.
Winds were pretty much due south, so sideshore - much better than the SW onshore stuff on Thursday. iWindsurf was reporting 28- 29 ish, but it was still pretty marginal 5.0 for me. Had to really work it. By midday, it was an absolute zoo. Seems like every windsurfer and kiter on the island converged on Kihei yesterday. The water was crowded, South Kihei Rd was inching along as late-arriving windsurfers searched in vane for a parking spot. People were double parking other people in. But, it was a beautiful sunny warm day, and for people who live for mellow 5.5 cruising, this was epic. Also lots of freestylers throwing all kinds of tricks 20 feet from the beach.
I thought today might be even a little bit windier than yesterday, so I headed over early again to get a spot. Got on the water at 9:30 with my 5.0 and once again found that I was wanting a bit more - sail or wind. Direction was due south again, but we had a little bit waves today - wrap around I suppose from the big WNW swell hitting the islands currently. This provided some mushy knee- to waist-high waves to play in a bit, and made for a horendous shorebreak for the less experienced.
I sailed about an hour and the wind started backing off. As the hordes begain descending on the park, I decided I didn't want to be part of the crowd today so I called it a day and headed out. Looking at the iWindsurf graphs looks like my timing was pretty good. Wind dropped at least another sail size after I left, though it did come up again for an hour or so in the afternoon.
Regarding the wind speeds reported by iWindsurf for Kihei. I think on a South to Southwest wind you have to take about 25% - 30% off of the reading to get an actual 'on the water' wind speed. The only time I really felt powered on my 5.0 the last few days was when the sensor was reporting 30 - 32 or so.
It will likely be windy at Kihei again tomorrow, though I'm betting it will be fairly light - 5.8 or bigger. And with the holiday it will probably be pretty crowded too. Hmmm, starting to feel pretty snobby about going there tomorrow.
The wind was forecast to go up a notch yesterday so I pulled a Maui-style dawn patrol and headed over to Kihei at 8 am in order to get parking before it got too crowded. Sailed 5.8 and big board initially, but then the wind kicked in another notch and I was able to go to 5.0 and my 83 liter CultWave.
Winds were pretty much due south, so sideshore - much better than the SW onshore stuff on Thursday. iWindsurf was reporting 28- 29 ish, but it was still pretty marginal 5.0 for me. Had to really work it. By midday, it was an absolute zoo. Seems like every windsurfer and kiter on the island converged on Kihei yesterday. The water was crowded, South Kihei Rd was inching along as late-arriving windsurfers searched in vane for a parking spot. People were double parking other people in. But, it was a beautiful sunny warm day, and for people who live for mellow 5.5 cruising, this was epic. Also lots of freestylers throwing all kinds of tricks 20 feet from the beach.
I thought today might be even a little bit windier than yesterday, so I headed over early again to get a spot. Got on the water at 9:30 with my 5.0 and once again found that I was wanting a bit more - sail or wind. Direction was due south again, but we had a little bit waves today - wrap around I suppose from the big WNW swell hitting the islands currently. This provided some mushy knee- to waist-high waves to play in a bit, and made for a horendous shorebreak for the less experienced.
I sailed about an hour and the wind started backing off. As the hordes begain descending on the park, I decided I didn't want to be part of the crowd today so I called it a day and headed out. Looking at the iWindsurf graphs looks like my timing was pretty good. Wind dropped at least another sail size after I left, though it did come up again for an hour or so in the afternoon.
Regarding the wind speeds reported by iWindsurf for Kihei. I think on a South to Southwest wind you have to take about 25% - 30% off of the reading to get an actual 'on the water' wind speed. The only time I really felt powered on my 5.0 the last few days was when the sensor was reporting 30 - 32 or so.
It will likely be windy at Kihei again tomorrow, though I'm betting it will be fairly light - 5.8 or bigger. And with the holiday it will probably be pretty crowded too. Hmmm, starting to feel pretty snobby about going there tomorrow.
posted by Jeff at
7:18 PM
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