February Winds Keep Rockin'

Wooo Hooo! Another great afternoon of sailing here in paradise. Winds were supposed to slack off a bit, but as usual, the Maui winds have a mind of their own. When I headed out at 1:30, it looked like 5.0 would be perfect. It was for a few reaches but then the wind kicked in a bit more. Sailed really wound up on the 5.0 up at Uppers - shoulder to head-high mostly, but some fairly big mast-high sets started rolling in while I was playing around up there. Whew! Mast-high and maxed-out 5.0 - lots of adrenalin goin' with that combo. Later in the late afternoon the wind seemed to crank up even more. Went out again around 4:30 and could only manage about 20 minutes with the increased puffiness and increased fatigue.

In celebrity sitings news today, a real shocker. I had seen a couple of guys blasting around on big race gear at Uppers while I was up there. Not too uncommon. You see Jaques of Jaques restaurant in Paia up there quite a bit blasting around on his little flat spoon board. But shortly after I came in one of the guys came in with the big Naish race sail and Naish Hybrid board. None other than big-wave slayer Laird Hamilton. I'd heard rumors that he was getting back into windsurfing. This confirms it. Yes you heard it here first folks. Maui Windblog scoops Windsurfing Magazine, WindSport and all the others.

ps Thanks for all the cool comments folks. Good to see that people are following this little blog.

First Annual Maui Windsurfg Blog Meeting

Forgot to mention in my last blog that half of Maui Windsurfing Blog's faithful viewers are here visiting, Michael and his wife. Welcome guys!

Michael asked in a comment to the previous post whereI get my swell forecast info. Mostly from the National Weather Service forecast discussion. That's usually good enough for me. When I want more detail than I really know what to do with then the ultimate source is the Pat Caldwell surf forecast.

Ok. Got to get to work so I can go play later today.

Crank it Up!

Yesterday the north shore saw gusty , squally conditions. We've been under attack by a couple of shear lines the last few days which bring windward showers, and those showers bring gusty squalls. So, nothing epic, but decent 5.0 sailing yesterday.

Today, despite a forecast of winds to drop, the winds cranked it up a notch or two. Solid, wound-up 4.5 conditions by noon-ish time with winds in the upper 20s. The waves at Uppers were anywhere from shoulder- to head-high at the lower end to almost mast-high further upwind. There was also a fun, watery terrain park going off outside the reef in the rolling wind swell.

As the afternoon wore on the wind cranked up above 30, enough to get me out on 4.0, well-powered up. Good fun until a footstrap malfunction brought me in. By late afternoon, rain squalls were starting to intrude on the fun. Nonetheless., excellent fun and smiles all around today.

Winds are forecast to drop a bit tomorrow and even more after that. Several advisory level swells are forecast to hit the northshore this week and a rare wintertime south swell is forecast as well.

Off and On Winds

Off and on winds the last couple of days. Thursday got lured down by readings of upper teens and 20. Ended up slogging around on 5.8 at Lowers. Wind was too north. General rule of thumb is that when the wind is north, onshore, you need a bit more to get going.

Yesterday was a squally day most of the day. Sat around Kanaha a bit sitting out the rain squalls. Finally gave up in around 3, and it looks like I should have waited. According to iWindsurf the wind came up nicely in the low to mid-20s. Not sure if it was raining or not. Will have to get reports from friends today.

Today's shaping up to be windy. Already blowing low 20s, but we still have some rain showers going on. That usually makes things a bit gustier and of course cooler.

Trades Call It a Wrap

Saturday pretty much saw the end of our week-long stretch of good wind here. Winds started out light in the morning, but by early afternoon were averaging in the upper teens - enough to get me going on my 5.8 . Sailed Lowers in surf that was anywhere from knee-high small-kine stuff to some occasional head-high sets. Wind kicked in to about 20 for about an hour, making for some good powered-up sailing and wave-riding. Got some good rides and a couple of unintentional 2/3 backloops. I've found out over the past few days that smacking the water 2/3 of the way through a backloop isn't really that bad. Each time I've ended up going straight up off of a vertically pitching wave and been spun around and gone into the water nose first and hooked in. You'd think that would really suck, but it hasn't really been bad. I've been told if I just stayed tucked through it and rotate another 90 degrees I'd pretty much have a full backloop rotation. Pretty cool. I'm almost feeling confident to intentionally try them.

Anyway, light winds have returned to Maui, probably through at least this week so it's time to catch up on work and chores.

Trades Continue Blowing

6 days in a row of solid trade winds in February. Gotta love that. Combine it with a decent little swell and you get a lot of fun and a lot of windsurfers complaining about aches and pains all over their body from sailing.

The rundown: yesterday - 4.5, not quite as powered as Wednesday, some shoulder to head high waves at Lowers. Today, it looked a little lighter. Went out on 5.0 very flattened out. Pretty juiced up in the gusts, might have been 4.5, but I was glad I had the 5.0. Some squalls in the late afternoon notched the wind up a bit. By then my arms were toast anyway though. Smaller waves today. Swell is on the decline.

Matt Pritchard wave clinic at Kanaha tomorrow in conjunction with Hawaiian Sailboarding Techniques. I've heard from a reliable source that they've got enough people signed up that Matt has enlisted his brother Kevin to help out. Unfortunately I have work to do in the morning so I can't make it, but I may try to get down there later and get some pics of it.

Lots of tourists arriving over the last few days. The airport is a crowded zoo and lots of tourist-mobiles pulling up at Kanaha loaded with the latest gear.

Oh Yeah! This Is More Like It!

The trade winds have kicked in nicely here on Maui the last couple of days. Yesterday was an absolutely spectacular day of very powered 5.0 sailing for me. I had my 5.0 flattened to the max - could have easily sailed 4.5. A moderate swell hit yesterday too, bringing shoulder- to waist-high waves to Lowers and bigger waves to Uppers. I warmed up playing in the waves at Lowers - scoring a very memorable air after hitting a head high ramp at full speed. STOKE! God, I just love getting massive air like that. Just wish I could get someone to capture it on film. Anyway, after Lowers got crowded, headed upwind to Uppers and made it up in one reach. Pretty powered up! Got some nice adrenaline-charged rides up there before calling it a day. Best day of sailing we've had here in a couple of months.

Today the wind cranked up another notch. I went out on 4.5 to Uppers and was a bit OP'd. Since it's often not quite as windy at Lowers and it looked uncrowded there, I kamikazi'd down to Lowers in one reach. Some nice head-high waves at Lowers, with only marginal crowdage until about 1:00 when everyone seemed to clue in that it was windy AND there were waves. Ok, time to go in and eat. Sailing back out to beat upwind back to the launch, my harness broke. Well that just sucks! Sailing well powered 4.5 without a harness. Ok, screw trying to get upwind any further. Turn around and head back to shore. I think, "Well, at least I'm not a mile offshore." But, sailing back and trying not to lose ground, was getting to be too much effort. The wind had clocked around to side-off. I was trying to get in to the Uppers launch but was having to slog upwind a bit to do it. My arms were starting to feel like jello so I said screw it and bore off, got on a plane and sailed balls-to-the-wall full speed without being hooked in. Oh, yeah, my arms were feeling the burn. Called it a day after that. My arms were toast. But, the wind cranked up even more in the afternoon. Stopping back at the beach later in the afternoon on the way to a meeting, it looked 4.0 for me. Looks like maybe the same tomorrow then dropping off a little on Friday and Saturday.

Whale Sailing

After a messy and sloppy day on Saturday, north winds returned to Maui yesterday. The north shore was still pretty cloudy so Kihei was the place to be. Sunny and 5.0 blasting around Maalaea Bay with humpback whales jumping out of the water in an awesome display power and grace.

Kihei was pretty gusty with a big range between gusts and lulls so I really didn't want to go there again today. Kanaha is just such a nicer place to sail in my opinion. So, today I went to Kanaha even though it was windier in Kihei. Winds at Kanaha were still pretty northerly and we still had some residual cloudiness hanging around keeping temperatures on the cool side (for Maui). Sailed pretty marginal 5.8 until the wind finally kicked in a bit more in the later afternoon. Several humpbacks were spotted off of Kanaha today too. One sailor I talked to found herself sailing amidst 3 of them as they rolled up to the surface of the water. Pretty cool but kind of scary too. Where exactly are you supposed to sail and jibe when you've got three 45 ton marine mammals cavorting around you?

Stormy Weather

A cold front swept through the islands today bringing wet, light winds to both north shore and Kihei. Skies were cloudy all day with off and on showers. Wind got into the upper teens and occasional low 20s at Kanaha but was pretty onshore - meaning it was pretty light sailing.

I invoked my wind snob clause, choosing not to sail in rain and cloudy conditions. Been there. Done that.

In local windsurfing industry news, The Team members and former Gaastra members Barry Spanier, Phil McGain and Kevin Pritchard have gone to (or resurrected?) Maui Sails. I think they will make quite a stir at least here on Maui. I know lots of people who are/were former Gaastra fans, but now that The Team is no longer with Gaastra, they are pledging to follow them to Maui Sails. I expect when Maui Sails starts getting their sails out later this spring we'll start seeing them at the beach quite a bit. For more info about Maui Sails see their website www.mauisails.com.

Perfect Mellow Cruising Wind

Despite forecasts for trades yesterday, the wind had other plans. It started out looking really good, with winds around 20 by noon. However, when we got to the beach around 1:00 the wind was dropping and continued to drop. Within an hour or two it had gone to virtually zero and then shifted to light south winds. Bummer.

Today was another absolutely beautiful day here in paradise, clear blue skies, warm temperatures and winds slowly building. By 2:00 it was sailable 5.8 for me. It was absolutely perfectly powered cruising weather today. Not much in the wave department so it was just a matter of cruising around in the beautiful Maui waters. The wind was incredibly steady and consistent. No obnoxious gusts and lulls to fight with, just steady warm wind.

The excitement of the day was provided by none other than windsurfing legend Robby Naish and young ripper Kai Lenny. Awhile back, Kai, age 10 or 11 and already part of the Naish team, had been spotted sailing off of Kanaha on Robby's shoulders. Well, Robby apparently wanted to get that on film, so windsurfing photographer Darrell Wong came out in helicopter to shoot little 70 lb. Kai clambering up on top of Robby's shoulders, holding on to the mast and sailing along. And, we're not talking slogging speed here. Robby was fully powered on his 6.6 once the wind kicked in.

I watched from shore for a bit with Kai's dad, Martin as he videotaped this. Amazing to watch the control that Robby had in dealing with a 70 lb kid crawling all over him and his rig. Later, I worked my way upwind to where they were sailing and shooting. Sailed by them and behind them a bit. Kai would climb on Robby's shoulders and sail along holding the mast, while they sailed along fully planing. He'd also stand on the lee side of the board at times and I watched several times as he stood on the leeward side booms. There were a few splashes where Kai would fall off backward. Robby would pull off an incredibly tight tack, sail up to Kai who would climb back onto the nose of the board, then crawl up again. Fun stuff. Very cool to see the all-time legend of windsurfing having fun tandem sailing with a new up and comer. Watch for photos of this in upcoming windsurfing magazines and Naish ads (if I hadn't left my camera at home I'd have gotten the scoop on all of them!).

Anyway. Very cool day of sailing. Nothing epic. Just mellow stuff. But everyone on the beach was exclaiming afterward how fun of day it was - pros and amateurs alike.

Trade Winds - 2 Days in a Row!!!

It says a lot about the wind the last few months that we're all ecstatic to get two days in a row of tradewinds - and at least another day or two more coming. Yesterday, I made a classic mistake - I rigged for what I wanted it to be rather than what it was. I rigged 5.0, launched from the upper launch and Kanaha and promptly caught the slog train down to Lowers. Came in, and went straight to the van to rig 5.8. Better, but still only marginally powered most of the time.

Today was much better. Full on 5.0 most of the time. Wind was side-off which was the only real downer of the day. Waves were small-kine, mostly non-existent at Lowers (but an occasionaly shoulder-high set would roll in) and mostly waist-high or so at Uppers.

It feels fantastic to be sailing again. Looking forward to another couple of days, then another cold front sounds like it will kill winds for a few days then maybe more trades if we're lucky.

For anyone coming to Maui soon, beware that there have been a lot of car break-ins at Kanaha lately. The crack-heads are out looking to finance their next score. Most reports are that they are finding the keys that people so cleverly hide in their wheel well or bumper (they watch where you "hide" it), but there have been a couple of reports of smashed windows. Leave the valuables at home and I think it's good idea to leave the credit cards in the condo and just bring your driver's license and some cash.

Giddy with Anticipation

We've been under the influence of a cold front for the past week - lots of clouds and rain. But there's a certain air of anticipation wafting around the Maui windsurfing world today. Though many are afraid to see their hopes dashed yet again, it looks like we MIGHT actually get some trade winds tomorrow and Tuesday. Dare I hope? Yes. I'm desparate. I can feel it. It's going to be windy enough to sail tomorrow. 5.8 would even be ok. Powered 5.0 would feel epic at this point. Stay tuned.