Trade Winds Return!

After what seemed like endless days of rain and no trade winds, Maui's beloved NE trade winds returned this weekend. I didn't make it down to the north shore yesterday so I'm not sure if it was sailable, might have been at times. But today was definitely a return to trades. I didn't think it was going to happen when I read the forecast this morning, but figured I should keep an eye on it just in case. That paid off. By midday, the wind had hit the upper teens then the low 20s. I got to Kanaha in time to see the wind back off from the mid 20s to barely sailable 5.7. Rigged it anyway and went out. Slogged a bit for the first few minutes then the wind kicked in to nicely powered 5.7 and I motored up to Uppers where a bunch of people were vying for the small wind swell - mostly backside riding. After a bit the wind kicked in even more and soon I was pretty OPd on the 5.7. Toughed it out for another hour until the wind started backing off. There was a mass exodus from the water at that point. I decided to tune my sail a bit and head out again. Very glad I did. Well powered 5,7 again with hardly anyone out. The wind built again to the 5.0 range, but by 5:00ish I was spent and a very big nasty squall could be seen marching downwind. Got derigged and out of there before the thunderstorm with its 35 - 45 mph winds hit. Over all a great day back on the water. Really sweet sailing outside Uppers and looking up at Haleakala, where the sun was spotlighting all the green that our recent rains have brought. Spectacular view!