Maui Windsurfing Blog has Moved!

The new home for Maui Windsurfing Blog is:

http://www.mauiwindsurfing.net/

I'll probably keep this site active, just for the 2 1/2 years of archives, but all new content will now be on the new site.

Mahalo,

Makani

It's Windy

Maui winds have pumped up a couple of notches the last two days - just as forecasters predicted. Amazing! Yesterday I sailed 4.2 at Kanaha - pretty wound up quite often but there were some holes. We had a pseudo-north swell yesterday. At least I think it's trying to be a north swell. Maybe the waves are having tryouts or something. They were pretty unorganized and unreadable. Using the tryouts metaphor, if our waves were trying out for the varsity football team, yesterday's wannabe's were the kids in tryouts who were tripping up all over themselves, running the wrong way, shoulder pads on backwards, fumbling the ball ... you get the idea. Not exactly first string, starting line-up. What they were good for was some steep ramps for launching into orbit - if you happened to time it right.

Today was Sugar Cove day. Word was that we were going to get a small bump in the north swell. Didn't really materialize much. Sprecks had some mushy, unorganized stuff, but it had quite a bit of wind swell influence in it. Upwind at Spartan reef there were some irregular sets rolling in occasionally.

As for the wind today, it was a bit funky. At 11:00 at Sugar Cove, it looked like I'd want a 5.3. By 11:30 it looked 5.0. Another 10 minutes and it looked 4.7, so that was what I rigged. Wind was pretty easterly and very holey - until about 1:00 or so when it majorly kicked in - with averages in the low 30s. Oddly enough, Kanaha kicked in earlier than Sprecks and Sugar Cove today. Usually the upwind launches get a bit more wind than Kanaha, but some refugees from Kanaha reported than before noon, guys were debating rigging 3.7s and 4.0s. The forecast guys are calling for it to continue to be strongly windy tomorrow. And, since they seem to have gotten this forecast right, maybe I'll believe them. After that, things are supposed to settle down to normal levels.

Weekend Wind Report

Yesterday morning I was pretty dubious about the prospects for wind, but I was pleasantly surprised when the trades kicked in late in the morning. My wife was due to teach her 79-year old windsurfing student at Sugar Cove again so Sugar Cove was the default venue. When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see some small remnant north swell rolling in at Sprecks. It was infrequent and small, but a site for sore eyes. The wind was on the light side so 5.7/90L was my sail/board choice. Headed to Sprecks to try to get some of that action, but the sets just weren't coming in so I cruised up to Spartan reef where I had seen some waves coming in too. Got one or two rides on some small waves, but I think the waves must have been elsewhere. From what I hear, Hookipa was about shoulder high and offshore yesterday. Looking downwind, it looked like Kanaha had some good sets. I'll have to rely on a report from Speedy or someone else who sailed there yesterday to find out what I missed.

Today was an early session at Kanaha - 5.0 and big board again to get through the holes. A lot of guys chose 5.3 and smaller boards which I think was probably the better call. Up at Uppers and Camp One, there were some occasional north swell sets coming in, though most of them were pretty sloppy and unorganized. My best ride of the day I got three bottom turns in on one wave, but most of them mushed out after about one bottom turn. When it got a little crowded at Uppers, I headed up to Camp One to sail with some Team Gaastra folks - Matt, Erin and Jazz. The waves and water in general were much smoother - and there were only 5 us up there. Sweeet! Should have gone further upwind earlier.

Conditions are looking like winds will build a bit through the early part of the week - high presssure to our north looks to be establishing itself for a nice bout of trades for the next week or so.

Saturday Morning Surf Report

We're starting the weekend off with virtually calm conditions everywhere across Maui this morning. They say that hope springs eternal. With that in mind, I think there is some small hope for sailable wind today, but I think tomorrow is the day we'll likely see our trade wind return.

So, what's a Maui windsurfer to do on a Saturday morning when there's no wind? Surf the web for windsurfing-related stuff of course. Couple of items of interest this morning for my "surf report." According to Glenn James, Maui's unofficial weatherman, we're starting to see an El Nino pattern set up in the Pacific. What this means for Hawaii is "less than the normal amount of autumn and winter into spring rainfall amounts; lighter than normal winds; more than the normal amount of high surf events; and the possibility of late season tropical storm activity this autumn."

The other item of interest related to Maui windsurfing that I came across is, The Windsurfing Movie. If you haven't hear of this, John Decesare and Jace Panebianco are in the process of making a full-length windsurfing motion picture - for release in movie theaters next spring. Check out their website, - they've got a trailer for the movie, which, if you can get past the first minute or two of credits and setting shots, has some killer action shots of sailing on Maui, mostly Hookipa. The film looks like it will tell the stories of four windsurfers, Robby Naish, Kai Lenny, Jason Polakow and Levi Siver. Definitely some big names and big talent. Looking forward to seeing that on the big screen here on Maui. So, if it doesn't look like you're going to get on the water and sail today, check out the trailer and get stoked for the next time you can get out.

Disappointing Winds This Week

This week has been rather a disappointment in the wind category for Maui's north shore. Winds have been predominantly out of the north, making Kihei the windiest sailing venue on the island. Wednesday was the best shot at sailing north shore winds. I sailed 5.0 well-powered at Uppers with some pretty steady and consistent wind - playing around in the little backside wave garden near Camp One. Yesterday and today have only managed to get into the mid-teens on the north shore.

The forecast is calling for winds to be fairly light again tomorrow then pick up on Sunday and next week, with the potential to get pretty windy according to the latest forecast discussion.

Lively Up Yourself!

Much has been written over the last few years of the new windsurfing generation, the crop of teens and pre-teens that are shaking up and revitalizing the windsurfing world. But what about the other end of the spectrum? Despite some mention of Team Advil in some of the magazines, I think the older generation isn't getting it's fair share of publicity. After all, they are also reshaping our notions of an active lifestyle, pushing the boundaries, shunning the rocking chair, knitting needles, cards and bingo for the latest boards and sails. Here on Maui I've had the pleasure to know many very active windsurfers who are redefining what we can do in our 70s and 80s. One was Bob Peck, a 77-year old inspiration and now legend among Kanaha regulars.

Recently I've had the pleasure of getting to know Barb Guild, a 79-year-old-going-on-29 year old local Maui windsurfer. Barb sails out of Sugar Cove here on Maui and is as anxious and eager to improve her sailing as the 9 year olds are eager to learn the latest freestyle moves. Click the image to the left to see some video of Barb sailing with her instructor at Sugar Cove (QuickTime, 2.1 MB).

Last winter, she was thrilled to experience great improvements in her skiing, thanks to a smart boot-fitter helping her optimize her equipment to work for her, and to working regularly with an instructor on her technique. She decided to see if she could make the same kinds of changes in her windsurfing this summer. She works with a personal trainer 3 days a week to build her strength and endurance (being already blessed with remarkable flexibility) so she can windsurf 3 days a week, wind permitting! At this point, those sessions are with an instructor, gradually improving her efficiency and technique, but her goal is to feel confident and competent enough to sail independently. She's lived most of her life near the beach in California and Hawaii, and loves being in the water. One day, when the wind wasn't cooperating, she taught her inland-raised instructor the basics of body-surfing!

Over the past 10 years, she's combined her passion for the beach with her UCBerkeley engineering background to lead successful "beach nourishment" projects to rebuild the eroded beach at Sugar Cove, not only protecting the homes there from harm, but also providing a much-used and -loved beach for fishers, divers, boogey-boarders, surfers, kitesurfers, and windsurfers.

At any age, a person like Barb is an inspiration. At 79 years young, she is living proof that age needn't be a handicap or deterrent to doing anything you want. As boomers contemplate their next move, they needn't look far to see people like Barb showing the way.

Barb has a personal attitude she shared that we would all do well to adopt;

"Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, -- this disposition helps to facilitate the ultimate harmony."

Maui "Real World Conditons"

Many people have the mistaken impresssion that Maui windsurfing is only about radical wave sailing. Not true. As this video (3 MB, Real Media Player), sent in by Steve R., shows, Maui can also get some pretty mellow cruising conditions. This video shows Canadian Kanaha regulars Ted and Nora freesailing around on their slalom gear, eh. Pretty ideal conditions for what a lot of people are looking for.

More Summer Sailing

We've seen a continuation of summer sailing season over this last weekend. Saturday I sailed Sugar Cove which got a bit gusty and funky, in large part, I believe, due to the cane fire just upwind of us. I think Kanaha was a bit better with the ladies on 5.0s and the guys on 5.5s.

Yesterday was a backloop-a-thon at Uppers. Wind swell rolling in made for some steep waist- to shoulder-high ramps rolling in at the perfect angle for backloops. Lots of the local guys were out throwing backloops and pushloops so much it was hard to tell which way was up. Even tried one myself and got further around than I ever had and didn't even break an eardrum this time. Stoke!

Summer Conditions Prevailing

The last few days we've seen summer conditions prevailing on Maui - fairly strong winds and no swell except wind swell - at least at Kanaha and Sprecks. I think the early session yesterday was probably best. I got on the water around 2:00 yesterday at Sugar Cove with 4.5 but by then it had gotten a bit holey. From what I heard, the early session was more consistent and a little better.

So, today I tried the early session - Kanaha 4.5 around noon to 1:30. The 4.5 was pretty good. Sailed Uppers to Camp One where there's some wind swell for backside riding, but the small north swell bump we had the other day is gone, at least at Kahaha. Hookipa may still have a little bit. Later in the day the wind kicked in a little stronger, probably into the 4.2 range, but I had called it a day by then. All in all, a very nice day for sailing with sunny skies, hot temps, blue water and strong winds. Looks like we'll get a couple more days of this then things get a little more uncertain. Winds could drop as early as the beginning of next week and the latest forecast is calling for winds to really lighten up the latter part of next week.

Patience Pays Off

Pretty wacky day of wind at Kanaha today. Midday readings looked very promising, with averages in the mid-20s. Got to Kanaha to see people coming off of the water saying it was dropping off. Sure enough, the wind soon dropped to virtually nothing. The iWindsurf graphs prove it too, showing the wind drop down to about 4 or 5 for an average and from an SE direction. No wonder the water was glassy. Usually I would have bailed, but I hung around. Around 4:00ish the wind was hinting at coming back and a few guys went out. I still had my 5.3 rigged so I decided to give it a try though I wasn't expecting much. But, to my pleasant surprise I was able to get planing, and after a few reaches of kinda funky wind, it settled in a bit and even built to a very powered 5.0 range. Very cool. But the best part was we actually had some very small north swell today. It was mushy and unorganized, but a nice surprise and fun to actually bottom turn instead of going backside all the time.

Judging from Norm's comment in the previous post, Hookipa was probably the place to be today. Bigger, smoother waves yesterday and the wind looks like it was more consistent though a little lighter today so it was probably decent 5.7ish again today.

Light northerly winds have prevailed on Maui's north shore the past few days, so the place to be to get your sailing fix has been Kihei, which always gets stronger winds than the north shore when the winds are northerly. I didn't make it to Kihei myself, but local keener Jazz sailed 5.3 on Saturday at Kihei and I just got a report from Speedy that he sailed 5.0 at Maui Sunset yesterday. Meanwhile the north shore was seeing average wind speeds of about 12 - 14.

Looks like high pressure is rebuilding to our north which should begin to usher in strong, more typical trade winds starting tomorrow.

Meanwhile in the far north Pacific near the Aelutians, several storms have been brewing, cooking up the first north swell for our 2006 wave season. The latest wave forecast is predicting some small surf on the north shore next Monday or Tuesday. Ooooh yeaaaaaaa!!!!!

Maui Burning

The big news yesterday and today on Maui is a very large brush fire on the west Maui mountains above Maalaea, threatening the new windmill farm, closing down the road to and from Lahaina and the west side and otherwise wreaking havoc on Maui traffic. The fire started early Friday morning (cause still unknown) and burned throughout the day yesterday, burning on both sides of the road, virtually stranding everyone on the west side where they were and keeping anyone else from getting there.

The fire of course has been fanned by strong winds. Yesterday we saw winds in the 5.0 range for guys at Kanaha and the location of the fire was probably blowing upwards of 40mph - it is after all, the windiest spot on the island - hence the location of the windmills there. It was pretty surreal to watch the line of flames burning from my lanai here in upcountry Maui last night.

This morning it looks like its' still burning, as evidenced by lots of smoke. What's all this have to do with windsurfing? Not much. Unless you're vacationing here on a windsurfing vacation and staying in Kaanapali or Napili. If so, you're either trapped on the west side and unable to get to the north shore (they've closed down the backside route around the west Maui's to local traffic only), or you're trapped on the north shore with your gear and unable to get back to your hotel or condo.

So, consider this a tip if you're considering coming to Maui on a windsurfing vacation and thinking of staying on the west side. Don't. Getting in and out of the west side is usually a slow, pain in the ass anyway with frequent accidents shutting down the road and mainland-style traffic jams clogging access in and out.

Winds this morning are so far looking pretty light. Looks like I might have been wrong about getting sailable wind this weekend, but we'll have to see. It could still come up pretty quickly. I'm actually kind of hoping it remains light to give the firefighters a better chance of containing and controlling the fire.

For more details on the fire, you might want to check out the Maui News website, www.mauinews.com, although they're site is currently down - perhaps being flooded with traffic trying to learn more about the fire.