The wind came and went, the waves still going strong

Pics by Dagmar

This week the trades were back.. only for a couple of days. We had a beautiful side/on-almost-Holland-conditions for one day. I came back late from work, drove by Hookipa and couldn't resist to jump in the water. After a big rain shower.The wind really filled in, together with a good swell it made an epic sunset session with only 4 guys out in Hookipa, Kauli seadi, Pieter Bijl and 2 more locals. I still use the Evil twin 74 which is a great board, snappy easy to use and still radical. I ordered the Quad 71 which is an whole other board, still easy to use but even more surf style, very turny with a lot of grip.

The next day the swell really kicked in. Hookipa closed out and Kuau was big but ride able. Together with the usual 5 or 6 who come after work we had some amazing size rides.

This weekend for the first time since the beginning of December the waves were small again and there was a big crowd in Hookipa. Sunday morning things looked different again and the swell was up. It just keeps coming.

Next week we get in the new Starboards. The Qauds, the new SUPs. So there will be a lot to try out and tell you about. I still use the SUP 9'8" element which is a nice board and does well in small to medium size waves but I am ready for something smaller. Although if you go smaller you loose some of the early-wave-catching-ability.

The next week looks mixed again. Mostly waves some days with wind and a possible tow in or big stand up day. I still haven't figured out how to show the wave size on the go pro videos but I will keep trying.

Mama's Fish House Parrot looking at the stand up paddlers

JAWS WipeOUT VIDEO

Take look at this Short JAWS Wipe Out Reel, Video, Elliot Leboe made.
Don't try this at home or in the bath tub

Jaws Wipeout Reel 2009 from ACL Productions on Vimeo.

More Maui winter swells and my best stand up wave ever

What a day.

First a 2 hours session in Uppers Kanaha. After I passed by almost any Maui spot. Hookipa, Kuau, Baby beach, Pier one. Most were closing out and impossible to get out. So I ended up in Kanaha were you can always go out. Only this time there were 15 other guys in a place where you are normally by yourself.
Here is a little view of how it was.



I wasn't totally happy about the morning session so I went out again in the afternoon. I was still huge, Jaws was breaking just a couple of miles down the coast.
Kaua looked do-able once you were out. I went ot Noriagas and met Mike Eskimo with his french friend Bruno. We took of though the shore break, through a little channel which was the mostly open. And ended up outside. The waves were huge and hard to get. When They have this size they also have a lot of speed. The only thing you can do is, go deep, paddle hard and be lucky that there isn't a huge set showing up on the horizon. Twice a set almost got me. So I didn't waited around to long and found a big, good a frame wave and got my biggest wave I have ever riden on a stand up. A thrilling ride which lastes longer than I hoped for but finally closest out on me when I was almost in. Mike and Bruno weren't that lucky. The next set first got Bruno then 2 wave later Mike. Both their leaches broke and boards ended up where I was waiting inside. They had a exciting scrary swim but got washed in pretty quick. So no footage or pics.
An exciting day in een exciting week.

Here is the rest of the diary

Monday tow in what I thought was the biggest swell of this winter with some great rides and great swim (wipe outs), wind 2 BFT SW Waves XXL
Teusday, wind 1 BFT NE, waves XL, action Tow in
Wednesday wind Var 1BFT, waves M, no action
Thursday wind 3-4 BFT N,sail 5.8, waves M, no action
Friday wind 5 BFT, Sail 5.0, waves M windsurfing in Hookipa
Saterday wind 3BFT NE, waves MStand up family session in Kanaha
Sunday wind 2 BFT NE, waves XL, 2 Stand up session, Kanah & Kuau

Below are a few pics of last week with a small swell in Kuau.

Womens Stand Up Event January 9th 2010

STARBOARD girls; Tiffany, Dagmar and Anne-Marie

In Maui there are a lot of women doing stand up. There was a great turn out for the women's SUP event in Wailea. 320 women signed up for this event organized by Suzie Cooney and Tommy Callan.

Tommy and Suzie

We went over there at 5 am to make sure we had a parking spot to unload all the 12 boards we brought with us. For us a good oportunity to demo the boards and support the women who came without a board.

SUP Clinic, safety, Hula, Health Food, Cancer foundation support and a big price rafel. And off course every body on the water for a 1 and a half hour paddel along the coast. Organized in 3 group level.

Hula girls

The sometimes huge shorebreak didn't make it easy for the first timers to get in the water. With the help of 20 caddies who brought the boards in and out, everything went fine and without injuries and only one broken board ( not a Starboard)

Interview with the Maui news

Happy SUPers

Tomorrow there is a 30-40 feet swell coming. So plenty of action again. Have to get in bed fopr a 5 Am dawn patrol to go tow in.

Aloha

Back on the blog in the new year 2010

What a winter, the swells just keep coming every day. So it's sure to say we have a different year this year. An El nino year. Which means on Maui, that the low pressures just keep passing by rather close. In other words, a winter ( dec/ jan) with lot's of waves and little trade winds.

Take a look at this North Pacific swell forcast. One train of waves after the other. This is what it looks like in 36 hours. Dark red is 48 feet swell, orange 18 feet and green 7. The little dots in the right corner are the Hawaiian islands.

Now that means we had very little windsurfing lately but lot's of surfing, stand up paddeling and tow in. Hookipa looks often like this, closing out and to big to surf.

Lanes on a beautifull glassy morning.

This year I will keep a small waterman dairy. In short what the water action was for each day of this year. After a year we will add up all the numbers and see

Jan 1 - Stand up session Lanes, head high

Jan 2 -Stand up session Kanaha shoulder high

Jan 3 -Windsurfing Kona winds in Lanes, wasn't very big but the waves were very good

Jan 5 - Tow in training session head high, early morning until the Kona winds picked up to strong

Jan 6 - Tow in session, mast high outer reef sprecks.

So the last days I pick up tow-in again. I found a new partner with a jet ski. So we have been out on a training session on Tuesday to see how we work together. Tow in is all about your partner. He is the one putting you in the right position on the wave and he is the one picking you up, just in time before the next bomb drops on you. An exciting and thrilling part is driving the jetski. which is actually harder than surfing the wave itself. For example you have about 15 seconds to pick up your partner after a wave. You are coming from behind the wave , find him, go to him at full speed, slow down just in time , swing the ski around so he can climb on the rescue sled and then get the hell out becuase the next wave is about to break right on your head. Today we went for an other session it was a lot bigger and the Kona winds stayed away for 3 hours. We went to outer sprecks were I had a few exciting rides and a few swims. Sorry no pictures.

But here are a few images of Peahi ( JAWS) last week.

I will be back soon with more.

Aloha