That's what I thought about my last post when I saw the waves on the north shore...
Messy and confused? Yeah right! Check the waves in the harbor...
Well, the harbor has a narrow entrance that acts like a point break, filtering the energy... Only the highest energy can make it through (or bend around a point).
But what really made the waves superclean was the offshore wind.
All surfers know what huge influence the wind has on the waves. A switch from 5 knots offshore to 5 knots onshore can make the conditions shift from paradise to junk. And viceversa.
Seen the beautiful waves, I jumped in the toilet (as Meesh defined it) and tried to catch a few with a 6.6... Man, do I suck on a shortboard or what?!
Unsatisfied by the sesh, I went home to get my sailing longboard. Lanes and Hookipa looked incredible. Big and clean thanks to the offshore wind again. Picked up the cell phone.
"Hey Jeff, I predict epic longboard sailing conditions at kanaha... shall we go?"
"I wish, but I got my daugther and two other kids to take care of... next time."
"Shoots, the park at Kanaha is closed (flooded) and after 4pm the lifeguards will be gone and nobody will be out... let me drive there anyway and see how it looks..."
I looked terrific and the wind looked probably strong enough for shortboard sailing.
Picked up the cell phone again.
"Hey Glenn, come check Kanaha, I think it might be epic"
"Really? I'm almost done working, I'll be there in 10 minutes."
We got in the water at 4.45 with floaty shortboards and 5.0s.
Completely alone.
The waves were coming in all sizes. Shoulder, head, overhead, logo... you pick what you want.
5 or 6 good waves each and then around 5.30 we decided to get back in so that we didn't have to swim in the super murky waters (the river at kite beach had been pumping tons of mud). But before that, we saw the most amazing rainbow.
Unreally bright and sharp with a second lighter outside ring and something like a tornado made of bright white light right in the middle all the way down to the ocean.
Never seen anything like that.
One of the best sessions ever.
Those incredibly smooth waves were out there and nobody was enjoying them. We put our few fiberglass pieces together and without engines, with the only help of the wind, we were able to get there and ride them.
Hoyle Schweitzer and Jim Drake, a big thank goes to you from the very deep of my heart.
Windsurfing. What a bloody fantastic sport!
8 comments:
That harbor wave looks like quite a gift...nice!
Sometimes on double rainbows you get something called "Alexander's dark band" between them.
Check out this photo by a sailing buddy of mine.
And yes, thanks to Drake and Schweitzer. I have a thank you for Newman Darby, too.
WOW. pure entertainment!! thank you! i am hanging out with an old friend via email.........mom with a 5 year old in the middle of a total ice storm!!!!!!!!! so fun to hear the other life. ha i love the snow but water rocks. keep me amused!!!!!!!!!
cheers
PP, the harbor rocks.
Sorry about your ribs, I left a comment on your blog...
Thanks for the link to that nice photo...
But, believe me. What me and Glenn saw yesterday was something REALLY out of the "ordinary". It looked unreal.
Hey Maxsmom, glad you are amused. I am too!
That was a cool post. thanks. I can almost picture it. I'm bummed because I had to work this last week and missed out on the huge west swell that rocked the california coast. But looking at all the blogs and surfline helps get me through till the next time I can get on the water. By the way GP, say hi to Glenn from Ben and Shari.
cheers Ben
That was a cool post. thanks. I can almost picture it. I'm bummed because I had to work this last week and missed out on the huge west swell that rocked the california coast. But looking at all the blogs and surfline helps get me through till the next time I can get on the water. By the way GP, say hi to Glenn from Ben and Shari.
cheers Ben
peconicpuffin... I rented a Mistral Superlight to Newman Darby when I worked at Bahia Honda State park in The Florida Keys. He had never tried an epoxy board. He liked it. His rental would have been free if I knew at the time he was telling me the truth when he said, "I invented these things." Though he was old, he was a competent sailor with a lovely tack.
Hoyle and Jim started the sport, Newman had the first stand-up arrangement years before them, but a Maui/Japanese local can be seen riding a surfboard (prone) with a sail in Tom Blake's 1931 book "Surfriders".
After almost 2 decades on Maui I saw my first Moonbow only last year. Mystery Bob
Ben, we'll do.
Bob, I guess I'm lucky I saw two moonbows in six years then... never even heard about them before coming here...
re Anonymous and Darby and the history of the sport, I take my cue from Drake, who I've read in interviews saying that he new about and improved upon Darby's work. I appreciated Drake's forthrightness. I appreciate all of their work.
I think you capture it well when you say that Drake and Hoyle started the sport.
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