a magic session

No, unfortunately I wasn't talking about this one (thanks to blog reader Sam for sending it).


Not even about this one.


Or this one.


I was just talking about a windsurfing session.
Many are the different factors that can contribute to make a session magic.
Here's the ones that made my Friday afternoon Hookipa session magic.

1) low expectations: I had a morning report of "barely head high" and messy. Instead was head to overhead high, light offshore and as clean as it can get. A new small NW swell, in fact, was just filling in. Finally!

2) the excruciating contrast with the still fun, but poor for the Maui standards conditions of the past two weeks: super choppy, kind of messy, mushy, side-onshore Kanaha. Fun, but it can't compare with the perfection I experienced Friday.

3) the fact that I (unusually) had worked most of the day and as such had built a strong appetite for getting in the ocean.

4) the fact that I have been trying so many boards lately and I got so confused that it seemed that I dis-learned how to wave-sail correctly... until Friday.

5) the board I was testing that day: 81l Quatro twin fin production. First time I used it, absolutely loved it. Bang!... and I felt like Keith. Bang!... and I felt like Levi. Bang!... oh, that's how Pascal does that! I was someone different on every turn!

6) the crowd factor was non-existent. Maybe 8 people in the most crowded moment. It was so freaking perfect that it was actually a pleasure to see the others rip. In particular I'd like to thank (and at the same time apologize with) Jesse Brown. I fell in the impact section twice and both times I was right where he wanted to be. But he was good enough to manage to get around me and I was blessed by the vision of a couple of under the lip hooks from the water level (before getting happily worked by the wave, of course). Good job, Jesse.

Well, I didn't have time to post this right away, so in the meantime I had a few other sessions. Maybe not magic, but still remarkable. Saturday early afternoon, Hookipa was head high, light offshore (too light for windsurfing) and cold. Number of people at Middles: three. You got to be kidding me!
I love cold weather if it keeps the unprepared Maui surfers out of the water! I wore a few layers of neoprene and scored some really fun waves with my Kazuma. And it wasn't over yet.

Later in the day, the wind seemed to pick up a bit more. Russ ventured out on his usual 4.7 and 67l (he's very light, but still!). It was four of us watching from the beach.
"Hey if he's not moving, there's no way we can do anything at all..."
"He hasn't got a wave yet..."
"Hopefully he can make it back..."
Then he caught a wave. And another. And than he did a forward.
"OK, we're rigging!"

Andy of lostinhatteras.blogspot.com (nice to meet you brah) was there and took this photo of Russ. Not too shabby.
Funny, I just checked his last post on his blog... he said pretty much the same things!


Forecast: some unsettled weather sitting right on top of the island makes the wind forecast for the next few days very sketchy. For sure we're going to get some rain. But who cares about the wind (of lack of thereof) and rain when there's a new, fat NW swell already hitting the buoy at 5 feet, 17 seconds 310 degrees at noon on Sunday?

Talking about which (Sunday, that is), I already surfed in the morning and I sense some light wind wave sailing in my immediate future. You guys will excuse me.

PS. Unreal conditions for this wave contest in Fuerteventura. Thanks again to beachtelegraph.com for keeping us updated.