I knew the first sets of the new swell would have shown up at sunset and I should have chosen a different spot more down the coast. Instead, where I went out most sets were closing out and I had to kick out most of the times... no complains, still beautiful out there, live and learn.
Here's the photos I took at Hookipa from 2.30 to 3.30.
Brazilian friend of Brawsinho and blog reader Lucas hired me for a photoshoot. He gets the first photo of the day. He's now going to be a celebrity in Fortaleza, where it seems that a lot of windsurfers follow this blog. Thanks guys, sooner or later I'd like to come visit... gostaria falar portugues!
Julien in really good form. He likes low boom too...
Beautiful legged Anne Marie.
A couple of turns of old school, low boomed, most famous windsurfer in the world, legend Robby Naish.
Camille.
It's not a Halloween costume. It's Kay Lenny with a camera setup that I bet has seen Robby Seeger involved...
Nayra Alonso broke her mast and went on the rocks. To get a point she will need to claim it either with a comment on this blog or by telling me at the beach.
Levi.
Glenn was showing off his new Hot Sails Maui Bolt.
Having completely disregarded the Halloween celebrations I was up and ready on Sunday morning at 6.30am. I could have gone surfing, but seen the size I decided to save my energies for sailing. The NW buoy went up to 12 feet, 18 seconds from around 320. The Waimea buoy is still ramping up with 8 feet, 18 seconds, so here in Maui expect the swell to build throughout all day.
Just saw a monster set on the webcam at Pipeline in which third reef fethered and second reef broke. A couple of body boarders were trying to paddle out, they got pushed right back in. Here's what the surfline morning report says:
"WNW swell is going mental this morning with very few spots rideable and the outer reefs popping off. Surf is in the overhead to double overhead range with some easy sets in the 15-18 foot face value range".
Hookipa is going to be massive and with all these pros in town, I'm sure someone will venture out. It's going to be a great show.
10 comments:
Did Anne Marie change sponsors???
GP-
Thank you for all the good posts. It has been 1.5 years since I was last on Maui. Your bog helps me get my Maui fix! I hope you can get some good action for the swell coming in!
James
AWESOME pics & writeup...I luv reading your blog!!! Keep up the SUPER work :) Smiles 2 U...
Hi GP!
you seem to know an aweful lot about the local waves and wind. As a visitor, what should I look for and where, so I don't miss out too much of the action? I mean, what buoys and what do they mean for which spot at which height/duration? Where to look for wind info for the next two/three days, Windfinder or something else?
Since it's just a temporary stay, then it's even more important to score the waves/wind and if possible I'd like some hints/tips
TonyWind, yes she did. Looks like she's on Simmer/Starboard now.
Still the best legs in the game, no doubt.
You're welcome James. I bloody well did get some good action!
Thanks Chantelle, smiles back to you.
Yo Niclas, years of knowledge are not easy to transfer in few words, but it's not that complicated at all. Maui only has a few spots and they're all within 15 minutes drive. As a tourist you won't have many time constraints, so I'd recommend to just stop at all and pick your favorite.
I check the buoys on Surfline, because they split the readings between all the different swells hitting the buoy at that moment, but that requires a subscription.
NOAA public buoy readings are available here: NW buoy, waimea buoy
For the wind, iWindsurf.com is very accurate, but that requires a subscription too. The top half of the Windguru week is ok, just add 10 if the direction is east and more than 10 and don't even consider the wave forecast.
But my main tip is to just read pat caldwell... you'l learn a lot.
Oh, and sometimes ignorance is bliss. After asking around I learned that instead the spot I sailed was still better than the spot I thought was going to be better... :)
GP - not sure if that's as good as the one surf line but this is free and breaks down the swell as well.
http://www.stormsurf.com/cgi-bin/shiro.cgi?a=51001
Also wavewatch.com expert view for Hawaii North Shore gives a good idea about swell break downs and directions... it covers a wide area so not sure about how accurate it is for Maui timing wise.
http://www.wavewatch.com/Surf-Forecast-Region.php?RegionID=17
Anyway - hope it helps.
Ciao -
Alex
:)
Is there any good site to learn how to read buoys and translate what they mean for each spot then? Because buoys is something we don't have over here in Sweden. We check the wind forecast since we only have wind "swell". If it's SSW-WSW and >15m/s it's going to be >3m. 12-15m/s and the same wind direction: it's 1,5-2m.
I'd be happy for anything 1,5m since you guys measure the waves differently than we do. But how do I tell what is a we'll-go-to-Hana-or-up-Haleakala-day and what is not? ;)
Niclas, you're stressing too much. Give me a call in the morning and I'll tell you what to do that day...
Now that's what I call weather service!
You're right - I am. Too bloody nervous and afraid to miss out anything. Feel I don't have the time to learn by failing :)
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