Monday, December 08, 2014

12 8 14 morning call

5am main swell buoy readings:

Waimea
6.8ft @ 14s from 334° (NNW)
4.1ft @ 11s from 331° (NNW)
2.5ft @ 9s from 340° (NNW)
1.5ft @ 25s from 324° (NW)

Maui north shore (indicative of what's in the water on Maui's north shore)
    9.3ft @ 13s from 337° (NNW)
1.3ft @ 25s from 327° (NW)

West lanai Maui north shore (indicative of what's in the water on Maui's south shore)
    2.1ft @ 14s from 296° (WNW)
1.1ft @ 6s from 202° (SSW)
1.7ft @ 9s from 226° (SW)
 
Well big day it was yesterday and way bigger it's gonna be tomorrow. Surfline is calling for 10f 16s and those extra couple of seconds will make a big difference. One day I'll try to explain what  difference the period of a wave does, because I notice that most of the surfers don't really have a clue about it.
But let's focus on today which might be a fantastic day as well (or better a-swell).
The Waimea buoy went down to 7f at 5am and is showing a decreasing trend, the Maui one is still showing 9f, but we know that that should go down too. My guess is that by 7am, it will be something like 7.5f 13s. It is extremely important to know if a swell is increasing or decreasing, specially when it's at a level that might be borderline for someone's skills.
For example, 7f 13s is borderline for me at Hookipa, but knowing that is coming down  in size (not as many cleanup sets anymore) might make me decide to chance it.
Visual observation, as usual, will be key.

Below is the wind map for today. I circled a massive fetch that will send a massive swell on Wed-Thu (13f, 15s from 328).
I also indicated with an arrow the lovely wind direction the early morning will see. That SE flow means glassy to light offshore at Hookipa all morning, even though Maui county @ 2km shows a patch of light onshore in the afternoon. It's gonna another stunningly sunny day, so that is most likely a land breeze.


Below is the worldwide view and on this one I circled also the fetch down below. That is a tight little fetch, which is actually a tad closer than the classic fetches that send us the south swells in summer time.
The pic gives a nice visual idea how how much more distance the south swells need to cover before they get to our shores. I also indicated the approximate number of days the waves at the heads and tails of the fetches will take to get here.
You can understand that south swells tend to have a lot less energy (size and consistency) than the winter ones.

 
So another great of surfing in Maui today. Pick your spot based on your skills and preferences and have fun in the sun everyone!

PS. For the passionate SUPers, below is the flyer of a Maui made movie starring a bunch of the Maui rippers. Thursday at the MACC.

 

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