Friday, October 31, 2014

Fun size short period honolua bay

4am main swell buoy readings:
   
Maui north shore
9.1ft @ 10s from 5° (N)
2.3ft @ 3s from 65° (ENE)
1.9ft @ 13s from 351° (N)
1.5ft @ 15s from 1° (N)

West lanai
1.5ft @ 13s from 199° (SSW)
0.8ft @ 5s from 164° (SSE)
1.5ft @ 9s from 182° (S)
 
0.7ft @ 16s from 197° (SSW)

Everything went as predicted yesterday at the Aloha Classic.
Congrats Boujmaa for a brilliant win and good luck to the PWA contest that will begin today in very challenging conditions...

South shore still not dead, but I'll try to get onto those 9f 10s from N. Don't expect a photo from Hookipa... there's no need, btw. It's going to be close to unsurfable.

Below is the wind map of today. Notice the huge high pressure cell north of the islands that will keep the trades up for the whole duration of the contest (do those guys know how lucky they were? Yeah, they do... I told them many times already).
Notice also the fetch in the very top left corner that will send us the NW swell on Tuesday that will last quite a few days.
Considering that Sunday there will still be waves from the N (even though on the way down) and that the PWA might need that day too, I'm going to recommend the AWT judge to run the kids on Monday, which seems to be the only day with small waves (yet not flat) of the waiting period.
I predict the Amateurs to start on Tuesday and run for the rest of the week.


Have fun in the sun everyone, I'm off to surfing a very sharky place!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Solid size a bit messy. Thats exactly what you would expect 6f 9s from N to be at hookipa

10 30 morning call

4am main swell buoy readings:
       
Maui north shore
6.1ft @ 9s from 358° (N)
          
West lanai
2.2ft @ 13s from 199° (SSW)

Yesterday everything went as I predicted and today it will be the same.
The AWT pro division will be completed. The top (not sure how many) riders will advance to the PWA contest, which, I believe, will start right after.
It's absolutely clear that these first 4 days are the best of the waiting period, that's why I'm so sure about that.

Anyway, there's 6f 9s from the North and I'll probably post a picture from Hookipa later.
South shore offers fun size too.

Below is the maui buoy graph that shows how quickly the waves picked up yesterday. Very close to the Surfline forecast I posted in yesterday's post.



This is the 2pm wind map (all the websites I use are listed and linked on the right) which shows why today should be another day full of action at the windsurfing contest.
 
 
 
The only threat is posed by that line of clouds that is approaching the islands and we all know how much the wind in Maui likes a sunny Haleakala. But the pressure gradient is there, so it's a matter of it's gonna blow 20 or 25 really...
 


Have fun in the sun everyone!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

10 29 14 morning call

4am main swell buoy readings:
   
Maui north shore
3.4ft @ 8s from 76° (ENE)
2.8ft @ 5s from 63° (ENE)
1.6ft @ 12s from 359° (N)

West lanai
1.7ft @ 15s from 199° (SSW)
1.2ft @ 12s from 190° (S)

Today is the first day of the Aloha Classic, here's my outlook for the event.
Plenty wind throughout the whole period (and that's a really good thing, since they have a stupid number of heats to run), the not so exciting part will be the waves.
Never really flat, but never epic either.

The priority is to run the AWT pro division as soon as possible, so that they will have the names that will join the PWA group and start that.
Below is the Surfline forecast that seems to be done just for that.

As you can see, wave wise, the best days will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Wednesday afternoon and Sunday morning with some potential. I think they need two days for the AWT pro and two days for the PWA, so those could be squeezed just in there.
Next week (below) doesn't look too bad either.
 

Fun size (4f 15s) NW swell slotted for Tuesday/Wednesday and after that the wind will get pretty strong and that will create a serious windswell (purple swell topping at 10f 8s on Thursday).
For the Hookipa (and mine) standards, that is considered poor (excellent would be 6f NW swell and light wind), but still plenty ramps to play with. I bet jumps will count too for most of the contest.

Don't forget the small SSW swell on the south shore, have fun in the sun everyone!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Sunday, October 26, 2014

6.3ft @ 8s from 43° (NE) and 4ft @ 11s from 355° (N) with a bit of wind already.
Looks like a 2.5 to me.

Friday, October 24, 2014

10 24 morning call

4am main swell buoy readings:

   
Waimea bay
3.1ft @ 13s from 329° (NW)
2.7ft @ 6s from 42° (NE)
1.6ft @ 9s from 349° (NNW)
0.9ft @ 3s from 44° (NE)

Maui north shore
3.9ft @ 7s from 61° (ENE)
2.1ft @ 9s from 11° (NNE)
1.9ft @ 13s from 334° (NNW)
1.2ft @ 3s from 64° (ENE)

West lanai
1.8ft @ 13s from 203° (SSW)
1.3ft @ 16s from 199° (SSW)
1.1ft @ 10s from 187° (S)

NW on the rise today and a bit of south. I'm busy still hired as a surf guide (those guys scored!), so no pic from Hookipa later because I'll be driving elsewhere in the dark...

Have fun in the sun everyone!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

3.6f@12s. There's some fun peaks and no wind, but the swell dropped a lot.
Forgot to do the morning call: there's waves in lahaina too.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

10 21 14 morning call

4am main swell buoy readings:
       
Waimea bay
4.8ft @ 8s from 20° (NNE)
4.3ft @ 12s from 341° (NNW)
2.1ft @ 10s from 343° (NNW)

Maui north shore
5.1ft @ 13s from 341° (NNW)           
4.7ft @ 8s from 17° (NNE)
2.3ft @ 6s from 55° (ENE)
1.1ft @ 5s from 68° (ENE)

West lanai
2.6ft @ 8s from 170° (S)
1.3ft @ 13s from 241° (WSW)
1.1ft @ 16s from 197° (SSW)
1ft @ 11s from 238° (WSW)

The good news of today is that the wind is going to blow ESE for the very first part of the morning and it won't effect the surfing on the north shore.
That's good because, as you can see from the buoy readings, there's still plenty swell in the water.

Don't expect a Hookipa report, because I'm gonna be driving down the coast before the sun comes out.

Have fun in the sun everyone!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

When i pulled into the lookout there was a well overhead big set. Not much after that, but here is another one while i am typing...

10 19 14 morning call

4am main swell buoy readings:

Hanalei
5.3ft @ 17s from 334° (NNW)
3.7ft @ 6s from 60° (ENE)
3.3ft @ 9s from 359° (N)
2.7ft @ 7s from 36° (NE)

Waimea bay
5.5ft @ 17s from 331° (NNW)
2.4ft @ 9s from 333° (NNW)
2.2ft @ 11s from 7° (N)

Maui north shore
3.5ft @ 6s from 83° (E)           
3.4ft @ 18s from 336° (NNW)
3.2ft @ 9s from 357° (N)
2.2ft @ 11s from 7° (N)

West lanai
4.6ft @ 7s from 203° (SSW)
1.4ft @ 18s from 296° (WNW)
1.1ft @ 11s from 223° (SW)
 
0.9ft @ 13s from 222° (SW)

easy call this morning. I'm definitely not interested in chasing elusive hurricane swells, specially when they show only 4.6ft @ 7s and specially when there's a solid new NNW swell in the water and on the rise.
3.4f in Maui while Wailea is already 5.5f means that the swell is going to grow pretty fast and by the time the sun is out it might already be a bit too big for my tastes at Hookipa (expect a photo/report) soon.
In which case, all the other "secondary" spots will be the call. Paia bay, Tavares, Kanaha, just to name a few.

Below is the wind map of this morning. Notice how Ana is already SW of Kauai (lots of rain there) and the strong high pressure cell to the north of us.
Notice also how the wind is hitting Maui from a ESE direction and that could make for no wind to light sideoff on the north shore. At least at dawn. I'm not even going to try to predict what it's going to do in the afternoon with a sky so full of clouds like the one we'll have today.



Have fun thinking about the sun everyone.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

10 18 14


Maui north shore
5.3ft @ 8s from 92° (E)
3.4ft @ 11s from 350° (N)
3.2ft @ 7s from 90° (E

West lanai
2.8ft @ 11s from 177° (S)
0.9ft @ 10s from 170° (S)
0.6ft @ 6s from 341° (NNW)

SE Hawaii
5.3ft @ 7s from 149° (SE)
3ft @ 12s from 1° (N)
1.6ft @ 5s from 123° (ESE)

It's hurricane Ana day and every surfer will be searching for waves.
SE buoy shows the Ana swell and it's nothing to get excited about. 5f 7s... that's nothing. Yet.
All the beach parks are going to be close.
The session will be at Hookipa from 6 to 8 before the lifeguards possibly call everybody out of the water.

Below is the radar image that shows the kind of rain we'll have to deal with today.



Have fun in the rain with no pain!

Friday, October 17, 2014

10 17 14

4am main swell buoy readings:

Hanalei
    3.4ft @ 13s from 336° (NNW)
2.9ft @ 9s from 79° (ENE)
1.8ft @ 8s from 53° (ENE)
1.4ft @ 6s from 60° (ENE)

Waimea bay
    3ft @ 14s from 351° (N)
2.7ft @ 9s from 359° (N)

Maui north shore
    4.6ft @ 9s from 73° (ENE)
3.4ft @ 14s from 360° (N)
1.5ft @ 4s from 70° (ENE)

West lanai
1.4ft @ 14s from 260° (W)
0.9ft @ 4s from 172° (S)
1.6ft @ 12s from 193° (SSW)
 
While the SSW swell fades, a lovely N swell will keep the north shore surfers busy. Don't forget the ENE one and happy spot selection!

This is Ana's latest forecast track. I'm a little bummed that it won't go north of us (like Julio did and provided us with plenty waves on the north shore), but I'm looking forward to the killing of the wind that will create, once it passes.
 
 
 

Sorry, no time to add more... I got to go meet the couple that hired me as a surf guide. Yesterday we surfed a spot on the lahaina side pretty much by ourselves and it was glassy knee to waist high perfection. They were stoked. I'm gonna throw something a tad more challenging to them today.

Have fun in the sun everyone!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

At 1pm the Bay has occasional shoulder high sets. Very inconsistent though.
Lahaina is waist high.


4am main swell buoy readings:

Hanalei
4.9ft @ 8s from 36° (NE)
2.2ft @ 15s from 344° (NNW)

Waimea bay
3.1ft @ 9s from 17° (NNE)           
3ft @ 11s from 355° (N)
1ft @ 3s from 33° (NE)

Maui north shore
5.3ft @ 9s from 45° (NE)           
2ft @ 15s from 11° (NNE)
1.9ft @ 11s from 354° (N)
1.9ft @ 6s from 65° (ENE)

West lanai
2.3ft @ 13s from 202° (SSW)
1ft @ 11s from 191° (SSW)
0.8ft @ 5s from 169° (SSE)
 
0.7ft @ 6s from 189° (S)

Lots of swells in the water.
A new long period (15) N swell is on its way up. Should reach 4f late afternoon, but it's already 2 at the Maui buoy, where you can also see a 5f 9s windswell from exactly NE.
And Lanai shows a SSW that still hangs in at 2.3f 13s.

In other words, there's plenty options to go surf.
I have a couple of customers hiring me as a surf guide. Appointment is at Minit Stop in Paia at 5.30.
With a new N swell on the rise, I might take them to the bay. At 6.30 I'm guessing less than 10 people in the water. Getting paid to go surf Honolua Bay. I've done worse jobs.

Trade winds will blow depending on the cloud cover.
Below the latest track for Ana.



Have fun in the sun everyone!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Smaller than yesterday unfortunately. I haven't seen anything bigger than waist high the whole way. That's Launiupoko.
High tide pretty much all day. Cheers.

10 15 14 forecast

4am main swell buoy readings:

Hanalei
6.5ft @ 9s from 13° (NNE)
1ft @ 15s from 343° (NNW)

Waimea bay
4.9ft @ 9s from 2° (N)
1ft @ 4s from 38° (NE)

Maui north shore
5.1ft @ 9s from 2° (N)
2.3ft @ 4s from 67° (ENE)
1ft @ 16s from 20° (NNE)

West lanai
2.7ft @ 13s from 198° (SSW)
0.8ft @ 7s from 179° (S)
0.8ft @ 5s from 163° (SSE)
0.4ft @ 9s from 197° (SSW)
 
Despite the ENORMOUS information that the buoys give you, some days it's still hard to decide where to go surf. This morning instead, there's absolutely no doubt that the call will be Lahaina.
The Lanai buoy reading is the same as yesterday, so I'm calling chest to occasionally shoulder/head high sets.

From my place in Kuau to Lahaina is 29 miles, which is exactly what my car does per gallon. That means that the round trip costs me 8 bucks. Kinda pricey, but as long as I catch at least 8 waves so I can keep the cost per wave below 1 dollar each, I'm fine.
A coffee is more than that. And I love the glassiness of the dawns over there.

The afternoon will most likely offer wind/kitesurfing action on the north shore. Nothing epic though, since there's "only" 5f 9s in the water.

The talk of the week will be the Tropical storm Ana that is forecasted to become a hurricane and pass by very close to the islands. Here's the latest track forecast. You can check more updated ones here.
 
 
 

I love the game of picking the right spot for the conditions, and when hurricanes are involved, that game goes to another level. Too early to do it now, because it will highly depend on where the eye will actually be when it passes by, but I can't help myself but formulating a million possibilities in my head...
All wasted neurons. The call for any day is to be made in the morning of that same day (unless you have a boat or a jet ski and plan on using it). That's what I'm trying to do with this daily forecast.
If you guys appreciate it, please share the address of this blog on your social medias. Thanks.

Have fun in the sun everyone!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Plenty energy in lahaina. Sets seem chest to head high.

Head high, relatively cold and windy.

forecast 10 14 14

4am main swell buoy readings:
Hanalei
5ft @ 7s from 59° (ENE)
3.1ft @ 11s from 310° (WNW)
0.7ft @ 18s from 18° (NNE)

waimea bay
2.9ft @ 6s from 32° (NE)
2.9ft @ 11s from 326° (NW)
2.7ft @ 7s from 27° (NNE)
0.7ft @ 18s from 19° (NNE)

maui north shore
3.9ft @ 8s from 76° (ENE)
3.8ft @ 11s from 322° (NW)
2ft @ 6s from 64° (ENE)
1.2ft @ 4s from 80° (E)

west lanai
2.6ft @ 13s from 202° (SSW)
1.1ft @ 7s from 170° (S)
 
1ft @ 5s from 169° (SSE)

I'm writing this at 5.30 and the wind is already blowing at 15 at Hookipa. Not sure if you're gonna see a photo/report from it later, I might go look for small cleaner waves somewhere else.

Trade winds forecasted to lighten up a bit the next couple of days, before going all over the place because of tropical storm Ana, which will be right on top of Maui on Monday Oct 20, as the forecasted weather map below shows.

 
Take a look at the windguru forecast also (link n.16 on the right) and remember a GP rule that has NO exceptions: whenever you see the color red/purple in the wind strength, wind related sports are going to suck.
Check the amount of rain forecasted for Monday too...

Out of here. Have fun in the sun everyone!

Monday, October 13, 2014

Still solid head high with overhead sets.
Not much wind at the moment, but the shape is poor because of the overlapping windswell.

10 13 14 forecast

5am main swell buoy readings:
Hanalei 4.3ft @ 7s from 63° (ENE)
4ft @ 13s from 309° (WNW)
3.3ft @ 9s from 39° (NE)
2ft @ 11s from 319° (NW)
waimea 4.3ft @ 13s from 318° (NW)
3ft @ 6s from 32° (NE)
2ft @ 9s from 344° (NNW)
0.9ft @ 4s from 35° (NE)
maui
4.6ft @ 8s from 76° (ENE)
4.3ft @ 13s from 321° (NW)
2.5ft @ 11s from 325° (NW)
2.1ft @ 5s from 62° (ENE)
lanai 2.7ft @ 13s from 243° (WSW)
1ft @ 5s from 161° (SSE)
0.7ft @ 6s from 170° (S)
0.6ft @ 3s from 167° (SSE)
 
NW swell went down a bit, but it's still there. Mix of periods and directions as the buoys show.
Trade winds shouldn't be too strong, could be a fun day with surfing and windsurfing on the north shore.
Report from Hookipa in a bit.

Have fun in the sun (until it lasts... weekend gonna be gone) everyone

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Still well overhead with the windswell induced sub-peaks. Wind is 5-10 at 6.45 and i still haven't decided where to surf.

4am main swell buoy readings:
Hanalei 5.4ft @ 13s from 318° (NW)
waimea  4.4ft @ 13s from 322° (NW)
3.7ft @ 10s from 333° (NNW)
maui 4.4ft @ 8s from 81° (E)
6.6ft @ 13s from 320° (NW)
lanai 2.6ft @ 15s from 223° (SW)
The NW swell is still here and today the trade winds should be back to a moderate force.
Unfortunately, the Maui County @ 2km wind forecast is not available. That's a bummer, because that is by far the most reliable wind forecast for the next 24h.

There's still a fair bit of southwest swell as well, but it looks pretty sloppy with the early morning high tide on the webcam.

The photo below shows the winds of the east pacific and in the lower left corner there's a typhoon that will go right over Japan. Finger crossed for Fukushima.


This one instead is uncle Robby Naish as pictured by Jimmie Hepp (look him up on facebook if you need a photo shoot).
I promised Jimmie to do a bottom turn like that and he's going to take a picture of it. Wish me luck... that's as close as you can fit a sail in the pocket of a wave!

Hookipa report/photo coming up later.

Have fun in the sun everyone, also because there's some nasty weather forecasted for next weekend...

Saturday, October 11, 2014

4am buoy readings:
Hanalei 8.6ft @ 14s from 305° (WNW)
waimea 7.6ft @ 14s from 322° (NW)
maui north 7.3ft @ 14s from 319° (NW)
lanai 3.1ft @ 15s from 253° (WSW)

Yesterday both Jaws and Honolua were breaking and with the buoys still up, I don't think they're going to be flat today either...
Lahaina was head high +

Moderate trade winds today, overall it's gonna be another great day of action in da woda!

Have fun in the sun everyone!

PS. I added a list of link of meteo websites. Those are the websites I check to formulate my forecast.
PPS. If you have a report from somewhere, feel free to add it as a comment. Here's what an ideal report needs to have:
- timestamp
- spot name
- wave size (please use body parts like "head high")
- number of people
- wind conditions
Of course a report like "the bay is firing" is good enough... also because you know it's gonna be packed (like today will) if it's firing...

Friday, October 10, 2014

Hookipa is almost maxed out (few guys out at middles).

4am buoy readings:

Hanalei (welcome back online!!!): 7.3ft @ 15s from 313° (NW)
waimea: 6.4ft @ 17s from 317° (NW)
maui: 5.3ft @ 15s from 319° (NW)
lanai: 2.9ft @ 17s from 229° (SW)

So the first winter caliber swell of the season arrived. We had at least a couple of other swells before this, but this one is the first that really had a winter feel to it (read: the channel between Hookipa and Lanes occasionally closed out).

As predicted, Jaws broke (thanks Levi for the photo!) but no one was out. It will be definitely bigger later today and tomorrow for the second pulse of this swell.

Peahi on Oct 9. Photo by Levi Siver



The fact that the swell has two pulses is quite evident in the Waimea buoy graph below.


And if you want to know why it has two pulses, try to figure it out yourself by looking below at the weather maps of the storm that generated it. Good luck.





What to do today?
North shore is going to be windy, so not so good for surfing. Not so good for windsurfing either for me, since I prefer very light wind.

Yesterday it was the opening day for Honolua Bay too, and it looked pristine, so going west is an option. Today gonna be packed though.

I'm actually thinking south, but that Lanai buoy reading is too suspicious. Can't tell if it's the Tasmanian swell or the wrap of the nw swell. The Lahaina webcam will tell... once there will be light!

Anyway, this is my little help. Keep checking the blog during the day, because, like yesterday, I may add photos and reports during the whole day.

Have fun in the sun everyone!

Thursday, October 09, 2014

it's officially winter

Well, seems this blog has come back to life, but don't get used to posts like this, because the focus will still be on the morning forecast/report.

It was a fantastic day in Maui.

Below are the photos I took in between sessions. Enjoy.

one lonely and probably crazy longboarder was out there

Levi

that's how Levi loads up for the top turn. His hands were wide on the bottom turn, now are very close together and he's going to widen them again to shoulder width when he unloads the turn.

the spray is the result

Levi

Sara on a wave that is three times overhead for her

Bernd sailed amazing

very occasionally, even Levi wipes out. That was a good one.

Fiona on another triple overheader. I was impressed by how much she improved.

Kai eyeing a dreamy section

Jazz. That didn't end well.

Bernd flew over the whole damn section

Kai on another bomb

Paolino si e' spataccato oggi!

Morgan

Morgan

good day at the office for Nico