3 5 15 morning call

Double surf session yesterday, both of them quite nice since the wind was kept at bay by the rain.
Below is our Maui ripper Paige Alms in a photo by Jason Hall taken yesterday afternoon at Hookipa.



Similar waves today, as the NW and Pauwela buoys show. Sizey and predominant NE windswell with the addition of a small, long period NW swell. Can't complain!

Wind should be between light variables and light trades, even though both windguru bottom of the page models might seem to indicate the possibility of slightly stronger trades in the afternoon, but the direction seems to be too sideon (60).
Here's my comment on the wind direction on the north shore:
up to 60: no amplification by the Haleakala (proper name: Venturi effect)
60 to 70: some amplification, but not much and nice and steady. Up to around 65, I might still pop out my biggest sail (4.7), but that is happening more and more rarely now. The sail I use 99% of the times is my 4.3 Hot Sails Maui Firelight. Its incredible light weight makes it incredibly efficient.
70-80 is ideal: the wind gets well stronger than it is off shore, but the more easterly it gets, the more gusty.
80-95: if the offshore wind is strong enough (like 15-20), it turns into a nightmare. The offshore gusts can get amplified to 30 knots plus and I do not sail in the middle of the day. I eventually wait for sunset time when there might be a 30 minutes window of lighter offshore (before all the surfers claim the place).

Of course, all directions are helped by a sunny day that heats up the Haleakala.

The wind map confirms the very onshore direction of the wind (gonna be cold, you guys). That huge High in the middle is blocking most the development of the winter storms that send us the swells from the NW, but there's a nice fetch from the N and that's the direction from which will see plenty waves in the days ahead. I actually love it a lot, because it brings to life some of my favorite waves.

 

 

It seems that the worse of the rain clouds have passed over the islands (after a very rainy night), but I wouldn't start planting your sun umbrella on the beach just yet...



Have fun in the sun everyone!


PS. All the sources for this post are permanently linked in the links section on the right of this blog.