10 13 16 morning call

Yesterday it was foil day and it was a lot of fun in the sun.

Here's a video of foil designer Alex Aguera showing us how to foil.

 

And here's Hi-Tech owner Kim Ball getting the job done!


At one point Zane Schweitzer showed up in the middle of the ocean (as one does) and he put up a show. Here he is after letting go of the rope and surfing the boat wake.


My feedback.
It ain't easy. I had pretty much zero experience of sports that imply being towed behind a boat, but that was not the problem. As long as the board was touching the water, I was in a familiar territory. Even when the foil started lifting the board, as long as the very end of the tail rails were still touching it, I was fine. Whenever the board got completely lifted up instead, it was like entering a completely foreign territory.

Imagine you're walking with good trekking shoes and even have a couple of trekking sticks to help your balance. That's what the rails of the board felt for me. Training wheels on a bicycle is another good example. But as soon as the board completely lifted up in the air, I felt like I was as stable as walking on an ice sheet with slick sole shoes.
As soon as you put your weight a bit too much on the toes or hills, the thing reacts with a lot more sensitivity that you are used to.
Here's Hi-Tech surfboard buyer John Chiu showing one of those moments and digging a rail.


We all had plenty wipeouts, specially at the very beginning. None of them looked particularly dangerous, but you could see the potential for an impact with the foil. Fortunately the foil itself is a lot more blunt than you would expect it to be.

Everybody got a lot better at their second run and they were pretty stoked on the fun. I was the only one who didn't get to go a second time (an engine was acting up), so I was the one who had the least fun. But I still had fun!

We're going to receive the Starboard foils (designed by Alex Aguera) in a matter of a few days at Hi-Tech. To put it on your board, you'll need to retro-fit it. That means bring it to Ding King or anyone who does these kinds of jobs and have a tuttle box installed so that you'll be able to mount it.
Later on we're also going to receive the Starboard SUP boards already equipped with the tuttle box for the foil.

What can you do when you have one? You can foil behind a boat, you can foil with a windsurfing sail (if your board has a mast insert, like many of the Starboards) or you can try to standup paddle foil with it, either on a downwinder or catching small unbroken ground swell waves. If you choose this last option, PLEASE make sure you do it in a place where you're by yourself. An out of control foiled board in a crowded lineup is obviously a recipe for disaster.

Going back to the surf report now, I do have to add that I had two surf sessions also. Sunset at Hookipa was unexpectedly fun, still head high plus and finally smooth with a dying wind.
Earlier in the afternoon, the wind was absolutely cranking well in the 30's (it was nice to spend the day out of it on the west side). This photo is taken from this gallery from Jimmie Hepp.


Significant buoy readings 4am

Lanai
1.6ft @ 18s from 232° (WSW)

1.4ft @ 13s from 285° (WNW) 

 Nice long period reading at the Lanai buoy. That's not the wrap, that's that Tasman Sea swell I talked about in the last call. Yesterday afternoon, the buoy was reading 1.1f 18s and the energy in the water in Lahaina was minimal. But today it's up to 1.6f, so a look at the webcam is definitely worth it.

 

NW
7.6ft @ 13s from 329° (NW)                      

2.3ft @ 10s from 327° (NW)

N
8.1ft @ 16s from 328° (NW)

4.6ft @ 13s from 315° (NW)                      

2.7ft @ 10s from 319° (NW)

 

Waimea
3.9ft @ 13s from 314° (NW)

3.4ft @ 16s from 341° (NNW)                      

2.8ft @ 11s from 323° (NW)

 

Pauwela
4.3ft @ 7s from 65° (ENE)

4.1ft @ 12s from 329° (NW)

3.4ft @ 18s from 342° (NNW)

2.3ft @ 9s from 338° (NNW)

 

All the buoys are reading a bunch of overlapping periods from the NW, so it's easy to predict that the conditions won't be ideal. Too much overlapping energy is never good. Unless you find a place that filters  some of it based on period and/or size and/or direction. That place today will be Honolua Bay, which yesterday only had small occasional breakers.

 

The N buoy is the one feeling the new more northerly pulse the most with those 8f 16s from 329. Nothing of that at the NW buoy (which is NOT the most sensitive one, specially if it has other swells hitting it), 3.4f 16s at Waimea and 3.4f 18s at Pauwela.

That makes me think that, because of the nature of the angular spreading (you have to remember the fetches of the last 3 days to understand this. If you don't, just scroll down to the previous calls), the biggest energy of this swell is probably travelling NE of us. In other words, where I put that big X on the map below.

Notice also the lovely 342 direction at the Pauwela buoy. That's an unblocked direction that is also going to fill in the west side. Below is the graph of the N buoy that shows a pretty sharp rise starting around midnight. That means that this swell will be picking up all day locally. If the Surfline forecast is correct (10f 18s at 8am), Hookipa shouldn't be surfable at all. But my feeling is that it's gonna be a bit smaller than that and it's also a bit late compared to that timeing, so it might be surfable by the good guys pretty early, but it will definitely become too big pretty soon during the morning. Stay tuned for the beach report soon.

 

Current wind map shows a new but still weak NW fetch coming from the next storm in line and a weak Tasman Sea fetch down south.

 

 

Updated MC2km map at noon shows some wind, unfortunately a bit more onshore than ideal. I heard rumors of sailors getting ready to windsurf Jaws.