Tuesday, April 30, 2019

6am hookipa has inconsistent head to head and a third high waves with a little texture but still relatively clean.
6.5 for the low frequency of the good ones.

Tuesday 4 30 19 morning call

Two shortboard sessions for me yesterday. This shot shows the excellent conditions that lasted till 8ish when an offshore squall inexorably brought the wind in the lineup.


This is a clip of a wave which gave me the opportunity of little shampoo. Good, I needed. Can't even remember last time I had a proper one. .


I took this couple of shots after my session, not sure why they came out so washed out. Always thought Kai Lenny had a Currenish bottom turn.


He's an abstract of a brief conversation we had when he got out of the water.
GP: Kai, how would you score the conditions when we first paddle out?
Kai: Mmm... that was an eight (I gave them an 8.5 in my beach report)
GP: what about now with the wind?
Kai: it's more like a 4, but at least it's overhead so maybe still 6? (I had 5 in my mind)
It's good to occasionally double check if my conditions ranking are in line with surfing professionals and it this case they were.

He also told me that he's going to Italy for a family trip.
GP: Where about?
Kai: Napoli.
GP: That's where I'm from!
Kai: Really? I didn't know!
GP: You didn't know I was from Italy or you didn't know I was from Napoli?
Kai: Man, you've been around so long that I always thought you were just from Maui...

That made me chuckle and put a smile on my face because it made me think of many years ago when he was just a little kid and his dad was taking him to the beach at Kahana to teach him how to windsurf. I was on the same beach teaching windsurf lessons and I pride myself to have given him a few tips here and there... but he already looked like he didn't need much help to learn anything in the water.


This is my pick of Jimmie Hepp's daily gallery of the windsurfing action at Hookipa.


3-4am significant buoy readings
Barbers
1.9ft @ 15s from 177° (S)

Lanai
2.3ft @ 13s from 186° (S)

Yesterday afternoon I saw some very inconsistent head high sets on the Lahaina webcam and below is the map of April 22 that shows a very strong fetch oriented towards the Americas. The angularly spread energy of it must have been the source for those sets.


The local buoys still report good numbers, but I'm looking at the webcam and it looks pretty minimal for most of the time until... one of the angular spreading sets arrives! That's solid head high right there. And then it goes tiny for a long time.


North shore
NW101
5.3ft @ 10s from 338° (NNW)

Hanalei
4.1ft @ 6s from 29° (NNE)
3.4ft @ 10s from 334° (NNW)
2.7ft @ 9s from 342° (NNW)

Waimea
3.5ft @ 10s from 323° (NW)

Pauwela
4.1ft @ 12s from 322° (NW)

NW swell went down in period quickly, but I was actually expecting less than 4ft 12s at Pauwela this morning. As you can see from the other buoys, it will soon be 10s, so get them as soon as you can, also because there's no wind at my house at 5.40am, but it will inexorably (sorry, I just learned this word, it's just perfect to describe the wind in Maui) arrive at one point. Below is Pauwela's graph together with my elaboration of it from yesterday and the Surfline forecast (pretty wrong in this case, as it never went up to 6ft)


Wind map at noon.


North Pacific has pretty much nothing for us today. But I'm liking what's ahead...













South Pacific has a bunch of scattered fetches of which I circled the two best ones.



Morning sky.

Monday, April 29, 2019

6.30am is head to head and a half with occasional bigger sets and clean.
8.5

Monday 4 29 19 morning call

A shortboard and a longboard session for me yesterday. This is Morgan enjoy a solo session at Hookipa.


4am significant buoy readings
South shore
SW
2.8ft @ 13s from 180° (S)

SE
2.4ft @ 13s from 175° (S)

The local buoys are feeling the NW swell more than anything, but SW and SE still show some southerly energy, so there should still be waves on the south shore. Do check the Lahaina webcam before you go, if that's after the sun came out. I'm watching it now at 5.40am, but, despite the fact that there's light outside my house, it's all dark. That either means that the camera has a delay (like the Kanaha one) or that Lahaina gets the light quite a bit after Kuau. Might be a combination of both.

North shore
NW101
6.5ft @ 11s from 329° (NW)
4ft @ 10s from 332° (NNW)
 
Hanalei
3.9ft @ 13s from 316° (NW)
2.8ft @ 9s from 345° (NNW)
2ft @ 11s from 320° (NW)
 
Waimea
5ft @ 13s from 316° (NW)
 
Pauwela
4.3ft @ 13s from 320° (NW)
2.7ft @ 9s from 29° (NNE)
 
New NW swell peaking right now, as the collage of the graphs of the reported buoys plus the Surfline forecast shows below. It reached 10f 12s yesterday afternoon at the NW buoy, but the relatively short periods lose more energy than the longer ones with the travel, so locally we can expect up to 5ft in the early morning and then steady for a while before starting to decline towards the end of the day. The Surfline forecast seems to be "late", as it shows a peak during tonight. I'll report from Hookipa before 6.30, it should be well overhead, even though the noise coming through my window is not particularly impressive. No wind at the moment, so hopefully the conditions will stay clean for the first hours of light, until the inexorable wind picks up.



Below is the collage of the maps of April 25, 26 and 27 that show the evolution of the fetch (the one NW of us).


Wind map at noon.


North Pacific has a remote NW fetch in the Kamchatka corner.


South Pacific has a fetch right over New Zealand (hence partially blocked by it) and a SSE east elongated one.


Morning sky.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Sunday 4 18 19 morning call

A longboard and a shortboard session for me yesterday. This is brother Josh ripping on the south side most likely on one of his retro fish boards.


MSR approved swim suite.


3am significant buoy readings
South shore
SW
2.9ft @ 13s from 184° (S)

SE
2.4ft @ 13s from 201° (SSW)

Barbers
3ft @ 14s from 171° (S)

Lanai
2.4ft @ 14s from 176° (S)

Southerly energy still at the buoys, should be another fun day on the south shore. This is day 6 of this run of swells that had peaks on the even days (day 1, 3 and 5). Check the webcam for size and conditions. 

North shore
NW101
3.6ft @ 14s from 250° (WSW)
3.5ft @ 10s from 16° (NNE)
2.4ft @ 11s from 317° (NW)
 
Hanalei
0.9ft @ 14s from 323° (NW)
0.1ft @ 18s from 340° (NNW)
 
Waimea
3ft @ 10s from 9° (N)
0.7ft @ 14s from 271° (W)
 
Pauwela
4ft @ 10s from 19° (NNE)
1.5ft @ 5s from 73° (ENE)
 
Really weird and confusing numbers at the buoys, hard to comment on. Yesterday I wrote: "Surfline has the NW swell for Monday/Tuesday, Pat Caldwell put it its table for Sunday/Monday instead".
It seems that they were actually both right, as the NOAA page this morning says for Oahu: Surf along north facing shores will be rising to 4 to 8 feet by this afternoon, and increasing to 6 to 10 feet Monday.

There's no NW energy at Pauwela at the moment, so it's likely that in Maui it's mostly gonna show tomorrow. Maybe something at sunset today, but in the morning it's only going to be the leftover NNE energy. Despite the lack of wind, I don't hear any noise from the waves, which should then be smaller than yesterday, waist to shoulder is my call.
 
Wind map at noon.


Gonna give the Saildrone wind model another chance ( I added to GP's meteo website link list: n. -4). This is the map at noon and it shows 10 knots onshore in the Olowalu area. This model has a tendency of seeing a patch of onshores in that area that it's probably a flaw. We'll see today if that happens. I don't think so and I sure don't hope so.


North Pacific has a WNW, a NNW and a weak NE fetch.


South Pacific has a fetch in the Tasman Sea. The one deeper south (black circle) should be blocked by New Zealand.


Morning sky. The front associated with the local low is on top of the islands.


As a result, there's some rain in the Kihei side.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

7am hookipa has glassy short period waves up to head high. Bit mushy.
6

Saturday 4 27 19 morning call

A longboard and a shortboard session for me yesterday. This is Kathy Shipman inexplicably by herself in epic foiling conditions. Might be that most people now have long masts and they're realizing how much smaller their windows of tide opportunity are on the south shore. Btw, it's a good thing that I don't have my board with me anymore, otherwise I would have paddled out too (and made the trigger fingers worse).


This is my pick of Jimmie Hepp's daily gallery of the windsurfing action at Hookipa.


4am significant buoy readings
South shore
Lanai
WVHT 3.0 SwH2.3 SwP12.5 SwDS

The Surfline page with the buoy readings is down at the moment, so that's what the NOAA page reports. The Surfline algorithm to extract the breakdown of the different swells in the water is not perfect (often the readings are inconsistent and the directions are unreliable), but it sure is still much better than the NOAA page that only shows the primary swell instead. In this case, for example, we have no idea if the new 15s pulse of S swell that Pat Caldwell predicted is in the water or not. Fortunately now we have a webcam from which I took this snapshot that shows excellent conditions once again.



North shore
Pauwela
WVHT 5.6SwH 2.0SwP 11.1 SwDNNE

I don't really want to comment on that reading, I'm just going to say that I do hear a solid noise from the waves at my house. The NE fetch has been in place for a couple of days and I think the Hi-Tech organized MIL contest at Pavillions will have great conditions. My boss Kim Ball planned on leaving his house at 4am to have everything ready to start at 7am. He's an avid foiler and I'm sure he would love to be foiling with his friends, but his dedication to the local community is really admirable. I will report early.

Today we have an opportunity to test the new wind model that Jason found. Below is the map at 6am that shows 12 knots of onshore wind in Lahaina.


This is the 6am map of the model I've been using and instead it shows no wind in Lahaina at 6am. The picture of the Lahaina webcam I posted was taken at 5.55am, so that shows that the new model is clearly wrong about that patch of onshores. Bummer, I like the graphics and the resolution much better, but it clearly is not reliable. I invite the readers to test it themselves and let me know the results of their observations.


Wind map at noon. Both models show no wind on the north shore until 10ish.


North shore has the same two NW and NE fetches it had yesterday. Surfline has the NW swell for Monday/Tuesday, Pat Caldwell put it its table for Sunday/Monday instead. I go with uncle Pat.


South Pacific has a small fetch in a position that could easily be blocked by New Zealand... until it moves a bit east.


Morning sky.

Friday, April 26, 2019

Friday 4 26 19 morning call

A shortboard session for me yesterday (scored awesome conditions in my surf guide). Didn't take any pictures, but as usual Jimmie Hepp was at Hookipa to shoot the windsurfers. Nice office view.


This is my pick out of this gallery.


4am significant buoy readings
South shore
Barbers
2.2ft @ 13s from 183° (S)

Lanai
1.9ft @ 13s from 173° (S)

The second pulse of southerly energy that made for excellent waves yesterday (waist to chest with occasional bigger sets) is down to 13s period and the waves look a bit smaller on the new webcam. There's still some nice sets though, like the one below. Not sure I'm going, but now there's the webcam, you don't really need my beach report anymore.


North shore
Pauwela
4.7ft @ 9s from 27° (NNE)
3.2ft @ 6s from 66° (ENE)

The northerly energy at Pauwela (similar size to yesterday) was generated by the nearby fetch we saw the last couple of days ago. Hookipa will probably be at least head high.

The usual wind maps website is down this morning and with impeccable timing blog reader Jason sent me this other site he found that gives a very detailed map of the wind in Maui. I literally got on it 10 minutes ago, don't even know what model it is, but this is the map at noon.


North Pacific shows a NW and a weak NE fetch. The first one is associated with the low that will shut down the trades for a few days, and gift us with a nice NW swell Monday/Tuesday.


South Pacific has a strong fetch deep down in the Tasman Sea, probably the same one that brought those massive waves at the Bells contest yesterday.


Morning call.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

8.30am lahaina side is waist to occasionally chest high and clean

Thursday 4 25 19 morning call

A day of rest for me yesterday, as I was nursing a small knee tweak. Fortunately I was still able to teach and fortunately this morning I seem to be ok. This is the shore break at Makena photographed by blog reader James Dawson. Pretty amazing shot, I love how defined the line of the sand being sucked up the face is. I love everything about it, really. I really appreciate the contribution of all photographers (I can link your website if you need). You can send me your shots of the day via email or facebook. As long as I receive them by 4am the morning after, I will take them into consideration. Thanks!


This is my pick of Jimmie Hepp's gallery of the windsurfing action at Hookipa. The NW bump had up to logo high sets.


3am significant buoy readings
South shore
Barbers
1.8ft @ 12s from 210° (SSW)                        
1.5ft @ 15s from 184° (S)
 
Lanai
1.4ft @ 13s from 182° (S)
1.1ft @ 15s from 182° (S)
 
New 15s pulse of southerly energy is at the local buoys. Here's how Pat Caldwell described what happened: a similar source to the system that made the 4/23 event locally unfolded 4/16-18 with a direct aim of marginal gales and an overall northward shift to the pattern that produced a captured fetch. This should bring in another small pulse building Thursday 4/25 and dropping Friday from 180-190 degrees.
 
Below is the collage of the maps of April 15, 16, 17 and 18 (which I already posted 3 days ago). I have a surf guide customer that agreed to a 5.45am appointment, so I doubt I will have time to post a report before our session, but I'll try to post it after it, around 8.30.

North shore
NW101
7.8ft @ 9s from 50° (NE)

N
7.8ft @ 9s from 50° (NE)

Waimea
4ft @ 10s from 342° (NNW)

Pauwela
4.6ft @ 9s from 51° (ENE)
2ft @ 7s from 71° (ENE)
1.6ft @ 6s from 68° (ENE)

Confusing readings this morning at the buoys. NW showing NE energy and N showing NW energy is a situation that I observed quite a bit this season. It happens when there's nearby fetches. What I do in these cases, is to focus on the closer buoys, but in this instance also those are a bit confusing. Waimea shows 4ft 10s leftovers from the NNW, while Pauwela mostly shows NE energy. There will probably be both in the local Maui waters, but it's not going to be as big as it got yesterday, imo. No time/light/interest to report on the north shore, I think Hookipa will be at least head high.

Wind map at noon.


North Pacific has two nicely positioned (not too far away) NW and NNE fetches.


Nothing instead from the south.


Morning sky.


Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Wednesday 4 24 19 morning call

It's with great pleasure that I announce that the new Lahaina harbor webcam is up and running on this website. Thanks to all the people who contributed to the funding campaign. The installation went a little over the planned cost, please keep donating if you feel like.

Three shortboard sessions for me yesterday. I took this image on the Lahaina side in the afternoon.


After the trusty Rusty, I pulled out another semi-forgotten board out of the house rack. This incredibly fun 5.7 Proctor 'Lil Rascal got bumped out of the car rack a year ago by a similar one, but it's the perfect board to try out the Mark Richards twinnish fin set I just purchased. That's what I rode all day yesterday. It's so loose that requires much less foot pressure and a more cruisy, relaxed, Machado-like style.
Don't have enough money to buy a new board, but feel the need for a change? Changing your fins is almost like changing your board... come check out the vast assortment we have at Hi-Tech.


This is my pick of Jimmie Hepp's gallery of the windsurfing action at Hookipa.


6am significant buoy readings
South shore
SW
2.9ft @ 12s from 166° (SSE)

SE
2.3ft @ 12s from 181° (S)

Barbers
2.5ft @ 13s from 189° (S)

Lanai
2.3ft @ 13s from 197° (SSW)

South swell still running, just went down a second or two in the period (which is great for many spots on the Lahaina side, btw). This image from the new cam shows a nice set at Breakwall, so I'm calling waist to chest possibly occasionally bigger. I will report around 8.30 from Ukumehame. Btw, yesterday I heard for the first time the nickname Nukumehame... good one!


North shore
Waimea
2.5ft @ 12s from 314° (NW)

Pauwela
4.8ft @ 9s from 82° (E)            
1.9ft @ 6s from 75° (ENE)
1.8ft @ 12s from 330° (NW)
1.3ft @ 5s from 66° (ENE)
 
Little NW swell showing at the reported buoys (not at the others), so there should be something more than the windswell at Hookipa. I'm calling possible head high in the sets from home.

Wind map at noon.


North Pacific has a NW, a NNE and the windswell fetch. I like the NNE one because is relatively close to us and because I like that direction.


Nothing from the south.


Morning sky.