Thursday 4 16 20 morning call

This is the vlog n.4 of the Surfling in Maui at the time of the Corona Virus series.


The WNW swell came up nicely in the afternoon. After watching Pipeline light up on the webcam...


...I went to Hookipa to capture some of the action.











5am significant buoy readings and discussion.
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, check the Lahaina webcam if interested, for size, conditions and consistency. There's very occasional long period waves like this one that makes me think of a possible west wrap of some sort.


North shore
NW101
7.7ft @ 14s from 307° (WNW)

Hanalei
6.7ft @ 14s from 314° (NW)

Waimea
7.2ft @ 15s from 312° (NW)

Pauwela
8.1ft @ 17s from 316° (NW)

Below are the graphs of NW and Pauwela, my yesterday's prediction (too conservative, the swell came up stronger) and the undoubtedly late Surfline forecast. Swell has peaked over night and it's now starting its decline, but of course with the size shown at the buoys, the waves are still going to be big on the north shore. Hookipa double overhead, smaller towards Kahului. Plenty wind already, seek a sheltered place.



Wind map at noon (the other ones can be found at link n.-2 of GP's meteo websites list in the right column).


North Pacific fetches map (about 4 days travel time from the NW corner):
WNW fetch n.2 moved up a bit, now it's between 300 and 310.


South Pacific fetches map (about 7 days travel time from east of New Zealand):
S fetch SE of New Zealand.


Morning sky.

Thursday 4 9 20 morning call

Yesterday morning was kinda glorious. I had the gopro with me and here's a dramatic shot on a right. I should have been grabbing rail in that hollow pocket behind me.


Enough in the pocket on this one.


Those waves didn't even make the cut for the vlog n.3 of the Surfing at the time of the Corona Virus series (9 minutes). It features brief interviews with Niccolo' Porcella and Josh Bogle.


4am significant buoy readings and discussion.
South shore
No southerly energy at the local buoys, check the Lahaina webcam if interested, for size, conditions and consistency (there's not much).

North shore
NW101

6.2ft @ 11s from 323° (NW)

5ft @ 10s from 340° (NNW)

Hanalei

4ft @ 9s from 327° (NW)

2.7ft @ 12s from 320° (NW)

1.9ft @ 11s from 323° (NW)

Waimea

3.6ft @ 10s from 325° (NW)

3.5ft @ 12s from 314° (NW)

Pauwela

4.2ft @ 9s from 320° (NW)

2.9ft @ 12s from 316° (NW)

Here's Pat Caldwell's description of the fetches responsible for the waves in the next few days:
Sunday into early Tuesday 4/5-7, a short fetch aimed at Hawaii over the 305-330 degree band from the long-lived, nearby low. NOAA NW Hawaii buoys 51001 and 51101 over the past 24 hours to mid day 4/8 showed the 10-14s band remaining about the same though the dominant direction has slowly veered from 305 to 325 degrees.
Surf is predicted to trend up from 320-345 degrees mid Thursday to levels near the April average by late afternoon. The peak of the event is estimated for mid Friday from 330-360 degrees above average. Heights should hold at least average to Saturday morning, then steadily decline from 330-360 degrees into Sunday as a new event picks up.

Below is the collage of the maps of April 5 through 8 that will help follow.


Waves at Hookipa today will be again in the head high range with likely bigger sets. I'll probably post a beach report later this morning.

Wind map at noon (the other ones can be found at link n.-2 of GP's meteo websites list in the right column).


North Pacific fetches map (about 4 days travel time from the NW corner):
I circled those three very weak fetches not to leave the map depressingly empty, but it sure isn't a good day of wave generation for Hawaii. The nearby low pressure is lifting to the north, but it's soon to be replaced by another nearby one.


South Pacific fetches map (about 7 days travel time from east of New Zealand):
a small but intense fetch associated with cyclone Harold could produce some waves for us. Surfline only has 1.8ft 12s on Sunday, while Pat Caldwell put 2ft 14s in his table. I'm with him.
Btw, the first damage of the Cyclone reported on the social media is the destruction of the judges tower in front of Cloudbreak. Gonna be harder to lineup.


Morning sky.

Thursday 4 2 20 morning call

Surfing at the time of the Corona virus vlog n.2 is up.


This is some much better nose riding.


Ah, that drop knee turn... got to start trying them!


Things are tightening up, this is a sign that can be found on beaches that are not classified as state parks (hence are not closed). Yesterday I was reading a book on my beach chair (completely by myself) and a group of uniformed officials kindly asked me to either leave or engage in an activity like the ones described below. I replied:"hey, if the police asks me to go surfing, I better do it! Thanks a lot, the waves look good right now!".
Only in Hawaii...


3am significant buoy readings and discussion.
South shore
Barbers
2.8ft @ 14s from 180° (S)

Lanai
3.1ft @ 14s from 172° (S)

3ft 14s? This swell is performing much better than I thought! Check the Lahaina webcam if interested, for size, conditions and consistency.

North shore
Waimea
2.4ft @ 11s from 322° (NW)

Pauwela
5.1ft @ 9s from 76° (ENE)

Waimea is the only buoy that still shows a bit of NW energy, but the windswell is holding up nicely. Eastern exposures will be a valid option, seen the lovely lack of wind.

Wind map at noon (the other ones can be found at link n.-2 of GP's meteo websites list in the right column).

North Pacific fetches map (about 4 days travel time from the NW corner):
finally a semi-decent NNW fetch (although most of it aims to our west) after many days of windswell only (6ft 12s from 326 predicted by Surfline on Sunday). The associated low is going to stay in that area for a long time, providing us with moderate size waves and very light E to ESE winds. Next week looks good on the north shore.


South Pacific fetches map (about 7 days travel time from east of New Zealand):
nothing today.


Morning sky.

Wednesday 3 25 20 morning call

Pretty massive day of action on the south facing shores yesterday, I did a bit of reporting effort.


Wailea side by James Flynn.


Ricardo Campello posted this photo of La Perouse. A windsurf mast is 4m=13ft.


These are some pics I took. Not the best direction for Maalaea, but a swell this big will get pretty much everywhere facing south. Just too windy to be good, in this case.


Love the no grab glide.


First time I see this spot surfed.


Surfing is officially OK. (from this page).



4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
Barbers
4.5ft @ 15s from 193° (SSW)

Lanai
3.1ft @ 15s from 199° (SSW)

Pretty good numbers at the buoys also today, the swell only went down a second or two in period (so it's going to be smaller than yesterday). Check the Lahaina webcam if interested for size and conditions. Looks smaller than yesterday, but how about this set at 6.05am?!


North shore
Pauwela
12ft @ 9s from 54° (ENE)

Pretty big windswell will provide blown out waves to the north and east facing shores.

Wind map at noon (the other ones can be found at link n.-2 of GP's meteo websites list in the right column).


Those NW fetches are small/weak, the most significant one is the windswell fetch.


Decent fetch in the Tasman Sea down under. Fiji is having a great early start of the season. Must also be uncrowded because of the travelling restrictions.


Morning sky.