Saturday, December 09, 2006

a bit of everything

Let's start from the ocean, of course.

We are now three days into this long period of wind and waves. Here's a little summary of my sessions:
Thursday 12 7.
11am. The swell is large and lower Kanaha is closing out. Lots of people breaking lots of stuff. When it's like that, I go to the outer reef of Uppers, instead. So I did. Not many sets were breaking out there, but I caught a few mast high waves.

Here's the description of the best one. I saw this set that was really, really big. I carefully avoided the biggest one (must have been a mast and a half), skipped the one behind and caught the last one. Just mast high...
When I got in the impact zone the water was completely white, because of the big wave that broke ahead of me and absolutely glassy (for the same reason). The wind was zero (it defenitely gets stopped by the wave itself) and it was like... snowboarding on powder. Kind of different, for sure...

In the afternoon the swell went down a lot and at sunset I had a killer sesh at Lowers where I caught a bunch playful logo high ones.

Friday 12 8.
11am. It's really big again and the wind is kind of light and a bit onshore. I select a 5.0 (5.5 would have been better...) and my newly bought 87 liters wave board and head towards the break at Lowers. I could only ride backside (upwind), but I really like that too.
Here's my favorite game. When it's big, the left at Lowers bowls... like a little Jaws (yeah, right). What I like to do is try to be downwind of the bowl when it starts getting steep I snap a last backside turn right in the middle of it just before it closes out. I really love the sound of the bowl that explodes a few feet behind me... hopefully!

Since it was a bit onshore, in the afternoon me and Glenn tried the west side and we scored. Superwindy (I was on my 4.2 and he was extremely overpowered on a 5.0!), head high with a couple of logo high sets. Only the two of us out! The sun low on the horizon made the vision of the wave in the bottom turn particularly enjoyable and scenic, but at the same time hard to see...
As a result, now I have a bump on my forehead to remind me that... I shouldn't go for the lip if I can't really see it!!
Here's a photo taken from the car when we drove by Maalaea. 50 knots, at least. At the same time, people were slogging at Kanaha... the power of the Venturi effect!


Saturday 12 9.
Unfortunately the wind was already howling at 11am. The waves were down to head high at Lowers. I rigged the 4.2, but it was just too gusty. I had a short sesh because I wanted to save my energy for tomorrow (Sunday). The waves are supposed to pick up again (13 feet, 16 seconds at 5pm at the NW buoy) and hopefully the wind will slow down a bit.
I drove to Hookipa where there were only three people out. The wind looked pretty horrible and full of holes over there too. This is Graham Ezzy.




That's it for the ocean. Stay tuned for updates, 'cause the waves are here to stay!

This moth is beautiful, but unfortunately dead.


Sharon put the Chistmas lights at her house and despite the fact that I'm against them, I had to help her. Here are a few shots. Hey, it's cold in Makawao!






And here's a few shots of the inside of my car. As you can see, I'm sponsored by K-mart.
Damn, I just noticed that my safety expired!


I bought this fin five years ago, but it still works great. May be time for a new one, though...


My subwoofer.


And these are the channel phasers of my 87 liters wave board. I have no clue what they are for. If you do, post a comment and let me know.


Lastly, my favorite brand of sails.


PS. I forgot to reveal why my canoe doesn't steer on the wave. It's because when it's on a wave it moves at the same speed of the water... can't steer a boat that it's not moving...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's about time one of you m%^therf#@kers posted something about the big swell that arrived on Wednesday! Thanks for keeping up the level of stoke, Giampaolo! Now if only Ulli and Michelle posted something current, and I'm tired of seeing what someone looks like at their 50th birthday (not very flattering, like a deer caught in the headlights)!
Sorry, I guess I just got carried away!

All the best and Mele Kalikimaka and all that.......to my Maui brahs and brahsettes!

Ely

cammar said...

Ely, your comment comes really apropos, considering that the other m%^therf#@kers were making fun of my blog during dinner tonight...
Now, YOU are a man of good blog taste...

Anonymous said...

hey gp
isn't a 4.7 too close to a 5.0? just wonderin'

joe fool

cammar said...

Well, it's quite personal and it depends on the conditions where you live. In Maui the wind is often in the 4.7/5.0 range and I find extremely convenient to have them both. I also have a 4.2 and if I could afford it, I would have also a 4.5 and a 5.2.
Do I feel the difference? Big time!
A few days ago, I came out of the water because the wind increased, derigged the 5.0, rigged the 4.7 and it was a lot better.
I like to sail right-powered.

Anonymous said...

The phasers on the board are supposed to help the board release from the water allowing it to feel looser and faster. Looks like yours are designed to give that effect when going in a straight line, then grip when cutting back and carving.

cammar said...

Looks like they work!
Even though I'd like to try the same board without them to see if I can tell the difference.
Maybe one day I'll put some tape on them. Or maybe not...

Thanks anonymous.

Nancy said...

Hey Ely-wait until you turn 50!!