4 23 16 morning call

Yesterday was a busy day for me that started with a lesson on the south shore.

Here's my intermediate student going for a kamikaze takeoff in the middle of a close out.
She was at that stage where she would like to more consistently make it to the open face, for doing which it's necessary to take off in the right spot on the wave.
How to spot the right spot? You have to look for the peak and an eventual shoulder with a declining slope. In this case, it would have been 15-20 yards to her right.
We were lucky enough to be by ourselves with the company of Dave Kalama (that's what happens when you schedule lessons at 5.45am) and even Dave couldn't add much to the topic. "One of the things that indicate the peak is that it's usually darker", he kindly contributed. Then he looked at the small waves and added "well, maybe that applies only to bigger waves...".

It's hard to read waves and only experience and time in the water will make it better. When I teach my beginner students it's so evident that they have no clue of what the wave is going to do. It's like advanced surfers have a magic vision and can see things that others can't. But it's not magic, it comes with time in the water. That's why I believe that one hour of trying to surf messy waves at Paia Bay is always better for your surfing than one hour on the couch.

 

After the lesson I had a board delivery in Lahaina and after that I managed to squeeze a session at the bay before an afternoon work shift. The inside bowl at the point looked really fun for longboarding.

 

But the race track at the Cave looked even more fun and I paddled out there.

 

This was a head high screamer that I managed to ride until it unfolded faster that I could go. I don't know how to get speed when I'm grabbing the rail and there's no way I would let the rail go... the gopro flattens the shot, but it's a very steep wall. The guy down the line got the rest of it.



There were occasional gems, if you had the patience to wait deep in the lineup for them.

Meanwhile at Hookipa the windsurfers where enjoying another day of wind and waves. Photo by Jimmie Hepp.


Hookipa at sunset looked pretty nice.


Dani stuck that landing.



4am significant buoy readings
NW
6.3ft @ 11s from 311° (NW)

N
5.8ft @ 13s from 312° (NW)

4.1ft @ 10s from 323° (NW)

Waimea

4.4ft @ 13s from 326° (NW)

2.8ft @ 9s from 335° (NNW)

Lanai
2.1ft @ 14s from 199° (SSW)

Barbers
3ft @ 14s from 194° (SSW)

 

NW and Waimea graphs below (still with screwed up time line) and the word that describes them is: steady. This is going to be the 5th solid day of this swell.

Meanwhile, the south swell is now showing its readings at Lanai and Barbers.
North shore gonna be windy again, at least you have an alternative if you want to escape the wind, but check the webcam before going, as usual.

MC2km not updated yet, this is the 6am map in yesterday's run. Seems a little excessive wind, the Hookipa sensor is reading 13mph at 5.15am. Strong and gusty is my call.



Wind map shows weak fetches.


SE corner of New Zealand has a nice fetch, but aimed at the Americas. Small long period angular spreading is what we can expect from it. And that cyclone is right on top of Samoa, I wonder how my friends are doing.


The finals of the interscholastic surf tournament organized by Hi-Tech will start this morning at 7.15am at Pavils and should go on till 3ish. Good luck with the parking.