Wednesday 12 13 17 morning call

Two shortboard sessions for me yesterday in a day that saw gorgeous conditions for most of the day thanks to the Kona wind which blew until exactly 4pm (as predicted by the model I use) before turning onshore. Enjoy the heavenly photos below, because today instead it'll hell out in the open ocean.

This lovely lady brings a little female beauty into this otherwise dudes dominated post.

 

Later in the day the kona got strong enough for some windsurfers to hit Lanes. Jimmie Hepp posted some pictures in this gallery, but the one I find most intriguing is this one showing a plane approaching the runaway with the waves ripped by kona wind and the Iao valley in the background. Must me a sign that I like wings these days.



 

 

It doesn't happen often that Paia Bay looks better than Pipeline (thanks to the Konas), so I'm not gonna miss the opportunity to document that. That's yesterday afternoon.

 

5am significant buoy readings

South shore
No indication of energy at the buoys, the Surfline forecast calls for declining 0.8 12f, probably flat, unless some of the NW energy find its way to squeeze down the west side and reach Lahaina, which I highly doubt, seen the NW direction.

 

North shore

NW101

16.8ft @ 16s from 321° (NW)

 

Waimea

14.2ft @ 15s from 325° (NW)

 

Pauwela

9.5ft @ 14s from 327° (NW)           

2.4ft @ 8s from 336° (NNW)

1.8ft @ 9s from 330° (NW)

1.3ft @ 4s from 328° (NW)

 

Biggest numbers of the season so far at the buoys, below is the collage of the graph of the three reported buoys plus yesterday's Surfline forecast. Another steep one foot per hour rise, but this time happened during the night. Comparing the Pauwela graph to the forecast, we can see the the first one recorded 8f at midnight while the prediction was for 12f. So in this case either the WW3 model overestimated it, or it's just a bit late. Doesn't really matter, the waves will be too big (and still rising) to do anything non jet assisted on the north shore, unless you find a very sheltered spot. Upper west side will have more manageable waves, but the wind (already blowing 20 mph from the north at 6am in Kahului) will be a factor over there too. Good luck.

 

Wind map at noon shows light northerlies on the north shore, stronger in Kihei and the upper West side. Possible Kihei coast downwind run conditions.

 

North Pacific shows a much weakened close NNW fetch and a small and distant WNW one.

 

Small SE fetch in the South Pacific, the Big Island will probably block most of that energy.

 

Morning sky.