Monday 12 23 19 morning call

Thanks to blog readers Wineishealthy, Bsmith117 and Kathy for the donations.
Normally I use the last week of the year to ask for donations to show the appreciation for the 2019 season of the MSR blog. This year I'll be off the island in that week, so I'll do it now.

Last post of the year for me, as I leave tonight to be back on January 8th. I'll leave you with brother Loch and this image showing the remarkable beauty of... everything.


Btw, Italy has been having really bad weather and strong wind and a friend of mine just sent me this photo of surfers in my home town Napoli. I launched the windsurfer many times in that spot, but I've never seen such a shorebreak, let alone anybody surfing. Maybe I should pack a wetsuit. Maybe not.

4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
Barbers
0.5ft @ 16s from 195° (SSW)

Barbers records half a foot 16s of SSW energy (Lanai is down), so I went to look at the fetches maps from a week ago (Dec 16 and 17 below) and, sure enough, there was a small fetch in the Tasman Sea.
That might be barely visible in the water, so please check the Lahaina webcam if interested.


North shore
Pauwela
10ft @ 9s from 61° (ENE)

3.5ft @ 12s from 20° (NNE)

2.6ft @ 6s from 78° (ENE)

ENE energy continues very solid. I surfed Hookipa at sunset yesterday (that was one of the wildest sessions ever with gusts up to 25 knots, but fun nonetheless) and the waves were head and a half with occasional double overheaders, yet on the soft side of things. Expect similar sizes today, with the massive difference of no wind in the first few hours of light on the whole north shore. Eastern exposures will be pumping too.

Wind map at noon
       
     

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset

 1:19a  +2.5  11:55a  +1.5   7:31a  +1.0   6:33p  -0.4    7:01a   5:53p    

Small scattered fetches in the North Pacific. Well below average wave generation for the season.


Nothing at all from the south, but that's normal.


Morning sky.

Sunday 12 22 19 morning call

Thanks to blog reader Shep for the donation.
Normally I use the last week of the year to ask for donations to show the appreciation for the 2019 season of the MSR blog. This year I'll be off the island in that week, so I'll do it now.

This is Annie Reichart in a photo by Richard Hallman. Obviously, not taken yesterday.

3am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, check the Lahaina webcam.

North shore
Pauwela
10ft @ 9s from 50° (NE)

6.8ft @ 11s from 358° (N)

Pauwela's readings is what's in the water, plenty energy from the N and the NE, the problem is the strong wind. Seek sheltered places.

Wind map at noon

     

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset

12:37a  +2.2  11:13a  +1.6   6:32a  +1.0   5:58p  -0.3    7:00a   5:52p    

North Pacific has a new small NW fetch and the windswell one. The one circled in blue is now oriented towards the mainland, but we should get some angular spreading.


Nice strong fetch in the Tasman Sea is unfortunately blocked by New Zealand.

Morning sky.

Saturday 12 21 19 morning call

Thanks to Gale for the donation.
Normally I use the last week of the year to ask for donations to show the appreciation for the 2019 season of the MSR blog. This year I'll be off the island in that week, so I'll do it now.

Yesterday I was thinking about foil downwinders and watched the video documenting my attempt n.13. After the non particularly motivating vision of which, fortunately the autoplay brought up this one from one of the masters of the discipline which was much worthier watching (and sharing). Brother Jeremy Riggs knows how to read the bumps and just flies out there.


Btw, the next video the autoplay brought up was this phenomenal 2012 final of the Volcom Pipe Pro. I never saw it before, great to see Maui's Kai Barger fighting it out with the top guys and incredible performances overall.

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


Honolua Bay had some fun waves (thanks Nino for the photo).


6am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, check the Lahaina webcam.

North shore
Pauwela
12.1ft @ 9s from 40° (NE)

4.6ft @ 11s from 351° (N)

3.3ft @ 13s from 334° (NNW)

No need to look at the other buoys today, as they won't add any information with no new NW swells arriving. Pauwela feels between 3-4ft of 11-13s leftover of the previous one (both pretty northerly directions now), plus a whooping 12ft 9s from 40 degrees from the fetch we are totally immersed in today. Needless to say, conditions will be horrible pretty much everywhere on the north shore, due to the strong wind. Gonna be hard to find shelter from it (and from the associated rain). I'd recommend a day off, but if you still want to surf, the eastern exposures will obviously offer the bigger sizes. Just be careful, because there's going to be a lot of raw energy out in the ocean today. West side will be cleaner, even though the blustery winds will likely introduce some roughness also at Honolua.

Wind map at noon. Possibly the windiest I've ever posted.
       

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset
10:26a  +1.7                      5:16a  +1.1   5:23p  -0.1    7:00a   5:52p


North Pacific has a pretty decent fetch in the NW corner and the NNE one in which we are totally immersed in.


That's a strong fetch way south in the Tasman Sea. Big Cloudbreak in 3-4 days and possible small SSW swell in 7-8 days locally.


Morning sky.


Lots of rain pushed again the eastern slopes of the island chain mountains.

7am hookipa has sets head and a half to occasionally bigger and some wind. 

4.5

Friday 12 20 19 morning call

Usually I use the last week of the year to ask for donations to show the appreciation for the 2019 season of the MSR blog. This year I'll be off the island in that week, so I'll do it now.

Ultra deserved world title win by Italo Ferreira yesterday at Pipe. Congrats and thanks for pushing the performance level of surfing higher and higher.


Here's some Maui local talent in action at Hookipa yesterday (photo by Jimmie Hepp from this album). Imai deVault did great in the Pipe Invitational and earned a spot in the main event, where he lost to Gabriel Medina in the round of 32, although scoring the highest wave of the heat: a whooping 9.57!


My pick of the windsurfing album.


4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, check the Lahaina webcam to see what's there.

North shore
NW101
11.7ft @ 8s from 56° (ENE)

7.2ft @ 12s from 349° (NNW)

Waimea

4.5ft @ 6s from 38° (NE)            

3.2ft @ 15s from 314° (NW)

2.3ft @ 13s from 313° (NW)

Pauwela

5.4ft @ 15s from 324° (NW)

5.1ft @ 9s from 89° (E)

 

Below is the Pauwela's graph together with the Surfline forecast for the next two days. NW swell holding pretty steady around 5-6ft (although coming down in period) should still provide the highest energy for the day (Hookipa probably head and a half). Notice tomorrow's forecast: the blue line says 13ft 8s from 69. For the downwinders of all sorts, that's the equivalent of the biggest swell of the year at Jaws.

Wind map at noon
       
     

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset
9:34a  +1.9  11:50p  +1.8   3:31a  +1.0   4:47p  +0.2    6:59a   5:51p    

North Pacific has the small fetches circled in red in the map below. That strong high pressure to our north is going to move east a bit and tomorrow we'll be immersed in that fetch of strong easterlies that I circled in yellow. That will be the source of that massive windswell episode mentioned above.


Couple of fetches down under too.


Morning sky.

7am hookipa has a mix of swells of different sizes. Biggest set I saw was head and a half. Bit of texture unfortunately. 

5

Thursday 12 19 19 morning call

Usually I use the last week of the year to ask for donations to show the appreciation for the 2019 season of the MSR blog. This year I'll be off the island (leaving Monday), so I'll start now. And I'll start by thanking Renew Your Spirit, who has set up an automatic monthly donation. I can consider him/her a kind of volunteer subscriber, even though I never even asked for subscriptions (and never will!). Thanks a lot also to all the blog sponsors who advertise their businesses with a banner on the right column.

 Let me pump up the hype for the upcoming Pipe Masters finals with this once again incredible shot by Liquid Barrel showing Dwight Pastrana on an absolutely perfect bomb.


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

4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, check the Lahaina webcam to check if any kind of NW wrap will find its way there (I really don't think so, but you never know).

North shore
NW101
7.3ft @ 15s from 339° (NNW)

Waimea
3.2ft @ 17s from 318° (NW)

Pauwela
5.3ft @ 9s from 79° (ENE)

3.1ft @ 6s from 75° (ENE)

2.8ft @ 18s from 323° (NW)

2.6ft @ 12s from 336° (NNW)

New solid NW swell on the rise all day. This is how Pat Caldwell described the evolution of the fetch: the fetch gained storm force east of the Kuril Islands 12/15 and reached the Date Line 12/16. Seas of 25-30 feet formed over the 300-320 degree band with the head of the fetch about 1600 nm away 12/16. Once east of the Date Line, the highest seas were aimed at targets NE of Hawaii with the system in the Gulf of Alaska 12/18.
Below is the collage of the maps of Dec 15, 16 and 17.


Below are the graphs of the three reported buoys. The swell peaked at 8ft 15s at the NW buoy, not as big as the past few ones, but enough to grant High Surf Advisory. The red dotted line is my prediction of how the swell will rise locally: steady all day.
To start the day, the variety of swells of different period and directions at Pauwela will give Hookipa plenty waves of different size and shape. The really good thing is that there should be no wind until 9ish on the whole north shore, so plenty spots to choose from. Happy hunting!
PS. 99% sure that the Pipe Masters will run today.


Wind map at noon
       

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset

8:38a  +2.1  10:47p  +1.4   1:22a  +0.8   4:08p  +0.4    6:59a   5:51p   

North Pacific has the direct aimed fetches circled in red on the map and an angular spreading one circled in blue.


Off season intense storm down south, unfortunately the fetch oriented towards us is not particularly big, but it should send us a bit of a swell in a week, together with the other weaker fetch circled in red in the Tasman Sea.


Morning sky.

7.30am hookipa has head and a half peaky waves and easterly wind. 

3.5

Wednesday 12 18 19 morning call

That's how big the waves were at Hookipa yesterday: mysteriously bigger than Pipeline where they called the contest off (they'll wait for next swell on Thursday/Friday). Photo by Jimmie Hepp out of this album.

4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
There were no fetches a week ago, so there's pretty much no waves on the Lahaina webcam. Check it out yourself.

North shore
The Surfline buoy page (link n.11) is empty, this is the Pauwela buoy on the NOAA site. 4.3ft 13s from the NNW (how about degrees instead?) with 9.5ft 9s from the ENE of windswell on top. Hookipa is going to big, windy and stormy, look for a very sheltered place.



Wind map at noon
       

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset
7:40a  +2.2   9:00p  +1.1   3:24p  +0.6                       6:58a   5:50p

North Pacific's map looks a lot like yesterday: the NW fetch of two days ago is now only very partially aiming at us, as most of it is aiming at the US west coast (we might get some angular spreading). Strong windswell fetch too.


A similar fetch is east of New Zealand. Possibly tiny S pulse in a week.


Morning sky.

Tuesday 12 17 19 morning call

The Pipe contest didn't run yesterday, it might today. This is another incredible image by Liquid barrel, this time it's Kalani Chapman.


Kanaha was a lot of fun for winDfoiling on the waves, here's Dan Taylor winGfoiling instead. No matter how much emphasis I put on the D or the G, it's still confusing for the listener and most times I need to explain the difference anyway.

No confusion instead when talking about SUP foiling. Here's a video put together by GoFoil showing two masterful team riders: Dave Kalama and Eddie Ogata. I have both in mind when I do my lines.

4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, hence not much at the Lahaina webcam, check it out yourself.

North shore
NW101
7.7ft @ 16s from 325° (NW)

Waimea
6.4ft @ 16s from 317° (NW)

Pauwela
8.7ft @ 8s from 61° (ENE)

6.9ft @ 18s from 321° (NW)

New solid NW swell on tap today, with a just as solid ENE windswell on top. Below are the graphs of NW and Pauwela, together with yesterday's Surfline forecast. As you can see, in the end this last one was pretty accurate. Notice how even the windswell line (purple on Tueday) matches perfectly what recorded by Pauwela. The NW swell went up to 12ft at the NW buoy, so we can expect it to keep building in Maui throughout the day. Hookipa too big (and windy!) for most, look for sheltered places.

In case you're interested in the evolution of the fetch that made this swell, here's the maps of Dec 12, 13 and 14. As usual, there will be a slow shift to a more northerly direction as the swell arrives, reflecting the movement that the fetch did over the ocean.


Wind map at noon
       

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset
6:45a  +2.4   6:28p  +0.9   2:28p  +0.7  11:47p  +0.5    6:58a   5:50p
 

Yesterday's NW fetch is now only very partially aiming to us, as most of it is aiming to the US west coast (we might get some angular spreading). Strong windswell fetch too.


Little Tasman Sea swell won't do much for us.


Morning sky.

6.30am hookipa is head high and windy. 

3

Monday 12 16 19 morning call

This year's WSL world title race is extremely exciting, as Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina can possibly battle it out face to face all the way into the Pipe final (if they get there). Medina has the added difficulty to have John John Florence in his side of the board. The contest can possibly resume today (see buoys discussion). Meanwhile, the lineup at Pipe has probably been the toughest ever, with all the pro's practicing. According to Liquid Barrel, Italo has been on fire. I hope he wins, just to see how wildly entertaining his celebration will be.


My pick of Jimmie Hepp's album of yesterday's windsurfing action at Hookipa.

4am significant buoy readings and discussion
South shore
No southerly energy at the buoys, check the Lahaina webcam.

North shore
NW101
3.1ft @ 18s from 322° (NW)

Waimea
3.6ft @ 11s from 343° (NNW)

2.9ft @ 9s from 27° (NNE)

Pauwela
4.9ft @ 9s from 64° (ENE)

4.1ft @ 11s from 349° (NNW)

 

Below are the graphs of NW and Pauwela and the Surfline Maui forecast. Circled in red on the first one is the rise of the new long period NW swell, which reached 2ft 20s at midnight. GP's rule of thumb says 14h @ 20s, so the equivalent energy should be here around noon (3 hours earlier in Oahu) and the swell should be steadily rising all afternoon (red dotted line on Pauwela's graph). The related orange line on the Surfline forecast seems to be a bit late again, but notice instead how perfectly the two lines (blue and fuchsia) representing the current swells predicted the reality on the Pauwela graph.

Let's talk a bit about those, with 5ft 9s from 64 and 4ft 11s from 349 and some wind, Hookipa will have at least head high waves of relatively poor shape to start the day with.

Wind map at noon
       
     

Kahului Tides
High Tide     High Tide     Low Tide     Low Tide       Sunrise   Sunset
5:54a  +2.6   4:38p  +1.0   1:19p  +0.8  10:48p  +0.1    6:57a   5:49p   

North Pacific has a strong NW fetch (8.4ft 15s from 323 on Thursday night) and a remote easterly windswell fetch.


Nothing from the south.


Morning sky.