A shortboard session at perfect magic Honolua bay for me was the best way to get back in the water.
Foam boards are getting better (can't believe how many we sell at Hi-Tech), but this photo mostly means two things:
1) the guy rips
2) Honolua is the worse place in the world where to test a board: everything works.
How close you want to push your turns to the other surfers in the lineup depends on your level of confidence. This was extremely close, but it also looked always under perfect control. Safety first is my predicament.
Party wave.
Biggest wave I've seen in the morning. Buoy shows it got bigger in the afternoon.
Head high perfection.
Caught you just in time.
Obviously Hookipa was firing too, this is my pick of the day's gallery by Jimmie Hepp.
4am significant buoy readings
South shore
No indication of southerly energy at the buoys. Yesterday the Lahaina side was tiny.
North shore
NW101
7.8ft @ 13s from 4° (N)
N
10.1ft @ 15s from 334° (NNW)
Hanalei
6.8ft @ 8s from 37° (NE)
6.5ft @ 14s from 343° (NNW)
4.6ft @ 12s from 328° (NW)
Waimea
9.9ft @ 14s from 338° (NNW)
Pauwela
10.3ft @ 14s from 339° (NNW)
3.7ft @ 12s from 332° (NNW)
2.4ft @ 9s from 342° (NNW)
10.3ft 14s from 339 at Pauwela: Honolua is going to be epic and bigger than yesterday morning. I can't go (and probably wouldn't at that size on a Saturday as it's going to be packed by good surfers), if someone could take a picture and send it to me for tomorrow's post, it would be great.
The north shore is having a great run of waves and that's how Pat Caldwell explains it: An occluded low pressure in the NE Pacific N to NNE of Hawaii this week has been reinforced by new low pressure systems merging in from the SW to W side. This complex pattern is making for steady surf on north shores.
He also adds: NOAA NW Hawaii buoys 51001 and 51101 Friday morning 3/22 show a rise in the 14-17 second wave energy band from NNW to N. The PacIOOS/CDIP Hanalei, Kauai and Waimea, Oahu buoys show a steady rise late morning. This energy is related to the phase when the occluded low was forming Tuesday into Wednesday 2/19-20. Highest seas over 30 feet were aimed well NE of Hawaii. Lesser winds of gales to severe gales aimed at Hawaii. This new phase building 3/22 should peak overnight from 325-350 degrees. It should slowly decline on Saturday.
That explains why Pauwela is actually registering the highest numbers. Below is the collage of the maps of March 19, 20 and 21.
Below is the graph of Pauwela together with the Surfline forecast. This last one indicates 9.7ft 16s from 335 and that's pretty close to what the buoy is reading. Another example of how accurate the offshore swell forecast is. That's all you need, if you know what that translates into for the many different spots. I talked about Honolua already, Hookipa will be pretty big, at least double overhead.
Wind map at noon.
North Pacific has a fetch in the NW corner.
South Pacific has a small weak S fetch. 20 knots by the ice sheet... we won't see anything out of it.
Morning sky.
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