7.15am west side is pretty much flat, with the exception of lahaina town that has knee to occasionally belly high clean waves.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Monday 7 17 17 morning call
Yesterday was a day full of events for me, let me start in chronological order.
First, I made a bad call by heavily underestimating that northerly windswell in yesterday's post. I apologize, but lately I've been disregarding Hookipa because of its unclean conditions, and overlooked this opportunity of surfing around the corner. I didn't even go look (was kinda tired from the Hi-Tech sale), but there were shoulder to head high empty waves to be had.
Then I went to work and, since we didn't sell them all at the sale, I bought myself a Maliko GoFoil and immediately put it in the water in the afternoon at Kanaha. In the meantime, the windswell reached 5f 8s and I can claim I rode the first successful waves at Lowers. Riding waves on a foil is a trip. The wave adds its own lift to the foil and I had to completely sheet out otherwise the thing wanted to come out of the water.
I also had to move the mast foot and my feet forward for the same reason. Check this photo of Zane Schweitzer again, during last week's Maui to Molokai crossing. See how forward he is compared to the foil mast position? That's because he's on a Maliko. It gives you a lot of lift, even at low speed, and you have to balance it by staying more forward.
After those adjustments (so much fun to figure it all out!), I finally understood why the guys you see riding waves on their foil SUP's are having so much fun... because it really is!
The mistake we all do (myself included until now) is to look at them with the eyes of the surfer. With those eyes, it looks lame: no rail digging, no lip hitting, no spray throwing. But instead, a board with a foil is obviously something completely different. They're using the energy of the wave to generate the speed they need to get the foil going. Can't even compare it to surfing on a regular board, it's just a different feeling. An amazing one.
We can say that the Maliko foil is a very slow foiling foil. That might sound bad, but it's actually a great thing, because it means that it foils at a very slow speed (at least compared to the other foils). Since it's also pretty wide, it's also very stable. That makes it ideal for learning. To have a confirmation of that, yesterday I let a friend and Dave Ezzy briefly try it and they both did better than they would have done on the Kai. It's pretty obvious that learning to foil at slow speed is easier, less scary and less dangerous than learning to foil at high speed. Don't be afraid to ask me if you see me at Kanaha, I'll let everybody try it. I'm also officially ready to teach beginner lessons.
The reason I got into windfoiling is because I found way too hard and dangerous to learn to SUP foil right away. That is confirmed by point n.3 (minute 3) of this brilliant video. I'm gonna keep windfoiling until I consider myself good a proficient windfoiler and then I'll go back to the south shore to try catch small waves on my foil SUP. Obviously, I'll report the result on this blog.
This photo by Andy Bridge shows a windsurfer enjoying the unexpected waves at Hookipa.
4am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.8ft @ 12s from 162° (SSE)
SW
2.4ft @ 11s from 171° (S)
SE
1.6ft @ 14s from 153° (SSE)
Small energy from the south at the outer buoys, check the webcams for size and conditions.
North shore
Pauwela
4.9ft @ 8s from 34° (NE)
The short period energy continues. 34 degrees is a direction that is completely unblocked for Maui's north shore.
Wind map at noon. I'm off and I'll hit the water earlier than that. Now that I got a Maliko, I wonna work on my jibes.
Windswell fetch still in place in the North Pacific while Fernanda slowly approaches. There's also a tiny westerly fetch that at the moment won't do anything for us.
Just like yesterday, the South Pacific offers a nice but weak fetch.
Those clouds are bringing some rain.
First, I made a bad call by heavily underestimating that northerly windswell in yesterday's post. I apologize, but lately I've been disregarding Hookipa because of its unclean conditions, and overlooked this opportunity of surfing around the corner. I didn't even go look (was kinda tired from the Hi-Tech sale), but there were shoulder to head high empty waves to be had.
Then I went to work and, since we didn't sell them all at the sale, I bought myself a Maliko GoFoil and immediately put it in the water in the afternoon at Kanaha. In the meantime, the windswell reached 5f 8s and I can claim I rode the first successful waves at Lowers. Riding waves on a foil is a trip. The wave adds its own lift to the foil and I had to completely sheet out otherwise the thing wanted to come out of the water.
I also had to move the mast foot and my feet forward for the same reason. Check this photo of Zane Schweitzer again, during last week's Maui to Molokai crossing. See how forward he is compared to the foil mast position? That's because he's on a Maliko. It gives you a lot of lift, even at low speed, and you have to balance it by staying more forward.
After those adjustments (so much fun to figure it all out!), I finally understood why the guys you see riding waves on their foil SUP's are having so much fun... because it really is!
The mistake we all do (myself included until now) is to look at them with the eyes of the surfer. With those eyes, it looks lame: no rail digging, no lip hitting, no spray throwing. But instead, a board with a foil is obviously something completely different. They're using the energy of the wave to generate the speed they need to get the foil going. Can't even compare it to surfing on a regular board, it's just a different feeling. An amazing one.
We can say that the Maliko foil is a very slow foiling foil. That might sound bad, but it's actually a great thing, because it means that it foils at a very slow speed (at least compared to the other foils). Since it's also pretty wide, it's also very stable. That makes it ideal for learning. To have a confirmation of that, yesterday I let a friend and Dave Ezzy briefly try it and they both did better than they would have done on the Kai. It's pretty obvious that learning to foil at slow speed is easier, less scary and less dangerous than learning to foil at high speed. Don't be afraid to ask me if you see me at Kanaha, I'll let everybody try it. I'm also officially ready to teach beginner lessons.
The reason I got into windfoiling is because I found way too hard and dangerous to learn to SUP foil right away. That is confirmed by point n.3 (minute 3) of this brilliant video. I'm gonna keep windfoiling until I consider myself good a proficient windfoiler and then I'll go back to the south shore to try catch small waves on my foil SUP. Obviously, I'll report the result on this blog.
This photo by Andy Bridge shows a windsurfer enjoying the unexpected waves at Hookipa.
4am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.8ft @ 12s from 162° (SSE)
SW
2.4ft @ 11s from 171° (S)
SE
1.6ft @ 14s from 153° (SSE)
1.4ft @ 12s from 174° (S)
Small energy from the south at the outer buoys, check the webcams for size and conditions.
North shore
Pauwela
4.9ft @ 8s from 34° (NE)
The short period energy continues. 34 degrees is a direction that is completely unblocked for Maui's north shore.
Wind map at noon. I'm off and I'll hit the water earlier than that. Now that I got a Maliko, I wonna work on my jibes.
Windswell fetch still in place in the North Pacific while Fernanda slowly approaches. There's also a tiny westerly fetch that at the moment won't do anything for us.
Just like yesterday, the South Pacific offers a nice but weak fetch.
Those clouds are bringing some rain.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Sunday 7 16 17 morning call
The longest day of work of the whole year (13 hours) is over and that will make me appreciate the other 364 days much more, reminding me how lucky I am to be able to afford my lifestyle with 4-5 hours work shifts 4-5 days a week (plus the occasional lessons).
The annual Hi-Tech sale was the usual success.
And since 99% of the 13 and 16 year olds in the world don't get to do the cool things that they do, I hope those two Maui kids (editor Dax Barker and athlete Jake Shcettewi ) know how lucky they are.
Salt Water from Dax Barker on Vimeo.
6am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.5ft @ 13s from 163° (SSE)
SW
1.9ft @ 12s from 180° (S)
SE
1.5ft @ 13s from 161° (SSE)
The predicted new small medium period southerly energy arrived and it shows at the outer buoys. More importantly, it also shows on the webcam and those guys are occasionally scoring a decent set.
North shore
Pauwela
3.9ft @ 7s from 24° (NNE)
Wind map at noon shows windfoiling potential.
North Pacific only shows the windswell fetch and Fernanda getting closer. The longest periods of the easterly swell generated by this last one is predicted to start picking up throughout all day Tuesday and peak Wednesday with a solid 5f 14s from 100 degrees. If you want to start thinking where to go surf, I updated the epic post Buoys to Maui travel times and Maui's shadow lines with the shadow lines from that direction.
South Pacific shows a decently oriented and sized fetch, but lack of wind intensity.
A little cloudier than usual this morning. Still a stunning day for me.
The annual Hi-Tech sale was the usual success.
And since 99% of the 13 and 16 year olds in the world don't get to do the cool things that they do, I hope those two Maui kids (editor Dax Barker and athlete Jake Shcettewi ) know how lucky they are.
Salt Water from Dax Barker on Vimeo.
6am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.5ft @ 13s from 163° (SSE)
SW
1.9ft @ 12s from 180° (S)
SE
1.5ft @ 13s from 161° (SSE)
The predicted new small medium period southerly energy arrived and it shows at the outer buoys. More importantly, it also shows on the webcam and those guys are occasionally scoring a decent set.
North shore
Pauwela
3.9ft @ 7s from 24° (NNE)
1.2ft @ 10s from 88° (E)
0.6ft @ 14s from 104° (ESE)
Windswell directions all over the place at the Pauwela buoy, too small to put any energy/time into investigating them.
Wind map at noon shows windfoiling potential.
North Pacific only shows the windswell fetch and Fernanda getting closer. The longest periods of the easterly swell generated by this last one is predicted to start picking up throughout all day Tuesday and peak Wednesday with a solid 5f 14s from 100 degrees. If you want to start thinking where to go surf, I updated the epic post Buoys to Maui travel times and Maui's shadow lines with the shadow lines from that direction.
South Pacific shows a decently oriented and sized fetch, but lack of wind intensity.
A little cloudier than usual this morning. Still a stunning day for me.
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Saturday 7 15 17 morning call
Longboarding in Lahaina and windfoiling in Kanaha and another stunning day was in the books yesterday. I let me friend Greg try my foil board and he soon got the hang of it. The wind was around 20-23 knots and the sail is a 2.7 KS3 Hot Sails Maui.
You can tell by his smile that he had a great time. I got to try his Brian Cartwright's board and, as weird as it looks, that board is sick. Very fast.
Today is the day of the big annual sale at Hi-Tech. Here's some of the discounts that you'll find:
- 30% off most items in retail (including clothing)
- $500 off the carbon SUP's
- $300 off the regular SUP's
- $100 off surfboards (not 100% sure about this, but it's likely)
8am to 7pm, come check it out.
3am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.6ft @ 11s from 108° (ESE)
SE
1.9ft @ 12s from 134° (SE)
Minimal energy at the outer buoys, check the webcams for size and conditions.
North shore
Pauwela
2.4ft @ 7s from 63° (ENE)
This is the Windity map for Saturday 22 at 5pm. The hurricane Fernanda's winds are predicted to be down to only 25 knots. Hopefully that is true and this hurricane will be one of the many that only brings easterly waves for us.
Windguru reports some heavy rain for Monday 24 though, but it's so far away, that prediction will change 100 times. Notice instead those other two areas of clouds and rain I circled. Looks like the stretch of unbelievable pleasant and dry weather is about to end. Good, the island is very dry.
Wind map at noon.
North Pacific only shows the windswell fetch.
South Pacific shows a wide fetch with areas of moderate winds.
As far as today goes, another stunning day is on its way.
You can tell by his smile that he had a great time. I got to try his Brian Cartwright's board and, as weird as it looks, that board is sick. Very fast.
Today is the day of the big annual sale at Hi-Tech. Here's some of the discounts that you'll find:
- 30% off most items in retail (including clothing)
- $500 off the carbon SUP's
- $300 off the regular SUP's
- $100 off surfboards (not 100% sure about this, but it's likely)
8am to 7pm, come check it out.
3am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.6ft @ 11s from 108° (ESE)
SE
1.9ft @ 12s from 134° (SE)
Minimal energy at the outer buoys, check the webcams for size and conditions.
North shore
Pauwela
2.4ft @ 7s from 63° (ENE)
1.2ft @ 9s from 93° (E)
1ft @ 11s from 89° (E)
Tiny stuff at the Pauwela buoy. I might try to surf Pavils at dawn before I go to work, I'll post a beach report if I do.
Tiny stuff at the Pauwela buoy. I might try to surf Pavils at dawn before I go to work, I'll post a beach report if I do.
This is the Windity map for Saturday 22 at 5pm. The hurricane Fernanda's winds are predicted to be down to only 25 knots. Hopefully that is true and this hurricane will be one of the many that only brings easterly waves for us.
Windguru reports some heavy rain for Monday 24 though, but it's so far away, that prediction will change 100 times. Notice instead those other two areas of clouds and rain I circled. Looks like the stretch of unbelievable pleasant and dry weather is about to end. Good, the island is very dry.
Wind map at noon.
North Pacific only shows the windswell fetch.
South Pacific shows a wide fetch with areas of moderate winds.
As far as today goes, another stunning day is on its way.
Friday, July 14, 2017
Friday 7 14 17 morning call
My body demanded a full day of rest for me yesterday and I obeyed. This photo by Jimmie Hepp from this album shows the windsurfers action at Kanaha a couple of days ago and the amazing light that we've been blessed with lately. Judging from the cloud map at the end of the post, today should be another day like that. The light: one of the top 5 things I like about Maui.
Check out this video that is bombarding the social media, called The Dock. That thing is at the same time extremely unnecessary and entertaining. Pretty good surfing too.
The J-Bay WSL contest waiting period started a couple of days ago. In the meantime that they wait for the right conditions to start, check out this Mechanics of J-Bay article on Surfline. If you guys were my student (aren't you somehow?), I would make sure you understand why the long period swells get pulled in towards the coast more than the short period ones, like it's shown and explained in Bathymetry chapter.
If you are in a bad surf contest watching abstinence, right now there's a contest being webcasted (in Spanish) from San Bartolo in Peru. I've been there, but I don't remember surfing that particular wave. All I remember is grey skies and cold water, really.
3-4am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.4ft @ 11s from 128° (ESE)
Wind map at noon. Those maps (or any other forecast really) have been underestimated the intensity of the trades. The combination of clear skies and the Haleakala does miracles in Maui.
I know you guys want to know about the hurricane, so I'll do an exception to my rule of only looking 24h ahead (unless you want to plan a surf trip, of course). This is Fernanda's predicted trajectory and as you can see (I drew in red where Hawaii is), it's coming straight at us.
North Pacific only shows well oriented kinda weak windswell fetch.
The South Pacific shows decent fetches for the fourth day in a row, next week should be an ok one with decent background energy but no "conclamated swells" and hopefully not too many people in the lineups.
Another stunning day is on its way.
Check out this video that is bombarding the social media, called The Dock. That thing is at the same time extremely unnecessary and entertaining. Pretty good surfing too.
The J-Bay WSL contest waiting period started a couple of days ago. In the meantime that they wait for the right conditions to start, check out this Mechanics of J-Bay article on Surfline. If you guys were my student (aren't you somehow?), I would make sure you understand why the long period swells get pulled in towards the coast more than the short period ones, like it's shown and explained in Bathymetry chapter.
If you are in a bad surf contest watching abstinence, right now there's a contest being webcasted (in Spanish) from San Bartolo in Peru. I've been there, but I don't remember surfing that particular wave. All I remember is grey skies and cold water, really.
3-4am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
1.4ft @ 11s from 128° (ESE)
1.2ft @ 13s from 117° (ESE)
SW
1.6ft @ 12s from 132° (SE)
SE
2.2ft @ 12s from 145° (SE)
Minimal energy from the south. That is compliant with the lack of decent fetches in the south pacific a week ago... I didn't even circled one last Friday. The fetches started looking decent on the 9th, so we should hopefully see something better starting Sunday. Check the webcams for size and conditions.
North shore
Pauwela
3.1ft @ 6s from 70° (ENE)
1.6ft @ 12s from 132° (SE)
SE
2.2ft @ 12s from 145° (SE)
Minimal energy from the south. That is compliant with the lack of decent fetches in the south pacific a week ago... I didn't even circled one last Friday. The fetches started looking decent on the 9th, so we should hopefully see something better starting Sunday. Check the webcams for size and conditions.
North shore
Pauwela
3.1ft @ 6s from 70° (ENE)
2.7ft @ 7s from 81° (E)
6-7 seconds energy at the buoy and the usual wind on it (11mph from 75 at 5.20am) will most likely make me choose to pass on the Hookipa check. I know there have been waves to surf, but I'm too spoiled by the cleanness of the south shore.
I know you guys want to know about the hurricane, so I'll do an exception to my rule of only looking 24h ahead (unless you want to plan a surf trip, of course). This is Fernanda's predicted trajectory and as you can see (I drew in red where Hawaii is), it's coming straight at us.
North Pacific only shows well oriented kinda weak windswell fetch.
The South Pacific shows decent fetches for the fourth day in a row, next week should be an ok one with decent background energy but no "conclamated swells" and hopefully not too many people in the lineups.
Another stunning day is on its way.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Thursday 7 13 17 morning call
First of all, big thanks to blog reader Nick for a generous donation through the Paypal button on the right.
The spell of small surf continues and I continue to have fun with longboarding and windfoiling. This last one continues to beat me up more than I expect it to, and yesterday I also donated my first skin cells to the cause. Beach starting through the shore break at upper Kanaha is a challange sometimes even with a regular windsurfer, imagine when you have to be at least waist high deep. A bump unexpectedly moved the tail of the board while I was lifting my back leg to step on the board and I scraped my shin on the rear wing. Next time, I'd rather uphaul (or wear shin protection).
BTW, If any reader has an old school chest harness, I'd like to give it a try. The higher the hook, the better.
This incredible photo shows Loch Eggers getting heavily barreled on his standup board and it's obviously not from yesterday.
4am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
2ft @ 11s from 136° (SE)
SW
1.4ft @ 13s from 130° (ESE)
SE
1.6ft @ 12s from 148° (SE)
Sizes and period of the current southerly energy are both going down at the outer buoys and that is reflected by what's shown by the webcam. But there seems to be also a new small longer period pulse (I highly question the direction of the 15s reading at the W buoy) and that might help a bit. I might skip my daily Lahaina trip this morning because it doesn't look as clean as usual and I work at 9, but if you wait long enough you might be rewarded with some belly high bombs like the one below.
North shore
Pauwela
3.7ft @ 8s from 86° (E)
Hookipa might easily be flat with a direction like that.
Wind map at noon.
North Pacific shows a well oriented windswell fetch. Tropical storm Eugene didn't do anything at all for us. New tropical storm Fernanda should do much more, IF the predicted track stays like the arrow in the map below. Surfline predicts 15f 10s from 100 degrees on Sunday 23rd night. Way too early for specifics, but that'll offer interesting spot selection challenges.
South Pacific shows a couple of decent fetches east of New Zealand. As a result of that, we should see the usual couple of feet 14s in a week.
The north shore was blessed with a bit of rain yesterday evening and that was a good thing, since it's been really dry. As far as today, you know how I see it: rain or shine, another stunning day is on its way.
The spell of small surf continues and I continue to have fun with longboarding and windfoiling. This last one continues to beat me up more than I expect it to, and yesterday I also donated my first skin cells to the cause. Beach starting through the shore break at upper Kanaha is a challange sometimes even with a regular windsurfer, imagine when you have to be at least waist high deep. A bump unexpectedly moved the tail of the board while I was lifting my back leg to step on the board and I scraped my shin on the rear wing. Next time, I'd rather uphaul (or wear shin protection).
BTW, If any reader has an old school chest harness, I'd like to give it a try. The higher the hook, the better.
This incredible photo shows Loch Eggers getting heavily barreled on his standup board and it's obviously not from yesterday.
4am significant buoy readings
South shore
W
2ft @ 11s from 136° (SE)
1.4ft @ 15s from 89° (E)
SW
1.4ft @ 13s from 130° (ESE)
1.2ft @ 12s from 134° (SE)
SE
1.6ft @ 12s from 148° (SE)
1.4ft @ 14s from 144° (SE)
Sizes and period of the current southerly energy are both going down at the outer buoys and that is reflected by what's shown by the webcam. But there seems to be also a new small longer period pulse (I highly question the direction of the 15s reading at the W buoy) and that might help a bit. I might skip my daily Lahaina trip this morning because it doesn't look as clean as usual and I work at 9, but if you wait long enough you might be rewarded with some belly high bombs like the one below.
North shore
Pauwela
3.7ft @ 8s from 86° (E)
Hookipa might easily be flat with a direction like that.
Wind map at noon.
North Pacific shows a well oriented windswell fetch. Tropical storm Eugene didn't do anything at all for us. New tropical storm Fernanda should do much more, IF the predicted track stays like the arrow in the map below. Surfline predicts 15f 10s from 100 degrees on Sunday 23rd night. Way too early for specifics, but that'll offer interesting spot selection challenges.
South Pacific shows a couple of decent fetches east of New Zealand. As a result of that, we should see the usual couple of feet 14s in a week.
The north shore was blessed with a bit of rain yesterday evening and that was a good thing, since it's been really dry. As far as today, you know how I see it: rain or shine, another stunning day is on its way.
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