February Wrap-up

February 28, 2007

Maui closed out the last day of February with yet another strong trade wind day. The last two days have been predicted to be only moderate trades, but both yesterday and today the wind came up in the afternoon to nuclear levels. Work obligations kept me off the water the last two days, but my Maui windsurfer network reports that Kanaha was decent 4.7 midday yesterday then ballistically insane 4.2 in the late afternoon. Similar conditions today. Not much wave-wise either day.

Waves at Hookipa, however have been in the logo to mast high size the last two days. Bigger and more consistent yesterday than today.

The other beach buzz today is a reported sighting of a tiger shark outside the Kahului harbor (about a mile downwind from Kanaha) by a Coast Guard helicopter as well as a boat. Just a little extra incentive to make those jibes.

Should be sailable wind tomorrow and Friday, then after that the forecast is calling for wind to turn either light and variable or light and southeast. I'm not quite buying into that prognostication yet, but we'll see.

Looking back on the month of February it's been an above average month for us. By my count, we had about 20 days in February of moderate to strong trades. Much higher than we usually get this time of year. Waves however, have been a bit less consisten this February. All in all though, 2007 has been a great year for Maui windsurfing so far. If this trend continues, we ought to see a stellar spring sailing season.

Monday

February 26, 2007

Pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday's sailing today. 5.0 in the afternoon at Uppers. Knee- to shoulder-high wind swell breaking, but mostly just backside riding kind of stuff. A lot like summertime conditions actually.

My Hookipa source tells me it was "head-logo-minus" today, on his 4.7. Yesterday was slightly bigger and better.

Trades should continue to some degree for the next few days, but no still no significant swell on the horizon.

Sunday Funday

February 25, 2007

Winds the last week have been pretty funky at times with an unstable atmosphere making for gusty and often offshore conditions. After a wacky day on Friday I opted to skip sailing yesterday. From what I've been able to tell, looks like people probably could have used every sail in their quiver at one time or another yesterday.

Today was pleasantly better behaved. By the time we got to the beach we were able to get several reports that it was much more consistent than the last few days and even one report of "yummy" conditions. Well, I woulnd't quite characterize it as yummy, more like "not a bad meal for the price" kind of conditions. Weather was gorgeous, no squalls to mess things up today. Wind stayed within a 10 knot range most of the time. My 5.0 was about right 90% of the time. Waves were pretty meager, mostly wind swell, but there were a few little fun sets to play in at Uppers.

The forecast is for the trades to continue the next several days and for the atmosphere to stabilize so the wind quality should improve. Not much to get excited about in the wave department though as there's no significant swell arriving any time in the next few days.

A Fantastic Day ...

February 23, 2007

... for testing the range of your gear. Maui and most of Hawaii are in kind of an unsettled weather pattern these last few days. I went to the beach yesterday and after looking at it, decided not to sail, mostly because it looked really gusty and I could see a gray squall working its way down the coast. Today I got on it a little earlier. The wind sensor was reading in the low 20s and the radar and satellite showed it was pretty clear.

Reality was that today was probably the most offshore conditions I've sailed in at Kanaha. It was super light inside, prompting me to rig my 5.3 and floaty 90 liter wave board. After slogging out to the reef however, I found that I was wanting a 4.5 and my smaller board. And during some of the gusts, a 4.2 would have been plenty. I stayed with the big gear, adding some outhaul.

The waves for the past week or so have been pretty pathetic. Today's waves, though still nothing stellar, were a far cry better than I've seen in awhile at Kanaha. It was predominantly wind swell, but with the wind so offshore, it cleaned the waves up a bit and the wind angle to the wave angle made for a better down-the-line experience than I've seen in the last week or so. Still, with the wind being so gusty and sketchy, it wasn't winning any stokeage awards.

After I got off the water the wind kicked in even more, only to drop drastically after about an hour. That up and down pattern was pretty much the story of the day. As I was leaving, several of the pros (who aren't currently competing in the PWA Cabo Verde event) showed up, Antoine Albeau, Micah Buzianis testing for team Neil Pryde, Michi Schweiger with the Naish sail designer Nils Rosenblad testing some new sails, Phil McGain of Maui Sails. Perfect conditions for testing the extremes of a sail's range.

Tomorrow looks to be similar to today. We've got an upper level low pressure bubble sitting above us that seems to be screwing up the trades. That is forecast to last through tomorrow and possible Sunday. After that, the low is supposed to leave us alone, hopefully making the wind a bit more consistent.

Less wind = more fun

February 21, 2007

Winds yesterday were again bordering on the nuclear range. Like a few other Maui windsurfers, I decided to take a break from sailing yesterday to give my body a break from the punishing conditions of the last few days. Unlike some places, like the Gorge, where 30 knot winds can be fun because the big winds create glassy swells, when it gets this windy on Maui the water is usually a choppy, horific, punishing mess, unless there's a big north swell to knock it down and smooth it out.

Today things mellowed out considerably. Winds stayed around 20 through late morning and early afternoon. When I got to Kanaha it looked like 5.0 would be the call, and it was for about a half an hour. Then a squall came through, first dropping the winds by about 5 knots and then picking up into the 4.2 range. Hmm. Guess the early shift was the call for today. Still nothing to rave about in the wave department. Just sloppy wind swell.

Looks like another day of light to moderate trades tomorrow, then things get a little more uncertain.

Blowing 30 knots? Why not test race gear?

Febaruary 20, 2007

Windy Weekend

February 18, 2007

It turned out to be a pretty windy weekend here on Maui. I got on the water yesterday right at 11:00 and sailed a long session on 5.0 before the wind kicked in. Waves both yesterday and today were pretty much sloppy and messy. Good for jumping but not much good for riding. After my morning session, the wind kicked in as per forecast.

Everyone at Kanaha would probably agree that today was pretty nuts, with monster gusts and wimpy holes. Pretty gnarly conditions. This didn't stop the racers from getting out on the water. Check out this photo of Jacques Pauvert, owner of the infamous Paia restaurant named after him, blasting into a jibe at Uppers. The wind while I was taking these photos was probably in the 4.0 range for me.

More strong wind is on tap for the next few days and with no incoming swell, conditions will be bump-n-jump.

Juicy Trades Return

February 17, 2007

The day after Valentine's day we saw a return of light northerly winds, enough for Team Slog-n-Surf to get out at Lowers and catch some of the head- to logo-high waves there. I haven't yet joined Team Slog-n-Surf yet, still not willing to pay those slogging dues. I was tempted to try, watching but I really like to be able to plane at least marginally and my 5.7 was at leasta a half meter too small.

Yesterday the winds turned a bit more trade wind-like, with a sligthly more easterly component and quite a bit stronger. Plenty of wind once the wind-killing squalls stopped shutting things down in the afternoon. Regretfully I was too picky and opted not to sail since I thought it would be too rainy. Turns out it wasn't as bad as I had feared so I have to chalk yesterday up to a missed opportunity.

It's shortly after 8:00 am as I write this and winds at Kanaha are already blowing over 20mph and forecast to be strong today and tomorrow. Probably be some shower issues today as well, but no excuses today.

Maui Wind Fails to Show the Love

February 14, 2007

It's Valentine's Day and Maui wind snubbed it's windsurfing lovers today, failing to show up at all at most beaches or in other cases showing up briefly to taunt and tease, then leave us high and dry.

Winds yesterday were much like Monday from what I hear. Unfortunately, a full day of meetings got in the way of me sailing yesterday. Doesn't it suck when making a living gets in the way of living. Oh well, as much sailing as I get here I can't really complain. I heard from Jazz that he had a fun time at Hookipa in head-high waves and offshore wind. At Kanaha, it was very light inside due to the offshore wind and 5.0ish outside the reef, but not much wave action.

The forecast is calling for another day tomorrow of light south to southeast winds, followed by the return of trade winds on Friday through the weekend. The trades are forecast to be a bit on the wet side though, so we may have to put up with sailing in the rain or timing our sessions between squalls. Friday will also mark the arrival of a new fairly large swell.

At Long Last, a Trade Wind Day

February 12, 2007

After what seems like forever (in actuality about 10 days) we finally got a dose of moderate trades on the north shore today. Frankly I was a bit surprised to see readings at Kanaha and Hookipa in the upper teens this morning since the high pressure was supposed to be moving away from us. Luckily, the work schedule was light today so I headed to Hookipa, planing to get some photos and videos there before going to Kanaha to sail. Sadly conditions at Hookipa weren't really photo- or video-worthy. Waves were small and sloppy, mostly wave-high with some occasional head-high sets. At noon there was still no one out, but the wind outside looked strong so I did a downwinder in my car to Kanaha.

Wave conditions at Uppers were about the same as Hookipa, small and pretty sloppy, not really very rideable. Jumping conditions mostly. Lowers was even smaller. I rigged 5.3, but in reality 5.0 would have been a better call and 4.7 would have been good at times. Later in the afternoon the wind drastically dropped and shifted offshore, leaving many of us slogging/swimming back from Uppers.

Overall it was a pretty average day of sailing by Maui standards but it's amazing how a couple of weeks off can change your perspective. Nothing epic but just about everyone was stoked to get out today. Beautiful sunny skies, reasonably warm (by Maui standards), clear blue water. So what if the waves weren't epic. It was still fun to get out and blast around and boost some nice airs.

South Side Freeride

February 11, 2007

Winds on the north shore continued on the light side today. Overall the winds were pretty northerly so Kihei got the nod. Those of you who have followed this blog for very long know that I'm usually not a big fan of Kihei sailing, but it had been over two weeks since I had sailed so even Kihei was looking half way appealing to me.

The Kihei sensor had been reading around 21 most of the day, but my experience is that Kihei usually reads at least 5 mph too high, so I was dubious that my 5.7 would work. But around 2:00 it jumped up to 24ish and we got a call that people were powered on 5.8s so we rallied for the trek to Kihei.

Turns out it was blowing pretty good. 5.3 turned out to be about right for me. Pretty typical Kihei sailing with gusty/holey shifty winds but it did feel good to get out on the water. The chop wasn't as harsh as it often was. Good conditions for blasting around on race gear or for freestyle. Not exactly the conditions my down-the-line wave board was hoping for. My wife thought it would be fun to sail over to Maalaea, so I was obliged to follow along. I thought for sure we'd see some whales on the way but we didn't see a single whale today. Half way back, the winds started to drop off a bit and we headed back, frequently dropping off a plane and slogging until the next gust came along.

Looks like another possible day of trades tomorrow before winds turn more southeasterly through the week, which usually means unsailable conditions on Maui since southeast winds are blocked by the Big Island. So far, long range predications are calling for moderate to strong trades returning next weekend.

Comments:

shorepig wrote:

Like you said..the wind is becoming S.E., and it's showing a fairly strong southeast, for the whole week! but where are we gonna sail? Is there anywhere near Maalaea to catch a S.E? I don't think I can handle another week of no sailing! Excellent blog by the way....what a wonderful resource!

Makani wrote:

Thanks Shorepig. Southeast winds are tough here. If it's just a little south of east and strong enough it's sometimes still sailable at Hookipa. I think it might be due to downslope acceleration as they come down the hill. Other than that, I've not found any place on the island that is sailable on southeast winds. The problem is that when the overall synoptic winds are out of the south east, Maui is the the Big Island's wind shadow. So, it's not just Maui's topography sheltering from the wind, but the next island over. The best thing to get through these stretches this time of year is to take up surfing as a backup sport.

Disappointment and Frustration

February 10, 2007

Trade winds today were frustratingly light. All this week it looked like we would get some good moderate trade winds this weekend into early next week. Reality was that it was lighter today than yesterday. Winds at Kanaha hung around 14 mph most of the day. That was enough for some to get out and do the slog-n-surf thing. Personally, I like to be able to at least marginally plane. With my biggest sail being a 5.7 that just wouldn't be enough.

I was monitoring conditions on my computer throughout the day, hoping it would pick up. So, though I didn't get to sail, I did get to go through a disc of photos that local sailor Jazz Glickenhaus took at Lanes last week during the Kona winds. Jazz was kind enough to share a bunch of photos he took from atop the bluff at Hookipa. So, a big shout out to local Gaastra/Tabou rider Jazz for sharing these latest photos. Check out the full-size images in the photo gallery.

Return of light trades

February 9, 2007

Light trade winds returned to Maui today, though they were still a little too light for me to get out on the water. The wind was extremely light through the morning and early afternoon, but by 1:00, readings in the mid-teens and sunshine were enough to pull me out of the house and down to the beach to investigate.

Since it really wasn't very windy yet, my first stop was Hookipa, to see if I could catch and action and get some photos or video. Sadly it was too light. There was one lonely kiter out. Not even any surfers. So, on down the coast to Kanaha.

Winds were a little stronger at Kanaha, probably about 15 - 17 mph on average, and there were probably 10 - 20 guys down at Lowers, mostly doing the slog-n-surf thing. Wind was very onshore and the waves at Lowers looked head- to logo-high.

Uppers seemed to be a test day for many of the local pros as Kevin Pritchard and Phil McGain were testing their Maui Sails, Antoine Albeau and Peter Biejl testing Neil Pryde gear, Dave Ezzy testing a 6.5 and Micci Schweiger from Team Naish out testing Naish gear. The best photo op of the day was Kevin and Phil jibing inside the little cove area at Uppers.

I hung around for awhile, debating whether or not to rig my 5.7. It didn't look like it would be enough, but it's been awhile since I sailed so I'm starting to get desparate. I asked Phil when he came in if he thought 5.7 would be enough and he told me only if I wanted to do a lot of slogging. Well, that along with the fact that the sun was dipping behind the clouds piling up along the west Maui mountains was enough to convince me to give it a miss today. Winds are forecast to increase a bit this weekend, so that's my consolation.

'Nuff Already

February 8, 2007

Maui weather just isn't cooperating with us windsurfers this week. Light winds continue to dominate and today was pretty much a rare ugly day on Maui, with gray cloudy skies and drizzle or rain just about all day.

I know you poor folks on the mainland are suffering through some miserable cold right now, but this is Maui and we're just not used to weather that isn't postcard perfect. It's been a weird couple of weeks, with a week of wild Kona winds followed by a week of dead wind. As the headline says, 'nuff already! Bring on the trades!

Mellow Weather Prevailing

February 6, 2007

Maui's weather the last several days has been very mellow compared to a week ago. Winds are light out of the south, not sailable. We've got another weak cold front due in over the next couple of days then the winds should swing back around to the north and then it looks like we might get a few days of trade winds, hopefully strong enough to sail.

Comments:

uride2 wrote:

Your blog, pics, and video ROCK! The last 10 days of been severly cold on the great lakes, the videos have kept me pumped up for windsurfing!

Makani wrote:

Thanks URide2! I'm glad to keep the virtual stoke going for those of you who can't get out on the water. I thought we were having a cold spell here when night time lows got down into the low 50s. But then I saw the news about the frigid, brutal cold temps you guys are having on the mainland. Hopefully we'll get some wind in the next couple of days and I can get some more content to keep the stoke going. Meanwhile, tell all your windsurfing friends to check out the blog. Mahalo!

Check out the new Google Maui Windsurfing map

February 3, 2007

One of the coolest web apps to come out over the past year was Google Maps. What does this have to do with Maui windsurfing, you ask? Well, Google provides a free interface to web developers to integrate the map with online databases. So, how about an online database of Maui's main windsurfing beaches that ties into Google Maps so windsurfers can get a better idea of the various windsurfing beaches here. Check it out.

I've got the top five Maui windsurfing launches on the map; Kanaha, Hookipa, Sprecks, Kihei Pavilions and Kihei Maui Sunset. Make sure you turn on the Satellite or Hybrid mode to see a bird's eye view and zoom in on your favorite Maui windsurfing spot. Click on the little red push pins to see the site name. More info on how to navigate around, below.

Google Maps features a map that can be navigated by dragging the mouse, or using the mouse wheel to zoom in (mouse wheel up) or out (mouse wheel down) to show detailed street information. The user can also control the map with the arrow keys to move to the desired location. To allow for quick movement, the "+" and "-" keys can be used to control the zoom level. Google Maps offers three viewing modes by default: Map (Street map views), Satellite (satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs) and Hybrid (Street maps overlaid on satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs).

So... that was wild...

February 2, 2007

The wild week of windy Kona weather has finally ended. No doubt this week's Kona conditions will be the topic of conversation among Maui's windsurfers for many more days. I'm hoping to score some photos from a friend who got some pics at Hookipa the last few days (no pressure, Jazz - ;-) )

Yesterday we saw the winds drop off significantly, almost to the point of being unsailable at Kihei and Kanaha. Winds at Hookipa, however, continued, along with fairly large surf. The pros were still out enforce in the challenging surf. Word from the coconut wireless is that there was significant gear breakage at Hookipa yesterday.

Maui today is sunny and the winds are pretty much calm and variable at all the major windsurfing beaches. The only wind on the menu for the next few days is a chance of northerlies tomorrow. After that, winds look to be pretty light and variale through early next week.