Wooo Hooo

Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 8:00 pm HST

Finally got some sailable trade winds today after a two week hiatus without them. My first check in the morning showed wind in the upper teens. Then it dropped. Then it came up again. Then it dropped. Around 11:00 it came up again and I bailed on all other responsibilities and head down to to Kanaha.

Looked pretty light when I got there, but everyone there was saying the same thing as me. It may be light but I'm rigging my biggest sail and going anyway. Turned out to be the right call. I rigged 5.7 and my floaty wave board and headed out. Pretty light initially and I ended up at Lowers. Some pretty fun waves, mostly about shoulder high and it wasn't even very crowded compared to how it can get. Got some big rides then the wind picked up a bit and I headed up to Uppers.

Uppers was fun too. Waves about the same size, only a dozen or so sailors in all of Uppers. After two hours of non-stop sailing my tank was empty and I came in. Amazingly that corresponded with the wind dropping. Turned out I timed it perfectly. It felt SO good to get on the water and powered up AND get some waves after two week without.

Looks like maybe one more day of similar stuff tomorrow then back to the light and variable pattern for the weekend. Light trades may return next week.

Comments

Two weeks without?... I'd kill for that. Try 4 months and counting!. Alas, Spring is upon us, and its almost time to return to paradise ;-) On that note, thanks for your work keeping the world up to date on all those issues threatening windsurfing in Maui. I haven't heard anything on that second doppelganger bill in the house of representatives. Any updates?. Here is to hoping there is still windsurfing in Maui to come back to!. Cheers!
crankywindsurfer

Ya, we're pretty spoiled here. Thanks for the props and the perspective. Haven't heard anything about the House bill. I've subscribed to the RSS feed on it so if there's any update on it I should get notified.
Makani

Windsurfing Talkstory

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 8:00 pm HST

Just got done listening to this week's episode of Windsurfing Talkstory on 89.5 FM RadiOpio. Tonight's show featured former pro windsurfing legend and local Maui businessman Josh Stone, along with Maui County Councilman Mike Molina.

There's been a lot of hot politial topics affecting Maui windsurfing the last few months, including transient vacation rentals (TVRs), Hawaii State Senate bill 2091, and most recently the proposed Maui County restrictions on ocean activities instruction. Josh and the regulars on the show, Kai Lenny, his dad Martin and Mike Abrams put Mike Molina on the hot seat with frank questions on all these issues. Josh Stone in particular, being a very successful pro windsurfer and now businessman, presented the windsurfing and north shore business point of view eloquently.

Of course, none of these issues was resolved in this one hour show, but I gotta give kudos to them all for raising awareness of the issues with the local government. Hopefully, Councilman Molina came away from the show more informed and can go back to his fellow council members as well as the Mayor's administration with new insights on these topics.

Wish you could have heard it? Well, you could have. Windsurfing Talkstory is a weekly radio show on Wednesday evenings at 6:00pm HST on RadiOpio 89.5 FM on Maui. You can also listen to their live broadcast by tuning into their website. They have also regularly archive their shows on their website.

I've been talking with the producers of the show about making the archived shows available online here on this website as well and they've given me the go-ahead. So, even though we won't have tonight's show available yet for a little bit (I'll get it online here as soon as I can), I will get it posted here so everyone can hear the lively discussion from tonight. So, you're gonna have to wait a bit for tonight's show, but I have uploaded one of their recent shows that you HAVE to listen to.

On January 30, 2008, the show featured an interview with Josh Stone about his life as a windsurfer. Anybody who's been a windsurfer for more than 5 years knows that Josh was (and still is) a phenonomenally talented windsurfer. But in this show, you'll here Josh recounting some absolutely insane adventures windsurfing between the Hawaiian islands with his dad, growing up about a block away from where Robby Naish lived in Kailua on Ohau, as well as the story about how he got into being a professional windsurfer by beating Robby Naish as a wildcard entrant in a wave contest when he hadn't even windsurfed for years. The best windsurfing stories I've ever heard.

So, here you go. The Windsurfing Talkstory interview with Josh Stone (it's about an hour long so you're gonna need some time to listen to it. There's about two or three minutes of surf guitar music (Dick Dale if I'm not mistaken) and wind noise at the beginning. Sit through it.):

Josh Stone Interview - January 30, 2008 (If you want to download it to your computer for later listening, Right-click on the link and select to download or save to your computer from the menu that pops up).

I'm going to work on getting the archives of the other shows uploaded over the next week or so and I'm hoping to set up a podcast as well so that you can all get the shows downloaded directly to your iPods.

I should have plenty of time to work on all this since our trade winds are still nowhere to be found. We're at two weeks already with no significant wind. I did have high hopes for a return of trades tomorrow, but now it looks like if we're lucky we'll see a one day return of trades on Friday (I'm still going to monitor the winds closely tomorrow though just in case). After Friday it looks like we'll be back in this becalmed pattern that we've been in for the last two weeks.

It's been a bad February for trade winds in Maui folks. While I'm jonesin' to get on the water I feel bad for those poor folks who are here on their windsurfing vacation right now. They're getting skunked. Let this be a lesson to anyone planning a windsurfing vacation to Maui. If you want to maximize your number of days sailing in Maui, January and February are NOT the months to come here on a windsurfing vacation.

Hookipa Hard Core Part 3

Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 1:10 pm HST

Part 3 of the Hookipa Hard Core Trilogy. More of the same big name heavy-hitters, Kauli Seadi, Kevin Pritchard, Jason Polakow, Robby Naish, Nick Baker ...

The Wind Report

The last few days have still been super light here. There's a change today as we have a cold front moving down the island chain and the winds have switched around from the south. As of this writing, winds in Kihei are in the mid-teens gusting to the upper teens. I got a phone report that the park at Pavilions is packed with eager windsurfers and kiters hoping for wind to pick up and that there was only one lonely windsurfer out on the water, barely moving. The Kihei sensor reads high so we really need to see numbers in the low 20s to make it sailable on wave gear. I've been checking the wind every 20 minutes or so, but so far I haven't seen anything promising enough to get me to drive over to Kihei.

The Ongoing Effort By Maui and Hawaii Government to Kill Windsurfing

Here we go again. Yet another attempt by short-sighted politicians to impose senseless, ridiculous rules that would jeopardize the industry. According to an email I just received from the Maui Windsurfing Association:

Maui County has proposed new rules that will almost certainly kill watersports
instruction on Maui. This is bad news for the Maui watersports community. And
bad news for all the schools that have been serving the community for decades.

Just one example is, Proposed Rule 10-102-22 prohibits windsurfing schools from
having more than two instructors working at one time. This will eliminate our
kids camps, and any other high-school programs. This will put the vast majority
of watersports instructors out of work, and most (if not all) schools will go
out of business. The sports affected are Windsurfing, kitesurfing, surfing,
kayaking, Scuba diving, etc.

We need public testimony from anyone who supports these sports. Please support
our instructors, and schools by writing a letter or email. And send it to:

Mayor Charmaine Tavares, charmaine.tavares@co.maui.hawaii.us
Jo Anne Johnson, jo_anne.johnson@mauicounty.us
Michelle Anderson, michelle.anderson@mauicounty.us
Senator Shan Tsutsui, sentsutsui@Capitol.hawaii.gov

This has gone way beyond ridiculous. The windsurfing industry on Maui needs to come together as a stronger entity to represent itself to locals and local government to show the value that the industry brings to Maui. Maui is the mecca of windsurfing. It's the R&D capital of windsurfing in the world. Maui government and business talk a lot about wanting to diversify the local economy. But yet, they don't realize or appreciate the benefit or potential of the windsurfing industry. Those of you out there in the windsurfing manufacturing and R&D, how can we communicate the value that you bring to the local economy?

Just brainstorming here, how many companies can I come up with that have a manufacturing or R&D base here on Maui... Neil Pryde, Maui Sails, Simmer, Hot Sails Maui, Goya, Ezzy, Naish, ... all of these sail makers have their primary sail design lofts here on Maui. And I'm probably forgetting a couple. For boards, a lot of the shapers for the board companies are here, Richard Green for JP, Keith Taboul for Quatro, Mark Nelson for Mistral, Peter Thommen, the Naish guys (sorry can't remember Naish shaper name). Then there's the accessories, like fins, Maui Fin Company. And other accessories like Dakine. I'm sure I'm leaving several out, but look at that list. How many people are employed here by all of that? How much money comes into the local economy from these sources? And this isn't counting tourist dollars and instruction or the fact that just about all the other manufacturers do some amount of R&D here even if they're not based here. Maui County, you say you want to diversify your economy. Well here's an industry that brings in money from more than just tourist dollars and if you're not actively trying to squash it, you're ignoring it.

Light Winds Still

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 7:45 pm HST

Light winds still have a hold on Maui. Winds the last few days typically haven't gotten above 10. Driving down the hill today towards Kahului I was able to see some mellow white caps on the north shore. Not enough for most of us with our wave gear, but probably enough for the slalom guys on their big race sails and floaty boards. Absolutely beautiful weather too so it should have been awesome blasting or cruising if you have sails in the 8.0m + size and 100L + boards.

Looks like this pattern is going to dominate for a while longer, with the exception of this weekend. This weekend we could see some Kona winds, though I'm not sure they'll be very strong. After that, it looks like we get back into a light trade wind mode.

Still working on part 3 of the Hookipa Hard Core trilogy. Might have that posted in a few more days. Meanwhile, here's the last of the photos from Hookipa on Feb. 10.

Senate Bill 2091 Video Testimony + Similar Bill in House of Representatives!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 2:00 pm HST

Here's the video of last week's hearing about the proposed ban of windsurfers and kiteboarders within 200 feet of swimmers and surfers. There's a brief bit about another bill a minute two into the video clip but they return to the windsurfing ban and you can see testimony from Martin Kirk and David Dorn.

Senate Bill 2091 Video Testimony

Note: This is 10 minutes of video so it's a big file, but if you have broadband, it should be ok.

Thanks to Maui Pete and Akaku Maui Community Television for capturing the feed and supplying the video.

Once again, it was Senator Les Ihara who introduced the bill in the first place. Here's his web page with all his contact info if you'd like to share your thoughts with the him.

Just got a note from the PWA that there is a similar bill in the Hawaii House of Representatives with very similar wording:

Bill # HB 2222. It was introduced a day before the SENATE one that we just testified for.

The wording seems virtually the same as the other bill.... SB2091

Introducer(s): SAY (BR) Current Referral: WLH (Water, Land, Ocean Resources & Hawaiian Affairs, JUD (Judiciary)Date Status Text
1/15/2008 H Pending introduction.
1/16/2008 H Introduced and Pass First Reading.
1/18/2008 H Referred to WLH, JUD, referral sheet 3

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus2.asp?billno=HB2222

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/HB2222_.htm

Geez! Time to circle the wagons again. It's status shows that it's been referred to WLH (Water, Land, Ocean Resources & Hawaiian Affairs). They list Representative Calvin Say as the introducer of this bill. Here's his page with his email address and phone number.

Hookipa Hard Core Part 2

Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 4:00 pm HST

Part 2 of Hookipa Hard Core from Hookipa last Sunday. Dominating the action in this one; Kevin Pritchard, Robby Naish and Kai Lenny.

Hookipa Hard Core Part 2

Comments

yes, i was there, watching from the overlook. what an epic sesh to watch. one day i hope to have the skill to sail conditions like that
Gsmloop

Ban Bill Update

Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 12:15 pm HST

Just found some further news about that proposed ban on windsurfing and kiteboarding. As I pointed out yesterday, the bill sponsor was Sen. Les Ihara. According to an interview with the short-sighted Senator by SBCkiteboard.com, the Senator found that "while the legislative idea in SB 2091 seemed worthy of consideration, many valid concerns were raised about the bill even before the hearing. As a result, I suggested to the committee chair prior to today’s hearing that unless the concerns were adequately addressed, it may be wise to terminate consideration on the bill."

Thanks fo SBCKiteboard for reporting this. You can see the full article here.

Missing Beast

Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 10:15 am HST

First up, we have a public service announcement this morning. It seems we have a lost Mistral Beast somewhere that became separated from its owner on a recent big day, and could have washed in anywhere from Baldwin to Waiehu. Reward for return! If anyone knows anything about this send me a comment and I'll forward it on.

Next up this morning, the sailing report. Or, more precisely, the non-sailing report. Super light winds are dominating still. Even the gusts never got above 10 yesterday at Kanaha. Winds are actually light and out of the south this morning. I took advantage of the light winds yesterday to finally clean out my windsurfing van. The next few days will bring us a great opportunity to do all kinds of gear maintenance, sail repairs, ding repairs on boards, replace downhaul and outhaul lines, sticker up your sails (if you're a pro), and all those other things we don't take the time to do when it's windy, because we're so keen to get out on the water.

Along with all all that gear repair, the lack of wind is giving me time to edit more video from last Sunday. Should have that finished and posted sometime later this afternoon or tonight.

Hawaii Ban on Windsurfing Sponsor

Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 8:40 am HST

I have an unconfirmed name for the sponsor of SB2091 that would severely restrict windsurfing in Hawaii, Senator Les Ihara. Here's his web page with all his contact info. I'm going to try to confirm that.

Comments:

Martin Kirk wrote:

Aloha, flew over to Oahu Friday to attend the Senate Water and Land Committee meeting and this is the report...... Hawaii Sentate Bill No. 2091, to restrict windsurfers and kiteboarders in Hawaiian waters from coming within 200 feet of other ocean users, was intoduced by a senator who represents the diamond head district on Oahu. apparently there is one kiter who is creating havoc for surfers and others in that area and a constituent was able to convince the diamond district senator to introduce the bill. many riders on all islands responded quickly with testimonies and the senate chair remarked how impressed he was with the quick response from windsurfers and kiteboarders around the islands. at the end of the day, the Bill was shelved or deferred but we should consider this recent senate action a warning shot over our bow, so to speak, and get more riders educated about sailing rules of the road and sailing etiquette. Aloha, Martin Kirk Kiteboarding School of Maui

Thanks Martin, for both the action of going over and also reporting. It appears that one positive aspect of this is that it has united windsurfers and kiters in a common cause.

Norm wrote:

I think what we need is some of the major players in the windsurfing and kite surfing industry to come together and hold a summit and find a way to settle our differences and find a way to work together to protect our rights. It's clear to me now that there is a movement against both. The only way we can protect what's ours is to unite together as a stronger voice. We need less restriction and more focus on the problems our beaches face.

I wholeheartedly agree. I'd love to see this issue rally the local windsurfing and kiting industry to get together. I don't think local govenernment appreciates the value of the local wind sport industry - not just in tourism but that Maui is the hub of the windsurfing and kitesurfing R&D world and that those companies bring in tax revenue for the local economy as well as creating jobs. It's long past time that the Maui wind industry be recognized as a "core competency of Maui."

I'm still working with local windsurfer Maui Pete to get some video of the committee session posted. It will probably be early next week before we can get that, but stay tuned.

Proposed Hawaii Ban on Windsurfing

Friday, February 15, 2008 at 4:10 pm HST

Good news. The world wide windsurfing community's voice has been heard. I just got word from Maui Pete who is following the video feed of the Hawaiian legislature's hearing of proposed legislation to ban windsurfing withing 200 feet of surfers and swimmers (see yestereday's blog for details on that), that the bill has been deferred. Here's what Maui Pete said:

The Bill has been deferred!

According to Sen. Clayton Hee during this afternoon's Senate Committee hearing, there has been "an extraordinary amount of testimony in opposition to the bill", and the Senator who submitted the legislation requested the bill be deferred so "they can work on it".

A big Mahalo to everyone who took the time to email, phone or visit the committee members. Nice to know the system can actually work if we all get involved.

It was great to see the windsurfing community around the world rally around this cause. It seems that just about every windsurfing forum or blog that I follow had news about this absurdity posted today, no doubt contributing to the "extraordinary amount of testimony in opposition to the bill." Great job everyone! I'm going to try to get video of the feed and post it here.

As for sailing today, we've entered a light wind pattern. High pressure has moved down on top of us, which puts us in a light sea breeze pattern. No trades. Looks like we could be in this pattern for several days.

Hookipa Hard Core Part 1

Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 8:50 pm HST

Here's the next installment of the hard core Hookipa action from last Sunday, most prominently featuring Kevin Pritchard and Jason Polakow. JP must have been working on his wave 360s that day. He was going for them on every wave. You'll see several of those in here along with some nice aerials.

Hookipa Hard Core Part 1

Valentine's Day brought large surf to the north shore today, though not as large as they were leading us to believe. It was probably in the 16 - 20 foot range at Uppers - similar to last Saturday. Winds were pretty light on the inside. I needed every square centimeter of my 5.7 to make it out, but once out I was wishing I had my 5.3 and smaller board.

Waves were better today than last Saturday, better direction, and a touch smoother. Hookipa was closed out again.

In other news, got this scary bit of news in the email today from the PWA. I thought I'd pass it along in an effort to help the windsurfing community rally against the local forces that seem so intent on shutting us down. Probably too late to do anything about it, but if you feel so inclined, follow the advice they give.

Dear Sailors & Industry Members,
The STATE of HAWAII is proposing a bill {that}will kill the windsurf business and could shut down sailing from our beaches, private land or public!

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/bills/SB2091_.htm

Please write a simple e-mail stating you do not agree with this and send it to: Committee on Water & Land <testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov>
Please indicate to which committee the testimony is being submitted and the date and time of the hearing. Email sent to individual offices or any other Senate office will not be accepted.

COMMITTEE ON WATER AND LAND
DATE:
Friday, February 15, 2008
TIME:
2:45 p.m.

MUST BE SUBMITTED BEFORE 2.45 TODAY

Best Regards,
Professional Windsurfers Association
info@pwaworldtour.com
http://www.pwaworldtour.com

Copy of Jimmy Diaz letter to Committee on Water & Land <testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov>
COMMITTEE ON WATER AND LAND
DATE: Friday, February 15, 2008
TIME: 2:45 p.m.

To Whom it may concern,

On behalf of the Professional Windsurfers Association, I would like to say
we oppose the passage of this bill.

This bill would greatly affect in a negative way a very active windsurfing
industry that has a significant economic impact on the state of Hawaii.
This impact is not only in the form of tourism, but also in the form of
businesses that have established Hawaii as a focal point of research and
development, training, retail, rental, and image capturing for the sport of
windsurfing. All of these businesses help perpetuate Hawaii as a tourist
destination to millions worldwide.

On behalf of the members of the Professional Windsurfers Association, I ask
you to vote against this bill.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Diaz
President - Professional Windsurfers Association

P.O. Box 791656
Paia, HI 96779
Tel. (808) 283 4628

Sweet Afternoon Sesh

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:30 pm HST

Yesterday was pretty much a light wind day, maybe sailable in the late afternoon. Today was sweet. I got the late shift today, not arriving to Kanaha until about 3:00. Reports were that it was really fun at Lowers, but still really crowded. I guess Hookipa was a bit funky again so a lot of them go to Lowers. I got a report that 5.0 was the call. It looked marginal 5.0 for me, but I rigged it anyway. Sadly the wind dropped then so it was mostly a slogfest.

Came in and rigged the 5.3 and bigger board and powered up to Uppers and there were some really sweet, big, meaty waves and only had to share them with my wife, Matt Pritchard and a two other people. Oh, and also a humpback whale that was spouting a bit downwind of us and a bunch of manta rays just outside the break.

I'm guessing we were seeing the forerunners of the ginormous swell that's supposed to arrive tonight and tomorrow. There were some genuine mast-high sets rolling through this afternoon and tomorrow is supposed to hit the 20 - 30 foot range. No doubt Hookipa will be closed out again and possibly Kanaha too.

Working on the next video installment from Sunday's action at Hookipa. This next installment will feature Kevin Pritchard, Jason Polakow, Luke Siver among others. I should have that up tomorrow evening. Meanwhile, here's some photos from Sunday.

Kauli Pryde

Monday, February 11, 2008 at 8:30 pm HST

It's no secret anymore that 2007 PWA wave champ Kauli Seadi has been testing Neil Prydes the last few months. But yesterday at Hookipa was the first time I'd seen him with his NPs all stickered up. In my opinion that makes it a done deal. When I arrived at Hookipa yesterday Kauli was the only one out. So, the first video installment from yesterday's footage is dedicated to Kauli - one of the most dynamic riders on the waves today.

Kauli Pryde

Some photos too...

Ok, now for the sailing report. Yesterday was really light at Kanaha up until about 3:00 which was why I hit up Hookipa since it was looking sailable and I was sure there would still be some macking swell coming in. Turned out to be a good call. Hookipa was firing with some massive sets still - closing out at times. Kanaha did come up to the upper teens in the late afternoon and I heard from a couple of people that it was pretty good.

Today was a fun day at Kanaha. Turns out Hookipa was crappy again. The current swell has a lot of west in it which was apparently closing out Hookipa. So, once again, lots of Hookipa refugees hitting up Lowers. I hit the water around 1:00 on 5.3 and hit Lowers first. Some really fun waves there, unfortunately I had to share each one I got with about 8 other guys. No joke. After about three waves I figured I'd sacrifice the nicer, but crowded waves at Lowers for the less crowded, bigger, but not as nice waves at Uppers.

The west component in the swell has been making a Uppers a bit challenging the last few days. It's kind of wrapping weirdly and pretty bumpy. Still, there have been some awesom sets and it was nice to not have to share the waves with so many people. Late in the afternoon the wind kicked it up an notch and the forerunners of the next big swell started to hit.

Looks like tomorrow should be another massive day, judging from the forerunners and the forecast. Enjoy the video and photos. Still got lots more footage to get through so there will be lots more video action coming from yesterday at Hookipa.

Hard Core Hookipa

Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 9:30 pm HST

Hookipa was big and happening today. Kauli Seadi, Jason Polakow, Kevin Pritchard, Robby Naish and many more. Stay tuned for video this week.

Adrenaline Cocktails for All

Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 7:10 pm HST

The day dawned with clear blue skies, the sun getting another chance to dry us out after two or three weeks of rain. What's more, the morning wind check showed wind on the north shore. The drive down the hill to the beach showed big surf all along the north shore. Woo Hoo! Wind, waves and sun are back - the magic Maui trio.

Arriving at Kanaha it became evident just how big the conditions were. The Kanaha parking lot was already filling up before noon and there were a lot of Hookipa regulars rigging up - refugees from closed out conditions there.

A quick check at the beach showed that Lowers was already teaming with eager sailors charging logo- to mast-high conditions. Uppers looked massive and I could only see one sailor up there. Wind looked 5.0 but I rigged 5.3 just to make sure I had enough horsepower to run away and power through the break when needed.

Tried Lowers for a few rides and it was pretty sweet - nice, smooth logo-high - but alas, a bit more crowded than I like. I looked up wind and still only saw a couple of sails at Uppers so I bailed on Lowers and sailed to Uppers.

The Upper reefs at Uppers were going off. Big mast high + meaty waves. The surf forecast was calling for 16 - 20. Uppers was surpassing that. The wind was strong on the outside but down on the wave face I was glad I had the extra vinyl. Had to even pump a few times as I started to drop off a plane while a mountain of water was jacking up behind me.

By mid afternoon the wind amped up into the mid 20s and I rigged down to the 4.7. Barely made it out through the channel between Lowers and the Weird wave as a close out set came through. Headed up to Uppers again for another round of adrenaline pumping, heart thumping action.

By around 3:00 everything was still pumping but I was ODing on adrenaline, my legs and arms were turning to jell-o - it seemed a good time to head in and call it a day. Looks like the swell will decline a bit tomorrow and then be reinforced by an even bigger swell late Monday into Tuesday.

I Snooze I Lose

Friday, February 8, 2008 at 7:45 am HST

Well apparently it was pretty epic at Hookipa yesterday. Had these comments waiting in my inbox this morning:

"Up the coast was epic. Some of the best swell in weeks. Enough wind to move around, from noon till almost five - and sunny, almost the whole time."

"Not sure about Kanaha but Hookipa was Firing!" Norm

Good Day Sunshine

Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 8:45 pm HST

Got up this morning and was super stoked to see blue skies off to the west over the West Maui Mountains and sunshine slipping down the mountain side. The old Beatles tune "Good Day Sunshine" was the first thing that came to mind. Woo hoo! I hadn't seen full on sunshine in 2 weeks. Awesome!

Part of my daily routine every morning is to wake up the computer then get the coffee going. While the coffee is brewing I check all my weather resources, synoptic feature map of the Pacific, WindGuru, iWindsurf, NWS forecast discussion, etc. It was a little disappointing to see the Kanaha sensor showing winds at 3mph but the sunny skies made up for that.

The sunny skies prevailed until about midday upcountry where I live, maybe longer down at the beach. Midday we started seeing convective cloud build-ups, threatening a downpour. I kept my eye on the wind graph and the web cams while I was working out on the lanai, but the wind was refusing to show up.

Some time around 1:00 the wind spiked up to around 20ish. A look at the cams, radar and satellite though showed that it would probably be short-lived as there were some big squalls and thunderstorms offshore from Kanaha. I placed a call into a roaving Maui windsurf reporter who was traveling down Haleakala highway, and asked for a visual. The report back confirmed - heavy rain offshore and in Wailuku. Not worth getting excited about yet. Turns out the wind dropped down into the upper teens.

But, the wind may have gotten the last laugh on me today. Looks like it may have come again around 3:00 with averages around 20, gusts slightly higher. I haven't gotten any confirmed sailing reports yet, but I think it may have been sailable from about 3:00 to sunset. So, maybe I missed an opportunity. But, no worries. I'm just stoked to have seen and felt sunshine today. Living on Maui where we get so much of that, we sometimes take it for granted. I guess we need the cloudy days at times to help us appreciate the sunny ones all the more. Hopefully, we'll get another chance tomorrow.

Maui Grayscale

Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 8:15 pm HST

Maui, and most of Hawaii, still remain under a soggy gray blanket of both high and low clouds. We've got an upper level low north of us sucking up tropical moisture south of us.

The last couple of days we've at least had the fortune of the rain letting up. Trade winds have been blowing, more or less, throughout this grayscale episode that's been going on for over a week.

I sailed both Sunday and yesterday in gusty, gray conditions at Kanaha. I didn't think Sunday was anything special - I thought it was pretty gusty/holey (5.0/85L), really offshore and sloppy waves - but I know several people who had fun in it.

Yesterday was a bit better IMO - maybe because I rigged a little bigger , 5.3 - to make sure I had a little extra horsepower to get through the holes. I think that was the ticket to a better time and would have been better on Sunday. My 5.0 was ok at times on Sunday, but it's got a modified luff that I think takes away a little on the low end, but makes it super stable in the gusts. Anyway, nothing special wave-wise yesterday either, but it was good to be out on the water nonetheless.

Gave it a miss today. Radar and satellite showed showers marching down the north shore most of the day so I opted to get other things done.

Looks like we've still got a few more days of the grayscale in our future. Forecasters are saying it will be the weekend before the sun returns. Looks like the wind will decline a bit tomorrow and then get even lighter on Thursday but then return on Friday. Though somehow I really have a hard time believing the forecasters have their wind predictions that dialed. Regardless, if you're coming to Maui for your windsurfing vacation, looks like more typical sunny trade wind conditions should return this weekend.

January Jamboree

Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 11:00 am HST

Sunday morning here on Maui and the best news of the day so far is that there is actually blue sky visible this morning. First morning I've seen blue sky here in several days. Yesterday was yet another rainy day on Maui with some flooding occuring in the Haiku area, but we fared well compared to the Big Island which got 18 inches of rain in 24 hours at one rain gauge. Yeah, it's been wet. So, what to do with a wet Saturday? Edit some video from Hookipa a couple of weeks ago. This little video below compiles the best footage I got at Hookipa the day Kevin was out on his new Gaastra and Kauli was out testing NPs.

January Jamboree

Wet Wind

Friday, February 1, 2008 at 6:30 pm HST

Good news - we're in a trade wind pattern. Bad news - it's wet, cold, gray, rainy, wind. Worse news - looks like this pattern will continue for several more days. I've been back on Maui for a couple of days now and as much as I really wanted to sail, it just hasn't been appealing. Wind has been up and down, corresponding to the seemingly endless squalls that keep attacking the north shore. I'm holding out hope that we'll get a bit of a break in the cloud and rain for at least a few hours this weekend.