Light Trades Give Way to Sea Breezes

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 4:50 pm HST

A light trade wind pattern ruled Maui for Monday and Tuesday with light north winds on Monday at Kanaha, stronger north winds in Kihei. The same weather ingredients were in the mix yesterday, but somehow winds cranked it up a notch or two to solid 5.0 conditions at Sugar Cove for me. Driving to the beach, Kanaha looked a bit cloudy so we opted for sunnier skies at Sugar Cove. Gorgeous day, pretty mellow freeriding with hardly anyone else out.

Today we've transitioned into an onshore sea breeze pattern with light north to northeast winds in the 10 - 15mph range on the north shore and light south winds at Kihei. Looks like that will likely be the case again tomorrow and then light trades returning on Friday through the weekend.

Saturday Surprise, Sunday Wind Demise

Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 5:40 pm HST

My expectations for sailing yesterday were pretty low considering that WindGuru was forecasting winds with single digits. But, like a dumb lab rat pressing the feed button, I kept hitting the iWindsurf page anyway. That lab rat instinct paid off, and I was surprised late morning to see average winds around 20 with gusts to the mid 20s. All other plans and options got put on hold as we scrambled down to Kanaha.

Driving down Haleakala Highway you could see that the volcanic haze was getting blown out, the sky was once again blue, the sugar cane was dancing in the breeze and there were whitecaps out on the ocean, along with some waves rolling in at Uppers, Camp One and Sprecks.

5.0 got the call and it was pretty much spot-on. Headed to Uppers where there was a bit of leftover north swell in a small section with about 3 dozen sailors vying for it. That (the crowds) got old quick and I cruised further up wind to Camp One to find a better break and nobody else to fight with over the waves. Sweet!

The waves were pretty anemic by winter standards - just not much oomph to them, but still pretty fun. These conditions pretty much held throughout the day making for a nice surprise session.

At the end of the day, lots of sailors were thinking that the forecast was just wrong, that Maui would work it's magic and we'd continue to get wind over the next several days of forecasted light trades. Sadly, that didn't transpire today. Winds on the north shore were light and northerly, in the mid-teens, all day. With the northerly direction, Kihei was possibly sailable on big, plus-size sails, but didn't look to me like my 5.7 would work.

The forecast continues to call for light trade winds. Pretty much identical forecast as the last two days where we had two wildly different sailing outcomes. So, we'll just have to play it by ear and monitor the conditions.

Voggy Days

Friday, May 16, 2008 at 9:00 am HST

After two + weeks of solid trade wind conditions, Maui's trade winds have taken a break the last few days, with light south wind and volcanic haze (vog) from the Big Island setting up stagnant, hazy, LA-like conditions here.

As usual with these patterns, the culprit is a ridge of high pressure sitting right on top of us. The high pressure ridge usually sits north of us and generates our trade winds. But, when it moves south and sits right on top of us, winds turn light and we get light stagnant flow from the south.

The forecast is saying that the ridge will move back north some time this weekend and that light to moderate trade winds will return. So far, it looks to me like the winds may still be a bit on the light side for "normal" Maui-sized sailing, but it should at least clear out the brown gunk in the air.

Robby Shreds Sugar Cove Video

Monday, May 12, 2008 at 7:30 am HST

A mellow day in December found Robby Naish incognito, putting some new gear to the test, shredding the small swell and shore break at Sugar Cove.

Robby Shreds Sugar Cove Video

Trade winds mellowed slightly over the weekend, but were still strong enough for 4.7. Had a fun session yesterday at Sugar Cove without any crowds at all. Wind should get mellower today and get light and variable tomorrow through Friday.

Comments:

Wow--that is some footage of Robbie. Thanks for posting it.
Susan

Ridiculously Windy

Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 9:30 am HST

The last couple of days have been ridiculously windy here on Maui. I totally skipped even going to the beach at all on Thursday after seeing the average wind readings in the mid 30s and gusts over 40.

Yesterday held promise of slightly lighter winds and it turns out the morning and early afternoon sessions were reasonable, but still required small sails - 4.2 for guys and sub-4 for ladies.

The mid- and late-afternoon sessions however, got silly windy again. I got on the water around 2:00 with 4.2, completely wound out, even with max downhaul and outhaul. I'm certain I could have been well-powered on a 3.7. The water was a bumpy mess inside the reef, but I was pleasantly surprised to find some wind swell setting up in a decent direction for down the line at times. Would have been fantastic fun had it not been so gusty and bumpy. I toughed out about a half an hour overpowered just to try to take advantage of the swell. Then sanity and reason took charge and I headed in.

Winds are supposed to start mellowing out some time this weekend. Then on Monday or Tuesday winds will drop off to light and variable for a few days before returning late next week.

Summer Sailing Continues

Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 9:45 am HST

Summer-like conditions continue here on Maui with moderate to strong trade winds and no waves aside from small wind swell. Tuesday was another day of moderate wind with 5.0ish conditions for most guys and 4.0ish conditions for the ladies.

Yesterday we saw the wind ramp up into the nuclear range at times - overpowered 4.2 at times for me, and then at times mellow 4.2. Only backside riding stuff up at Camp One and some good ramps at times too.

Winds are supposed to be very strong today too, but so far they're pretty mellow. Looks like trades should hang around through the weekend and then next week it looks like we may get another period of light, stagnant conditions like we had a couple of weeks ago.

Summer Sailing

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 10:45 am HST

Predominantly summer sailing conditions the last few days. Saturday - powered up 4.7 under sunny skies and summer-like waves, only small windswell at Camp One. Sunday was another spectacular day weather-wise. Went to Sugar Cove to avoid the Kanaha crowds and conditionsand it looked fantastic. But, I just felt too lazy and was content to just sit and watch other people sail. That's a sure sign that you're getting enough sailing in your life, you go down to sail, it's a beautiful day, the wind is nice and steady and you decide you just don't need to go out. It's a great feeling.

Yesterday we had hazy, filtered sunshine again. Went to Kanaha and rigged 4.7. A bit too light so I came in and rigged the 5.0 instead. Much better. I found the wind to be a bit erratic - up and down and pretty shifty initially, but it settled down a bit. There were some occasional sets at Uppers, but pretty sporadic. Lots of people up there competing for them.

Looks like trade winds should continue through the the week and probably get back into the very strong range later this week. Not much to look forward to for waves this week. We're definitely transitioning to summer sailing with long periods of moderate to strong wind and rare north swells.

If you're coming to Maui for an extended stay and need some gear, check out the gear for sale section. I just put up my big wave board for sale the other day, a 2008 Tabou Da Curve 95 Liter prototype. This is basically a custom Matt Pritchard wave board - super light and super turny on a wave. It's got the 73 Da Curve graphics, but it's a 95 liter version that never made it into production. It's in fantastic shape. Check it out if you're looking for a big wave machine. $800 OBO.

There's also still some good deals on sails, including a 2005 Simmer 4.5 Vision that's only been used twice. Virtually new. This could be your go-to sail here in the summer time for most guys.

Hazy Hookipa Video

Friday, May 2, 2008 at 11:30 am HST

A hazy day at Hookipa, with cranking winds and moderate surf, featuring Ross Williams, Kevin Pritchard, Kai Katchadorian and a girl name Lee (Goya sail) who was stoked at the prospect of seeing herself on video at Hookipa.

Hazy Hookipa Video

Winds cranked again yesterday - 4.7 and some nice waves in the morning, then powered up 4.2 in the afternoon with the waves not quite as nice but still great ramps for orbital air.

Today, looks like the winds is already blowing in the 4.5 range for guys and sub-4.0 for the ladies. Winds are supposed to back down a bit this weekend, but then they were supposed to back down yesterday and today and they really haven't.

Hookipa Photos

Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 7:30 am HST

Here's a few photos from Hookipa yesterday. Sky was a bit overcast with high clouds so the lighting conditions weren't very good most of the time.