Maui Wind Mockery

Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 4:00 pm HST

The light but sailable wind pattern continues here on Maui. The overall set up for trade winds is pretty weak which led to really light winds up until mid- to late-afternoon on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, those with the patience to hang around the beach all day until the later afternoon were rewarded with a late session. Winds were in the mid-teens or less all afternoon up until 2:15 when I decided it wasn't going to happen and gave up checking to go do other things. I had been getting reports from Karen who was down at Kanaha doing a lesson that the wind was light and "wacky." With gray skies and a poor forecast it seemed unlikely the wind would come up. You can probably already guess what happened.

Around 4:00 I decided to check the graphs again, and was astounded to see average wind readings of around 22 mph! WTF! How'd that happen? What a mockery! I considered heading down to find Karen, who was now shopping in Costco, to get the van of gear and try to salvage a late session. But the presidential debate was raging, or rather, simmering, and I didn't really trust the wind to stay up so I stayed put and watched McCain and Obama verbally spar.

I was pretty frustrated and bummed until I talked to Jazz later in the evening and got the report from him. I'd seen a few Gaastra sails out at Uppers on the MauiWindCam and suspected Jazz was one of them, along with Matt K. and "Beach Liaison" Rebecca G. Jazz had opted out of Hookipa because the wind was too light there and the surfers were dominating the break. Jazz gave me the report that I really didn't miss much - pretty up and down and only intermittent waves. I thought he was just trying to make me feel better, but he assured me that it really wasn't worth getting bummed about missing it.

Forecast for yesterday was for even lighter winds, but after Friday's mocking wind, I kept a closer eye on the graph and cameras. Sure enough, the wind beat the predictions again. By 1:30 it was averaging 20 or 21. No delaying yesterday. We immediately rallied and headed to Kanaha. Of course, it turns out the wind had dropped a notch by the time we got there, but it was still windy enough for 5.7/95 liter and it looked like there might be some tiny waves still at Uppers.

The 5.7 was mostly powered up. The gusts were pretty strong, but the holes were pretty light. Took a few reaches to make it up to the one little section at Uppers that was breaking, a small section about 50 yards long where small, crumbly waist- to chest-high surf was breaking. On one reach out from the inside I counted 30 - 40 people vying for that little section of break. Lowers wasn't breaking at all so Uppers had to absorb the masses that would normally be down there. Lots of people competing for the drop, lots of people down in the water, lots of people trying to launch air, all in a small little area. After one or two waves where I had to dodge guys in the water, plus dodge guys heading out and share the wave with several people, I decided the conditions really weren't anything to get excited about and not worth it, so I opted to head elsewhere to look for something fun. Crowded waves seem to bother me more than a lot of people so, if it's not really epic surf, I don't feel like it's worth it to add myself into the already crowded mix. About this time the wind decided to drop a notch so elsewhere ended up being back down wind to the launch.

Today, the winds really did get lighter. Forecast was for single digit wind speeds. The best it was able to do today was onshore winds in the low-teens for a bit, before backing off into the single digits again. From what I can tell, it looks like the wind should be about the same tomorrow as today and Tuesday should be a transition day back to stronger winds, though it still looks like we'll be using the big sails in our quivers. Around Tuesday - Wednesday it's also looking like we should get the biggest north swell yet of this new season. Surf reports are calling for a "moderate" sized swell, but below advisory level. My translation on that is we should see something in the mast high range at Hookipa, slightly smaller at Uppers and maybe head- to logo-high at Lowers. With the possibility of light winds still on Tuesday, I'm guessing the surfers will be bogarting the break at Hookipa. Hopefully we won't see a repeat of last year's ugliness and hostility between surfers and windsurfers that started out the season there.

Maui - "Real World" Style

Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 6:00 pm HST

I get kind of amused reading comments in Windsurfing Magazine from people tired of seeing photos and articles of "perfect" conditions in Maui. They want photos and articles about "real world" conditions. It's gotten pervasive enough that some board companies even make boards called "real world" wave boards.

What many people don't realize about Maui windsurfing is that, although, yes, we do get a lot of beautiful, sunny, warm days with 20 knots and head- to mast-high waves, we also get a fair amount of "real world" days. On Maui, that might mean, gray skies, rainy, squally, drizzly, and wind bouncing around between 10 and 30 and shifting directions. Except for the wetsuit, these days remind me a lot of the typical storm sailing I used to do in Seattle before moving to Maui. It's gray. It's gusty. Sometimes you need a 7.0 or bigger, sometimes a 4.0 - all in the space of a few hours.

So. You want real world conditions? We got your real world conditions right here pal!

Yet another day today of gray skies and marginal winds - 4.5ish to start things out, then backing off into the upper teens - 6.0 conditions. Then up again to 5.0 conditions, then down to 6.5, then back to 5.5, until the 4:00 hour when the wind shut down completely. Zip! Nada! Zilch! So, all you whiners writing into the magazines about wanting real world conditions, come on over. You'll be stoked!

Up and Down Much?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 8:15 am HST

Wind has been a bit up and down the last few days, yesterday more so than Monday. My prediction for wet weather on Monday didn't really come to pass. Turned out to be a beautiful sunny day at the beach, starting out with lightish winds that then later amped up to pretty strong, averaging around 25 knots, then backing off to mellower conditions after a couple of hours. No swells meant flat, flat, flat conditions on the north shore.

The rainy and squally conditions I had predicted for Monday showed up yesterday resulting in really up and down conditions on the north shore. I suppose it would be sailable if you were desperate, but the quality level looked very low and with still no waves, I couldn't get motivated to make it to the beach.

Forecast for the next few days looks like somewhat similar conditions may continue. There's a basic trade wind set up but there's also some clouds and showers upstream of us so there's a possibility for squally conditions, or the clouds and showers may totally miss us. Just have to wait and see. As far as waves go, today should be pretty flat again, but there's a tiny bump expected on north shores tomorrow into Friday. Looks like a more significant north swell may be on the horizon early next week.

Stronger Wind, Smaller Waves

Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 11:15 am HST

Trade winds bumped a sail size or two yesterday over what it's been doing the last several days and the waves started a downward trend. The midday session at Kanaha turned out to be the best with a combination of wind in the 5.0 to 5.3 range and still an occasional head-high set once in awhile. Seemed like the early part of the session had the better waves - they kept getting smaller, junkier and more sporadic as the afternoon wore on - at least at Kanaha. The wind followed a similar trend as it turned more onshore and got a bit funkier.

Today is looking like we should see similar winds, but the surf is looking pretty small. All the forecasters are talking about wet weather headed our way starting tonight and lasting through at least tomorrow. So, while we should still have some trade winds around, it's looking like they may be a bit wet and squally.

Comments

Hello Just want to say thanks a lot for your nice blog/site I was at Maui 2007 and are this year as well going to maui for 5 weeks in october until start of nov. Then I want to inform you that your blog/site is my most important link to Maui. I am now goin to by some new sails, and when asking my selves,,where to find the links for windsurf shops at Maui? ok, no problem I find them at your site under where to by/rent gear :-) and so on.:-) I now probably visit your site allmost every day to get info about how the conditions develops. I am mostly a Kanaha Sprecs windsurfer....mabie I see you out there in October. br Tormod

Thanks Tormod! Always good to get feedback from folks. Glad the site is helpful to you. Send me a comment when you get on Maui. Maybe I can help you find some good deals on new sails. Aloha! Makani.

Light Wind and Surf

Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 9:00 am HST

Light wind and fun north shore surf continue to be the dominant theme on Maui the last few days. We've had a couple of back to back north swells in the head high range to even over head high at Kanaha. Winds are light enough to be either unsailable for most Maui quivers or requiring our biggest sails and floatiest boards.

Thursday was super light wind but despite a forecast for single digits yesterday, the wind kicked it up a notch to 5.5 to 6.0 meter levels for most guys. At Kanaha, Uppers was the break of choice with some fun glassy head-high waves and even a few bigger sets.

No new photos or video of my own to post today so I thought I'd help promote the latest new windsurfng DVD now available, Wind Legends: The History of Windsurfing. Featuring the stars of windsurfing from invention to present times, "Wind Legends" is a masterpiece of sports filmmaking. From classic freestyle days to highlights of top World Cup Racing, speed and wave performance, this DVD has it all. Check out the DVD trailer.

Hookipa Yesterday Video

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 8:00 pm HST

Wave season has begun, and Hookipa got it's biggest swell yet this week with overhead conditions on Monday and Tuesday. Here's video from yesterday with some good sets still available to the likes of Francisco Goya, Levi Siver, Keith Teboul, Junko Nagoshi, Kai Lenny, Mark Angulo and more.

Hookipa Video

When you're done watching video, check out these water shots on Dan Rayburn's website, taken at Hookipa on Monday. Some pretty cool shots there.

Winds were a little bit windier today at times, 5.3 was mostly good for me at Uppers. Still some northwest swell rolling in even at Uppers and even at Lowers, though the good sets were few and far between, interspersed with lots of junky, bumpy stuff. It's all good though. Always good to have some surf to play in.

Looks like winds will drop off the next couple of days, at least that's what the forecasters are saying. Shame, there's another couple of small northwest swells on tap the next few days.

Hookipa Today Photos

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 6:40 pm HST

Light trades have returned to Maui the last couple of days, accompanied by a small northwest swell. Kanaha yesterday was 5.7 and a bit shadowed for the waves, but there were some occasional fun sets at both Lowers and Uppers. Hookipa was the place to be - better suited to getting the northwest swells than Kanaha - 5.0 to 5.3 for a lot of guys and some logo high sets.

Similar conditions today. Some photos from Hookipa today starring Japan's Junko Nagoshi, Bernd Roediger, Levi Siver, Keith Taboul, Josh Stone and Pascal Bronneman (sp?).

I'll have some video action from today posted in a day or two.

Sweet & Mellow Hookipa Video

Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 3:00 pm HST

More video from last Friday. Brothers Matt and Kevin Pritchard and others show that it doesn't have to be big at Hookipa to have a fun time on a sweet, mellow September day.

Sweet & Mellow Hookipa Video

Transition Season

Friday, September 12, 2008 at 6:20 pm HST

September in Maui is a transition month in my opinion. The summer trade winds get a bit less consistent and we start to see the first hints and advanced scouts of the north shore swells that we all look forward to in autumn, winter and spring.

This past week we've already begun seeing these transition signs with lighter than normal onshore wind on the north shore and some small but fun north swell earlier in the week. The wind was too light for me on the north shore early in the week, but if you were an average guy with 6.0 + sails and a big floaty board you could play in the small surf. Even Lowers had some small surf early in the week.

The forecast kept calling for the winds to get lighter and lighter through the week as our trade wind-producing high pressure got weaker and degraded by some upper level troughs. But Maui worked it's thermal and venturi magic and continued to deliver sailable winds, both in Kihei, where they were stronger, and on the north shore.

Got a report from Matt Pritchard that there was a small window of wind with some fun waves on Wednesday afternoon at Hookipa. The only waves still hanging around yesterday however was a small wind swell. I got a nice surprise session in the early afternoon at Uppers on a 5.3, despite predictions of winds only in the single digits. Gotta love those unexpected sessions.

Today brought an encore of yesterday's set-up, though with tiny surf, I opted to get work done to try to free up time for next week's anticipated north swell. According to the National Weather Service's Hawaiian Surf Forecast, a gale in the north Pacific should generate "upper-end small levels on Monday from 320-330 degrees, peak Monday night, and slowly drop into Wednesday as the direction veers toward 360 degrees." Now, keep in mind that though they say upper end small, that probably means something like 8 to 10 feet at Hookipa, and I'm guessing head-high at Uppers and a bit smaller at Lowers. Combine that with a probable strengthening of trade winds early next week and we have a recipe for fun!

2009 Maui Windsurfing Calendar

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at 12:10 pm HST

The 2009 Maui Windsurfing Calendar is now available!

Order yours today! Available now through the Maui Windsurfing CafePress shop. I'll have some of these available for sale at the beach in the next few weeks if you're here on Maui or going to be. Stay tuned for details on that. Here's the line-up (I had to replace the two darker shots from the contest, they were too blurry).

Comments

Wicked looking shots for your next year calendar,just ordered one tonight. Great site, Coming up next summer to spend some time. Cheers, Jimbo

Gaastra/Tabou Hookipa Groovin' Video

Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 9:40 am HST

Video from Friday of Gaastra/Tabou guys Matt Pritchard and Jazz Glickenhaus maximizing the fun on a small, mellow Hookipa day.

Gaastra/Tabou Hookipa Groovin' Video

Wind has continued to be on light and onshore on the north shore the last few days. Sailable, but requiring bigger sails and boards. Kihei has had the strongest winds on the island as is typical when the trades are light and northerly. Looks like today and tomorrow will see more of that same pattern and then the winds look to turn even lighter starting on Tuesday.

Friday Hookipa Photos

Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 8:50am HST

Pretty light wind on the north shore yesterday. Kanaha was too light and too onshore. Hookipa was a bit windier and had some small surf anywhere between knee high to some head high sets at times. Only about 10 guys out in the afternoon. Gaastra guys, Jazz G. and Matt P. were getting the best of it.

Got some video of the action too. When I get that edited and posted here depends what the wind does this weekend.

Holiday Weekend Surf Report

Monday, September 1, 2008 at 8:30 pm HST

Labor Day weekend. The last holiday weekend of the summer in the U.S. Friday and Saturday were both pretty light, at least on the north shore of Maui. Kihei was the best bet for sailable winds on reasonably sized sails (< 6.0 m for guys and < than 5 m for gals - anything bigger than that is just absurdly big on Maui in my opinion, unless you're a slalom racer).

Sunday and today were a different story. Summer holiday weekends bring out big crowds to the local beach parks here on Maui. I'm not just talking about windsurfers. Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day are big days for the locals to come out and BBQ at Kanaha with the whole famn damily - which might be a gathering of 40 or 50 people in some cases. On a holiday weekend you can figure that Kanaha will be parked out by noon.

The wind started out light yesterday. In fact, I thought it would be a repeat of the previous two days and had all but written it off. But, this is Maui and shortly after noon the wind was averaging over 20. What to do? Kanaha would be parked out already. So, we opted for the old stand-by, Sugar Cove.

Even the beach at Sugar Cove yesterday was pretty crowded, but nothing compared to Kanaha. Despite a call for only light winds, it looked like 5.0 would get the call for me, 4.5 for Karen. Inititially that was only marginally enough. First stop was to sail downwind a half reach to Sprecks. Not really much happening there with waves so I motored on up to check out Spartans and Secrets. They really weren't breaking either but there was some nice open ocean swell up there and we had the place to ourselves. After about a half hour the wind kicked in and before I knew it, I had about a half a meter of sail to spare. It was blowing a solid 4.5 and the forecast had only called for wind in the single digits. I hear that the conditions at Kanaha were similar, but maybe slightly lighter.

With the solid wind we had yesterday and a forecast for the wind to increase today, we were ready to head to Kanaha early today. Got there shortly after 11:00 and it was already getting pretty crowded. A big family of a few dozen locals decided to spread their picnic across the walk way from the parking lot to the launch site - a sure recipe for conflict as dozens of windsurfers would be trying to walk to the launch with their gear down the sidewalk. Parking spaces were getting scarce and the park was abuzz with hubbub and commotion.

We went down to the water to check it out anyway and guess what? Surf! Lowers was breaking, maybe knee high and it looked like Uppers was probably shoulder- to head-high. Holy crap! Surf on Labor Day! Well, after further consideration we realized that not only would the park be a crowded zoo, but the break at Uppers would be the liquid equivalent. Pass on that thanks. Back up to Sugar Cove and Sprecks.

Up at Sprecks and Sugar Cove, it looked like a squall had just come through and shut the wind down temporarily, but we could see that Sprecks was breaking in the shoulder- to head-high range and upwind we could see Spartans breaking. After chatting with some friends and eating lunch while we waited for the wind to fill back in, we went out - 5.3 for me, 4.5 for Karen. First stop for me was Sprecks to check it out. Sailed there in shoulder- to head-high surf for about a half hour. Kind of mushy and not the ideal set up but good enough to get a couple of turns on down the line. Good fun. After about a half hour of that though, more people started showing up and I was wondering what Spartans and Secrets were doing so I headed upwind to join Karen.

Secrets wasn't really working but the outer reef at Spartans had some pretty big rolling swell and, I kid you not, was breaking logo- to mast-high - big, clean, glassy, beautiful waves and only the two of us there.

I'm sometimes skeptical when people tell me that a certain break or wave is so much bigger than what it's doing elsewhere. But, after looking at this wave while sailing up there and after riding a couple, they were seriously logo- to mast-high. I tried telling myself over and over that, no, they can't be that big. But, reality was that they were.

The downside is that the angle wasn't quite ideal for down the line riding. It was mostly backside, but I could get one down the line bottom turn, then head up for the top turn and open the clew up a ridiculous amount to keep from getting backwinded, then back to a backside turn or two, then another down the line bottom turn. Sprecks had a little better set up direction-wise for the wave, but Spartans was so clean and big and deserted that it was WAAAAAY more fun that Sprecks.

Just goes to show, break away from the crowds a little, branch out and explore and you're sure to find some treasure - treasure that's available to anyone who searches, and often right under our noses. You sometimes just gotta break away from what everyone else is doing to find it.