Tag: hawaii

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Wednesday Afternoon

2013-HIOAMB-11-20

Surf: 2.0 ft at 13.3 s from the SSW at 199°

After a short break, we headed back out. This spot was smaller, but had some punchy waves in shallow water. Like, really shallow.

Really shallow water I tend to stare at the bottom instead of paying attention. The upside is I saw lots of fish! Downside is I kicked out of a bunch of waves early yelling aaaaaa loudly in my head.

This wave was a little more competitive. I saw a few minor verbal tussles over drop ins, but since I was on a log instead of my short board, it was pretty easy to stick to the softer peak and snag waves without getting in the way. 🙂

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Wednesday Morning

2013-HIODH-11-20

Surf: 2.0 ft at 13.3 s from the S at 179°. High Tide.

I’ll admit, checking the surf forecast religiously before this trip, I was worried there’d be no swell. South shore was showing flat. North shore was showing flat (well, alternating flat and like 20ft which I’m not sure I’d even be able to watch without nearly drowning.) So it was a very pleasant surprise to roll up to the break this morning and see waves! Lots of waves! 😀

Lots of people, but lots of waves!

So far I’ve found people to be pretty considerate, there’s enough waves to go around and everyone’s been really friendly. The one thing I did find odd was no one moves. If you’re going for a wave, no one will move out of your line. I think part of that is that the majority of the lineup is way better than the majority of the lineup at home, so it’s expected that you will be skilled enough to go around. Why should people give up their spot when you could avoid them on your own? I’m not sure. It’s a little unnerving watching people paddle for a wave so close together, but didn’t see anyone collide.

It’s so nice to surf warm peaks and really nice to watch other people surf. There are some amazing longboarders out here.

Surfed and surfed and surfed and then got Açaí bowls. 😀

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Morning surf in Lahaina

Maui Morning

Me in Maui

Wes at Lahaina

Conditions: 1-3ft. Clean, light offshore flow.

We were so stoked after Tuesday’s sesh we just HAD to snag a few more waves before the flight. I managed to get a 9’6 softop, still slow, but a little better.

The morning was much less crowded. Waves were still sweet, easy to catch, and fun to ride. This was Wes’s first time trying to catch a wave on his own. He did a great job. He caught almost all the waves he went for, got clean rides in, and did a good job respecting other surfers by taking turns on the waves. Sounds like a solid start to a surf career right there. 😀

All and all, great day. Wonderful waves, friendly people, beautiful scenery, WARM water, blue skies…
I can’t wait to go back!

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Maui!

Maul

Wes Learning

Conditions: 1-3ft. Clean, light offshore flow.

My brother and I managed to wrangle tickets to Maui on miles. 😀
4 days to surf, snorkel, hike and cruise around.

The rental shop near the Lahaina breakwall wouldn’t rent to us unless Wes took a class so I grabbed a 10ft soft top and he went out with an instructor. He did pretty well! The instructor pushed him into the waves and he was standing up pretty cleanly. I got a couple of compliments on my form too 😀

It turned out to be a great little sunset session. The waves were super easy to catch. Very clean, very mellow. Turning on a 10ft soft top after a few months with my board was hard. I stomped, I learned hard, nothing would get that board to turn any faster. The break was crowded, but the waves were mellow enough that even with the slow turning I managed to dodge the kiddos.

Reef surfing is a whole different animal from beach breaks. In one spot the tips of my fingers grazed the reef as I was paddling. Wow is that shallow! For the most part, no problems. It’s pretty easy to remember to land flat when the alternative is hurting the poor reef (and yourself). I did take a few waves to the face admiring all the fish while I was paddling out.

Beautiful stuff!