The fall and winter Maliko report

[headmount]

Yesterday the 20th, LaPer posted about another cranking day on the southside.  I'm really amazed this time because the wind report at the airport was 060 to 070 and when we did our Maliko run yesterday even Victor was outside because the east wind was pulling him that way.  The wind arched back in a tad at the end but still the Puunene stacks were blowing towards West Maui.  So it was definitely ENE on the north shore.  If the wind blew tangent on the south that means it bent 80 degrees going through the valley.  Anyway conditions on the north shore were fantastic yesterday.  Victor told me I dropped into one where my whole body disappeared from his view.  There was an east swell rolling through and it had size.   Everything was running in the same direction.  I had begun to have this love affair with the southside because I really enjoy the even grain but when Maliko is like yesterday then I realize why it's the best.  So great to have two spots to chose from and when the big NW swells roll in this winter, the south will be the call.  Came home to a new paddle from PonoBill and can't wait to set it up...

[LaPerouseBay]

Yesterday the 20th, LaPer posted about another cranking day on the southside.  I'm really amazed this time because the wind report at the airport was 060 to 070 /
/ it was definitely ENE on the north shore.  If the wind blew tangent on the south that means it bent 80 degrees going through the valley.

It was bending a lot more than 80 degrees to the prevailing wind.  The wind was so onshore early I had to fight my way right to stay out.  When it's blowing that hard ENE it's very dangerous on the south shore.  It can go flat and switch to offshore 'road to Tahiti' in a flash.  Sup's should not launch from the boardwalk if it's 60 degrees or higher at the airport.  True NE winds are the safer bet.   

It's tempting to launch from the boardwalk because it's directly onshore at the Kihei Canoe club.  If you do, it's wise to zip right down to the boats and stay close to shore, then fight right to stay off the reef.  Ski's and Oc's can manage the wind if it goes wrong.  Sup's had better have a backup plan.

Glad to hear you had another great run HM.  I hope to make it over Saturday.

   

[headmount]

Yesterday, 11/5, WD was 080 with significant surf at Hookipa and enough surf at camp one to make one watchful on the approach.  I flowed outside with the wind and my partner who had no rudder stayed close.  We finished at Kanaha.  The east wind looked like crap from shore until we got out there.  I'm still amazed how the east wind fools me.  But it was good, real good.  Surf and wind is even bigger today but I had to work.  Looks like full-on winter conditions out there.  My graph from yesterday.  2nd run with GPS and still forgot to turn it off at finish so no accurate average speed.  But you can see that there was some energy out there.

[LaPerouseBay]

Saturday was fun.  Jeremy, Devon Blish and Sharon Look were on standup, I was in oc-1.  Devon is considering a Foote maliko like Jeremy's.  She did the first half of the run on his 24 incher.  I had a tough time keeping up with her. 

She and Jeremy are two of Maui's fastest racers, always on the podium in the big races.  Jeremy was holding back his speed so I could keep up.  The videos are experimental, should get better.  Hoping for some big winter stuff and race footage.  Camera fogged up towards the end - lost a lot of excellent rear view stuff.  Fun day. 

[1paddle2paddle]

Nice job LPB.  I did a run yesterday afternoon with a headcam and got some decent footage, but I'm still trying to learn how to use the movie program on the Macbook (recent convert from PC).  Us Oahu zoners are nowhere near as prolific as the Maui and Australia crews at providing video of the downwind runs, so I will try to get the footage up so people can see what we have on Oahu.

What is immediately apparent to me is how much bigger Maliko is compared to Hawaii Kai for a given day.

[J.Riggs]

Nice job LaPer. Thanks for slowing down and taking the time to get the footage and make the video. That was fun!

[DavidJohn]

Great vids.. Thanks heaps.. Loved the rear pointing view.

DJ

[headmount]

Yeah the rear view was great and I'm impressed with your Nikon AW100 replacement to your TS3.  The 1080p is fantastic and the low light capabilities of the camera were pretty impressive.  It's been cloudy here folks so when LaPer gets out in some blue skies it's gonna be heaps sharper.  These P/S cameras have small sensors and in low light they're usually blah but totally sufficient in full sun.  But this waterproof Nikon did a good job with some funky afternoon light with lots of rain clouds passing overhead.....  I fashioned a polarizing filter in front of my TS2 to deal with the glare.

[ericspin]

I would echo the sentiments about the quality of the recent LPB video.  Love the clarity and crisp colors.  I am always stoked to see paddling video and my wife thinks I am nuts sitting there staring at my iPad watching people paddle.  But it keeps me stoked and I always learn from watching others paddle.  Keep it comin'.....

[PonoBill]

Nice videos. Making me nuts. December 2 can't come soon enough--though I have a ton of stuff to get done here in Hood River.  Fun seeing good friends playing and having fun, though watching Jeremy always just pisses me off. He's so f$#@ng smooth. Is that the new Aircore he's on?

With my new obsession I can't help but notice how big Devin's blade is (she's tiny) and how it keeps missing catches. It practically bounced out of the water a few times when she was going hard for swells. Gotta fix that. No helping Jeremy, he plants that thing. Besides, who in their right mind wants to make Jeremy faster.

Makes me realize that video like this is going to be important to our development process. I've been just watching paddles underwater. Lots to be learned above the water too. I'm going to be a pain in the butt for both you and Mr. Bill this winter.

[LaPerouseBay]

PB, you should sponsor Devon.  She's always on the podium at the big races.  

Jeremy and I let her start a few minutes early that day.  The camera was rolling and I tried to catch her.  Hammered as hard as I could. She was away for miles and miles, really flying.  Never did catch her.  She sat down just as I caught up.  

We rested a few minutes then took off again, that's where the video starts.  She was probably tired from the early effort.  Nobody is in good shape this time of year.  When she gets her own Footie, she's going to be hell on wheels.  Count on it.    

[808sup]

I like the rear view as well. It gives a more realistic view of the swell IMO. Harder to keep people in the frame though. Sunday was fun as well. Overheard devon talking about the narrow board.

[LaPerouseBay]

Shuttle was full Saturday.  Windguru forcasted epic conditions, but the wind was only medium.  Overcast conditions may have slowed up the wind.  The fetch was good and no NW swell, so we had some great bumps over the reef.  The f-16 was a blast.

[PonoBill]

Looks like more than full, I count 10 hulls in a nine passenger van. Did you sit in Bill's lap?

[headmount]

Great LaPer....nice and close.  Great coordination with J&R.  who are to be commended for keeping close.  Best clip for me was RR, very close,  steering full right turn away from you to avoid collision.

The obvious is the vertical bounce that I spoke with you about on the phone.  Hopefully my 2nd suction mount to create a triangle of balance will help.  You may use mine until my new camera arrives.  The rear view had less bounce shake than the side which I think will always be the worse because of the accentuated difference in elevations of rider and camera.  But in editing if you keep those clips short, there isn't as much assault on the viewers eyes and stomach with camera shake.  Again pretty good low light capibilities with your camera.  Yesterday was grey but with those close shots it was cool.  Good work