Winter Malikos

[PonoBill]

Did a kind of low-energy, favorable logistics Maliko today with Boyum. I was doing a dump run anyway (water damage at Ponohouse--long story) and we worked out that the position of our vehicles was favorable for a shuttle. So we went. Fun but small, not much swell from the north, though there was some occasional excitement. Bill got a nice wave crossing the reef, my rudder went buggywonkers and stuck me right in the center of the A-frame instead of the shoulder. Worked okay for a few seconds but I ran out of board stepping backwards and got dumped and then thumped by big brother batting cleanup.

All in all, better than doing a second dump run. Be nice to have some serious winter Malkos soon to scare the crap out of myself. I'm getting complacent.

[headmount]

These grey days fool me and it was surprisingly good compared to how it looked from shore.  Pretty fair gliding and I managed to shoulder hop an outer reef wave, got the angle, had a firm grip on the rudder and kept all 17' going the direction I wanted.   Made the wave, kicked out, turned around and watched PBill take off just a tad behind the peak, looking like he was going to backdoor the section on his 17'.   The drop started out OK but like he said, the rudder bucked and he went flying.  Fortunately no others were behind.

Most of the time we give outer reef waves a wide berth... looking for the channel and not the peak.  But it's also kind of good to know what to expect just in case you're force to catch one ... for survival purposes.  Fairly good sized sets can appear out of nowhere this time of year, even when the swell is only moderate and the first, smaller wave of the set, may be your only chance to get out of Dodge.

[covesurfer]

Reading this post, I am feeling ever more fortunate to have had my first Maliko on a day without a groundswell when you two weren't feeling as adventurous crossing the reefs.

I yard sailed on Rod's F16 on a good sized swell in the Gorge when I tripped on the rudder but that hardly counts when you're talking shallow reef, jacking wave and 16 or more feet of board. I did lose my gopro in that crash however, so I think it deserves honorable mention.

Very cool that you guys got out today.

[RainWaves]

 Hey Bill, good to hear you are back in Pono-land for the Winter! (things have been kinda slow here in the "Downwind & Racing" section). Sorry to hear about the home damage, hope it isn't too bad.

 Looking forward to more vicarious downwinding with you & Headmount!

[jdmotes]

 Crap... I thought this thread was going to be about paddles! Oh well; glad your back in Maui, Bill...      Paddle on;      JD

[PonoBill]

Reading this post, I am feeling ever more fortunate to have had my first Maliko on a day without a groundswell when you two weren't feeling as adventurous crossing the reefs.

Yeah, you might not have enjoyed looking back and seeing that much water coming at you when you're standing on 16 feet of moderately controllable board. It wasn't any big deal, but looking back still gave me a serious butt clench.

The house will be fine, a leak in one of the bathrooms damaged walls and toasted the bamboo flooring all the way into the living room. Kind of an out of the way spot, and the door was closed, so the folks we have checking on the house didn't see it. Remarkable what a little bit of water can do. We've moved into the guest bedroom for a month or so while everything gets torn up. In the wake of Sandy I was a little embarrassed to call the insurance company, but they sent out a very competent adjuster. A trivial thing compared to what other people are dealing with.

[stoneaxe]

Glad to hear it wasn't in "my" room..... ...Sue and I are talking about coming out for a visit late winter if that works for you guys....

[headmount]

Yesterday PBill and I went for a long glassy water grunt paddle.  It's easy to do with another guy to pace with and before you know it you've gone fairly far.  But the wind came up in the afternoon and was good DW conditions. 

We were already tapped but won't make that mistake today.  Wind has has blown all night.  It's definitely winter and with swells on the block, you have to keep a look out for miles ahead so you don't get surprised.

[PonoBill]

Glad to hear it wasn't in "my" room..... ...Sue and I are talking about coming out for a visit late winter if that works for you guys....

You bet. We expect the house "remodel" will be done by the end of January.

[PonoBill]

Nice run today, the trades are back and there's still some sizable north swell. I dropped Diane at the airport (back to Portland for a week) and called Bill and Greg. We were in the water around 1:00 I guess, and the paddle out was nearly windless, though the swells were interesting. Then the rainstorm that was plugging things up blew by and it got fairly good. Very crossed up with the swell from the overnight wind from the east and a 7-10 groundswell from the NW. A couple of times I dropped into a big trough and found an equally big cross swell cutting through the bottom. Made for some interesting panic turns.

I'm loving my Bullet V2. It punches in a lot, and I fell too many times waiting for the nose to come back up, but once I get the hang of steering around those issues it's gonna be great.

Boyum was looking calm and collected the whole way, but we were both feeling the effects of the flatwater paddle the day before, and when we got to the harbor it was nothing but an upwind slog to get to the beach--just what I needed.

Greg did great. Probably had a few wide-eyed moments, especially when Bill and I misjudged how far out we needed to be to clear upper Kanaha given the swell size, The sight of the two of us running like cockroaches in a flashlight beam for the open water and a few mountain size breakers on the inside of us may have reduced his confidence in our guidance.

Spotted Jeroen  windsurfing at Kanaha--how did we look? I hope I looked bold yet stylish. That's what I was shooting for.

[headmount]

Winter runs feature  less overall speed than the steady summer runs but some of the biggest open ocean drop-ins....Especially on days like this, it's really spectacular to cruise for a moment and watch your mates get a drop, like the one you may have just experienced.  The elevation differences on days like today are fairly significant and being in a cluster helps you appreciate that.  

Paddle dependency was also high.  Felt like a trails bike in some sections.  

Amazing differences in different sections of the run but the wind kicked in by Hookipa and roared the rest of the way.  Excellent for Dec and tomorrow looks to repeat.  Wind is still blowing hard into my window tonight.

Inside the harbor was torture.  Like mixing concrete.

[covesurfer]

Yes indeed, what a nice run! Checked my boardies after the paddle and they were clean so, as always, you guys must have done an excellent guiding job.

I was having so much fun out there, then throw in a little bit of ignorance, not to mention being captivated by the bold and stylish riding going on all around me and I never really got sketched out. There were some impressive set waves that rolled under us and I just loved being out there in those conditions. Got some amazing linked glides during the first half of the run.

The cross chop was a challenge at times and I almost ran into about a half dozen turtles outside the harbor entrance but the most challenging part was scratching into the wind inside the harbor. Memories of the final miles of Round the Rock came rushing back but it really didn't last all that long. All in all, a fine way for three geezers to spend a Sunday afternoon.

[headmount]

Cove... Just checked the forecast and it's nuking for the next 7 days.  Eat your wheaties.

[covesurfer]

Roger that. I'm out tomorrow due to an actual commitment but after that, I'm in whenever you guys feel like having me tag along. That was great today!

[PonoBill]

My cell phone is toast (lifeproof case leaked) so it's email or landline. the landline is 808 572-1870. I'll get a replacement in the morning. I bet it's going to be spendy.