Author Topic: New blood and the stars shine  (Read 5097 times)

headmount

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New blood and the stars shine
« on: September 01, 2015, 10:09:41 PM »
A series of tropical storms have boiled up in the central pacific.  The first tracked south of the state and spun a ton of un-stabilized air in our direction.  For five days and nights we had lightening thunder and rain.  Even dry areas were like a monsoon.  I've returned to Kula since April, my old stomping ground before we moved to Paia 25 years ago.  It's a normally arid area on the slope of Haleakala but that one storm dumped seven inches.  In August???  Fortunately the bulk of the storm was far enough away to save us from any destructive winds.  But with the also rare lightening, the internet has been out since August 21.  Today we just got our new replacement for our fried modem and we're connected again. 

First days with no internet I realized I was a total junkie.  Over 50 years with no internet in my life but it felt like my arm got cut off.   Couldn't even jump in the water.  A few days of storm generated surf were undoable because of massive brown water run off on both sides of the island.  No water activity and no internet had me working out and stretching in my living room.  An uncharacteristic gloom set in.  How do they handle winter in the PNW? 

The storms since then have been going north.  The air has still been unstable with many dramatic T-heads but not the island wide soaking of the southerly routes.  With the sun out and little wind the temps downcountry have been a muggy 90. 

Using someone else's connection I found an email from a Zoner visiting from Palos Verde in California.  The wind sort of came up on the south side and I connected with Starman to do a run and return to the ocean after a long lay off.  He's a solid paddler and powered a heavy, wide 14 with a semi cracked paddle, catching many admirable glides. It was even hot and muggy in the water but we made it.   I was impressed. 

We had communicated before, concerning my book which he had been very helpful with.  But as his wife said, I was his imaginary friend.  So it was great to shake the imaginary part.

Today the wind is back to nil but the surf is quite large again, although sloppy short period.  Kahului Harbor being the only show in town.  Here's Starman about to launch on the southside. He's leaving tomorrow so we need someone else to bring more good luck.

headmount

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2015, 10:19:17 PM »
The lightening show

lpmaui

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2015, 10:58:30 PM »
Launiopoko has been excellent for many days.  I was actually considering kite surfing later on this morning when the North wind s started picking up...

headmount

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2015, 11:17:05 PM »
My last outing there a few days ago resulted in some urchin in my foot.  Full moon lows were just too low.  Soaked it in vinegar and it's all good now.

covesurfer

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2015, 12:33:17 AM »
Cool pics HM. Thanks to Mrs. Starman for those. That was a lucky downwinder considering the weather.

I know how you feel about the pilau water in the harbor but I sure had fun in there today, although I lost my MJ's during my first session, which I am in mourning over.

On my way to the pool for laps this afternoon I decided that I had to go have a look since my board was in the van and it's hardly out of the way from the pool. Lots of white water and some nice sets rolling in. I went out for another hour and a half; I never made it to the pool.

Would have stayed out another hour or more but the crowd went from me and one other guy regular surfing to about a dozen. Only the narrow peak by the red buoy and the slot along the breakwall were working and there was a good sized crowd working the breakwall. I got my share but the traffic was starting to get more complicated than I wanted to deal with so I reluctantly paddled in.

The biggest set waves were solid head high but most of the stuff was mushy chest to shoulder. Still a whole bunch of fun. Direction looks better tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be sampling it again. Hope you'll come out.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2015, 12:35:02 AM by covesurfer »

headmount

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2015, 12:41:23 AM »
Here's Covesurfer showing us how strong it was.... not.

PonoBill

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2015, 08:30:02 AM »
Good for you guys, Starman and Mrs. Starman are good people. Irregular regulars here in the gorge and very capable in the water.

Please get all the wind and surf lined up for late November. I don't want to show up and go through all the drama and doldrums you two have been wringing your hands over. I'd like 1.5 overhead in the morning--until say 11:30, then break for lunch, have the wind build to 25 and either a Maliko or a southside. At least one, maybe a potential for a second. And do something about the traffic please.

Rain is OK after 6:00 pm so I don't need to irrigate all that fricken' garden.

Thanks. Let me know when that's ready.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

headmount

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2015, 08:35:31 AM »
Good for you guys, Starman and Mrs. Starman are good people. Irregular regulars here in the gorge and very capable in the water.

Please get all the wind and surf lined up for late November. I don't want to show up and go through all the drama and doldrums you two have been wringing your hands over. I'd like 1.5 overhead in the morning--until say 11:30, then break for lunch, have the wind build to 25 and either a Maliko or a southside. At least one, maybe a potential for a second. And do something about the traffic please.

Rain is OK after 6:00 pm so I don't need to irrigate all that fricken' garden.

Thanks. Let me know when that's ready.
You mean like this...  current winds are light south with 6' swell.

PonoBill

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2015, 09:25:59 AM »
Not exactly what I had in mind. that looks a lot like the apocalypse. Not supposed to happen BTW. Two hurricanes in close proximity are supposed to unwind each other. Three should be even more so.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2015, 09:28:03 AM by PonoBill »
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

starman

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2015, 04:26:33 PM »
Thanks for posting the pictures Bill. I'm not sure I'm looking my best as a month of travel and a steady diet of beer and chips certainly shows.

My wife and I had an interesting and fun 15 days in Maui if you leave out the weather. Just a couple of trade wind days and the rest were hot and muggy. We had the pleasure of meeting Headmount in person on this trip and he was gracious enough to invite us on an run down the south side of the island. Not a run you want to do without local knowledge of the entry and exit locations, wind and landmarks. I think Tahiti is one of the exit points if you miss the last one on Maui. But Bill Boyum is someone who is very good with imparting information to those new to the Maui runs and didn't mind  putting along on his 17' SIC while I worked on keeping the 14x30 SIC moving in the mild conditions. He was even nice enough to point out something swimming under our boards. I didn't care to look, would not have seen anything as I didn't have sunglasses on and just pretended nothing was there. It was a bit of a bummer for my wife as a bad shoulder kept her from doing the run. Conditions were mellow and she would have made the most of it. Those 17' are the way to go in Maui but you need a village to move them from house to car to beach. (I'm sticking with a 14) A good south side run was described as "butter" by Victor who we met the previous week so I hope to get back and have that experience. Very thankful for Bill for making that downwinder possible. I hope to return the favor someday. We even got to see his amazing electric Leaf SUP-Mobile. Perfect setup for Maui as it's amazing how much driving one has to do for fun on that island.

We did have another Aloha experience besides hanging out with Headmount. The week before we were at the Naish shop renting a surfboard and decided to check out the action at Kanaha. We walked out to the beach by the lifeguard tower and saw a paddler finishing up a downwinder. Curious to know the conditions we walked over to have a chat. I noticed he was using that JL Rail board that Headmount had posted pictures of back on 8/5. So we struck up a conversation about the run and the board. He asked how I even knew about board as it was just built and started talking numbers, stability and design. At some point my wife sees the Jimmy Lewis sticker on the rail and asks "are you Jimmy Lewis?" and he replies "well yea". He then invited us to do a downwinder the next day and said he would supply the boards and paddles. As he was writing down his phone number, Victor his paddling buddy, was offering us some slices of Mango from his lunch box. So we managed a Maliko run the next day that was perfect for the both of us. She with a bad shoulder and me trying a M14 that was a bit on the tippy side at first for me. The wind did fade fast at the end and the heat and humidity could really be felt. I really loved having showers on the beach to cool off and not worry about wasting water in a drought coming from California. Really a surprise to have a chance meeting with Jimmy at Kanaha and a then super surprised and grateful for his generosity for the invite as well as supplying the gear. Maui can be full of surprises.

Below is a shot of Headmount carrying that beast 17’ SIC at Polo Beach. He made a gracefull exit. I on the other hand came very close to getting creamed in the shorebreak.

yugi

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2015, 05:44:36 PM »
Cool meeting Jimmy Lewis. So tell us what Jimmy said about the Rail numbers, stability and design.

PonoBill

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #11 on: September 08, 2015, 06:00:02 PM »
It might add to your surprise if you don't already know who Victor is.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

stoneaxe

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2015, 06:14:58 PM »
Sounds like an amazing trip Starman.
Bob

8-4 Vec, 9-0 SouthCounty, 9-8 Starboard, 10-4 Foote Triton, 10-6 C4, 12-6 Starboard, 14-0 Vec (babysitting the 18-0 Speedboard) Ke Nalu Molokai, Ke Nalu Maliko, Ke Nalu Wiki Ke Nalu Konihi

starman

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2015, 06:18:32 PM »
I did later and was not surprised. Super nice guy and a very good downwinder. It was a pleasure to meet him and Jimmy. Those guys were a good example of why I love SUP.

starman

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Re: New blood and the stars shine
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2015, 06:57:12 PM »
Yugi, I don't remember much about the board other then he considered it very stable and I think he said it was 26 and something in width. Not positive as all I remember thinking was that it was too narrow for me. He was bouncing around numbers for the width as he was not quite set on what sizes to offer. It was kind of funny to hear him say how many people in the market are hung up on the width of a board. (Not the first shaper I've heard that comment from) And that, as an example, if he was to offer a 28" he would make it just under 28" so the first number people see is 27. Seemed that life as a shaper also means being very aware of the market. Oh, I did like the nose shape. Seemed very elegant and clean that would slip thru water easily. He certainly is not one for gimmicks when it comes to shaping.
Color is that of the Hawaiian Royal monarchy. He's unique as I'm pretty sure that board was all his handy work from start to finish.

 


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