The smokin spring and summer Maliko report

[headmount]

Racing season is starting and more and more people are going.  Please be careful getting into the water at Maliko Gulch boat ramp.  There's slippery limu (seaweed) on the ramp and the cat walk that goes out a way alone the side can be hazardous.  Some guy tried to launch off the catwalk the other day and stepped into a hole where there's no support... and broke five ribs.  Just get in the most conservative way possible, no tricks.  Save your board and body.

[SEA]

Hey Bill

No video of Down Wind on the south side with Da boys ??  would love to see something !!

[SEA]

Scratch that just saw JR post

[headmount]

Sea... what did you think of that vid Jeremy made?  When the fastest guy has the camera, the rest of us can just go because we know Jeremy can catch us in a blink.  Buzzy and I tried yesterday with the same set JR had but we didn't get anything worthy.  JR knows how to aim the camera very well.

[SEA]

Agree with you Biill

JR makes it look effortless. He is able to look around and capture others riding the bumps as he is riding the bumps !!!  That takes some serious balance and years of experience out there. I loved that video it was a pleasure to watch and enjoyed watching you guys just buckle loose.  Brother Bill you were catching some awesome glides. It looks SO FUN. I wish and hope one day I can get over there and do some runs with you guys. 

Aloha

Scotty

[headmount]

Today smoked just like yesterday.  Have gone with Buzzy Kerbox the last three days as he irons out the kinks using his wtrprf Nikon P/S.  Today he got this pic.  One of those moments with the Bullet where I was screaming in 5th gear and then ran into a bump angling in from the outside.  Most times, hitting these bumps stops me and kills the glide but today the board would just deflect and drop in a new direction.  Pretty damn fun.  Colors Were good anyway.  My pal Victor is on the inside with the yellow shirt keeping a tight group of 5 guys all the way down.

[supthecreek]

Nice shot Headmount and to have it taken by Buzzy Kerbox makes it all the better

I've surfed a lot of Big Sunset Beach on the North Shore.... but I gotta say... being that far offshore in less than predictable conditions would creep me out more than a little. Did you start right off going so far offshore or did you work your way out as you became more experienced? What is the solution if something goes wrong... injury or equipment failure? It seems like there's no easy way in without out side help. For instance... I was SUP surfing today and the board came down like an axe and cleaved my paddle in two.... no big deal in the break area... but 3 mile out would be more problematic.

[pdxmike]

Nice to see--a rare photo of the cameraman.

[DavidJohn]

Great shot Bill.

DJ

[headmount]

supthecreek... You paddle out of a bay that sets you on a line with the wind, which by the time you've gone even a half mile, has you a few hundred yds offshore.  The farthest offshore you are on the run is between .5 and a mile and remember it might look farther because the camera he used was 28mm focal length which while not distorting, is the start of what is considered wide angle, which increases the feel of those distances.    

As far as comfort goes, I know I still have at least two miles of swim in me because I do it once in awhile.  I started doing prone paddle boarding in 1989 from Maliko so the run is not strange to me.  But I know it is for some people.  I took a pal of mine from B.C for a run.  Solid guy, great skier, and fearless.  He'd been buried once in a avy.  So he's paddling great with his eyes on his nose.  We get out to what I call, 'the line' and tell him to look up and forward.  He does and sees a freighter coming out of Kahului harbor, looks over towards me and informs me he doesn't know how to swim.  Well I shit but calmly said, "don't fall" and he just nodded and didn't... and he did more runs after that.  

Point is you get used to it fast.  Go with someone who will stay close and it's all good.  Amazing how the fear factor disappears with company.  Our main preoccupation is keeping up with each other.    Your pal may be 30-40 yds ahead but you know with one good glide you'll be right back in the mix.  It gets very exciting and consuming.  Buzzy of course smokes us.  he can get ahead, take a picture and catch up quick.  But sometimes he goes with guys who smoke him.   Doesn't matter, we're all pretty jazzed at the end.

[supthecreek]

HeadMount
Thanks for the info... I am sure it must be a lot of fun. The balance factor must be considerable, to handle a narrow, long board in choppy swells.

Ever since seeing Laird on his Hydrofoil Board I have wondered about the potential for surfing really big ocean swells (that never break... just big rollers) for miles out in mid ocean... I don't know if there's a chase boat that could keep up with you in those waves.... but it would be another way to enjoy offshore swells.... and mitigate the chop factor.

[RainWaves]

HeadMount
 I don't know if there's a chase boat that could keep up with you in those waves....

Plenty of boats, it's called Horsepower!  Although the Jetski's and Waverunners seem to be most common for tow-ins, rescue, etc, etc. Small, plenty of HP, nimbleness, you get the idea .

[LaPerouseBay]

Fun weekend at maliko.  Summer is starting off great with lots of east wind.  The fetches have been excellent.  Great swell action across the reefs. 

[pdxmike]

LPB---when I see the horizon flopping so much, it makes me think that if we were seeing your rides with a camera that wasn't mounted to your vessel, so that the horizon stayed level and your surfski was what was angling back and forth, your rides would look a lot wilder than they appear in the videos.  And they're impressive enough as it is. 

[JonathanC]

Going for a downwinder on my ski in the morning, always great to get a new LPB video to jazz me up a little for the run, just wish it was like Maliko