Frustrating Day

[PonoBill]

We're swell-starved on Maui right now. Flat pretty much everywhere except wind swell. Super short period though pretty big. I woke up to the promise of a good Maliko run, with the wind howling and the cove outside the house full of whitecaps and spindrift. Unfortunately, the cove was the only thing I could see--the horizon was covered with rain and clouds. That could change and the forecast looked good, so I checked my gear for a high wind Maliko--always the best, but always worth checking my stuff.

My alternative plan and the one I actually favored was wind foiling. I've put mast tracks in both foil boards and I've been hoping for a chance the try this. GP tells me it's the easiest way to learn foiling. We had an appointment until noon which was fine since Kanaha looked like a pond. When I took off head for whatever, loaded with everything, Kanaha still looked light with only a few big kites and one lone windsurfer showing in the cam.

When I got to Kanaha I found out why--the wind was onshore and super gusty. WTF. The airport said 10 to 25 at 90 degrees. So much for the forecast. So OK, maybe I can wind foil in Kihei. I drove across the island to the Canoe Hale and found the wind blowing straight onshore. How this could be puzzled me. Is the wind going straight up somewhere? Ok, maybe it's side shore at the Kam beaches. Nope, dead as a millpond and what little wind there was, came straight out of the south.

OK, maybe Kealia Ponds. Nope, dead and onshore. Screw this, back to Kanaha and try out windfoiling even if it's an overpowered, gusty disaster. Here's what it looked like. Really?

[Rider]

Pretty sure that’s what they call “ Island Fever”.

[surfercook]

Chasin' it. At least you tried. One of the first sup riders here where I live (he was one of the first I saw doing it in the early 2000s) kite foils alot. Makes it look easy.

[PonoBill]

Pretty sure that’s what they call “ Island Fever”.

I call it burning a bunch of gas and spreading my ass a little wider on the car seat.

[Cardiff Sweeper]

September '17:  Biggest wave I caught on my ten day trip was stomach-high.
Ok, no worries.  It's the end of summer, and south swell was sparse.

February '18: Biggest wave I caught on my ten day trip was waist-high.
Ok, uhhh... 

Maui...she is making up for the couple REALLY GOOD surf trips I had several years ago. 

So I took a lot of photos and went whale watching.




Not that the surf is any better here in SoCal.


*sigh*


I did come home to a new board, though. 

[PonoBill]

The last great swell year was the last El Nino year: 2016. Of course that year I thought I was certainly going to die. Seven to ten feet (Hawaiian) every day, and we got used to it in a trembling and crying do-I-really-want-to-do-this sort of way. I broke a lot of leashes. Damn that was fun but every night when I closed my eyes I saw a monster outside set bearing down on me. And then I woke up to the sound of the waves rolling the boulders on the rocky bay shore below the house. Half a mile away and 250 feet down and you can hear them like they were in your pocket.

I'm ready for it next time. Impact vest and a 9mm hand tied waist leash. Bring it on. Still not gonna do Jaws or a really big day at Pier One, but DOH Kanaha, yes, please.

On the other hand, foiling has made waist high crap really fun.

[surfercook]

Your posts are like reading a novel. great descriptions!

[stoneaxe]

We got some swell here today for you bro....