Typhoon #19 (Hagibis)

[OkiWild]

Typhoon #19 (Hagibis) has been in town for a few days. Was a Cat-5 storm, and providing lots of good waves in more sheltered spots. Outer reefs are maxing out and not surfable. Today was the third day I surfed this spot, video is from Friday, later in the day. This morning on an ebbing tide, it was a little bigger than this video, top-to-bottom, and a shoulder that holds through the deep spot. Of course it was pretty dark when we started the paddle out, and thinking conditions would be worse than the day before, I left the camera in the car...of course... The opening to the bay is narrow, the swell has to turn almost 90°, so with an ebbing tide, the outflow is around a knot, which really kills the push. The window the storm has to be in is so narrow, it goes from maxing to flat in 12 hours. Completely flat this evening, even though outside reefs are still huge.

The spot in this video has 3 reefs; inner, second, and third. Third reef is the outside one breaking in the beginning of the video, followed by a shot of the second reef (SUPer caught inside). Third breaks pretty big, and is surfable. I've seen it break up to a 30' face, with long, barreling lefts. Second reef, where we were surfing on this afternoon, was around 10'-12' faces on the largest sets. This spot only breaks on a big typhoon swell with a long period (4 meters at 13 seconds this day), as it really has to bend to get in to the spot. This also means there's lots of wind, making the third reef outside of my paddling-in-standing-up ability...not that you'll ever catch me charging stuff that big, but this day was within size "limits"  :-)   

Tide this session was around 5:30PM, on the flood, and really deep, making the wave "soft" on the shoulder, so it has a good take off, but empties into a deep section pretty quickly. It's best on flood, around mid-tide, where the barrels are gaping, predictable, the shoulder holds up, and you can make it through the deep section and into the first reef section where it really fires. It's a tide balancing act, as the outer wave needs less water, but if there's not enough, it'll go dry on the inside section. Very narrow window to catch it just right.

As always, apologies for poor camera abilities, and not filming during the best of the best. When a bigger wave is approaching, I often ignore the camera...but I'm getting better. Lots of wind and chop making for some herky-jerky not-so-stylish surfing, but still loads of fun. Getting much better at paddling in the wind and chop. Hope you enjoy.

Board I'm riding is a Blue Planet Ninja Warrior (8'10"x29"x116L) with Futures GL2 quad, and Adam (tan color SUP) is on a Blue Planet Pocket Knife (8'8"x29"x116L) with Futures GL2 thruster.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KRgLCoY71w&t=7s

[OkiWild]

I don't know how this clip didn't make the video... It's the custom video thumbnail, but the wave got cut. Anyway, it goes to show how you never know what you're paddling into at this spot. Some are gentle crumblers with no shoulder, and the next one might be this. Size can even be the same, just some have a lot more energy.

Yes, I'm working on breaking the paddle in the outside hand habit. I'm so used to putting my hand on the wave when I think there might be a barrel, and doing doughnuts with the paddle on the inside when it gets caught and goes around with the lip, that this became a habit. Consciously working on it...

[Night Wing]

Those were some big waves. Lots of power in those winds. I imagine the ride was really fast too.

Thanks for sharing the video.

[supsean]

Love the post. Great surfing and analysis of the spot. Keep em coming!!

[supthecreek]

Fun vid Okiman..... nice waves and I love the colors or water and sky!

Good to see the 3 different views to add perspective and different details from each.

[surfinJ]

That was a great ride!  Oki is still a real surf paradise
And that spot is terrific!

The different camera positions really make the best video.  That’s the advantage of the cap mount over the mouth, to be able to in and out click in different mounts.
Thanks for the vid.

[Wetstuff]

 Nice one, Oki.  There was some excellent action in the 4's.  Making videos is a lot of extra work. Those of us who will never get there appreciate the effort.


Jim