Maui has been a good place to be lately if you are a windsurfer.  It has been blowing all day and night for at least a week now.  The forecast is for more of the same and there is another big swell coming for early next week.  It’s nice to see this weather pattern, because the last couple months were not very windy at all.  Hope it continues!

Here are two shots taken by Dave Baker.  He is an amazing photgrapher and always comes out with some really quality pics.

Before the Tsunami

This morning I was woken up on Maui’s North Shore with sirens blaring at 6AM.  I checked the news and it said there was a Tsunami on the way, generated by a massive earthquake in Chile measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale.  Thankfully, the Tidal Waves were rather small, and nothing serious came of it on the Hawaiian islands.

Yesterday, I rode giant waves that were much bigger than the Tsunami.  My estimate from the biggest one that I caught would be double mast high!  Conditions were very difficult with the wind blowing nearly straight offshore, and most of the waves were closing out across the reef.  I was lucky to get out and catch a few before I got cleaned up by a big set.  I had  a long swim for my gear while I ducked mast high white water.  Fortunately when I tracked my gear down, it was unscathed.  I was pretty tired, but I wanted to catch one more.  I tried and tried for about 30 minutes to get back out doing chicken jibe after chicken jibe, when the waves finally opened up to let me through. 

Giampaolo stopped by and took a couple pictures of my efforts.  You can check out all of his shots on his blog at www.mauisurfreport.blogspot.com.  Check ‘em out and see the size waves we were out in.  I was glad to return to the beach without any broken pieces, myself or my gear.  Not everyone was so lucky.  My friend Art broke a mast and tore his sail, but he made it back in safely.  That was one crazy session.

Thanks again Giampaolo for taking these shots.

A Good Day

I just had one of those days that makes you feel very thankful to be a windsurfer on Maui.  The forecast was for no wind, and there was an advisory level swell on the way.  My expectations for windsurfing were low. 

I had work in the morning from 10-2 and the wind started to build by mid-day.  When  I got to the beach after work, I was welcomed with an uncrowded break and mast high waves peeling across the reef.  The wind was blowing perfect side-shore at about 15-20mph.  This was just enough to make it out with my 5.0 and 75L board.  I sailed for over 3 hours, catching wave after wave.  It was an epic day, considering I didn’t even expect to sail.

One of the first waves I had was a big one that peeled for what seemed like, forever.  I probably got 6 or 7 solid bottom turns before kicking out to catch the next one.  It was one of those days where you could just pick and choose any wave you wanted.  On my last wave, I went for an aerial on a big one, and shot up to clear the breaking section.  I landed in transition going down the face of the wave.  Unfortunately, upon landing, my back foot came out of the strap and I was riding with only one foot connected to the board.  I rode it out for a second, but decided it was better to bail, than to risk reinjuring my foot.  I dove off and got tumbled for a bit.  I had a short swim, but it was well worth it.

Check out these pics that Steve Hamman sent me.  The shots are from a recent session I had with fun sized waves.  Thanks Steve.

Happy New Year!

Well, I haven’t posted anything in a long while. The Maui windsurfing has been pretty non-existent for the past month or so. There has been the odd day every now and again to go sailing, but mostly just a lot of watching and waiting for the wind to come up. Hopefully the trend will change soon.

We did recently get a three day stretch with some Kona winds, which was nice for a change. The Kona winds are very challenging because they tend to be almost straight offshore and are extremely gusty. They can however, be very strong at times. I sailed at full power for about an hour and a half on my 3.5 a couple days ago. It was a treat to have such strong winds, because it is very seldom that I would use this sail on Maui.

Anyway, here’s hoping for a windy 2010, with lots of good sessions and pics for the blog.

One More Oregon Coast Video

Here is a video from Cape Sebastian on the Oregon Coast. The Cape is located on the Southern Oregon Coast right next to Pistol River. Jake and I had a great trip trying out a bunch of new spots along the Coast. This was the only day that we sailed the Cape, and it was a fun one. The conditions were very challenging, with some difficult to read waves and extremely overpowering wind. We were both on 4.2’s and should have been on 3.5’s. The locals said that this wind was typical, but the waves often get a lot better. I would love to try it on a big day with the proper size sail. The potential of this place is unreal!

Stay tuned for more updates from Maui and future travel stories. I have a trip to Chile in the works, so hopefully I can get that rolling. I will be sure to offer lots of updates on that one.

See ya on the water,

Russ