60: Day 7 – Surf ‘n’ Sail

Again not much wind forecast for today but as I checked Facebook my eyes lit up as Jimmy Hepp has posted something about South Side swell. It didn’t take long to get packed up and on our way, had a fun session at Launiupoko before checking out Lahiana Town and the Harbour where a ton of people were enjoying some nice clean fun. It was great to watch some total beginners having fun on the inside and catching their first waves while at the same time others were ripping it up outside. I had forgotten how good it can be there so will be heading back over there soon.

Nice clean surf!

Always great to see new people surf, this to me is a classic shot, I bet she is hooked!

By late afternoon there was a steady 13-15 knots on the North Shore so I quickly got myself down to Kanaha with the 8.0m. It was great to see Dan and Micah training together, these guys are so fast and watching was good but I had to focus on my own sailing and I have to say that there has been a 100% improvement from a few days back. I am starting to feel a little more comfortable and my board speed seems to have improved. I got round all my jibes (expect the last one) but need to try and exit with more speed – ok ANY speed would be nice! Looks like another light wind day tomorrow so will aim to get a little more practice in, I am finding it really tiring at the moment with the big gear, not sure if that is something that will wear off or not? What is fun is learning new things everyday; today I learnt some simple but important basics;

1. Kanaha is King for Slalom
2. Buy a Rig Winch
3. Get a long piece of downhaul rope

So overall, I am pleased that I am making progress but there is a LONG LONG way to go before I can race round a course at full speed. I am definitely skipping the race meeting this weekend although I will be there and may try to grab a few sneaky goes round the course while everyone is on their lunch break. I will be signing up for the event at the end the month which is the final one of the season.

LOCAL EVENT: There is a beach clean up at Sprecks this Saturday so if you are in the area be sure to stop by and help out.

No GoPro media today but I did fit the surfboard mount to my 8’0” so that is ready for action and I bought a roll bar mount yesterday for 30 bucks or so which will be perfect for the mast mount. Planning is everything so I will try to get that set up in the yard to make sure it all works, the last place you want to figuring out stuff is at the beach when there are wind and waves. I will add some pictures and info tomorrow.

Today’s post would not be complete without saying something about my perfect wife Liz; it is the anniversary of our first date today. Thanks Liz for all your support, friendship, love and laughs, you are the best without you none of this would be possible!

Liz sailing at Kanaha xx

More to follow…