Respect for Small Surf - 60 Days of Summer Day 38

I first picked up a surfboard when I was 18 and jumped in at Paia Bay and to say that I never looked back would be quite simple incorrect! I had a torrid time learning to surf in The Bay but I did persist and followed it up with many sessions at Llangennith in South Wales while at Swansea University. At that time we always used to tease my friend Toby for riding a longboard even on the biggest of days. I think that my mistake was to ignore his wisdom (he was and still is a great surfer) and continue to ride a 6’6” shortboard, okay I say ride in those days surfing to me should have been renamed paddling because that is all I did. After many years and winters washing around in Paia Bay I finally became far more confident and could finally call myself a surfer, I mean I actually rode waves now but often only briefly before getting a heavy pounding! These days my surfing has improved and the poundings have gotten heavier!

Small SURF = Massive FUN

It wasn’t until last year that I got back on a board greater than 6’6” for the first time since I was a teenager and it instantly changed my outlook of these big lunps of glass and foam. My friend Dave was selling one in Hawaii, I was in Bahrain and just said “Yeah I’ll have it, stick it under Col’s house and I’ll PayPal you some $$” I didn’t think much of it until I got back to Hawaii many months later. One day I grabbed the 8'0" and ventured over to the West Side and suddenly I was catching far more waves and enjoying them all. While the rides were not heart pounding they were great fun. I didn’t surf that much last year and recently I have been trying to get out more. Every time I go out I just marvel at how much fun I am having in waves that barely cover my ankles.

Today was the first day that I had used the GoPro after applying RainX to the lens. It seems to have done the trick, you seem to get a few droplets but better than the larger patches of blur I was getting before.

I now realise that I now want a big nose rider longboard because those guys seem to be having even more fun. At a time when everyone is reaching for SUPs to ride small waves I am actually enjoying the purest form of surfing more than I could have ever imagined. I have a new found respect for small waves and big boards. I eagerly await any wave that the ocean spits out and am stoked every time I surf.


Nothing fancy, just so much fun... Toby and Bulsk I hope we get to surf together sometime soon, it has been far too long.

I guess my message to you is grab a longboard and get out there and have some fun  I expect that my shortboard surfing will have improved too when the winter comes around again. Message to Toby “U Da Man!”

NORTH SHORE UPDATE: Not much happening on northern beaches today, a few people ventured out to get wet and Kanaha was full of slalom racers. After our long surf session I was rather tired so decided not to sail but went for a bike ride instead. It does look like the conditions will improve in the coming days with a small NW swell expected Wednesday and Thursday which is perfectly timed for Jimmie’s Jumpfest Photo Competition which will run Wednesday thru Friday.

This week's big hope!

Carl enjoying the light winds on his SUP/Freak combo. Carl (orriginally from the UK) sails by day and makes a living by making silver surf inspired jewellery by night, proving that you can have it all!

Not your usual Ho'okipa shot!

COMMUNITY: Since the start of the project a number of websites have started to use this site in their feeds and I would like to welcome new readers directed here from the Continent Seven website which is the latest known addition. If you have a blog or website please add my link and I will be happy to do the same for you.

Sailing record = 86% (32/37)

On Water record = 92% (34/37)

More to follow…

West Side Story - 60 Days of Summer Day 29

With the forecast for wind to remain a feature of the current weather pattern for the foreseeable future, my painful foot and an unluckily placed cut (sustained on my finger while opening the peanut butter pretzel jar) I decided to make the hard decision to give windsurfing a rest for the day and let my body recover a bit. I have not been able to push it this week because of pain and I want to get back on track. I am confident that a day of rest will do the world of good and I will be back for the weekend. A day off windsurfing didn’t mean a full day out of the water and we once again packed our things and headed to the west side to catch a few waves.

This angle was ok but later I angled it up further towards the sun and that was better. You can clearly see the moisture strips and the leash, I have added a loop with kite line to the board so that it is easier to attach the camera safety leash, be sure to tidy up any loose lines and these can easlily mess up a good shot.

The GoPro Surf Hero set up I used today and positioning on the board. The stick on pads are great and it is so easy to attatch the board and or swap with your friends while on the water if they have a surf hero mount, I am going to get them for all my surfboards and would love to try mounting on a windsurf board but I am worried that I will smash it off with the rig.

While the waves were smaller and bumpier than yesterday it was again great to be out on the water enjoying some summer time treats. I managed to set the camera up better today and as a result got some better pictures.

Riding bubbles!

I love spray and water droplets in pictures.

The waves were small but super fun and there were not too many people about and the weather was perfect and you can see!

Happy to be on the water!

I need more speed, someone give me a paddle!

I really like this shot, would be good with another surfer in the background.

You might ask why I took a rest but still went surfing, well the plasters (Band Aids for the US readers) I am using are so good that they stay on and protect even in the water especially when combined with New Skin. The problem with sailing is that they only stay on so long and then the straps have been rubbing and making my gash worse.

These are the best plasters (band aids) I have ever used.

As the day draws to a close I look forward to having some friends over for curry and relaxing with a beer. I do feel ready to get back on the water tomorrow and hope that there are some waves left. If it is flat I plan on going SUPing and/or working on some freestyle moves. In any event I recon that tomorrow will be lots of fun and I look forward to reporting back in due course. I must remember to pick up the sander from Colin and get working on the speed board, the Maui VMAX Speed event is coming up very soon.

Sailing record = 93% (26/28 days)

On water record = 96% (27/28 days)

Pic of the day

I chose this as the pic of the day just because it made me laugh when I saw it, I look so funny!

More to follow…

Waves on all shores - 60 Days of Summer Day 28

We woke early as planned and quickly chomped on our breakfast before strapping our longest surfboards to the roof and headed to the Launiupoko Beach Park on the west side to take advantage of the small south swell. On arrival we realised that the surf was smaller than expected but it was uncrowded and looked fun. While Liz worked on her core strength exercises I checked out the small waves breaking on the reef and was fairly pleased with what I found. I was using the Surf Hero mount for the first time today which was great fun but I didn't angle it up enough so some of the shots chopped off my head, will sort tomorrow.

The perfect summer spot

Fun summer waves. Loving the 8'0" Elua Makani.

Just great to be on the water.

Before we came back to the north shore we popped into Lahaina to have a wonder and check out the waves at the harbour (which looked great and I look forward to trying them out soon). Before our repatriation to the north we had already had the call to say that there were some waves and the wind was up so on arrival in Sprecks I quickly changed codes and dashed the 4 or so miles up the road to Ho’okipa. Jimmie pulled up next to me in the car park and we both quickly got into our respective positions.

On the water I was finding it hard to pick a decent wave and when I did I couldn’t find any rhythm so concentrated on jumping for a while. Eventually I found a few waves but was finding it hard to get speed and make anything happen off the top.

Tyring to make the most of a leftover.

Whether they are fast spins or high stalls I always find forwards fun, although my boards tend to complain after a while!

My foot coped relatively well but it was bothering me towards the end so I think that I will have to take another day off to try and get it to heal a bit more. Later in the evening It wasn’t long before I was fast asleep on the couch after a long and fun day on the water.

Pic of the day

Kai Lenny Pushlopp Table Top, I was just behind him and it was a sweet move, nice job Kai.

Sailing Record = 96% (26/27 days)

More to follow

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…