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…

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

Summer Waves - 60 Days of Summer Day 27

The recent strong trades have generated a little bump on East facing shores so Ho’okipa has been getting some wasit to head high waves. While not of the best quality or longest period the swells have comes as a welcome boost to the wave starved North Shore community. Getting me on the water took a fair bit of preparation and plenty of New Skin (still excruciatingly painful to apply!), I am looking forward to this nasty gash to heal but I figure that I could stay out of the water for 5 days and it would still not heal fully so I have been taking care to keep it clean and protected as much as possible and it is healing slowly and hasn’t bothered me too much on the water.

Today wasn't a day for big moves but a day to have some fun on whatever you found out there.

I was a little late to the beach but on arrival I reaslised that I had not missed anything yet and it had just rained. There was a little more rain in the air before a I got my gear ready. As it cleared I rushed out to take advantage of empty waves even if the wind was a little light, although when I planed out and launched into a back loop others quickly rigged. Maybe I should have made it look like it wasn’t so windy! I knew that it wouldn’t be long before a ton of people jumped on it so I was super motivated to get the most out of the very technical conditions.

Not too much opportunity for jumps but managed to get a few backs.

I must say that the reduced weight of my rig this year really seems to make a difference in these marginal conditions and I felt really comfortable while others struggled. I was testing some more prototype Black Project Twin fins today and they felt really good with plenty of grip on the bottom turn but enough slide when I wanted it off the top.

Getting air was hard today with little power from either the wave or the wind.

As expected more sailors soon joined me out there but it stayed light and rather stormy so there were never more than ten or so sailors (mostly my friends) so it was great fun to be getting some rides and the odd jump. As the rain returned I headed back to the beach quickly before the wind dropped, others were not so lucky and swam home!

Happy to have had some fun uncrowded waves. Not sure what is happening with the hair!

Sailing Record = 96% (25/26)
All pictures (c) 2010 Jimmie Hepp

More to follow…

New GoPro Mount, waves and new challenges - 60 Days of Summer Day 24

I woke up this morning and could not believe that it was August already, the time is flying. I also realised that my foot was rather sore; I had cut it on my fin yesterday. The forecast of 20 knots and 7 ft wind waves looked promising and I had arranged to go sailing with my buddy Marc at Sprecks.

Plenty of duck tape later my foot was ready to hit the water. It was such a joy to be on super light kit today after two weeks of being maxed out on big heavy sails. There were some fun waves on the Camp One reef and while my 4.5m Bolt was a little small for jumping it was great fun to be in some swells and getting some backside rides.

The sun was shining, the wind blowing and the waves somewhat peeling but one problem, my right foot! The cut on my right foot was rubbing too much and it was super painful to do anything particularly when in the front strap. I tried to loosen the strap but that didn’t seem to change anything, I was OKish riding with it in the back but I knew what the real solution was and it wasn’t long before I limped back to shore and packed my gear. It was only then that I realised just how painful my foot was and I was rather angry at myself because I should have known better and sat out for the day, the waves have just been too tempting! Tomorrow I will have to stay off the water and likely avoid running or walking much too. Maybe I’ll hit some golf balls but I want to be super careful in the hope that I can get back on the water after just one missed day. GUTTED!

Before I went on the water I tried out a new mount on Marc’s gear and on review I am really pleased with the new angle and when I am back sailing and we have some conditions it will hopefully produce some good shots. I do need to solve the water droplets issue and will try the RainX solution.

I used a mix of bits from the bike seat post and roll bar mounts. It attached to the mast about 6 inches about the boom and facing towards the sailor in a portrait orientation. We had the camera at a slight angle, you really need to try to think about the sailor, sail and board positions while sailing to ensure that you get the shot you want. We realised later that we should have rotated it into landscape for the video footage.

This will be a great angle and I look forward to trying it!

I really like landing shots with tons of spray. Can't wait to get this to Ho'okipa. Thanks Marc for your camera work today.

With the racing finished and the wind blowing hard one of my next challenges will be too see if I can break 40 knots on a windsurf board. Last year I had one day on a slalom board (the same one I used for the racing) and a 6.0 and managed 33 something. This year I have a F2 Missile to fix and I know that can go REALLY fast in the right hands. The board does have a few issues but nothing a grinder and some resin cannot fix. While 40 knots does not seem fast by modern day speed sailing terms we do not have a proper speed course here, we just have the inside of the Camp One reef and you sometimes get a flattish section between the waves so getting fast times is really hard (and scary!). There are some MauiVMAX days in the pipeline for August so that should help. I will be spending a lot more time in the waves too and I cannot wait to get back into my normal habitat.

66 litres of pure speed! I think that the smaller size will really help me becuase with my lack of weight I find it hard to keep the board on the water when it gets super over powered.

Sailing record (for now) 100% (23/23 days)


More to follow…

60: Day 11 – Waves at Ho'okipa!

The non summer-like weather continues and despite experiencing a little more cloud and less wind that normal we have been consistently treated to above trend surf for July. Today was the best day in July so far with waist to overhead surf at Ho’okipa out of the North East. The beach looked more like late spring than mid summer and with many of the travelling pros away wave selection was rather easier. I must give a shout out to Bernd Roediger and Graham Ezzy who were killing it today more than others especially considering the tradish nature of the swell. Sorry no GoPro video or pics today, I was concentrating on sailing today but was gutted that I missed a great shot when my buddy Phil and I were riding the same overhead wave, he went first, I followed and hit a nice vertical aerial and looking down all I could see was him in the bowl, was a super cool moment, just as I landed super vertical I caught the nose and wiped out inches from him (which was rather funny), would have been a nice piece of video or pics. I think that I have solved the fogging issue, after getting the stuff my friend Dave suggested I chatted to Bart who told me that the HD cameras were especially liable to fogging and GoPro have made special re-useable inserts that set me back $16 which soak up any moisture I will see how that works out.

I was testing another board today because I wasn’t convinced about the starboard, this time it was a 78ltr custom (ex Diony Guadagnino) logo’d as Mistral but made in the Nelson factory (they make super strong boards – which is good for me!). This board is a super short and wide nosed with twin fins, on this board the fins seem to be set further apart. This board is set up to turn and turn it does and while testing it was clear that it needs to be driven hard, extremely hard all the time. On the wave it great on the bottom turn but the wide and short nose without much lift made it rather sketchy when coming off the vertical lip and landing aerials in the pocket. I think that a board like this should be in my van and I think that it would be much better for the winter with smoother waves and more offshore wind with more loaded up top turn. As an all round wave machine this is not right for me at the moment (I am kinda disappointed because I do really like it but I must use my head not my heart). More breakages today as my rather old harness exploaded, (I thought that I had heard a few creaks earlier in the day) it is amazing how hard it is to sail without a harness.

You can clearly see how wide/short the nose is on this board.

The search goes on, I will be back on my Tabou tomorrow and look forward to the under foot comfort. I know that I am no spring chicken (33) and have been abusing my feet, ankles and knees for many years and the extra padding on the Tabou boards combined with my super soft and comfy Hot Sails straps are like my Nike Air Max which have reduced the pain in my knee although I hear that some feel that they are too soft. Given the saturation of Quads at Ho’okipa I must try a couple before I decide to stay with a Twin.

What’s up next? Waves are set to continue for another day. Keen to get back on my Tabou it was a funny sight last night at my house with me laminating in my back yard with my headlights on, I couldn’t see much and I will see in the morning how clean my glassing was. Got an email to say that my GPS unit has arrived so I will be able to post some speed tracks and it will be great for my slalom training over the coming days. I will be testing some new fins which are about to hit the market in the coming days which will be interesting and will let you know how that goes.

On review in the light it seems that I did an okay job in the dark, I guess I have had rather alot of practice! Time now for the sander so that it is fit for the water today then it'll be filler and paint tonight although the forecast is for rain so that might have to wait.

More to follow…

60 Days of Summer - Weather Talk

Looks like the North Pacific is brewing up some waves just in time for our arrival. Should have some waves on Saturday and Sunday at Ho'okipa which will be a great way to start and looks like the trades will be good too.

Maui County Windward Waters Forecast
SATURDAY: East winds 20 kt. Wind waves 6 to 7 ft. Mixed swell southeast 3 ft and northwest 3 to 4 ft. Scattered showers.

NW swell epected Saturday and Sunday - Perfect! Thanks to GP  for the forecast

Saturday morning looks like being rather busy getting stuff sorted in time to get on the water in the afternoon but I am sure that the motivation of possible waves will make those chors go quickly! Our friends that are visiting from Bahrain may arrive on Saturday night so that will be fun - it will be their first trip to Hawaii.

Looking ahead it may lighten up on Monday so I am confident that my surfboards will come out of their hibernation.

http://www.windguru.com

Just 2 more days at work and we'll be on our way and the expectation of waves will make the 33 hours of travel time fly by! Can you tell how excited we are?

More to follow...