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…

5 Fins the NEW Fad? - 60 Days of Summer Day 36

So we have had singles, doubles, tri, thrusters and quads - which are currently the favoured choice out here and around the world. We have been here before numerous times and we have always returned back to the trusty single fin. I myself have been using a twin fin set up for more than a year on my wave board and while in some areas I see improvements it does seem to come at a cost at other times. Recently I have wondered whether I should follow the fad and grad myself a quad and I must say the Quatro ones look kinda sexy! With all this hype about quads at the moment I wonder how long it will be until we start to see a The Five Fin Concept being used and photographed? As we add more fins we get more weight but some of that issue has now been negated by the new Slot Box from Tabou and Starboard which cuts the weight of the boxes down dramatically.

The new Slot Box saves weight and makes it easier to attach your fins, important when you have lots of them.

So could we now see five fins become the norm and if so what format would it take? One of the issues is that we need to have board and fin companies working together; those who have been reading my posts will know that I have been working with Black Project fins the newest kid on the block in terms of fin design out here and this is what they said when asked: Could a five fin set up be the new quad?

“Hmmm, 5 fins? The problem is that every time you add a fin you decrease efficiency due to losses at the fin tip and interference drag at the base. The benefit is that you can get a faster roll rate due to the shorter fins which have a smaller rotational moment. So to put it succinctly the more fins you have the easier it is to roll from one rail to the other..." sounds good!  "but the more drag you have which requires more energy to overcome." Not so good! "If you have plenty of wind and a steep fast wave you have plenty of energy to play with and it may not be a problem.” So it sounds like it could work on Ho'okipa's fast waves.

I didn’t have time to get in contact with Quatro but will try to canvass some opinions and post them here in future updates. Based on the above comment and the recent trends to me it seems likely that we’ll see people testing the 5 fin set up this winter.

Okay, time to talk about today’s action. It was great to get my bike back as it has been in for some repairs at Maui Cyclery in Paia and I went out for a short test ride before I take it into the back country and immediately I knew two things, firstly the bike felt great and secondly it was very windy again!

When I arrived at Ho’okipa it was immediately apparent that it was going to be a better day with what looked like a more consistent (4.5m) wind and small waves. Jumping was certainly on most people’s minds and crashing was the order of the day. In comparison to past years there is a core of sailors who seem to be pushing themselves more that they normally would in the summer and I wonder how much that is down to the fast that Jimmie and Franck have continued to shoot all summer when normally the beach park would be devoid of professional photographers at this time. I myself have certainly been motivated to get out there is the knowledge that I’ll get shots.

Lets start with some jump shots...

If he gets any more inverted he'll have to move to Australia.

Here me controlling my crash landing rather than going for the second scoop. I seem to have a mental block, I have plenty of hight, plenty of rotation but apparently not enough balls! Maybe the knowledge that it was Friday 13th was holding me back?

This was a sweet pushloop tabletop from Graham

Low altitude push

Still working hard on improving backloop consistency - hard in the recent strong winds.

This was the jump of the day.

Shawna Cropas showing that girls can jump. Here pictured with here great looking new JP Quad.

For those who had the patience and were not scared of being hit by the crashing jumpers there were some teeny waves to slash and bash. With September approaching proper waves will be here soon, I just hope that we get a swell on September 1st. I am not sure that I will be able to leave the island if we get some early swells, I might just have to quit my job and stay!

Some nice wave shots...

I set up a GoPro mount today which almost didn’t happen after I broke one of my mounting pieces as I tightened too hard, arhhh… luckily I was able to raid Col’s van and grab some tools to fix. I got a couple of pics that I like and some video (which I will post later).

For anyone learning forwards note 3 things here: #1 my hand position way back on the boom, #2 how my body is inboard and looking back and #3 that I have sheeted in hard. This was quite a big forward and they are so much fun but you have to wait to start your rotation or you will over cook it.

Note the very different position here on this pushloop.

I have had alot of questions about my mast mount and this image clearly shows its position, here set up for jumping.

Overall, a fun day on the water, hopefully more of the same tomorrow.


Sailing record = 91% (32/35)


On Water record = 94% (33/35)

More to follow…

Recycled - 60 Days of Summer Day 34

Okay so another super gusty and flat day. I went out for a quick blast at Ho’okipa but others seemed to make more of it than me.

And I though that freestyle was banned at Ho'okipa, surely the life guards have a buzzer for that?

Not sure who this is but I love the shot.

Liz gets caught in Jimmie's Lens sporting the now trendy Mana foods beach bag, oops I mean re-usable shopping bag, the Whole Foods ones are actually better xx

Pascal, this is fav windsurf shot of the day.

Pascal, not sure I saw a wave like that. Nice work if you can get it!

I rigged too big and I am now officially banned from forwards for a while, I have been doing far too many and need to get out my comfort zone (and proect my board too!)

Bob adding some fun and laughter...

Off the water today was I day we had been waiting patiently for some time. The day we get to take all of our bottles and cans that we have carefully saved to the redemption centre. It is like getting money for nothing and today’s haul of thirteen dollars and forty cents wasn’t too shabby. We treated ourselves to a lovely Whole Foods takeout. I have been a critic (perhaps rather unfairly) of the new chain and still believe that they may be a classic example of a business trying to tell us that it is ethical while at the same time fleecing us for our hard earned dollars. I will say that their burritos are pretty good and they really have improved the availability of good food on the island, far better than the Star Markets which occupied the same lot for many years.

Bottles mean bucks!

I remember a presentation at work about recycling recently and we were shown a pair of Billabong board shorts made entirely out of plastic bottles. Then just the other day Liz bought a new pair of Volcom shorts which too were made out of plastic bottles and as if I needed a further reminder I read an article in Time magazine today which highlighted that Nike supported by Coca Cola have a range of sportswear made from plastic bottles and that 9 of the 2010 World Cup teams where wearing 100% recycled material strips. This has got me thinking and I wonder how bad windsurfing is for the environment and what can the industry as a whole do to reduce the impact of our actions?

The Billabong Recycler Series

One interesting development here on island is Team +H20 (check out their ideas at http://www.positive-h2o.com/ ) but I think that we need the industry to take more of a lead. What happens to all those trashed boards, sails, masts, booms and bits? I bet a large percentage of them actually end up in the local dump. All that polystyrene cannot be good, surely the board manufacturers could set up collection points, give you a few bucks as an incentive and dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way? What about using some recycled or environmentally friendly materials in boards, sails and accessories? Even if you cannot find suitable materials on the recycled market what about the Fair Trade movement http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/ ? I guess one question remains that being; Would the consumers (us) be happy to pay that little bit more for their gear if they knew that it’s impact on the environment that we enjoy is being taken care of? The fact that I see so many windsurfers and surfers alike in Mana Foods (Paia) and now Whole Foods suggests to me that they will. I think that maybe it is time for the windsurfing industry to do more for the environment which we so greatly enjoy. Yesterday I wrote about using my SuperFreak but what if it had actually been an EcoFreak; that would surely be great for the environment and not too bad for business! I encourage you as consumers to get out there and recycle your bottles then buy them back in the form of shorts or t-shirts. I hope that someone in the industry takes more of a stand and launches the first fully EcoLine that is produced in a sustainable way. I would love to hear what people think.

Looking ahead: I head heard mumblings about a few more waves on the horizon, the only thing is that I am not sure whether that was a rumour that I started a few days ago just making its way back to me! We got out bike back today so thinking of a trail ride at some point soon check out this website for some Maui trails http://www.islandbikermaui.com/bikingmaui.asp and hoping to wake up early enough tomorrow to pop over to the West side for some small breakers.

Picture of the day

Juan Ignacio Aguirre and Esteban Trevia here demonstrating the 60 Days of Summer Spirt...

Sailing record = 91% (30/33)


On Water record = 94% (31/33)

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 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...

Wind on the way!

Well looking at the forecasts it seems as though the tail end of June will deliver some good conditions.

Windfinder.com

Windguru.com

Will be good to get some action in before leaving and starting The 60 Days of Summer!

More to follow...