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February 2002
February 2002
Friday February 1, 2002
9:00a-11:15a
North Shore
Avg wave face 4-6 feet
Sets wave face 7-8 feet, a few lil bigger (WNW)
Partly Sunny; Light offshore winds (E)
solo,
mega packed, 100% flail session for Bud, feeling flu funky out of synch.
Bad day
Saturday February 2, 2002
North Shore
1:00p-3:30p
Avg wave face 3-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet (WNW)
Mostly sunny; Light variable winds (NE)
solo,
Steven A, James A, Mita, another poor session for Bud, still feeling the
flu
Tuesday February 5, 2002
North Shore
9:00a-12:15p
Avg wave face 6-8 feet
Sets wave face 9-11feet, occ bigger (NW)
Mostly sunny; Light side-offshore winds (NE)
Me
& Rich, Chings, other Dana, no look drop in dude, ... some juciy sections,
a bunch of good late drops but a below avg sesh for the williams bros
Thursday February 7, 2002
North Shore
1:45p-4:30p
Avg wave face 5-6 feet
Sets wave face 7 feet (NW)
Mostly sunny; Light onshore winds (SW)
Headed out after lunch with Rocky Rights in the cross hairs, hoping to catch the remnants of the declining swell and some of that glass I'd been watching on the Pipe cam all morning. On the drive up I did my best to ignore the signs that the wind had switched... still clinging to the hope that Rockys might be ok, even as I walked up the access path to the beach. Arrg, no luck. The onshore wind was light, but something weird was happening - somehow an outgoing rip had formed right up the middle of the break. It was overhead, but a big mess, no one but a lone bodyboarder having a go. Headed back down the coast; Decided that if I had to surf junky waves, I'd do it at the default spot.
Ended up having one of the better sessions I've had in some time. I was shocked, for the first two hours the waves were damn good. Much better than it looked from shore. Solid head high with overhead sets, and only 5-6 others spread out across the wide lineup. Probably 75% of the waves shut down right away, but the remaining were more than enough to keep the minute crowd always up and riding. The sets would alternate coming in from either the north or the west; The westerly walls were a 50/50 race through fast breaking sections from the middle. Picking the right waves from the north peak gave a long ride with an extremely workable face. The light onshores helped to make them easy to catch and all the waves had a good punch to 'em.
My wave count went off the scale. I was stoked - Been a while since I've managed to consistently put so many solid, consecutive moves together. Went in with sore arms and feeling quite satisfied.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Sunday February 10, 2002
North Shore
7:30a-11:30a
Avg wave face 8-10 feet
Sets wave face 12-16 feet, occ bigger (NNW)
Overcast; Light side-offshore winds (ENE)
Woo hoooo, good session out at Lanis. Running a bit late; Neal had been out since daybreak. Saw him tagiging some hefty sets as I got out of my car. Laine and a few other regs in the parking lot were calling some of the sets 10 feet Hawaiian. For the first hours in the early morning it was only a few of us at the outermost peak.... Me, Neal, Laine, Phil , and some guy trippin on my board. Neal was air dropping from the North Peak and screaming across the middle section. I nailed some sweet late drops too; one particular wave that I rode from Holtons then all the way to the very end bowl made my day. Huge face and stayed high, flying just ahead of the lip and squeaking past half dozen sections. Lots of hoots. Stoked.
Later it got incredibly crowded but 90% were shoulder hopping the end.
Noted again that the Tokyo crew is getting better and better every year.
A few were damn impressive. Long session; for once, managed to keep from
getting drilled too much.
Tuesday February 12, 2002
Bondage
11:15a-1:30p
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, occ 7 (NW)
Partly sunny; Moderate sideshore winds (NE)
Me & Rich looked as far north as Sunset. Country was complete mess.
Stopped at Ehukai & ran into Brian Keaulana (Water safety crew for
the film production on the beach) who said the west side was clean and
sweet. Drove 78 miles before we finally got in the water (103 miles total
mileage by the time we got back). Fairly clean little lefts and rights,
2-3 other surfers. Rich was over gunned on his 7'9" but had some good ones.
We both misjudged our exit on the reef and both cut up knees and dinged
our boards. Faaak.
Thursday February 14, 2002
North Shore /kea/
2:00p-4:15p
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 7 feet, occ bigger (WNW)
Mostly cloudy; Strong sideshore winds (N)
Solo run.... first hour could not even complete a turn- full on kook
fest. Last hour or so, a few rides I had almost made up for it but over
all a very forgetable session. 90% closeouts, major current and very punishing
little waves. Check Rockys first - very bad form all up & down the
beach breaks. The sand situation is totally fucked up.
Happy
First Birthday to my Son JOEY!!!
Thursday February 21, 2002
10:00a-12:15p
North Shore - Haleiwa
Avg wave face 5-7 feet
Sets wave face 8-10 feet, occ bigger (NW)
3AM 51001 12.5' @ 14.3 sec
Sunny; Moderate to strong side offshore winds (ENE)
Rich got stuck at work so plan B solo run to get wet after a week of dry... yikes been busy, did I mention my son JOEY turned one year old already ?!!! At least I didn't miss much in the way of quality surf. Was gonna surf yesterday, but the swell didn't hit till the evening and it was VERY stormy. Still very messy today, only a few places looked surfable, but it was solid and I was jonesing.
The masses that made up the surf flick being filmed had taken over the harbor side of the parking area, dozens of semis, trailers and crew vehicles. Today they were filming out at Avalanche; jet skis towing surfer(s) into the waves. A speedboat with a precarious looking crane attached at the stern -looked about 30 feet high, a camera mount I assumed- stayed just a few yards ahead of the breaking surf and rider (Noah Johnson again, this time without the bikini & wig I was told). It was going on before I got there and still going when I was pau surf.
On the beach ran into Hookano and partner in crime Dino; session cut short - Lance holding the snapped halves of his big red longboard. He said it was choppy but better than it looked from shore. I'm out there! My timing was good - half of the 10 or 12 surfers in the lineup were on their way in by the time I was ducking the toilet bowl. Tripping on this local guy who was charging every wave that came near him, late drops, driving from deep, etc.. paddling by I see that it's Kainoa Mcgee - had no idea he stood up, damn good shortboarder no less. Tells me "it's too junk for bodyboarding" hahaha... in the lineup the guy is a riot - very much the loud cheerleader (or the loud heckler for those pulling back!)
Two hours of non stop paddling against the current at Haleiwa is quite a workout, especially on my 6'3" (found out the gun I ordered last week will be done today, just in time for new swell this weekend). The direction wasn't very good and many waves shut down fast. Good thing was, only a few of us opting for the sets at the outside peak so didn't have to jocky for the best waves, just had to wait, and never stop paddling toward Waialua! My wave count was kinda low but considering the circumstances I was satisfied. Felt a bit akward and out of synch, but dropped into a few bombs and had some nice fat sections to work with. The last half hour I bungled a bunch of waves and just proned in when I had a fast ride all the way across.
Back on the beach ran into Fabian, here on 30 days leave from duty in Japan. Also chatted with Brock "hey I'm getting paid to surf!" Little (another member of the film crew). Told me brother Clark just became a father. Jeeez, I remember those two as boys division surfers when we were HIC team mates umpteen years ago. I must be getting o l d.
Good surfing to you,
Bud
Saturday February 23, 2002
North Shore /kea/
1:30p-4:30p
Avg wave face 4-5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, occ 7 (NW)
Mostly cloudy; Strong sideshore winds (NE)
Me and Rich took his son Chris out to tumble in the surf. Plan was to get him used to being in the surf with a hand me down bodyboard (courtesty Neal). Stopped by Surf n Sea and Rich bought him a pair of fins, fin socks and fin tethers. The waves looked fun and the reform on the very end looked just right for surf lessons. It was damn cold - took a while to get used to the water/wind, Chris was shivering the whole time. I spent about 45 minutes with him, he was having trouble kicking with fins and he got trounced by a couple head high waves, but overall a good learning experience I think. He was worn out so I took him back to the beach to rest and hang out.
While teaching Chris I saw Rich scoring some kick ass rides, snapping
all over the place, killing it. Wind was slightly onshore, but way surfable
- made the waves easier to catch and perfect for lip bashing. The swell
direction was predominantly west but had just enough north in it to make
some walls a full on race track from the outside peak. Only a few of us
jockeying for the longshots, the rest of the crowd sat on the middle &
end. The waves were fast and had some punch, it turned out to be a full
on blast of a session. Surprised none of the regulars were on it. My wave
count was excellent and for the most part I seemed to be in tune with the
sets. My first wave was a smoker, just flying-pumping from the outside,
a 100 yard dash all the way across, staying high in the pocket and squeaking
through to the inside. Filled the rest of the afternoon with lots of solid
cracks and gouges. Excellent fun day in the surf!
Thursday February 28, 2002
North Shore - Rocky Pt
9:00a-11:30a
Avg wave face 5 feet
Sets wave face 6 feet, occ 7 (WNW)
Partly sunny; Moderate sideshore winds (NE)
Solo, sweet slot! Rios, foot twist reef hole ...........
