3:15p-5:45p
"Laniakea" - North
shore
avg wave face-----------4-6
feet
sets wave face-----------6-8
feet, some bigger
overcast, gusting side-offshore
winds
on Sunday eve neal gave us a heads up on a short lived NW swell. we were able to connect for an afternoon sesh on Monday. i called neal from Lanis to let him know i was gonna jump in without checking other spots to maximize water time. looked pretty good and there was only about 10 guys spread through the wide lineup.
swell direction made for lots of unmakeable sections and the high tide meant the waves were holding back till the last moment. add a strong wind and it equaled lots of late take offs and fairly juicy waves, especially in the middle- inside section.
neal paddled out on his Aipa longboard about a half hour after i got there, and after a few fast walls he decided to snag a wave or two over at Holtons. the waves there are almost always bigger but usually no more than a heavy drop into a long closeout.
a while later i heard neal call me from the outside peak and i turned to see him waving the rear half of his broken board, snapped while punching through one of the bigger sets (he had just spent some bucks to repair extensive damage from this session- http://members.tripod.com/~budmeister/1298.html#1210). . . fully bummed.
neal spent the rest of the sesh messing around on the broken board (never found the other half), actually caught a few waves & stood on it too.
i ended up having one of the best sessions i've had for several weeks, the broken toe finally almost a non-issue. on one set, i scored a sweet tube & flew thru several sections in front of a dozen guys in the middle lineup, straightening out just before it closed out. several compliments from surfers made my day.
'loha,
bud
8:30a-11am
"Laniakea" - North
shore
avg wave face-----------6-8
feet
sets wave face-----------10-12
feet+
sunny & clear, moderate
offshore winds
overslept a bit & did a solo run out to the country; my brother is off-island for a month and the rest of our regular crew had other obligations. predominantly north swell looked good for Laniakea.
cresting the hill to the country, i saw lots of whitewater along the coast & figured i probably should have brought a longer stick. oh well, it wasn't *that* big & hate being over gunned.
parking lot was overflowing. . . paddling out through the lineup i saw so many guns you'd a thunk it was outer reef log cabins or something. a few of the "older" guys on the outside peak were fully rushing & milking the sets but many of the people out would not be there if there wasn't such an easy paddle out, imo. at least the lineup is tricky; keeps the pack spread out & on their toes.
saw two boards snapped within 10 minutes of each other, one broke after the rider was lip launched, the other was a guy who bailed getting caught in the impact zone of a set.
i ended up having one of my best sessions so far this year. seems i was snagging set after set without hassle & pulling off multiple snaps while blazing across long sections.
traffic fronting the beach slowed to a crawl as the beach & parking lot was a buzz of activity. tourists & surfers all along the shore facing the ocean & pointing. . . beautiful spring day in Hawaii with fairly respectable surf.
'loha,
bud
8:30a-11am
"Laniakea" - North
shore
avg wave face-----------5-7
feet
sets wave face-----------8-10
feet
sunny & clear, moderate
offshore winds
slept late again for another small board solo run. waves had dropped but there was still some double-o sets, and the northerly direction was holding, which always means laniakea to me.
*big* crowd, but well spread over the shifting lineup; plus the sneaky northbound current kept many unsuspecting surfers too deep.
lots of familiar faces out again on this cloudless morning. the middle/end section was overrun with the next generation of killers. the level of performance by some of these kids is fucking amazing.
although not as memorable (to me) as yesterday, i had an excellent session. after a few hours i was looking for a last wave and thinking about picking up the money for another of my boards that sold at Surf-n-Sea in Haleiwa (on consignment) . . i was too far inside and i stroked to get past a set that was pitching. . . i didn't make it but it was nothing unusual. . i dipped deep as the lip hit the water above me. . . fully smacked me good. i spun several times under water but held on to my stick, and even hit the surface straddling the board. thats when i saw that the nose was flush against the surface while i was sitting on the rear of the board at 45 degrees.
second snapped board this winter for me & i was fully bummed. as i paddled in on the broken stick i tried catching a wave and then cut my hands & arms on the ragged fiberglass.. paying the price for 4oz top & bottom performance. as i drove away from the beach i called my shaper & ordered a new 6'4" :)
good surfing to you,
bud
8:30a-11am
"---------" - North
shore
avg wave face-----------3-5
feet
sets wave face-----------5-7
feet
sunny & clear, light
variable winds
connected with surfbud Makani for a mid morning session. stopped in Waialua to pick up his fellow Kauaian friend Fabian, who is on leave from overseas military duty.
i was bitching about snapping my 6'4" yesterday and having to ride a 7'0" in the surf that dropped to just overhead on the sets. Fabian offered to let me borrow a 6'6" Channel Islands. . . but i decided to stick with my own board (he was riding a slick new 5'10" fish).
it was my mid twenties the last time i surfed this particular spot, and i was pleasantly surprised to see the surrounding community has changed very little. access to the surf spots on this stretch of the north shore requires knowledge of some secluded & narrow back roads.
the view from the shore showed an unusually big crowd for a "secret" spot. our timing was pretty good though; seemed like the dawn patrol pack was finishing up not long after we added to the lineup. many familiar faces made for an easy click into the pecking order for me. the extra length of my board let me sit deep & outside; had to watch myself from getting greedy.
the waves were exactly as i remembered. . . very similar to Ala Moana Bowls on a slightly overhead day. soft takeoff from the "point" that sets up for several excellent bowl sections thru the middle & inside. score the right one and you have a workable backhand (for regular foot) screamer for 75 yards or so.
makani the goofyfoot immediately got vertical 3 or four times on his first wave. flowing thru snaps like it was scripted. i watched as fabian worked his fish & flew through some long sections. . . gouging square backside bottom turns on the fast little waves.
i was struggling to pull some tight & quick turn with my gun; a few successes and a few scrubbed. i snagged several rights that turned out to be fun. towards the end of my session, i had a string of set waves that i felt i surfed well; back to back snaps and then drawing long hard backhand cutbacks between bowls. wanted to go in on a good run, so instead of going all the way back out, i decided to take this head high inside wedge as a last wave. i spun half way up the face, cocked the board and stood. the wave sucked out quicker than i anticipated and my board flipped over. i fell onto the upside down board as the wave launched me into a very shallow section. i went over in a tangle of fins, fiberglass and lip. my left front fin broke off after meeting my head. the other fins cut my armpit, chest and face. came up bloody and hurting but the cuts turned out to be mostly superficial. bruised up pretty good.
broken fin is hanging by a thread but didn't tear up too much of the surrounding glass, should be a textbook fin repair for a pro (not me!).
damn. looks like i'll be riding a borrowed stick for the incoming swell this week.
'loha,
bud
2:30p-5:15p
"---------" - West
Coast
avg wave face-----------5-6
feet
sets wave face-----------6-8
feet, occasional bigger
sunny & clear, light
variable winds, turning onshore
it was killing me; sitting in my office knowing that within 30 minutes i could be catching a last piece of a freak south swell combined with a pretty strong west swell. the final blow was an email from an old friend who told me <secret spot> was epic & double-o the previous morning.
since i had destroyed my "quiver" in separate incidents over the past 2 sessions, i had to make a sneak attack on my brother's garage and his board stash (he's out of town). called my sister-in-law the previous night to tell her to leave the garage door unlocked, and that "of COURSE rich knows i'm borrowing his board, dooon't worry". . . gulp. tried to assuage my guilt with the knowledge that he would do the same. it worked.
my last appointment was a no-show so i booked over to rich's place, grabbed his 6'5" & changed into trunks in his garage. coming down the Makakilo hill i saw the whitewater along the coast was considerably less than yesterday. damn....still it was clear that overhead plus was in store.
gave sponge a voice mail message from the beach & told him to meet me if possible; waves looked great. . . good direction & light winds, but smaller than expected, 3-4 surfers out. as i made the 15 minute paddle to the outer reef lineup, i soaked up the warm water and blazing sun in the cloudless sky. this spot is usually completely blown out by mid morning so this day was a treat.
my brother's board turned out to be cork for me. too much volume & too wide. i don't know how he can ride it (he's only a few pounds heavier), i had difficulty dipping waves with it. i was catching waves early but i could not bury the rail off the bottom or push a hard turn in a steep section. plus i was getting knocked around when caught inside cause i could not get the kind of depth i'm used to.
still, i had a few decent smacks and overall a good session. the waves were bowling up on the take off then peeling another 50 yards before closing out over the inside. the last hour was just me & two others; a couple of teenage friends, the younger one surfing with surprising precision and a fluid, Sunny Garcia-like style. just about 5pm the the onshore winds kicked up and i looked for a wave in.
in a few months this place will no longer be part of a military base with limited access. . . oh well, times change.
good surfing to you,
bud
7:30a-10:30a
"Laniakea" - North
shore
avg wave face-----------3-5
feet
sets wave face-----------5-6
feet
scattered clouds, calm/very
light side-offshore winds
couldn't hook up with any of our crew so it was another solo trip for me. trying to catch the last part of the fading swell with a borrowed stick. parking area was about half full when i pulled up, and a steady stream of board filled vehicles were slowing to check it out.
ran into westside friends Colin, Richard & Richard, also preparing to go out; chatted about recent sessions and i explained that the bruises running across my chest & arms were from a (lost) battle with thruster fins last weekend. from other friends in the lineup i got the "ohhh, maaann, was going _off_ yesterday evening!! shoulda been there, cuz." Aipa & K. Jaquias smiling and nodding, saying it was only about 4 feet (Haw'n), but direction & conditions were all-time. more than a few people i've talked to agree that Lanis has been "the" place many times this winter. lots of north swells.
waves this day were small but great fun, and the water was nice & glassy. finally getting the feel for my brother's surfboard, adjusting for the extra volume. allows for a longer drawn out cutback in a flat section, and catching waves early was great. but it feels a bit sluggish & hard to keep a rail buried while snapping in a steep section.
while i will not drop in or snake people, i am aggressive when paddling/positioning for a wave. the bulk of the crowd turned out to be very passive & many times i seemed to be in the right spot when someone was hesitant about paddling for possession or a late take off. much of the session i sat outside with the longboard group and easily caught my share of the sets. ended up having a great session and knocked out some sweet lip bashes.
two sessions in a row without breaking anything. maybe my luck is turning around.
good surfing to you,
bud
4:30p-6:30p
"Pyramid Rock"
- East shore
avg wave face-----------4-5
feet
sets wave face-----------5-6
feet
scattered clouds, light
sideshore winds
decided to bail from work early & take up makani's suggestion of an evening sesh at Kaneohe Marine Base. waves & conditions turned out to be pretty good. smooth water & there was actual swell action instead of the usual wind slop. the sandbars were piling up in some wierd areas; super shallow for sucking out waves, then it'd hit a deep spot & the wave would disappear. one second you'd be barely making the drop, a few seconds later the wave would be gone.
every once in while a choice overhead set would connect from the "pyramid" lineup to the middle section, making for a long left. as usual makani ripped, even in the small difiicult waves, working several all the way to the beach.
only memorable waves for me were a couple of rights i snagged from the pyramid lineup, going toward the point. nailed multiple lip bashes on both of the short rides, right up to the rocks on the shoreline. could not put it together on the lefts at all.
all in all, an excellent midweek getaway.
'loha,
bud
7:00a-10:30a
"------------" - West
shore
avg wave face-----------4-6
feet
sets wave face-----------6-9
feet
mostly clear skies; calm
turning to light onshores by late morning
the previous eve, the big swell had flooded a few shoreline homes in the North Shore and maxed out all but a few mega wave spots. in making plans for the morning surf, surfbud makani came up with the brainstorm to hit a west side outer reef spot that we always talk about when driving by but never yet surfed. we see it breaking only when the north shore is huge.
we've only recently seen people surfing the place but for a "secret" spot, it's very visible. we hooked up with makani's friend fabian again for one last session before he heads back overseas, and by the time we pulled up, the roadside already had 7-8 surfmobiles.
from the shore we could not beleive the crowd we would be adding to. more than 15 guys out already. climbing down the rocky cliff to the water was a trick. waves turned out to be very good, but more importantly we all saw the potential for epic-ness if it was bigger. as it was this day, there was a period of excellent overhead and a half, and even a few *nearly* double overhead waves. unfortunately, if the waves weren't at least overhead, it was kinda mushy & backing off. and by mid morning, the waves were dying fast.
makani & fabian tore up the lefts and i flailed on the borrowed stick again. added a bunch of new cuts scrapes bruises as i attempted to come ashore, at least i didn't ding my brothers board.
good surfing to you,
bud
6:40a-9:00a
North Shore
overcast, light sideshore winds
met neal & justin at Lanis, hoping to see at least double-o waves as the dropping swell swung north; but empty parking lot and no one out confirmed the worst- complete confusion & out of control surf.
headed up to ehukai & saw some wicked surf at pipe, 8-15 foot faces, some bigger. post mega-swell lumpiness combined with the northerly direction made a pretty intense situation for the 7-8 guys out. hefty peaks sucking out over very little water. a killer rip running parallel to shore; in a few seconds you'd be 75 yards north of where you jumped in. we watched several try and fail to punch through the shorepound just past the inner sandbar formed by the rip.
i opted not to chance
the surf with my borrowed 6'5", especially after breaking my 2 sticks
in smaller surf over the past 2 weeks or so. neal was anxious to get some
before it dropped too much and the crowd got bigger. he smiles and says
something to the effect, "why don't you sit on the beach with my tripod
setup and record this memorable event for posterity?" juuuuust kiddin,
neal ;-) actually if i'da known he had his telephoto
in his car i would have suggested
it myself. i was all
over that idea and had a blast. . . & fired off the whole roll.
neal rushed the shifting lineup and even managed to snag a couple of the bigger sets. his second or third wave was a full on air drop from the top of a nasty double-o+ wedge, making it to the bottom but getting smashed by a mountain of falling lip as he started to bottom turn. the crowd on the beach did a collective ooOOOohhh!! after i left neal ended up going back out with a water camera and got some great shots.
great day of surf even if i didn't get wet for once.
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Checkout the pics and
Neal's writeup here!
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'loha,
bud