Saturday, February 6, 2010

That Was Then, This Is Now!


My friend Keith McCulloch reporting in from Maui:

Maui Surf Report - seems like groundhog day here! 80 degrees every day. man i can't take this place:-)


a wahini exiting ho'okipa


Yesterday: Lowers goes off. solid logo high with occasional mast high waves with 17 to 23 knot NE wind made for a fun day at lowers.

the prototype 5.0 North ICE i was using was working well. I sailed for about 3.5 hours with 40 other people at one point. Like a conveyor belt, jibe on the first big nugget you see and peel off down the line smashing and bashing your way to a kick out point...and then watch out for the next set rolling in! Lowers makes you feel like a hero. no wonder these guys get good. like a great day at the cove without the rain:-) I think it wasn't as windy as the locals are used to... so lots of guys on a 4.7's and 70 liter boards bobbing around like corks. maybe they were rigging for the gust? i know its nice to have a small board on the wave.. but the time and pain you have to go thru to float that kind of gear into position? I guess i'm getting old.:-)

Then today.."Ho'okipa mast high+ , Redemption!" First a little history, a long time ago in 1998 I was here in January. Fresh off the boat as they say.. inexperienced with the winter conditions at ho'okipa..and full of excitement looking at mast and a half waves rolling in.. i rigged up and proceeded to launch into what was one of the biggest days that they have seen here in a while..little did i know.. isn't like this here all the time? (i saw it in the video) i should have know something was up since it was crazy windy and there were only 4 guys out.. well I just went on out like it was nothing......... to make a long story short.. Ho'okipa bit me hard that day.. i ended up on the rocks and broke all my gear. I even had to climb up the cliff to get the heck out of there since the current was so strong there was no way I was swimming back to the launch site...that was then... this is now!
 
Today similar conditions existed, maybe a little smaller wave than back then in 98.. but still pretty respectable and well over mast high on the big sets. light fluky wind side off.. lots of east in it. 10 to 23 knots.. i rigged a 5.0 and rode a Mark nelson 76 liter single fin custom (hey Stuart you'll be proud of me i sailed a board under 90 liters!) I slogged out thru the slot and proceeded to get warmed up on a few nice mast high nuggets..
 
slogging out!
 
then with each wave I was getting dialed in.. making deeper and deeper bottom turns and coming closer to the lip.. no big air off the lips for me today... just playing it safe, having fun and getting in tune with the swell and the place.
 

here i am on a small warm up wave...



 
Martine says one wave I rode was easily mast and half.. I can believe her, as I bottom turned around the pitching lip and looked up it was bigger than my house. I sailed 2.5 hours or so thru some varied conditions.. real windy..then not so windy..
 
probably 25 sailors out at one point. a couple of guys were really good.. lots of fun to see real action up close. I hate to say it.. but my best and biggest waves were not caught on camera.. isn't that the way it always is? so these photos of some logo high waves will have to do.
 
a local pro..showing how its done..
 
I hope a get another crack at this place before we have to leave.. forecast is for even bigger swell on sunday with a return of the trades. i've got 4 days left.

Well Keith, I get chills reading this post, and looking at the pics. I too have a similar story from my first time in big Maui Wave conditions. I'm looking forward to redemption there, AND at the Cove. hehehee- Yup, I can't forget that one either.


ps: Here on the east coast, we're getting hit with what they're saying is the biggest snow storm in recorded history. We have almost 30 inches so far. This fence is 3 feet tall


Trees are down everywhere

at there are many w/o power

This is my jeep
and the roof of my house
I tried to pull onto the street, which has 25-30 unplowed inches
It wasn't happening
so we're basically not going anywhere until at least tomorrow


3 comments:

Janis Markopoulos said...

Keith! You're killing us! Look at the snow we're stuck in. Fly me out there. I take yours and Martines photos and I won't miss a shot! I promise. I MISS MAUI.

George Markopoulos said...

Hey Grace and Grant, I can see every time you land on my blog. you must enjoy it cuz you keep coming back. You both should have treated her with respect.

George Markopoulos said...

back again today huh 1.18pm.

You guys are like pavlov's dog.

your're marketing dept sucks.