2/8-2/14 Maui /Kanaha
Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:06 pmI showed up to the beginning of a wind cycle. The first day was a cold north wind. I rode parallel to the beach on the inside of the waves. The water was smooth and the wind was steady ten meter but I could have used a wetsuit. Really weird to be cold in Hawaii. The next day the wind switched to the east and was lighter but the waves were huge. I only caught a few waves but the biggest one had a 20 foot face. I rode straight down it, didn't dare turn. It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. After the session I was buzzing, it felt so good. It felt good that I was able to make it out through the break. I was able to pop over the whitewater and was lucky, timing wise, making it over the waves that were about to break. I got knocked backwards once though and my kite came inches from going in the water. My board got washed in a ways and I did some high speed bodydragging through the churning water that felt like sand on my knees.
The next three days were perfect seven meter with sideshore wind. The waves were smaller but still very nice. It was easy to park the kite and surf down the line. Mike McCarthy was there and he intoduced me to his friend Kevin. Mike and I both rented Cabrinha surf boards from Neil Pryde for the time we were there. On my last day I tacked up to Uppers. It was me and a bunch of windsurfers. They were messing with me. They would go by me in a kind of aggro way. On the way out they would try to turn it into a race. One guy got about 15 feet downwind of me and stayed there so I couldn't sign my kite. Uppers is a bunch of peaks instead of a long wave like Lowers. Sometimes I linked up the peaks, others the wave ended quickly. It was nice to be able to go out the right side and ride back out on flat water though. On my last ride I decided that I was going to go downwind back to lowers. When I turned to go out there was a wave out of nowhere that I couldn't avoid. I jumped as best I could but the wave was nine feet and I jumped eight. The wave pitched hard and slammed my board and suddenly I was in alot of pain. My toes were screaming but it wasn't until I got going again that I realized I hurt my ankle. I limped my way back to the launch and that was it for kiting.
I can't complain though, five days in a row of kiting in the winter is alot. With the conditions the way they were I was at or beyond my limits alot of the time so to get out with a sprained ankle isn't too bad. I surfed almost every day on the south shore and even tried stand up for the first time. I'll be practicing jumping as high as I can with my surfboard at Deer Creek this summer.
The next three days were perfect seven meter with sideshore wind. The waves were smaller but still very nice. It was easy to park the kite and surf down the line. Mike McCarthy was there and he intoduced me to his friend Kevin. Mike and I both rented Cabrinha surf boards from Neil Pryde for the time we were there. On my last day I tacked up to Uppers. It was me and a bunch of windsurfers. They were messing with me. They would go by me in a kind of aggro way. On the way out they would try to turn it into a race. One guy got about 15 feet downwind of me and stayed there so I couldn't sign my kite. Uppers is a bunch of peaks instead of a long wave like Lowers. Sometimes I linked up the peaks, others the wave ended quickly. It was nice to be able to go out the right side and ride back out on flat water though. On my last ride I decided that I was going to go downwind back to lowers. When I turned to go out there was a wave out of nowhere that I couldn't avoid. I jumped as best I could but the wave was nine feet and I jumped eight. The wave pitched hard and slammed my board and suddenly I was in alot of pain. My toes were screaming but it wasn't until I got going again that I realized I hurt my ankle. I limped my way back to the launch and that was it for kiting.
I can't complain though, five days in a row of kiting in the winter is alot. With the conditions the way they were I was at or beyond my limits alot of the time so to get out with a sprained ankle isn't too bad. I surfed almost every day on the south shore and even tried stand up for the first time. I'll be practicing jumping as high as I can with my surfboard at Deer Creek this summer.
