HI Surf Advisory
SURF OBSERVATIONS
On Thursday, jleo informed me that the buoys were showing some action. Sorry, but this weekend warrior had to wait till the 9 to 5 grind was all pau. True to his word, Friday was at least six feet, if not bigger.
I dawn-patrolled it on Saturday (sounds familiar) to Pipeline. The surf was only two-to-three, but it was as glassy as I've seen it. Once again, their was a distinct and separate north and west push.
Glassy water, a slight haze, dead calm wind and two seagulls swooping by. For a brief instant, I thought I was in the mainland again (maybe in La Jolla). But the warm water, not the warm stuff in my wetsuit, brought me back to reality--Eh brah, this is Hawaii!
The swell was supposed to be dying, but it actually got a bit bigger throughout the morn. My friends would 'beg to digress", but I saw a few five footers that day. However, with the sunise, came a breeze, which turned into a 10 to 20 mph semi-sideshore wind by morning's end.
Pipeline wasn't working too good. It seems the beach has a lot of extra sand, so Pipe is breaking closer to Off the Wall. Ehukai had mushy sandbar action, probably due to the high tide. Backdoor was pretty good on the north peaks, but the best action was at Off the Wall, where there was a really nice bowl setting up all morning.
While getting pounded paddling out (I never said I was a good surfer/bodyboarder), I was amazed at the walls that were hooking in. Unfortunately, a lot of the waves were pinching closed, and if you made it to the end, you had to deal with the shorebreak action at Insanities.
Personally, I got a couple of memorable rides. Before 6:30, I took off on a nice Backdoor barrel (3 ft) and got a small kine tube. As I was coming out, a section started throwing ahead of me, so I took a high line and compacted my body, making it through. Sort of backdooring Backdoor.
The other wave was a long right from OTW, maybe a four footer. I managed to steal a bowl from the hungry group--probably because it was overcast at the time, so no photo incentives for them. It was a race all the way--didn't break trim once. When I got to Insanities, I was met with a dredging shorebreak left coming at me. Had to do the respectable thing and went for the lip. Bailed out mid-flight, just as the shorepound kicked me back up and around. Came up with double cramps in my thighs and a smile on my face. Auwe!
Sunday was supposed to get huge, but the North swell never showed. It stayed steady at three-to-five, with a strong north wind mushing out the coast. Long range forecast looks good with some small swells due later in the week.
The Bud Makaha event just ended Friday (see results in the COMP section). The waiting period for the Xcel Pro has begun. From now on, the crowd is going to be insane. In the immortal words of Rory Russel, "mo' betta surf Piddleys."
Aloha from paradise,
Neal "Da Sponge" Miyake
P.S. Thanks to all who wrote in supporting these surf observations. I truly did not know if anyone read it or even cared. Will keep writing as much as possible.
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