Oahu Session Report Sunday 7/26/98
5:30m-8:00am
Maili Pt.
clear sky, no wind, early morning oil-slick conditions
2'-3'
me- 6'3" T&C thruster
rich-6'4" T&C thruster
decided to chance a long shot at Maili point based on a small south west bump that was forecasted. pulled around the point from the Nanakuli side and noticed a good looking line wrapping around the reef. as we pulled up to the parking area at Maili Pt., were pleasantly surprised by head high waves. a few were almost connecting from "minefields."
Maili point has a well deserved reputation as a place where your car will get broken into. Since I drove, that was paramount on my mind. Several weirdos on the beach intensified my anxiety.
One other guy paddled out as we did. A big local dude, I struck up conversation with him and he was telling me how the waves break and how good it can get and how usually no one goes out this early. I don't think I fit his image as someone from the area and he was clearly surprised to learn that I had surfed here before. I told him, "‘81 grad, Waianae High, bra.... "pretty much when learn how surf at Maili." Turned out he just moved to the area a few months ago and was loving the lack of crowds in the early mornings.
Waves were typical Maili Point. Looks real good from the shore but is Very Funky. Lots of deep holes in the reef makes for a tricky wave that constantly backs off & reforms. In my opinion, it is best on a solid 5'+ southwest swell that connects from way behind the point. Can be very frustrating for the first timer.
I had several excellent waves but I was constantly trying to watch my car from the lineup. It's about 500 yards from break to shore, and the (summer) morning sun comes up over the parking area, making it impossible to see anything on the beach for an hour or so. The local guy I was talking to said that he doesn't even lock his car and still got a brick through his window last month (nothing inside to steal). I kept thinking I saw people trying to get into my car. Ruined the whole session for me. About an hour and a half later, about eight longboarders paddled out. I told Rich that I was probably going in but he could stay out as long as he wanted. Finally, after a long ride, I just went in. Sure enough, after I had toweled off, two of the kooks I saw earlier came stumbling across the highway, beer bottles in paper bags. As I expected, they hit me up for money. "Sorry cuz, no moa" I said, and they mumbled something and walked away.
Enjoyed watching Rich nail some solid off the lips and roundhouse figure-8's on the slopey lefts. The sets became almost non-existent the last hour he was out, and he finally caught one halfway into the bay and came in.
good surfing to you,
bud
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Oahu Session Report Saturday 7/25/98
5:30m-8:45am
KMCAS
overcast, clearing slightly, moderate onshores
1'-2'
me- 6'3" T&C thruster
been mostly small-flat. not many choices. after a few e-mails, hooked up with Neal Miyake for a dawn patrol at Pyramid Rock. brother rich was no where to be found. Neal picked me up at 5am & i was hoping for a replay of the surf me & rich caught last Sunday.... nope.
the small waves were almost completely formless, and then closing out on a shallow, seaweed filled impact zone. some peaks were maybe shoulder high. ..'bout half an hour before we bailed, seemed to clean up quite a bit. water was pretty clear, but waves never really improved while we were there.
watched Neal carve some slashes on his custom body board, throwing nice fans with very little to work with. i struggled to get even one decent ride. most memorable event for me was the man-o-wars floating over the nose of my board.
good surfing to you,
bud
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Oahu Session Report Sunday 7/19/98
6:45am-11:15am
KMCAS
overcast, becoming sunny & clear, light onshores
2'-3'
me- 6'3" T&C thruster
rich-6'4" T&C thruster
my brother rich picked me up after we mis-communicated about start time, but we still made it to the beach pretty early. headed over to pyramid rock to see that the waves were pretty beat up. best section seemed to be in the middle, closer to the end of the runway. typical K-Bay surf in the beginning....after an hour it really turned around. the consistently head high surf started to clean up as the sun came out.
the conditions reminded me of Ehukai on a spring session; crystal clear water and white sand bottom. light onshore winds kept the waves mostly crumbly, but many of the insiders were doing a good job as a beachbreak tuber; shallow enough & easier to walk through most of the impact zone.
rich was a bit frustrated after trashing 2 waves because of foot snags on his leash....so he went in and took it off. then he seemed to be in a bit out of sync; not getting as many sets as he usually does. still, he was ripping on the rights and lefts, never did see him have to swim for his board. as for me, i was very happy with my session, especially several of my backhand rides....pulled off a couple of really nice off the tops as the waves were sucking out over the inside.
for the last hour of our marathon session i went in for the disposable camera. there wasn't really a distinct lineup so i knew that a good action picture was a longshot. mostly i wanted to get a decent shot of the conditions! See the Pictures
whole time we were there, maybe 4 other people out surfing, spread over 50 yards. best "fun" session in many weeks! finally went in as my arms started to cramp as i dipped. both of us were burnt to a crisp.
good surfing to you,
bud
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Oahu Session Report Saturday 7/18/98
5:10-8:30am
Lighthouse
Overcast becoming clear, light trades
(barely surfable) 1'
me-6'3" T&C thruster
after discussing options over the past few days... hooked up w/Neal for a dawn patrol at lighthouse. paddling gloves in hand and longboard waxed, Neal was ready to hit it when i pulled up to the cliff. it was still dark & hard to tell what was happening in the water. as we walked down the trail, it became evident that it was pretty much flat.
paddling out, it looked even worse. i sat for about 15 minutes before trying for a "wave". watched as Neal's second wave was a cool nose ride on a thigh high set. a bit later... a few bigger ones started coming in, so naturally, 3 surfers came out.
about an hour into the session, Neal's friend Makani Mcdonald joined the lineup. a fluid and powerful style, the dude was impressive as he ripped the tiny surf on a short board.
i found my new narrower board bogged down quickly on the too frequent flat spots. otherwise it performed much to my satisfaction. being glassed very light helped alot.
as i stood on a wave, i yelled to Neal that i was going in. decided to chance a prone straight in over the reef.... fins scraping most of the way, but nothing "shattering."
Neal came in soon after and the 3 of us talked about getting together to surf, schedules and waves permitting... looking forward to that.
good surfing to you,
bud
Oahu Session Report Wednesday 7/15/98
Lighthouse
Sunny, light trades
1'-1.5'
me-6'3" T&C thruster
had been arranging my work around an afternoon session....was in the lighthouse lineup at 1:40; small, but good conditions, sunny-light side trades-some shoulder high fun stuff. new board feeling real good.....4 other surfers & 3 bodyboarders. was back in my car at 3:45, got thru the highway bottle neck w/o the usual traffic & decided to go back to work....
definitely a good day!
good surfing to you,
bud
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Oahu Session Report Sunday 7/12/98
9:15am- noon
Ala Moana Bowls
Sunny, moderate offshores
2-3' occasional 4' (Hawaiian)
me-6'3" T&C thruster
rich-6'4" T&C thruster
rich came to my place straight from all night on duty and we went first to check lighthouse. conditions looked decent but the waves were sloppy & all over the place. decided to brave the crew at bowls. turned out to be very uncrowded (for a weekend with waves), but two particular longboarders might as well have been ten. taking all the inconsistent sets and the in-betweens too. no kidding, they hogged everything. oh well, comes around goes around. me & rich almost paddled down to rockpiles but it started to get a bit more consistent. then we ran into friends from way back, first Larry McGuire and then Larry Rios. some guy with a huge camera contraption attached to the tail of his board seemed frustrated that he couldn't get a decent set to himself. the two main sections weren't really connecting very often; that reduced the amount of makeable waves even more. even if you had a nice long one from way back, it was likely that someone at the buoy lineup would drop in.
my new board worked real good once i got a wave i could work with. pushed it hard off the bottom & it held. had a nice backhand rail grab tube where my front foot slipped off & i landed on my ass as i came out. managed to stand back up & then threw in a couple more turns to top it off. watched brother rich rip it up on his frontside, throwing some big sprays & hard off the lips. he even snagged one of the bigger four footers & got fully slotted for about 4 seconds, garnering hoots from the crew paddling out.
all in all a good weekend of Hawaiian summer surf!
good surfing to you,
bud
Oahu Session Report Saturday 7/11/98
1:30pm-3:45pm
Big Rights
Mostly sunny, moderate-brisk offshores
1-3' occasional 4'
(my brand new) 6'3" T&C thruster
swell hit yesterday, slightly inconsistent but it was the first "real" surf in at least couple of weeks. brother rich had "duty" again, so i went solo. scored excellent parking as i pulled into the park from the Ward Ave side. on the water side right in from Big Rights & Concessions. beach was packed. sat in the car until i saw the sets....supposedly a straight south swell & it looked pretty good.
tide was coming in and it appeared i got lucky with my timing. water was high enough that i didn't have to walk too much on the reef and made it through the impact zone with dry hair. Concessions must've had about 40 guys out while there was only about 10 of us at Big Rights. waves turned out to be excellent.... well over head high on the sets. juicy little rockets that were pitching nicely. breaking so quick that it was kinda hard to really test the new stick on some hard turns. pulled into stand-up barrels on several waves, though. best one for me happened as media slut ;-> John Shimooka was paddling by. he was kind enough to comment on the ride after we exchanged howzits. he then proceeded to kill. he was taking off deeper than anyone and perfectly positioning himself for some outrageous slots (and making it). one wave right in front of me, after getting about an hour long tube, i watched him blast off the top twice in the micro-seconds before Concession & Big Rights met & closed out in the channel/impact zone. humbling stuff. crowd started becoming what the spot is famous for, so after a nice off the lip on the closeout, i proned & went in.
i kept hearing the horn blasts from the longboard contest a couple of hundred yards away. i knew that my friend Neal, aka "Sponge" was over there taking water shots & giving a hand with the contest. i was wondering if he even got to surf!
good surfing to you,
bud
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Oahu Session Report Saturday 7/4/98
1:30pm-3:45pm
Lighthouse
Sunny, strong trades
1'-2' tradeslop
me-6'4" T&C thruster
rich- 6'4" T&C thruster
me & rich eager to surf as usual, not much in the way of waves, typical tradewind swell... mellow crowd, lots of japanese tourists floundering.
good surfing to you,
bud
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Oahu Session Report Friday 7/3/98
5:15am-8:45am
KMCAS (Pyramid Rock)
overcast, strong onshores
1'-1.5' tradeslop
me- 6'4" T&C thruster
rich-6'4" T&C thruster
rich picked me up & we made it to the beach just as there was light enough to see. we brought a video camera so that i could test out my new "Snappy" video snapshot software/hardware. waves looked barley rideable. conditions were real bad, but we came to surf.
we decided that i would go out first while rich videotaped. i always hold the car key when we surf together so i grabbed his key ring & twisted it off. i sez to him, "I got the key and i'm locking the doors." as the door shut, i thought to myself, "rich must have made a new copy of his key...it looks a bit different than before." my heart dropped as i decided to put the key in the door lock and it didn't go in. he was carrying his wife's car key on his key ring too. rich was thoroughly bummed.
after mulling our options, i walked over & picked up the emergency phone at the parking area. politely i say, "uhhh, this isn't an emergency, but we're in a fix.....do your patrolmen carry a slim-jim?" the guy kinda chuckled & almost seemed glad to have something to put in his log. "i'll send someone out" he says. took them almost an hour to get there and about 10 minutes to open the door, but we were glad that was taken care of. thanks, Mister Marine, Sir! (no sarcasm intended).
i spent about 35 minutes trying to get onto something decent. caught maybe 4 waves and rode the last to the beach to take the camera from rich. waited on the beach about 40 minutes & shot a few minutes worth before i went out to surf a bit more. waves sucked. went in early.
my first frame grabs/animated gifs from the day are here:
Rich
Bud
good surfing to you,
bud
