All Contents of this Page Copyright(2008) of Randolph Kashino
Maui Xmas 2008
"a last minute trip to escape the Great Canadian winter"
December 17, 2008
I just couldn't take the cold, so on Monday I had booked a flight to Maui. I took the ferry from Victoria in the morning and when I got off in Tswassen it was snowing. This made for a treacherous drive to the airport. I parked at the airport in the snow. The snow was really starting to fall and I guessed I had just made the drive in time. My flight wasn't for about 6 hours, so I could take my time getting myself to the WestJet check in. It wasn't going to open for about 3 hours anyway. When it open I checked in and went through security. The new flight schedule was showing my flight delayed for 45 minutes. This later increased to an hour and the flight was finally in the air about 2 hours late. The weather everywhere was causing airline havoc. It was even snowing in Las Vegas! WestJet delayed the flight to get passengers that were supposed to connect from Calgary. It was past midnight in Maui when the flight landed. I picked up my car rental and drove to my regular vacation rental at Pu'u Koa.
Back Home at Larchwood Drive, Victoria, B.C.
December 18, 2008
Bright and sunny and warm this morning in Haiku, Maui. I was glad to get away from the cold and snow. I headed into Kahului to Hawaiian Island Surf and Sport and rented a Stand Up Paddle surfboard. I decided to try out there 9'8" Hawaiian Island board. One of my missions on this trip was to try out shorter SUP boards. I went down to Kanaha Beach Park. No wind today and the surf looked a reasonable 3 feet. The shorter board definitely felt more unstable, however I managed to get it going on a couple of waves. The short length made it much more difficult to catch the smaller waves. After about 3 hours I paddled back in and went for a drive up to Secrets Cove. I hung out there for awhile taking some photos and then headed up to Hookipa to take some more photos there.
Iao Valley in West Maui Mountains from Secrets Cove
December 19, 2008
Another sunny morning and likely no wind was the forecast. After a short stop at Hookipa, I headed into Kahului to Hawaiian Island Surf and Sport and exchanged the 9'8" board for a 10 footer. I then took a cruise to the Hitech Surf shop and Second Wind to see what SUP's they had in stock. I also went into the Naish shop and decide to rent their 9'6" x 29 1/4" x 4 3/8" fish like board. At Kanaha Beach Park the swell was about 2 to 3 feet and I took the Naish Board out for a spin. It felt a bit more stable than the Hawaiian Island 9'8" but it was still a bit unstable for me. I got the hang of it after awhile and managed to paddle onto a few waves. The Naish board surfed pretty nicely, but it also took a bigger wave to get going. On smaller waves it was almost impossible. I paddled back in an took a bit of a rest then got the Hawaian Island 10 footer and paddled back out. It felt a bit more stable but I couldn't get a good test on waves because the swell was dying. After a days paddle I headed back to Pu'u Koa for the evening.
Surfing at Ho'okipa
Stand Up Paddle Surfing at Ho'okipa
Naish 9'6" and Hawaiian Island 10' SUP's
December 20, 2008
Windier today. Tested the 9'6" Naish in windy conditions. Paddled up to Camp one then did a downwinder back to Kanaha Beach. Then I took the 10' Hawaiian Island board for a short paddle. It handled a bit better in the wind. I then rigge'd a 5.0 sail and put it on the Hawaiian Island board and took it for a sail out past the reef and back. With no footstraps I couldn't quite get it on a real plane. After finishing up at the beach I went back to the Hawaiian Island shop and exchanged the 10 footer for my regular board, the 10'8" Jimmy Lewis pintail. I then went for a drive over to the other side of the island up past the tunnel to Ukumehame Beach and took the JL for a short paddle. Almost no waves here but the occassional set of small wind swell would come in and I managed to get the board going. Talked to a couple who had been snorkelling out on the reef and they mentioned they had saw no turtles, but had seen a Manta ray. After Ukumehame I drove into Kihei and did a bit of food shopping at the Star Market. I picked up a nice filet of swordfish and another of Mahi Mahi. I cooked up the swordfish that evening for dinner and had it with an Australian Shiraz wine.
Enjoying a beer after a Stand Up Paddle surf session
December 21, 2008
Almost no wind this morning. Tested out the Naish 9'6" on more time at Kanaha in the morning. In the afternoon I went out on the Jimmy Lewis 10'8". I really like my JL. It was not just the length that made it work. I think the combination the rocker, rail shape and the slight double concave on the bottom made it work. It actually reminded me a lot of my first windsurf board which was a 9'6" Jimmy Lewis. I had even used that board to do some regular surfing before I retired it to someone else. Maybe my familiarity with Jimmy Lewis boards made the 10'8" feel comfortable. After surfing went into a couple of shops and picked up a 9 foot leash as a spare. Then I went into Paia and did some grocery shopping at Mana foods. Picked out a Giant Maui Avocado and had half of it with dinner. After dinner I poured myself a shot of Hana Bay rum. Tried to watch television for awhile and fell asleep on the couch. I had to get up and go to bed. My body was getting a good work out from all the paddle surfing
Almost no wind at Kanaha
December 22, 2008
I woke up early this morning and made breakfast. The sky was clear and there was just the slightest hint of trade wind this morning. Checked the webcam at home and saw a new dump of snow had happened. Watched local weatherman Glenn James on channel 55 and he was promising the return of trade winds this week. I also learned that his daily show was coming to an end this week. This is a sad note because on all my trips to Maui, I had also looked forward to watching his weather show in the early morning before heading to the beaches. After breakfast, I headed down to Kanaha and took the Stand Up board out for a short paddle out to lowers. The wind was definitely coming up, so it was a bit choppy out there. I paddled back to the beach and loaded up and decided to head over to Ukumehame Beach. Much calmer over there, but almost no waves. I did manage to catch a couple of smaller ones though. Out beyond the reef I saw a Humpback whale breach and then a few minutes later a giant Manta Ray flew out of the water just on the edge of the reef. Wow! I had heard of this but never actually seen it before. I finished my paddle session about one o'clock and heade back over to Kanaha. It was looking windier, so I rigged my Gaastra 5.0. Just as I finished rigging the wind died down. With not quite enough sail I ended up slogging out to the reef just above wierd wave and slogging, semi planing back to the beach. After waiting awhile to see if the wind was going to pick up, I derigged and headed to Pinata's for a combination Burrito and a Pacifico cerveza. On the drive back to Haiku, there was a little bit of rain. This was a good indicator that the trade winds were on there way.
Stand Up Paddling at Kanaha Beach
December 23, 2008
Mauka showers this morning. This morning forecast was for stronger trade winds today. I needed a bigger sail so I went into the Second Wind shop and picked a last years model of a 5.5 Sailworks Retro that was on sale. At Kanaha Beach Park the wind was already up. I rigged the 5.5 and went out on my JP 96. Perfect wind and the sail was working like a dream. Almost no waves out here today and weird wave was non existent. Cruising out beyond the second reef I saw 2 or 3 turtles. The water was super clear and I could see right down onto the reefs while sailing over them. I sailed for about four hours until my hands were getting a bit sore. Satisfied with a great sail experience I decided to derig. I then drove up to Kapalua beach and went for a snorkel. The water here was calm and clear. A puffer fish posed for my camera and then followed me out into the bay. I think it was looking for a free meal. The coral here was brilliant and I got a couple of pictures of a Hawkfish perched on a coral head. As I was finishing my swim the sun was beginning to set and the sky was becoming a brilliant yellow fading to red. I drove back to Haiku in the dark and Mauka showers were heavy as I drove past Hookipa. A promise of more wind tomorrow.
Hawkfish, Puffer Fish and Morish Idol off Kapalua Beach
December 24, 2008
Mauka showers and windy this morning. I tuned into channel 55 and watched Glenn James last ever TV broadcast. He was forecasting for strong trade winds into Saturday. Aloha Glenn, and thanks for all the weather forecasts over the years. On my way to Kanaha I stopped for a quick look at Hookipa. There was a 4 foot northwest swell mixed with easterly wind swell. The wind was gusty but not filled in. It looked like it was going to be a challenging day. When I got to Kanaha the wind had died and it was raining hard. Wind squalls was the word of the day. As the sky cleared the wind would pick up to about 15 knots. I rigged the 5.5 Retro and got the JP96 ready. As the rain squall subsided the wind was picking up and I decided to try a reach. After slogging half way out to the reef just below weird wave I got planing for about 30 seconds, just enough time to get me to outside of the reef. I did a slogging jibe and got a little help on the way in by a small wave. I did a couple more reaches like this before ending up on a good wave down at the kiter beach end of lowers. Occassional planing made it pretty challenging. I finally gave up, packed up and headed for a drive to the other side of Maui and up to Honoloa Bay. The promised northwest swell was pretty small and a few of the surfers at Honoloa were making the best of it. After taking a few pictures I headed back to Haiku. For dinner I cooked some fresh ahi tuna served with rice, kim chee and a bottle of Maui Big Swell IPA beer.
Surfing at Honoloa Bay
December 25, 2008
Mele Kalikimaka! Mauka showers with some clearing sky in Haiku this morning. It seemed the trade winds were a bit steadier this morning. I took some time to check the weather back in Canada this Christmas morning. Hmm... The first white christmas from coast to coast in 40 years. People stranded in airports because of snow storms. Roads closed. Nuff said. I made some bacon and eggs this morning as the palm tree outside was bending in the gusts of trade winds. First stop on the way to windsurfing was to check out Hookipa. It was still raining and the wind hadn't quite filled in. At Kanaha it was still sprinkling a bit of rain but the wind was up. I rigged the 5.5 Retro and headed out on the JP96. Winds were strong, but there were some big lulls. Not any real big swell, maybe 2 to 3 feet. After a few reaches the wind really started to pick up. This made for some great high speed blasts to the beach and back out. I hung on until the board started getting unstable. Back at the beach I derigged the 5.5 and rigged a 5.0. the 5.0 wasn't much better. It was really nukin now. Not having my smaller sails with me I derigged for the day. On the drive back to Haiku there was a brilliant rainbow over Sprecksville. Back at my digs at Pu'u Koa I pan fried some Mahi Mahi. Finished off my bottle of Shiraz and then relaxed over a glass of Hana Bay Rum while watching a surfing video.
Larchwood Drive, December 25
... and at Nitinat Lake
... meanwhile at Kanaha Beach Park, Maui the wind was blowing
December 26, 2008
Heavy overcast and raining this morning. I spent most of the morning updating this blog with pictures. At Hookipa there was a good Northeast swell. In Kahului I did some browsing and shopping at the windsurf shops. It was 4 o'clock by the time I got to Kanaha and it was still raining but the wind was pretty steady. I rigged the 5.5 Retro and headed out on the JP96. The wind was pretty light inshore but once I got out about a 100 metres the wind picked up and I was planing. The waves were pretty small inside but out on the Spartan reef it looked the swell was peaking. On the outside of the reef I was fully powered and the wind had shifted more offshore so I was able to reach parallel and up the reef. The rain was stinging my face as I sailed and it was good thing I wore sunglasses. I sailed for about an hour. Just as I came in a big shower happened then as I was derigging the rain stopped and so did the wind. Sailing in the rain kind of reminded me of back home when those southeasters would blow on the frontal systems. The only difference is that the air temperature was 24 degrees C (75 F), not 10 degrees.
Wave sailing at Hookipa
December 27, 2008
More trade wind mauka showers this morning and lots of clouds. The satellite photo showed a huge band of clouds the spreading over a huge area to the east of Maui. Waves at Hookipa were still northeaster wind swell about 3 to 4 feet. The northwesterly swell had completely disappeared. When I got to Kanaha the wind was gusting then dying every 10 minutes or so. I rigged the 5.5 Retro again. That seems to be the sail for this trip. I waited for a gusting section. I blasted off the beach and cruised over the weird wave reef. Once outside I blasted upwind did a jibe then cruised in towards the beach. On the inside I jibed and the wind died. I barely got planing and ended up further down toward lowers. The wind picked up as I jibed on the outside and I got to the Lowers break just in time to catch a nice shoulder high wave. The wind died as I neared the beach and I ended up walking the gear up the beach. The wind gusted up again and I launched and got a good ride up above weird wave and got a few runs in up there. I finished about 3 o'clock, derigged and then drove over to Kihei to meet with my freinds Mark and Marcie who had also escaped from the Vancouver winter. We had a few beers, watched the sunsed over Lanai, and had a bacon mushroom hamburger at one of the Kihei restaurants.
Slogging in at Kanaha
Blasting out at Kanaha
Stand Up Paddle Surfing at Ukumehame
December 28, 2008
Last day in Maui for this trip. Mauka showers this morning, but the wind seemed a bit calmer. I made breakfast then headed out early to Kanaha to try to get a session Stand Up Paddle boarding on the Hawaiian Island 10'6". The wind was still calm when I got there a little before 9 o'clock. I got the board in the water and then the trade winds kicked in. It was too early to legally windsurf, so I drove over to Ukumehame beach where there was no wind. I got out on the SUP board and paddled out to the right break. Waves were about a half to 1 foot and if I got the line up right then there was short ride to be had. I surfed until about noon, then drove back over to Kanaha. The trades were again a bit fickle, but by the time I had rigged the 5.5 Retro the winds were filled in. I sailed for about 2 or 3 hours, cruising down to Lowers then up towards uppers just enjoying my last tropical water sailing for awhile. On the drive back toward Haiku there was another rainbow over Paia.
Paia Rainbow
Nani wale ia pu'e one la
I ka nalu he'e mai a'o Kananaka
Kahi a maakou a i he'e ai
I ka 'ehu'ehu o ke kai
so beautiful is that stretch of sand
with the surf of Kananaka
where we also have ridden the waves
there in the spray of the sea
**Traditional Hawaiian mele. For a beautiful rendition of this, listen to a version by Keali'i Reichel (Collection-Two) Kamalei. Punahele Productions. kealiireichel.com
Kananaka is the name of an hawaiian mermaid.
see also: http://www.huapala.org/Kam/Kananaka.html