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briham89
Trad climber
los gatos. ca
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Mar 13, 2012 - 05:49pm PT
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That's freaking rad Chris. I've been trying to think about what in climbing compares to getting shacked and coming out the other end. Maybe sending a hard route or summitting on a wall. Or maybe there is no point in comparing and just enjoy the stoke of each.
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 13, 2012 - 08:49pm PT
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I think that this one has a lot of aloha as well.
Click on this link get past the stupid car commercial at the beginning and you will be blessed with visual and sensory abundance!
http://video.mpora.com/watch/5Pgs2slxu/#
edit-My neighbor Ian Walsh said this about this video:
"This is one of the only videos i have ever seen that shows exactly what it feels like to ride a massive wave in Tahiti."
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FRUMY
Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
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Mar 13, 2012 - 09:26pm PT
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 14, 2012 - 04:48pm PT
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Everyone likes to paint a nice picture of how their sessions go and I am not any different.
But there is only one way I can describe how this winter is going for me and that is GNARLY!
We have been having back to back advisory/warning level swells and nuclear winds.
Being an avid wave sailor I should be delighted but so many mishaps have occurred that I am getting worn down. I had back to back rib injuries earlier in the season. Then I had another injury that I won’t go into that wasn’t surf related.
Surfing and wave sailing in substantial conditions require you to be in top condition and I really haven’t been injury free most of the season. When you’re a wave junkie like me it’s hard to sit on the beach and be a spectator and not to go out.
Now I have had some great surf and wave sailing sessions this season but lately it has been very challenging and I am not the only one that is feeling the wear.
Two weeks back it was just sick big! I sailed the day before it got totally out of control and I caught one session as that swell was dropping. In both of those sessions I was careful not to get caught inside. This was followed by another bump of equal proportions. The wind was so off shore that there was next to no wind on the inside and blowing like stink on the outside so it was next to impossible to choose the proper kit. What do you do? It’s very important to rig big enough so you have enough power to get through the impact zone but if you do you wind up so over powered on the wave that you can’t express yourself on the wave face. This being the case you tend to rig small and hope for a break in the sets so you can sneak out side without getting clobbered. In one of my sesh’s I was held under longer than I have in a very long time.
In the last week the giant long period N/W ground swells have dropped off but they were still there. They have been replace by massive tight interval S/E wind swell producing 20’++ faces. Now this isn’t all that bad in that the faces of these waves are fairly smooth and easy to ride but ya always got to keep an eye out over your shoulder and make sure that the wave behind you isn’t going to eat you when you kick out the back.
The first part of last week it was so stinking windy that I chose to wait till later on the day hoping for the wind to recede and each day as I was about to launch the wind just crapped out once due to a passing rain squall and the other it just dropped bit by bit I showed up with a 3.7m and before I got on the water it had dropped a notch. Not wanting to go out in surf of the magnitude under powered I walked back to my place and got my 4.1m sail. No sooner did I get it rigged the wind dropped another notch. I could have or maybe should have just gone back home a got my 4.7m but by this time I was getting frustrated. So I just took my stuff home and put it away.
The next day I wasn’t going to let that happen again so I went earlier and rigged my 3.7m and went out I got creamed on my way out but eventually made it outside. It was so windy that it was very hard to manage but I got some great waves (I also almost sailed right on top of a whale that was cruising along the surface not very far outside the impact zone) before I decided to go in. The spot that I typically sail has one of the most technical launch and returns on the north shore. I have had just about everything imaginable happen to me in the last thirty meters. This day the current was running like a mountain stream in spring runoff. With a rip running that strong and no wind on the inside I fell in a very bad place. I made an effort to swim with my gear but it was futile so I decided to water star and go back outside and give it another shot.
By this time the current had a firm hold on me and before I knew or could do anything about it I was in the middle of the bone yard and these two to three foot demons were pounding me into the rocks time after time. I have been in this place in the past and know that is no use in fighting the inevitable. I just tried to not get clobbered by my gear as the waves crashed us on the rocks. It’s very entertaining to watch someone get the living S..t kicked of them in that rock garden.
Well I came out of that relatively unscathed but my 78ltr. Quatro wave board took some big hits and my 3.7m Goya wave sail suffered some serious bruises. After that I collected the carnage called it a day.
The next day looked better. So I showed up at the beach and rigged and went out I was immediately taken out time after time. Finally this one substantial wave hit me. Typically when I get hit by a wave that big I let my rig go and then swim after it. But several of my friends lost their entire rigs in the past two days due to the extreme currents generated by this vigorous N/E wind swell so I held on. The power of that wave combined with the resistance of me hanging on was too much for my Goya 370 mast and it folded.
I have been in this situation several times in the past and realize that there is nothing that I can do but keep hold of my gear and start swimming for shore. The current was very strong and my choices of possible landing sites were very limited due to cliffs and jagged rocky beaches. My first choice was the back of the bay but that possibility soon diminished so I set my sights on Blue Tile House Beach at Tavares Bay this seemed possible but as I worked my way closer I realized that the current wasn’t going to let me come in there. Well next possible place was Spy Glass house but I dismissed that option remembering the last time I tried that spot.( I just got beat up severely on those rocks and my gear suffered majorly).
The next possible port was Buddha Bay. I have retrieved numerous wave sailors that have broken down and washed in at that spot over the years. None of those guys had a positive thing to say about that spot.
As I got closer I realized that the current was going to push me right past Buddha Bay and I set my sights on Paia Bay and wasn’t dismissing the possibility of landing at Baldwin Beach even further down the coast.
I was completely at peace with my situation in that it wasn’t close to dark yet and there wasn’t any thing that I could do other than go with the flow.
That‘s when I noticed my friend Dean sitting on a kayak with a big smile on his face. I told him that I was glad to see him but didn’t know if there was anything he could do to help other than hang out and keep me company while I worked my way to the next possible landing spot.
Dean had strapped a surfboard leash to the back of the kayak and told me to hang on and he would try to tow me against the current into Buddha Bay. I was doubtful that this was going to work but I was getting tired and more than willing to give it a try.
Surprisingly we made slow but steady progress toward the shore.
We could see the waves pounding at Buddha Bay and knew that we were going to have to come up with a plan.
The last thing we needed was for Dean and his kayak and me and my sailboard rig to be taken out by a sneaker set while trying to land. The thought of the two of us and the gear tumbling in the same wave was not pretty.
Then the next thing that I know a head popped up out of nowhere. Tracy had been watching and swam out to help with negotiating the dicey last bit. She had been scoping out the best place to come in and had it all figured out.
The next thing I noticed was Viktor standing on the beach spotting the best place as well.
With all these wonderful friends helping, the landing went seamlessly and we carried everything up on to the lawn at the Buddhist Temple and I started to de-rig my broken rig.
Next Pete showed up. He had gone into town and grabbed a 12 pack.
We went back to the launch and had a beer. We talked story for a while, and watched another Maui sunset.
All in all it was just business as usual in my neck of the woods.
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 16, 2012 - 04:16pm PT
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I’m sitting here trying to remember some of the details of a recent surf sesh I had and
it’s real hard to focus on any single wave other than this one.
At the beginning of the sesh I dropped in on a couple of bombs that were nothing but a big clean drop to a big close out.
Then Kanaha started really showing her teeth and she was in a foul mood.
Not many guys were going for the set waves and I found out why.
I was sitting pretty far out when something rose up on the horizon.
I immediately started paddling out as fast as I could.
I paddled for a long way and I didn't know if I had gone far enough.
By the time the set got to me I still wasn't clear of this makker set.
I paddled up vertical faces that I don't have any I idea of how big they were, but, they spooked me.
One after another I paddled over three of them and just barely cleared the lip before it threw.
I kept eyes on the horizon as I caught a couple smaller waves that were closeouts as well.
I was hoping for one good wave and then I was going to call it a day.
I was sitting off to the left of what I thought was the peak when this smaller looking glassy peak rolled right up to me.
It was a perfect right hander.
I hardly had to paddle.
I made two strokes and popped up into a low aggressive stance.
I dropped down the long smooth face.
I charged back up that smooth face for almost as far as I had dropped at the peak.
Just when I was initiating my top turn the wave decided to throw.
And boy did it!
I had a full head of steam when I collided with this exploding peak. I was thrown far in the air and my board was thrown even farther. When it had stretched my leash as far as it could the board rebounded. It powered back at me like one of those paddle balls on a rubber band.
I remember seeing the fins as they passed by my face.
Then it happened!
I landed right in the epicenter of the force that the wave was producing.
I was violently pummeled and held under for an uncomfortably long while.
When I came up I only had time for one deep breath before the next equally sized wave dumped on my head.
This went on for several more waves.
Each one of them delivered a severe beating.
All I could do is breath when I got the chance and try and protect my board as best I could.
When that set subsided I paddled back out and caught a couple more smaller waves before calling it a day.
I was asked by several guys how my sesh was and all I could tell them was that I caught some big waves and I paid for them
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Mar 16, 2012 - 05:28pm PT
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i love how every wave is different.
i went climbing the other day and had fun.
i went surfing the other day and had even more fun.
good read o-man.
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 17, 2012 - 04:01pm PT
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bob
climber
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Mar 17, 2012 - 07:07pm PT
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I love that road! You know its near......................there it is! :) Good surfin down yonder! Definitley spent some good times there at Conejo.
The fishing rocks!!!!!!!!!
Have you ever had so many oysters!????
Bob J
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Mar 17, 2012 - 10:24pm PT
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O-man, awesome read. Kanaha has some juice. Where were you surfing exactly? Off where it gets shallow, lower reef? Do you know the angle wave to the right of that area?
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Mar 18, 2012 - 10:11am PT
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The complementarity of Surfing and Climbing explained through images. Ruby Waves at the Kuna Crest:
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Jim Clipper
climber
from: forests to tree farms
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Mar 18, 2012 - 10:48am PT
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Turned off the heat, turned down the lights ... one last Sunday morning bump.
Any new news? Maybe the CA budget wasn't such a bad thing afterall.
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 18, 2012 - 06:01pm PT
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Where were you surfing exactly? Studly,
Obviously you're familiar with the wave at Kanaha Beach Park here on Maui.
I typically surf the main peak at lower Kanaha.
For me it's primarily a long board wave in that it’s a ¼ mile paddle out and it can be a bit mushy and hard to get into on a short board.
It has a fine right that rivals Punta San Carlos for length and often holds up through three distinct sections and gets faster the further you go.
If you do make all three sections the paddle back seems forever. Also there is no distinct channel back outside from the right and turns into seemly interminable duck diving and turtle rolling.
Like I mentioned in a previous post I often choose the inside passage by paddling all the way around to the left channel. It's a long leisurely paddle and the left channel often lets you outside without taking very many on the head. That is unless it gets really big and then it’s a whole different board snapping wave.
Many people choose to surf the second right hand section in that it's faster and not as competitive. If you kick out soon enough the paddle back isn't soo bad. I never surf the third section, aka "The Bone Yard" because like you described in your post it is extremely shallow. That is unless I make it through to the third from the main peak in the same wave.
I used to wave sail the third section fairly often to get away from the crowd. I can remember enjoying that wave so much that I forgot to kick out and rode it to the end and scraping my fin on the reef. I felt really silly standing in thigh deep water barefoot on top of very sharp coral while getting pounded by little one foot waves.
Depending on the day I will ride several rights and then settle in to the left off the peak if it’s not too crowded. It’s a great left that holds up well and deposits you directly into the channel.
The angled wave aka “The Weird Wave” aka “The Portuguese Triangle” I wind surf it occasionally when it gets real big. It has a good right channel that never closes out. It is a very long paddle past the main lower peak. It’s also becoming popular with the SUP gang and that is a blessing for us trad surfers. I hope that trend continues.
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 19, 2012 - 05:19pm PT
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here's a couple photos from my archives
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 21, 2012 - 02:31pm PT
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I would like to share an image of two of my all time inspirations.
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o-man
Social climber
Paia,Maui,HI
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Mar 22, 2012 - 03:51pm PT
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There both spiritual endevers
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briham89
Trad climber
los gatos. ca
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Mar 22, 2012 - 03:57pm PT
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sweet pics o man!
I just realized that YER GONNNA DIE!!! is very relevant in surfing. Haven't we all had that moment when we are caught inside of a monster set, or we are paddling over the first wave of a set to see that monster out there that you have no chance of making it over? And everytime I think to myself I'M GONNA DIE!!! but somehow i never do hahaha
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