Maui 2011, last days of disco

Last day on Maui! No, last day THIS YEAR on Maui. Plans for the day are: Kanaha first, then Hookipa, then packing the gear, eat and go to the airport at 7PM.

At 11AM we arrived at Kanaha and Karin rigged up 4.2. I rigged up 4.7 and went out as well. Fairly flat on the inside, knee-high crap-waves on Lowers and lots of wind. Even too much for 4.7 at times. I went out to practice starboard tack forwards and got pretty dialed in after a while. Good for Asa. Also got some nice snappy rides despite the poor wave quality. Back on the beach I talked to some of the Italian guys who said Hookipa was very flat. When more of the Hookipa people arrived I decided to skip that spot today and go on at K - wich was actually quite fun. We sailed until 4PM when we headed back to the house, had a shower and packed up for the inevitable trip home.

After a problem-free check-in we left Maui at 9:51PM. The plan was to try and sleep as much as possible to be able to spend the following day in SF. Things rarely turns out as planned. No sleep on the plane. Instead we all fell asleep on the airport after landing and woke up too late to be able to rent the car we had reserved. Actually Hertz talked us out of it and said the risk of being stuck in traffic was a factor we should consider. Well, what the heck. That bridge will probably still be there next time.

At 2PM the plane to Frankfurt took off and we had a good 10+ hour flight to look forward too. Hardly no sleep on this flight either so when we arrived in Frankfurt we all felt pretty stoned.


Frankfurt was a mess compared to SFO. We had to walk a long way to find our gate and finding some decent food was mission impossible. Karin ended up buying us two Gorby-like pizzas - uoch!

Once on the final plane home I and Lukas fell asleep instantly. Karin tried to sleep without success and Rasmus - who had been seated two rows behind - was busy telling his neighbours pretty much everything about everything. Talkativity is not his main porblem.

We landed in Gothenburg at 2PM, didn't get our baggage and got picked up by my father who drove us home to my parents house for some dinner. Smooth!

At 8PM we were all asleep in our own soft beds - dreaming about waves and the next trip to the islands.

Maui No Ka Oi

Maui 2011, day 26

Both Rasmus and Lukas think it is unfair we get to sail every day and they don't get to surf every day. To even things out we went to Launiupoko in the morning and then we went to Hookipa in the afternoon. Launiupoko was very flat due to a small swell and a high tide. Rasmus started on the SUP-board and Lukas on the surfboard and then they switched. I got maybe twenty minutes on the SUP while the kids jumped the shorebraek with their boogies.

At noon we headed back to the North Shore and I went out with 5.3 on Hookipa. Some really nice head high sets and pretty glassy and very gusty. I was a bit out of shape though and didn't get much out of it. My second session was better with a couple of nice rides but most of the time was spent lulling around tring to find a good wave.

Let's hope for some more wind tomorrow because it's our last chance...

Maui 2011, day 25

Today the alarm watch was set for the first time in four weeks. Who inveted alarm watches anyway? Well, we stood up at 06:45 and at nine we were all set and in the car heading for Haleakala Crater.

It is 36 miles from the highway exit to the summit at 10.000 feet. After an hour and a half driving through the different climate zones we finally reached Haleakala National Park. You pay $10 to the Park Ranger and then you can drive all the way up to the crater. We knew it would be cold so we put on our jeans and hoodies and stepped out into the scilence. Some clouds had started to build but the sun still shined through and the view was spectacular. From up here you can see most of Big island which is actually only 45 miles away. We could even see the snow on Mauna Loa.

Haleakala is just over 3000m but the volcano actually sits on the sea floor, which is over 6000m down. This makes the volcano more than 9000m high from foot to summit which is a few hundred meters more than Mount Everest!!! The volcano is active although not erupting for the moment. The last eruption was in 1790 and the next one could happen within our lifetime.

At around 1PM we headed back down the serpentine road on low gear. The clouds had started to build up below us and when we went into the first one the kids wanted us to open the windows "to let the cloud into the car".

At 2:30 we arrived at Kanaha and the wind had just picked up. Karin went out enjoying the flat water with 5.3. I stayed on the beach, Lukas went in with the boogie board and Rasmus, who had a small wound on his knee climed up a tree and made a cross-word. Later, Rasmus got in a better mood and he and Lukas built a huge sand castle, with flag and all.

On our way home we stopped by the Hi-Tech store to say bye to Alex. I also got myself a new pair of O'Neil split-toes since my current pair has been perforated by urchins lately. Yes, the foot still hurts like hell and I'm limping around like some veteran. Today I will try the white berries in the neighbour's garden that Julie recommended. Some sort of hawaiian voodoo-cure. I hope it won't kill me...

Maui 2011, day 24

Another calm morning, the sea all glassy with small waves breaking on the reef off Camp One and birds singing in the trees. According to windguru.com the day should not be very windy so we're thinking maybe take a trip up to Haleakala Crater. Karin believes in wind though so we decided to go to Kanaha first and then perhaps Haleakala later in the afternoon. When we got to Kanaha there were not many cars there and the wind was light. The old ladies were there of course. Frannie and her friends, all 60+, are here most everyday and the sail good too. Is this where we will end up in twenty years? Could be worse...

After a while the wind picked up though and Karin went out with 5.3 while I went out to snorkle with the kids. Not much to see unfortunately. Since there is almost always some waves here the water gets a bit sand-mixed and not that clear close to the beach. We could have gone outside of the reef where the water is clearer but one of the SUP-boarders saw two sharks out there yesterday so we didn't.

The wind was a bit on and off but the water was fairly flat and Karin was on a full plane most of the time.

At about 2PM the wind seemed to drop and we decided to give Haleakala a try but when we got out on the road we could see that the volcano was all covered in clouds. We agreed to give it an new try early tomorrow morning and went to Hookipa instead.

At Hookipa there were both wind and waves. A bit surprising. I rigged up in a hurry and went out on 5.3. The waves were small - with occasional shoulder high sets - but pretty long and glassy and the place was not very crowded. I had several good rides and even got a couple of aireals. Karin was on the camcorder so hopefully some of the action is on tape :-)

At five I went in and we went to Paia for some bread and board-shorts. Paia is really a special town that seem to attract a special kind of people. This part of the island is so different to Lahaina and Kehei. Yesterday we drove through Lahaina and there was the usual tourist atmosphere; neon signs, people trying to get you into their resturant and so on. Paia is so much friendlier and real life and you sort of feel like you're home, like you're part of the community.

Soon we have to go back home - but we all want to come back, and it'd better be sooner than later...

Maui 2011, day 23

Up at 7.30. Lovely morning. Completely calm and not a cloud in sight. Today we had decided to go early to the south shore to surf the whole day. We packed the car with SUP, surfboard and boogie boards and arrived at Lahinopoko Beach Park at 10AM. Two minutes later both kids were out on the water - Lukas on the surfboard and Rasmus on the SUP. Meanwhile Karin and I got established in the shade of some trees on the beach.



Rasmus was on the SUP for the first time yesterday, at Kanaha. Today he caught his first wave. Guess if he was stoked. Lukas managed to get a couple of waves on his own but he still prefers to have me help him with a little push at take off. Both of them had so many waves we lost track after fifteen minutes. Me and Karin got perhaps 5 minutes each out there during the whole day while the boys were out from 10AM to 4PM with only a few short breaks.

Those of you who have seen the movie "Surf's up" might remember a scene where Big Z turns around on his board on a big wave to bow and thank the lords. Well, Lukas remebered this too - and decided to try the same stunt. He tried - and pulled it off - three times!

Rasmus started paddling in knee-position but go up on his feet and after a while he was paddling out through the thigh-high surf standing up like it was the most naturaal thing.

I was out helping Lukas for the most part of the day, walking around on the reef with my neoprene shoes. First time we were here I managed to step on a sea-urchin. I know now that there are at least two of them out there because in the afternoon I managed to step on the second one and got a single spike, thick as a match, penetrating through my shoe and into my right foot. I managed to get rid of the part sticking out but there is still a piece left inside and it HURTS!! The urchins here must have a very strong poison.

When we got home - after a pizza at PizzaHut in Lahaina - our land-lady gave me some stuff to put in the wound but I have'nt felt much of a difference so far, and the little devil is still stuck in my foot. The only consolation is that my new ear-phones arrived today - the ones with active noise-cancelling - and they actually work great!! I tried them with our noisy air-conditioner on and the noise just disappears. I am almost looking forward to the flight home...or not:-)

Maui 2011, day 22

This morning we woke up to the sight of the garden palm trees NOT moving. Haven't seen that for a while. After an extra-fruity breakfast (Water melon, apple and pineapple) we went to Kanaha for the third day in a row. Rasmus felt a little sick and wanted to relax in the car instead of going down to the beach. Next time I looked he was sitting reading his book - George's secret key to the universe - without anyone had asked him! First time that ever happened.

At eleven the wind had picked up and Karin went out with 5.3. The waves were a lot smaller than the past days and the conditions inside were less choppy. Karin-conditions! I sat with the cam-corder and got many nice gypes and also a bit of wave sailing if not wave riding. After a while I rigged up the 4.7 and shlogged out to the reef. There were some occasional shoulder high sets and I had a few nice ones down the line.
Yesterday we had promised the Kids we'd go to the other side of the island this afternoon but Karin wanted to sail more so we had to make a deal that we would go early tomorrow morning instead AND that the boys could buy something in the store later on AND that they could try the SUP. Deal.

Karin went out for a second session and the rest of us went out paddling on the SUP-board. After a while both Rasmus and Lukas got the hang of it and paddled up and down the beach. Fun

When Karin got back up I went back in and had another go. The wind had increased and some small sets kept coming. Had like 3-4 turns on some of the better ones.

After the surf we went to Walmart to close the Deal - more candy :-/.
Home made burgers and a beer closed the day.

Maui 2011, day 21

Before we left this morning the coconut guy was cutting down coconuts in our garden and asked if we wanted some. He got his machete and opened one up for us. He explained there are many different kinds. These were probably Samoan, he said. Nice fresh taste, not too sweet. Lukas tried as well but Rasmus was sceptic.

Another epic day at Kanaha, logo high sets and fully powered up on a 4,7. So many awesome rides, 6-7 turns on some waves, and even a couple of aireals. Karin was overpowered on her 4.2 today as well but struggled and nailed a few gybes despite the insane chop on the inside. Next time we'll bring the 3.7.

We decided to leave Kanaha while still light today so the last session had to end at five. Hard not to ride that last wave but my hands started to say no anyway.

Packed up and went to Safeway to by food and Saturday candy - not sure what was the most important... At the parking we saw a really cool car and we just had to get some pics. Perhaps we could trade in the Passat for one of those..?