Maui 2011, day 18

It's 8:45 PM and I'm soo tired I could fall asleep as I write this. This morning we had decided to go to Hookipa early to snorkle and surf. Rasmus woke us up at 6:30 in the morning and started to prepare for breakfast. After breakfast and the mandatory schoolwork hour we arrived at Hookipa around 9:30. Rasmus, Lukas and I went into the water with our masks and fins. There is a bit of a current at Pavillions sucking us out so we tried to keep close to the cliff to avoid it. Saw a lot of fish but no turtles this time either. The place is full of them but they tend to be further out where the waves break.


After the snorkeling we relaxed on the beach for a while and had a sandwich. At eleven the first windsurfers went out but the wind was still a bit sketchy so I went out with Lukas for a surf session instead. I tried to convince Lukas that the waves were maybe a little to big for a 7 year old but he insisted on going out with me on his boogie board. So we paddled out together and when we got to the line up a pretty big set arrived. Before I knew it Lukas had caught a wave right on the peak. The wave was probably about 2m (twice the one in the pictures) and as he went flying down the face of that wave I looked up at him and saw a mix of fear and exitement in his eyes for a split second and then all I saw was his yellow fins as he surfed the wave all the way back in. I quickly caught the next one and surfed the whitewater in after him. When I got to him he was having a happy smile on his face and a thumb up. "That was soo cool, dad!" We went back out and got many more (but slightly smaller) waves and Lukas enjoyed every minute of it - until he got washed in one of the bigger sets and lost his board. He got scared of course, laying in the water alone without his boogie. I paddeled up to him and assured him that everything was ok. We paddled in and Karin managed to pick up the board as it tumbled into shore. Only happy faces but I think the little man got a bit of respect for the waves - which, in his case, is probably not such a bad thing.

After the surfing and some more food and drink I rigged up my 4.7 and went out on my Quad. The waves were about shoulder high with some logo high sets. I had problems catching any good ones though. Lots of people out and the inconsistency of the short period wind swell did't make it easier. Had a few good waves just outside rocky Point though and actually managed to catch the attention of the in-water camera man once. Not bad as Boujmaa Guillo was just upwind on that same wave :-)

At three we packed up and went into Paia to eat as we were all pretty hungry. Had a long one at Mambo with beers, burgers, cappuchinos and icecream. Nice!

After shopping some food in Kahului we went back to the house. There was a bright full moon so me and the kids went down to the beach to see if we could see any baby turtles while Karin put the food in the fridge. At the beach the wind had died and the low tide made the water really calm inside the dark moon-lit reef. No babies other than baby crabs, but they are cute to...