Maui 2011, day 16

Today we went to Kanaha really early. That means we were on site before 11AM. Before 11 in the morning "No person shall operate a sailboard at Kanaha Beach Park" - it's the law! So, at 10:57 Karin had rigged up her 4.2 and was ready to go. Lots of wind and choppy conditions but smaller waves on the reef than yesterday. Karin has a fling of shark paranoia and when she saw three giant sea-turtles outside the reef, just lying there under the surface, her brain registered three giant tiger sharks instead and she managed to make the quickest tack in history and head back in.

It's amazing how many seniors are out there sailing. It is good to know that we don't have to quit this sport just because we're getting older. But why is he wearing a wetsuite?


I went out for a short session but 4.2 was a bit small for me and the waves were small so I decided to save myself for Kuau later on.

The kids spent most of the time in the water and a little time in the shade doing their homework. A Maui beach is not such a bad classroom after all..

At three we went back to the house where I loaded up with a powerbar and went on to Kuau for an afternoon session. 4-5 guys out with 4.7 and headhigh waves breaking on the reef. Not very long lines though but enough punch in the lip to get some good top turns. The wind dropped gradually as the sun set behind the mountain when it was my turn to spot some tiger sharks. This time it was a group of dolphins racing upwind about 50 meters away. Wonderful!

Maui 2011, day 15

Today I went to have look at Kuau and Hookipa right after breakfast. Kuau was pretty messy because of the high tide and Hookipa was big, rather disorganized and >10 surfers on line-up. When I came back to the house the kids were doing their homework while karin was reading a book. Lukas finished his swedish homework for the whole trip and Rasmus managed to finsih his math.

We had a look at the different windcams and decided to have a go at Kanaha. When we arrived at the parking lot the wind was already between 20-30 knots. I rigged up my 4.7 and went out on the quad. Decent sets broke in nice head to logo high lines despite the high tide. I got countless rides but felt violently overpowered at times so I switched to a 4.2, had some water and a power bar and went back out. Got pretty dialed in on the Quad and had a few really good waves even though the faces were quit choppy. Kanaha is like one giant playground if you're into wavesailing. You can ride all day and the wave doesn't punish you that hard if you wipe out. So, you can go big and wipe out big without having to worry about your gear or your health.

Unfortunately we didn't bring anything smaller than 4.2 so Karin had to wait for the wind to drop - but it never did.



Rasmus and Lukas never seem to get tired of the beach. They boogieboard, swim and climb the trees they're not allowed to. Today they also helped five crabs to get new homes in the sand, Lukas proudly told me.

On the way home we stopped at Safeway to get some more pasta and some donuts. Back home we had the rest of the pasta sallad and some chicken-mayo baguettes together with a well earned Heineken.

Maui 2011, day 14

Friday is gameday but since we were out most of the day yesterday we had promised the boys the could play Saturday morning if they stood up early. So, at 6:30 this morning Lukas came in to us requesting help to start up the computer.

After breakfast we wanted to go sailing and the kids wanted to go snorkeling. We went sailing at Sprecks, me on a 4.7 and Karin on a 4.2, both of us pretty overpowered. I got a chance to get tuned in on the 74L JP twinzer quad. The waves were a bit disorganized, windswell and high tide is not the best combination. Had a couple of decent rides though as the waves lined up better later in the day.

Rasmus and Lukas shredded the shorebreak into pieces on their boogieboards, stoked as ever.





In the late afternoon I went to town to get some more food while Karin started with the carbonara. After dinner she went on with tomorrows pasta sallad while the kids did their homework and I did what I do best - relaxed in the sofa.

Maui 2011, day 13

Last night we had a minor bug-invation in our bedroom. We've had them before, like two or three sitting duck on the ceiling, easy kill. This time it started out with five or six but after killing those, twenty or so more followed and another fifty were on their way in through the 'closed' balcony mosquito net. I was forced to go out and empty a bottle of RAID all over the balcony doors. This stuff kills instantly but also smells quite a lot. So much actually that we had to abandon our bedroom and sleep in the kid's room.






In the morning we woke up to the sound of distant thunder and gale force winds blowing in the palm trees. Dark blue clouds on the horizon and so cold that we had to put on hoodies at breakkfast.

After a look at the Kehei webcam we could see that the south shore was sunny and we decided to go to La Perouse bay. La Perouse is a secluded piece of coastline on the south shore. You drive south past Kehei until the road ends. Then you walk. The trail is really beautiful with big trees hanging out over the turquoise water and small coral beaches mixed with the frozen lava rock. We walked all the way out to the surfspot to watch the majestic swell release its energy as it hit the rocks just in front of us.

On the way back we stopped at a small sheltered bay where some people were out snorkeling. We all went in with our masks and fins and explored another part of Maui´s wildlife; clownfish, yellow fish, allkindsof fish. The kids were really stoked.

At four we headed back to the North Shore and Hookipa for a late afternoon session. Logo high sets at Hookipa can actually be pretty scary. Partly because your gear will end up on the rocks if you loose it but mostly because Hookipa is Hookipa. We were only like 4-5 guys out so there were plenty waves for everyone - not usually the case in this spot.

Afterwards we went to Flatbread and had their famous pizza and a big beer. Great ending to a great day - except for Rasmus who is sick in the bathroom as I write. Let's hope it's not the Pizza...

Maui 2011, day 12

After a long breakfast (as always) on our lovely shady sea view blacony we filled up our Dodge Caravan with winsurfing gear, two boogie boards and a 7'9" mini malibu and went to Hookipa beach park at 10:30. Pretty crappy wind swell waves but lots of surfers out. Then a huge dark cloud rolled in from the east and soon we sat in the van all four looking out through a rain-wet wind sheild. Then Tormod called and said he was going to the south side for some surfing. We decided to join.

After filling som gas half way we arrived at Launiupoko Beach Park; sunny, light offshore winds and nice little waves rolling in. Kids in the water in no time while I got the first shot on the mini malibu. After a few waves Lukas wanted to try the board and I helped him catch some small waves. He was really stoked as he managed to stand up and ride the wave all the way into the beach. Then his tiny little arms paddeled right out again to catch another one, and another one, and an...

During the day the sun kept shining, the wind dropped and the waves got better and better as the tide went out. We all got our waves and Rasmus worked his boogie hard in the shore break. We didn't see much of Tormod though since he was out surfing for five hours non-stop (he is going home tomorrow so i can't blame him...)

After a real surfers lunch (cold pasta and canned tuna) we went on surfing until the sun began to set and we went back for some shopping at Safeway. Food shopping is more fun when you're hungry and we came home with all kinds of healthy and not so healthy stuff. The brownies here are unreal!! Got home at 7, had some semi-healthy stuff and dropped dead.

Maui no ka oi!

Maui 2011, day 11

This morning Rasmus and Lukas called their friends on Skype. Lukas was especially keen to tell Johan about the enormous cars here on Maui. After breakfast we went to Kanaha and the wind was already blowing hard at 11AM. Only waist high sets though. Karin first went out on a 4.7 and then rigged down to 4.2. After an hour the wind suddenly dropped and we had a light rain shower. The day went on in this way; sun - shower - sun - shower. At 3PM we went to eat at Panda Express and then went straight to Hookipa so see if there was any wind and waves left. Unfortunately the wind had dropped totally after the last squall and the place was full of surfers. (At Hookipa a 10-man-rule applies, i.e. if there are ten or more surfers out, then no windsurfers are allowed. If you go out anyway the police may come and give you a hefty fine - no kidding!) The need for a surfboard is becoming more and more obvious. We drove back to Paia and had the most expensive icecream in this part of the Pacific.

Dear God please make Hookipa work tomorrow, ok?

Maui 2011, day 10

Today we spent most of the day at Baby beach. The wind didn't kick in as it usually does around noon and the weather was a bit cloudy from time to time. I still felt a bit fuzzy so I tried to stay in the shade reading my book. At four we went back to the house for some pasta. While the spagetthi was boiling I walked down to the beach to have a look and the wind was actually blowing like 15-20 knots and a lot of kiters and boardsailors were out sailing. I asked Karin but she had some pain in here side and didn't want to sail. I ate at the speed of light and packed the car. Sun sets at around 6:30 here so if I hurried I could probably get an hour or so on the water before darkness and awakening of the beasts:-) Had a really nice session with 5.3 and perhaps 5-6 guys out. Some nice clean shoulder high sets and I even managed to pop a little aireal. At the end the wind dropped and I went in with a half moon shining through my sail and a turtle popping his head up saying good night. Tomorrow we hope for more wind. Aloha!