Hey!!

What happened to the waves? Calm winds, clean surface conditions and...no waves? Ankle to calf high dribblers. Most not breaking till the shore break. 7 guys out including Clay (I think).

An interesting sight however, long, long lines of cormorants flying north. It has been a continuous line of them for the past 10 minutes with no end in sight. Wonder where they're headed? Terra Mar? SanO? Rincon? Pretty cool stuff.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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It's Clean...

And there are some waves here and there. Still short period stuff; about waist to chest high with poor to fair shape. Looks like the bottom is chewed up; waves are peaking outside, backing off, peaking again, backing off then rolling in to the shore break. Which is making it a challenge to catch a wave. Pretty soft overall. 12 guys out evenly spread between the reef (or what's left of it) and Tres Palmas. Oh, and the air temp is 40!

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Large and in charge!

Head high plus short period surf this morning. Not much shape or focus. A bit cleaner than yesterday but still barely rideable. Stiff off shores blowing the tops off but doing nothing to groom it. Not much happening; 3 guys out, way out. What's not breaking on their head is rolling right underneath them. Oh well, at least it's sunny and cold!

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary

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One jumbled up mess

With white caps on the side. Strong NW wind has kept it stirred up. Short period waist to chest high junk; poor conditions, poor shape. It's going to take a while for it to clean up and even be semi surf-able. Poo index: moderate.


Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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A Sojourn to Kauai's North Shore - Hanalei

Last Wednesday a high surf advisory had been issued for Hanalei.  The predictions of 18-26 foot surf was enough to entice me into traveling to the north side of the island for a look see.  I kept wondering though; was this 18-26 foot Hawaiian or 18-26 foot mainland?  Either way is large but through the Hawaiian lens it could mean 40-50 feet!  Which is another story alltogether.  Still, 18-26 feet is very, very impressive so put the pedal to the metal!  

Red footed booby, Year round resident

Not so fast Sparky; everything moves at a slower pace on Kauai.  Especially if everyone is on the one road around the island at the same time.  Plus every hundred yards or so I had to pull over and watch the humpback whales playing around right offshore.  Then the obligatory stop at the Kilauea lighthouse to check out the amazing varieties of bird life in the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.  Then getting caught out on the point in a slow moving squall; stopping for coffee in Kilauea town; wondering why that woman has a pet pig in the coffee shop on a leash; you get the idea. It took a while to actually pull into Hanalei and find a place to set up for some photos.  

Laysan albatross (Moli), winter resident

Nene, state bird.

It was big, about double overhead, but it was very unorganized and waves were popping up all over the bay.  From the south side to the north side the bay was awash in waves.  At first I couldn't find anyone in the lineup but then someone took off on a large, long wall.  One of the Hanalei lifeguards on an SUP (I know this because I talked with one of the guys after he got out of the water and he gave me a rundown on who was in the lineup), and next a talented local who had the best waves.  There were only 4 guys out in the line up; everyone was paddling into the waves but at least two of them were being towed back out into the lineup by waiting jetskis.  

So, it wasn't the best day I ever had photographing big waves but the entire trip was well worth it.

Moli. Reminds me of Orville in the Disney movie, "The Rescuers"

Have a good one

Aloha

Gary

Now that's some backwash!

South side of Hanalei Bay. SUP racing a long, long wall

One of the better waves ridden that day

Looking north across the bay

Ke'e beach nasty shorebreak; about 8 feet or so

All photos copyright Gary Erbeck

Day one

Chest to shoulder high, fair shape, WARM offshores grooming the peaks. Plenty to choose from this morning. Outer reefs, inner reefs and points all seem to be working. L...o...n...g paddles to the lineups. Air temps in the 70's; water about 76-78. Not too crowded at this south shore area although you will have to give way to the big guys (humpbacks) who are everywhere; spouting, breaching and generally having a good time.


Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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What the heck is that snowflake symbol flashing in my car's dashboard? A quick check in the owner's manual; "danger, low outside temperature". Nissan, the master of the understatement.

So, yes it is quite cold; hypothermic cold if you ask me. No matter how thick your wetsuit, gloves, hat and booties are, this morning's session looks to be a quick one. But wait, can it be? Has the "go, no go" decision been made for me? It's flat, flat, flat. So yes, it has.

Ankle high, incoming tide no one out. So sleep in or get to work and quit worrying about what you might be missing surf wise.

Me, I'm leaving for Kauai tomorrow so I'm going home to get ready. Packing list: shorts, t-shirts and slippas.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Special weekend edition

First of all it's just too freaking cold to go in the water (35!!). Second of all, even though its cleaner than yesterday, the surf is not that good. Chest to shoulder high, short period NW swell lines fighting the high tide. If the air temp was 30 degrees warmer the surf might be worth a go. There are 6 people in the line up but the parking lot is empty.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary

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Large spitting tubes

Shorebreak sand tubes, but gnarly, grinding tubes nonetheless. As you can imagine, this morning's surf is some very short period wind (gale force really) swell. It's lumpy and all over the place. The King tide has moved the shorebreak right up against the bluffs. And a bitingly cold off shore breeze is the coup de grace. Very poor conditions. No one out or even considering it.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Wet, wild and windy

We've got a 15mph west wind on tap for this morning. Scattered showers, white caps, and whale spouts! Surf is not that big; waist to shoulder at best. Mostly shore break with an occasional set showing on the sandbar at Tres Palms. Poo index: very high, but give it a chance; rain throughout the day will push it to extreme.

Poor conditions, poor shape and poor Terry in southern Baja right now. Hope he has someplace dry and tight to wait this out.

Have a good one


Aloha
Gary


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Short period stuff

A fresh swell is showing. Some shoulder to head high waves this morning. Much larger sets. Having a hard time with the 7.0 high tide though. Showing on the outside reef but not breaking till it's way way inside. Peaks and shoulders are hard to find. Slim pickins'. Clean surface conditions, slight off shores and sunny.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Kinda confused

Still mixed up and frothy. And it's a super high tide. Shoulder to head high without much form or focus. Lumpy surface conditions. About 10 shortboarders out snagging some shorebreak peaks. No one out at the reef. Poo index; moderate.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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A frenzy of waves

Last night's storm has stirred it up pretty thoroughly. Choppy, jumbled and disorganized. Short period head high plus junk. Poor conditions, poor shape, no one out. Poo index, extreme.

Have a good one


Aloha
Gary


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Bright and sunny

Reporting from Terra Mar this morning. Offshore, waist to chest high with classic Terra Mar shape. About 10 guys at Igors and 12 at middles. Looks pretty damn good. Now if I could just stop shivering!!'

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Brrrrrrr....

Moderate bump and lump on the water this morning. Very light offshore breath. Waist to shoulder with some larger sets. Crumbly with a fair amount of close outs. Too cold to look very inviting.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Mac'in...

Dropping down the steep hill to the ocean, the view was big fat lines all the way to the horizon. That view did not translate into the consistency I was expecting on the ground. To be sure, there are some very large waves this morning. 8 feet+ easily. But those pulses are very inconsistent.

So when you first pull up it looks like we have a chest to shoulder high day with some moderate bump and crumbly conditions. Then about every 15" a set of 4-5 massive waves charges in. Long, walled up beasts, closing out from top to bottom. Hard. So the trick today is to be able to sit inside and get some waves but not so far inside that you can't scratch over the sets.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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Sunny and cold

Very clean surface conditions. Waist to chest with some shoulder to head high sets. In coming tide. Sets are walled up but there are some in between peaks here and there. Fair shape, 15 people out. The sun has just popped out over the hill so that should start to warm things up a bit.

Have a good one
Aloha
Gary


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