Getting Gnarly

The SUP big wave Ku Ikaika Challenge is set to go this morning, coinciding with a very big swell that hit Hawaii last night. This swell is forecast to start tickling our shores Friday, before the full on assault over the weekend. Once again the weekend folks will score but should do so with some trepidation.

Some forecasters are also calling for heavy fog and very heavy surf, making for dangerous conditions. Everyone should use good judgment, be cautious and assess their ability to handle difficult and dangerous conditions.

All through yesterday afternoon, last night and this morning we've had strong offshores in the 8-10 mph hour range with gusts up to 20 plus. Surf size and swell period has been in the double digit range. I've got a sinus infection and got a prescription for antibiotics to head this thing off before it becomes full blown.

Tides are falling and the reefs might be good later. Updates to follow.

UPDATE: The big story today was WIND and plenty of it. I surfed twice, once in the morning at Beginners where I've been wanting to sample the sand bar, and then later in the afternoon on my way back home when I stopped at Sarges and it looked pretty good.

The story at Beginners is simple...to much wind to SUP. Recorded wind data from 1040 to 1105 when I surfed was wind N at 19 mph with gusts of 32 mph. I just wanted to see if I could do it and essentially, I couldn't. It reminded me of the U-Tube of Laird at Hookipa only I'm NOT Laird. There was no way I could paddle into any wave. I could barely stand and paddle when the big gusts hit. After a half hour I was done.

Spent the rest of the morning visiting with my in-laws and taking pics of various places. The Westside was pretty big and completely wind blown. The only people getting consistent rides were the boogie and knee boarders. Even the lay down paddlers couldn't get in, and many spent their time getting blown out the back of waves or catching edges and taking gas in the wind chopped faces. The Eastside was less windy. Little La Jolla was dishing up tubular lefts and the Point was putting up double overhead waves. There was nothing there I wanted to take on with my SUP.

I finally checked Sarges where it was much smaller, less windy (but still blowing pretty good offshore) and SUP surfable. Teak was the only one out when I paddled out. A friend of his joined in after a while, then Teak went in, his friend went in and I had it to myself for a half hour. Surf was waist high to overhead on good sets.

Vince and a couple other guys paddled out and that was the beginning of the after work, after school crowd filling in. I scored some nice waves in too much wind and decided to call it a day after two hours of hard exercise and many, many waves. Insane leg workout today.
February 14, 2008 (Th)
In: 1400
Out: 1600
AT= 62 to 61 degrees
WT= 52 degrees at the farshore buoy
Wx: Clear and sunny
Tide: 1.5 Rising to 2.73
Wind: North to NNW 13 to 16 mph
Sea Surface: Light to moderately bumpy with heavy wind ripples
Buoy: NWS
1400: 9.5 feet @ 14.8 Seconds NW
1500: 8.9 feet @ 13.8 Seconds WNW
1600: 8.9 feet @ 14.8 Seconds NW
1700: 9.8 feet @ 11.4 Seconds WNW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Infinity paddle
Rock reefs
Waves: 6 feet at 13 seconds (Nearshore buoy approx. ave.) Storm Surf Buoy Model