We just got back from a trip to Maui. 2 weeks of the best windsurfing I have ever experienced with 18-35 knots being a average strength for the trip. Excellent gear rental - new Tabou 86 3S & Ezzy Tigers, 4.2, 4.7 and 5.2m. I used the 5.2m twice and more often than not the 4.2m. A few of those those 4.2m days I could have easily gone smaller gear again. A group of us went - Jman, Bondalucci and even JAK joined us for a few days. Kanaha beach park has an amazing setup - firstly, I just want to say - "NO freak'in parking fee's!". Bayside councils take note. Back on track, there's fresh water to wash of oneself and gear after a sail, there's lawn and plenty of it, shade, BBQ's, etc. Anyway, enough dribble, I really just wanted to share a few pics from the trip.

Brilliant Evan

Looks so awesome there..... *sigh*.... windless Melbourne.....

Thanks guys. Will post a few more pics soon. We took a lot but to be honest many didn't come out as nice as expected - still learning new digital SLR. Hopefully we brought some real wind back with us!

... and we just happened to find these life size cardboard cut-outs of Robby Naish and (what's the name of the guy in the photo before that) so we thought we'd take a picture.

How awesome is that!

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MikeyS said..

... and we just happened to find these life size cardboard cut-outs of Robby Naish and (what's the name of the guy in the photo before that) so we thought we'd take a picture.

How awesome is that!

Brian Telma ( hope i spelt his name correctly) is very realistic especially!

Seriously though, Brian was awesome - super friendly, happy to chat for ages, etc.

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ejmack said..

MikeyS said..

... and we just happened to find these life size cardboard cut-outs of Robby Naish and (what's the name of the guy in the photo before that) so we thought we'd take a picture.

How awesome is that!

Brian Telma ( hope i spelt his name correctly) is very realistic especially!

Seriously though, Brian was awesome - super friendly, happy to chat for ages, etc.

Nearly right its Talma.

Well done jerry evan and pete......bastards!!!

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ejmack said..

Thanks guys. Will post a few more pics soon. We took a lot but to be honest many didn't come out as nice as expected - still learning new digital SLR. Hopefully we brought some real wind back with us!

Hope you're right Evan, was no wind here since I'm back in Melbourne. Looking forward catching up to hear all about the rest of your trip.

Yeah a great trip Evan.
For those who don't recognise Brian Talma, he's the cool dude from the Carribean with Peter Hart in the "Let's Go Wave Sailing" DVD.
Jerry's spot on, he was really chatty and you could tell just loves being at the beach and around people.

Robby was friendly too, given how many times he must get people coming up to say G'day all the time.
Evan, post the Pic of Robby's Truck!!

Cheers Mat... I think

Robby's Monster Truck



And a few more of Kanaha Beach Park in general and one of the Sunset on top of Haleakalā - a must do if your into that kind of thing. I would have driven up a second time if we had stayed a little longer. That's it for the pics.

Many of these pics make Kanaha look flat. And it is for the first few hundred metres, but the further out you go the more chop and swell you get. More sheltered (but gusty) in close further up the beach towards the houses, better for learners, then some shallow reef a few hundred meters out, nice for practising jumps and after that more swell similar to our bay. Plenty of chop on windier days to keep things interesting.



Good setup for washing gear etc.

Good spot for leaners/improvers further upwind. Plenty of leaners out in the late mornings but can be a bit gusty at times on the inside.


Naish rider the day Robby was there.

3 Aussies trying to coordinate our own photo-shoot (didnt work out too well, our photographer was snoozing) :)


30+ knot day

Looks like an awesome holiday - I'm green with ivy at all the wind you guys had! Lari and I are just near the end of two weeks in New Caledonia and virtually no wind the whole time. Still we knew it was a bit of a roll of the dice at this time of year. We will definitely be back in the summer another time. Looks like finally a bit of wind tomorrow on our last full day here. Still a quiet holiday hasn't been such a bad thing as I developed a (luckily fairly mild) case of shingles just before leaving for here so have been a 'bit off my oats'.

Noumea is a very beautiful place, charming French culture, and we've been daydreaming about selling up in Melbourne and moving here! Great also to meet Sean Hogan, a local here who posts regularly on Seabreeze!!

Expecting big things from you seasoned Maui veterans this summer, duck gybes
, tacks, big floaty jumps. No excuses!

Nice pics Evan, they will keep the winter blues away today

Very jealous chaps, and as others have mentioned - definitely expecting big things from you guys this summer!!

wow, looks like such an awesome place. How much approx did your gear hire cost?

Pedro - sorry to hear you and Lari had such bad luck with the wind conditions on New Caledonia. I was a bit worried about what wind guru was showing us for Maui before we left, but I later learned you can add about 8-10 knots to the forecast for Kanaha. Saying that however, a few weeks prior to our arrival there had been very little wind according to the locals, very unusual for that time of year apparently.

Derek and Dan - the pressure it on now! I can't say I feel like I have improved.... maybe a higher success rate with my gybes in choppy high winds but apart from that I still feel as gumby as ever. Dan - I thought you were off too Maui soon?

Latedropeddy - $650 US for 14 days from Matt Pritchard. Brand new Tabou 3S 86, 3 x Ezzy or Gasstra wave sails, RDM masts, Chinook carbon booms, waist harness etc, etc. Excellent gear. I also rented a smaller wave board for one day from a different rental place at $35 just to compare boards.

Cheers

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ejmack said...
Dan - I thought you were off too Maui soon?

Postponed for a year or so, going to Austria snowboarding for 3 wks over Xmas-NYE period instead.

Besides I prefer the balmy tropical weather we've been having down here in Invy, why would I want to sail in boardies in June/July there's nothing better than squeezing into a 4/3 is there??

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DanP said..

Besides I prefer the balmy tropical weather we've been having down here in Invy, why would I want to sail in boardies in June/July there's nothing better than squeezing into a 4/3 is there??

Hah, sounds like you're "green with Invy" too.

Just a heads up Dan, don't expect snowboarding in Austria to be particularly balmy and tropical either.

Unfortunately that trip wiped me out of leave, but we're still talking about going again somehow.

Yep the trip was certainly the best windsurfing holiday I have been on, its still hard to believe we were at times rigging up the 4.2's ready for the 11 am start!
As mentioned above Kanaha covered what we were looking for with great lawn and rigging and a few small waves out on the reefs at times.
And windadict was right its turtle city on Maui, lucky we never hit any as I believe its fairly common.

So here's my 1st encounter with a Maui turtle when I was snorkeling at Kihei also the 1st time playing with the Go-Pro so I didn't have the settings on wide but you get the idea

Looks great Jerry! Definitely another good reason to own a Go Pro.

ejmach I think you have shown me the perfect spot, thanks for sharing the photos etc. I'll join the llist of envious. The gear sounds great for hire gear as well. Very keen to go there one day. Hey I found easily this website www.mauiwindsurfing.net has heaps of info on seasons, gear etc and mentions pritchard. I think I would go now to July too as I am not up for winter swells and I would think wind is as good as it gets now too.

June seemed reliable for wind. We still had some small surf at uppers as Jerry or Bondy mentioned so it's there if your into it. Hi-Tech also seemed to have very good gear, as I'm sure many of the others places do. Was common to sail by 5-6 turtles a day on average so you have to keep an eye out - I'd hate to hit one and almost did my second day there when I came across 3 in a group and had to weave through them. I was a little more careful after that. Now that I've been I'm sure we could do it a little cheaper next time but it all depends on the currency exchange I suppose. Kihei is the perfect spot to stay in my opinion, 20-25 minutes to Kanaha along the highway, but plenty to do at night or mornings with all the shops, beaches, etc.