surf-matic

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The windsurfing is back on Maui! Today was fun, nothing special but fun. Light gusty winds good for 5.0 and small inconsistent waves were quite sweet set against the bitter famine of the last days. I don’t have any photos, unfortunately. But here are some pics, a fun preview of tomorrow’s foto friday.

More more more to follow on Friday with the foto friday. As the winter holidays arrive, so do the big waves. This weekend should be truly sick, in every glorious, completely unfounded in anything reverent, and urban use of the word. Also arriving soon will be my brother from Calarts where he studies theatre. It’s all good.

Maui is conditionless now; hence, I’m lacking content. So here’s “Get Drunk” a petit prose poem from Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen:

The eagerly awaited announcement of Pantone's Color of the Year!

Pantone, the world’s leading expert on color, finally released the color of the year for 2012, Tangerine Tango: “Tangerine Tango, a spirited reddish orange, continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.” I know most of you were eagerly awaiting the announcement from Pantone, which occurred some time past, and therefore will find my news unforgivably outdated. And to you, I ask not to forgive but rather to forget my tardy mention of Tangerine Tango.

Given the lack of windsurfing over the last days, here is a photo from a few weeks back of my father doing a cutback on a smaller Hookipa wave. I like the arc in the carving track.

A cutback from David earlier in the year.

Hopefully the windsurfing conditions come back by the end of the week. Wouldn’t that be fun? The forecast does look windy (see below). Till then I’m working on plans for next year.

Wind and waves! Ireland conditions come to Hookipa.

Letting the tail slide on a fun-sized cutback on a proper Hookipa swell.

The waves are here! This week marked the first arrival of decent surf. With sets over mast and perfectly smooth, peeling waves, the weekend was set for fun.

Thursday was the best and biggest of the days. But unfortunately the wind was a little strange, making for a tough time catching waves. I was tired from staying up the night before writing, but I still had a really fun session. In a lot of ways, riding in bigger waves is really relaxing compared to small waves. In small waves, one has to add energy to the wave in order to make it look and feel exciting– throwing the body and board around in tricks and tweaks. But in big waves, the energy is already there, so it is amazingly fun to just drop in and turn back up into it in arcing turns on the rail.

Getting lost in the foam!

Saturday looked insanely good, but I decided to take the day off. “Why would you take an amazing day off?!” You might be shouting at me. But I’ve found that windsurfing is quite different than other sports, like running for example, where it’s all about pushing oneself into doing it. If I don’t feel into sailing–for whatever reason– I try to listen to my proverbial gut and take the day off because it normally means that subconsciously I’m aware that I’m not operating at a high enough focus. I think most times that I’ve forced myself to go sailing after not feeling a session, I’ve ended the day in the hospital with either stitches pulling together cut flesh or plaster drying over broken bones. I’m all about pushing past fear and physical pain but never past a ‘gut’ feeling or instinct. Our minds seem to know so much more than we can consciously recall in any given moment.

Carving feels so good.

The Kevin Pritchard seemed to have some fun ones too. Here are a pic to prove that The Pritch ripped it up:

On Sunday, the sea of the sky opened up letting down a crashing of torrential downpour from its dark underbelly. All of Maui was drenched in this inescapable rain. With the rain came an end to the wind. And all was grey! See the pics below (and the shots were taken in a rain lull! whilst I was stuck at home, under siege by the rain).

Rain drops attack!

The dark clouds and pouring rain.

The beginning of this coming week looks windless, but by the end of the week the trades should be back to their usual blowing. Fingers crossed.

Slicing and dicing, Kevin sprays his territory at Hookipa.

Kevin Pritchard is back on island after a mainland trip. I’m looking forward to doing some sailing and testing with him in the bigger waves over the next days.

I didn’t sail today. Rather I spent the day working on proposals and a book I’m currently editing. In fact, I’m up late working even now. I feel like I’m back at college writing into the late night hours and watching the action on the Hookipa cam (though, I didn’t miss much today– small waves and big squalls that killed the wind early on).

The end of the week is still looking good though! I’ve got a meeting 10am on Thurs but am otherwise free to shred it.

I like this skating clip. The bowl footage is pretty fun to watch.

This week feels so long! Every day this week has had it’s morning booked out to meetings. A lot is in the works– editing a book on business, planning sponsorship proposals for next years projects (a little late…), and still trying to write and windsurf regularly. And each project really requires infinite time, so it’s a matter of strategic working. I had a teacher who used to say, “Perfect is good, but finished is divine”. I think that’s a pretty good motto for most things. Anyway, I need a Friday break on my Wednesday, so here’s a surprise foto friday:

Follow the new Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ezzyusa1 .

Getting in a slashy taka.

My current gear setup is working perfectly– magically I might even say. The thruster setup on my quatro with the flexy K4 fins is fast in the bottom and able to rocket up into the lip at any angle. And the new sails that I’m trying are so maneuverable! I can put myself in any position and know that I can get out. So good for 360s, goiters, and back loops.

I’m scared to change anything because it all works so well!

Rocking a goiter into the flats.

Even Jesse Brown made an appearance!

Jesse carves a hack!

There are some more photos on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ezzyusa1 .

Looking out from the house at the reds sinking into blackness.

A red end to a good day on the water– rising swell with offshore winds. Full report with pics to follow.