Give Thanks - 3 years in a row.

It has been three years in a row than Thanksgiving period has been firing.

20knots, 15ft feet of waves.

At that size of wave, my skills start to be a bit stretched :)

Over the year, my comfort zone kiting has been growing from the 8ft to 12ft.

But a building swell of that size, triple overhead face, going down the line ....

 Looking at the wall behind me ... Reconsidering this bottom turn that would throw me up there...

Well...

Just not ready yet.

Red is good. Last week we peaked 15ft ground swell.
This week is still super playful.

Hard to tell when you are not use to, but the reef is actually pretty far out.
The bigger the wave , the further they break.
Today they are very very far, and there is a lot and lot of white.
This is the kind of day crazy folks head to Peahi.

White Line is the back means .. It's alive.

Kite beach and Kanaha spots were pretty crowded.
You can only assume that Hookipa is closing out and everyone default to here, which is the best place to handle swell that size.

Old man's beach is busy busy. Must be good.

The last couple of weeks I have been enjoying serenity at home, rebuilding slowly my running (I feel this time I am on the good track) and kiting or paddling when ever possible.
I really enjoy spending time on the boat, getting ready for our next grand adventure, but I enjoy coming back as well. 

Smiling after an amazing sesh

It is sort of going back and forth between very nice and very very nice.
Life's good in Hawaii.
I am thankful, and we are sparing the turkey.
It was not chicken's day, on the plate and on the water.

It's On

Over the year, there are so many things that really bugs me on Maui.
Life is (really) expensive.
This is a (very) small island.
(Our) Social life is pretty limited.
There is quite some (west side) traffic.
Lots (and Lots) of tourists.
No (real) jobs, outside of realtor and kitesurfing instructor.
We have (2) theaters.
No serious (Metal) band will ever come play.
People are... (people).

Windsurfing has not be cancelled on Maui

There is too much wind.
There is not enough wind.
Summer is flat.
There are no berth for any boat.
Did I say there are too many tourists ?
We have (one) Costco. (Did not decide yet if this is a blessing or not).
Sometimes, I just wonder if this is really the paradise that people believe it is.

The white line in the back is the Waves crashing on the reef.
The fun is the backyard

But... Then, Waves comes in. And Wind is there.
And now this is ON.
Water is warm. Sun is shining.
And it is just fun.
And, there is no other places I want to be.

Squatting

It has been roughly one month I have started the rehab of my calf and foot, trying to heal from my Achilles tendonitis. They called for 6 to 8 weeks. After 4, I can definitively see an improvement already. The pain almost disappear in non running days. I was able to run a nice 2:30 trail run last week without too much worries.
In one word, the exocentric exercises appear to work pretty good.
It takes time. That's a given.

Filled a back pack with weights and water gallon,
and get ready for up to 60 calf raises.

But it works. What to ask for more ?

Well, we could ask for a butt like that....

A key point of those past few months is my commitment to strengthening exercises. I am down to around 100 squats, 100 lunges and around 40 single leg squats, all that while working on the dog on 30 min walk.
Except the rising eye brow of all the neighbourgs, it is a cool way to maximize training time. jog 30s, 20 squats, jog 20s, 20 lunges. Repeat.

This is what you want to look like. Naked.
Correct form 

Following the advice of still amazing - The Run Experience team - Seriously, check them out. Don't forget to setup your email rules for spam though, I finally decided to commit to daily hip and leg exercises. And it seems to work as well.

It has been month I did not go kiting (To be fair, I am not fon of the summers on the north Maui coast, tons of wind, sure, but small and bumpy wind waves). Today, as a pre-warmup for the winter season, I decided to dust off the gear (need to refresh it, been a few years :) - did a 45 minute session, and no psoas pain  - at all.
That's what I call a freaking good sign.
Let's cross fingers, train hard, and say good bye to those 2 - 3? - 4? - years of struggle.
That would be amazing.

Sailing times

Well, actually, some people refers to kitesurfing as sailing, kite or sail, we are still glidind on the water pulled by the a big sheet of cloth. I guess that works.

Spring is here, and wind is blowing. We had a 5k all together this morning, and the girls did great. Myself, I was limping behind. Yesterday, I thought I was ready and I did a mid-length run, and I had to stop and walk after 1h20, with a left knee crying for help. This morning, I was paying the full price. Who said I learned my lessons ?

But with this last race, I closed **officially** the running season.

Time for the sailing season.

Busy Kanaha. Beautiful Sunday afternoon, good wind,
barely no waves. But this winter was almost without wind,
and people were all out.

It has been so long I did not kitesurf, between bad conditions and marathon training, it looked like 3 months or so. Which is is insane for Maui. But this winter was good for surf, with a lot of offshore winds. If you do both, you can rarely be disappointed here.

Toe side, decently powered on my 6m.
Session was short, I was worried to injure myself even more.

There were few waves to play with, but good a dozen of them still. Mostly wind swell. They were calling for some 3-5 foot ground swell, and I suppose it was out there, but totally wiped out by the 25 knots of wind. But it was pleasant, after all that time.

Little girl wants to fly.
Yes, it is that windy on the beach.

I am leaving in a couple of days for California, and Mexico afterward, then it is likely that will be my last session before a while. But if there is one thing on Maui I am not too worried about, it is the kiting days. For May to November, it is likely to blow every day now. I might try to head for Baldwind beach now, because in Kanaha, the summer waves are really small, and I cry for better surf. In any case, I have other things on my mind now.
I have to pack my bag, and I am super stoke about what s coming in a less than 10 days.
A life changing experience.
Again?

Early Xmas

There are days like that, where everything comes together perfectly.
First, Santa came in early, and brought me a wonderful board.
Thanks !

Naish boards, F-one kites.
Still coherent. Somewhat.

Waves have been pumping all week, and will through the week-end as well. Not so much a surprise, this is the season :)

Still, 12 ft waves, 20 knots of wind side shore, and almost no one in the water.

It looks the wind shutdown just before I came, and most of the locals packed already.

I was literally alone on the break of Kitebeach, in front of the Bone yard.

The waves ended up a little too big to be the best session ever, it was at the limit of my comfort zone, however, with the new board and the almost perfect condition, it was memorable.

There are days like that.

Where the wind and ocean gives you an early Xmas present.

Another reason to belive in Santa for another couple of years.

Thanks but no thanks

Life goes on. We have been blessed by wind and waves for this Thanksgiving week-end. As we prefer vegan turkey and going out than sitting 4 hours at the table, I was able to catch a good session while people were swallowing tons of food.

Always funny to be on diet during the holidays season. Not my fault if most of the races here are early winter.

Grey sky, but white caps

The local eye can see the white layer of the breaking wave on the outside, which always means more than 6 foot of waves. Which is usually the presage of a pretty good session.

I took this picture thinking about this post 'Thanks ! Thanks !", which was totally appropriate for Thanksgiving day.

I guessed someone decided it won't be that easy.

Shredded in half.
It stuck together because of the pad that I glued with 3M-5200.
This glue is amazing....

Ten minutes in the waves, getting back in the rhythm after so long - I have been quite busy fixing boats - little jump - and , Voila ! I heard those boards were quite not as strong as they should have been , with only one layer on the bottom... Cheap, cheap .... Session's over.
Now, today, I ended up to pick my other board, 4.8 Skater, which is really fun in 2-3 footers on shore, but that good in big roller cross wind. Try to hold your line on the face on the wave while Ice Skating on soap. You got the idea. It was fun though.

Well, thanks gosh, it is the Black Friday week-end, i.e., all the surf shops on Maui are fighting to cut us deal to buy new gear. And, no there is no F-One re-seller in Hawaii.
Right now, I am looking at this beast from our preferred star - our daughter go to the same school - Robby.

A piece of Art.

 The thing is, I was already on the market for a long board - my transition to getting old for the winter surf season.

Made on Maui

Argghhhhh. Choosing between the two will be hard.

Surfboard porn.

I might Ask Santa and take both.
Why, don't you believe in Santa Claus anymore ?

Lucky day

I have been lucky. My come back on Maui coincided with the first swell of the season.
Nothing to be crazy about, but 5 feet of ground swell and 5 feet of wind swell, there was some action.

Kanaha. 8m.
18 knots. 5 feet.
What could you ask for ?

Day like that, I really feel like I have - quoting a friend - "Won at the lottery of life".
Well, I prefer to say that I forced my chances and made some choices at a point where other did not.
But, yes, eventually, it came together alright.

Prey for it to last.

Welcome in the family

It was too windy today to baptize my new toy ...
^^

4-6 feet, 25 knots, sunny
What can you ask more ?

The newcomer, In white.

Bandit 6, 8m. Nice kite.

I had a missing link in my quiver. Now, I got all the size, almost !
5m, 6m, 7m, 8m and 10m.

You guessed it, on Maui, no need for big kites ....

Finally ?

As I do not kite when the wind is not perfect - as a rule - we are on Maui after all - I did not kite much those last couple of weeks.

NE trade winds ?

But the forecast looks good...
Starting today !

Sea, Wind and Sun

"EAST WINDS 20 KT. WIND WAVES 6 FT. NORTH SWELL 7 FT.

SCATTERED SHOWERS."

Sometimes the conditions are so good, it is indecent.

I enjoyed perfect 10+ waves with 6m kite wind for one hour and half, before giving up to save energy // legs.

After all December and January are not all about Kitesurfing.(but running).

Or is it ?

The picture do not do justice to the actual quality of the wind and waves.

And guess what ?

Tomorrow should be the same.

(but a little smaller).

KSP - the Finals

On wednesday, I was lucking to see the finals of the KSP world tour in almost perfect conditions.
My pictures do not reflect the quality of the event, but you can have an "On site" feeling.
Saw Kai Lenny, Mitu Monteiro, Roby Naish and Pete Cabrinha, Top Hat , etc...

Sea of Kites

Result board

Pete Cabrinha's interview

6+ Sets

Slashing waves like metronomes

Lanes was pumping as well

Winner's podium, Kai Lenny - local champ - on the right.

Looking at this event, you can tell that Kitesurfing is miles away from Surfing in term of popularity, at least on the Pro Tour.  Less than 100 persons were watching, even if that was a week day.
The action is cool, but the level of those guys makes it very difficult to read. It looks like a choreography that repeats itself over and over.
Pick the wave, Bottom turn, Slash, Repeat.
It is too perfect to be true, or interesting, in a competition perspective.

Still impressive, of course, when you know how difficult it is to perform at your / my actual skill level.

In any case, it was funny to hang out in the middle of the pro crowd.
Like a pro.

Kite Surf Pro World Championship Tour

This week we are blessed to see the finals of the tour at Hookipa.

http://www.kspworldtour.com/

Yesterday the wind was pumping, and today should be even better.

There was some waves...

I will try to go check this out today.

Kai Lenny, a Maui native

Before Jumping in the water myself... somewhere else ;)

Flat and Calm

Becalmed when on vacation on our dream island.
Great, I am up to running anyway ;)


GIFT from F-ONE KITE on Vimeo.


But there is always a place on earth where it is firing !

As I like to say ...

There is no bad days on Maui. There is only days without wind and without waves.

This week we have been blessed by both, and to celebrate my birthday,

Kanaha was firing with double overhead waves and 7m Kiting.

Hookipa must have been insane.

Morning view, 6AM

Kanaha,
lots of kites

When you can see white water from here,
there will be rock !

Sunset On Kanaha,
around 6PM, still some wind

Add to this that I am half way on vacation, i.e. I have my afternoons free, that gives me plenty of time to chill out at the beach, kite and stretch. When the conditions are that good, I cannot imagine going on vacation anywhere else than in our backyard.

Aloha !

We are not in Kansas anymore

Just wanted to share a typical Sunday at Kanaha (Last Sunday).

I counted up to 50 kites in the water.

Good wind, small waves.

End of summer feeling.

Looking West from the Lifeguard tower

Kanaha's "Baby Beach".

This week the first swell came in, but the wind backed off. It made certainly the happiness of the North Shore's surfers.
Promising for a good winter season.

Surfin' Stylin' Bikin'

It is done. the most ridiculous surf rack ever.

It looks as cumbersome that it is

To tell the truth, it is easier to ride like that , than -in my old' times, in San Francisco on my 50cc scooter and my hand made side-rack. I was comfortable at 40mph, which is good enough to go to the beach using the country side roads.

Oh yeah, with the twinTip, you have the airplane style.

Wings stability improvements

No worries, I have in order something a little more fancy. I would like to get more than 2 kites and one board one the bike.

What about the Paddleboard ?

But... What about the other stuff ?

Like kiting.

Today was the first day in two weeks I found the time to go. Windy as usual, 25-30mph, good power on my 6m. Fun. No waves though, typical summer setup.

Today was a rest day in my marathon training. I don't think kiting is recommended for a rest day, specially when you are struggling with a hip flexor recurring pain. 

Hey, we are who we are.

My brand new 6m, 2013. Pretty ? 

Sized for a girl, perfect for Maui's wind

Then, how will I reconcile Kiting and training for a run 4 days on 7 ? Not sure yet, but the key point will be "Moderation". Kiting only a couple of time in the week make you really enjoy it. As an addict, I always tried to do more. Kite everyday. Twice a day. If no wind, surf. Paddleboard. Whatever to get a fix.
Now, maybe I am getting older, but less is better. In fact, I dont see like kiting everyday in poor conditions (too windy, no surf - I know, not the typical poor conditions you can imagine - I lived in South California too, I know what I am taslking about).

Kanaha in summer, end of week day. 

Half a dozen kite in the water.

Flat, but still blowing 25mph.

From this perspective, Summer on Maui is kind of a boring season for kiting. Really. Winter is way more exciting.
Then, training for running in summer seems like a good idea, isn't it ?

2013 - Part 3

If you followed the previous posts, in this serie, I go over my goals - intentions - resolutions for 2013. Pretty lame , isn't it ? Last weel, I explained my fitness goals. Could have been worst, at one point, I was thinking to prepare for the Maui Triatlon. Well, I do not have a bike, then, I bailed out.

Truth is I really like surfing, and all related activities. No kidding.
Anyway, this week is a transition week between no wind at all and good surfing with relatively small waves (4-6 foot) to crapy wind )15Knots from the north and huge swell (20+). Unfortunately, that makes poor surfing, poor paddle boarding and poor kitesurfing. Which did not stop me, of course.

-Surfing-
On Tuesday, I went to Hookipa. Totally misjudged the size of the waves from the shore. Thought it was doable. Made it outside, thanks to a huge R.I.P. current that send you offshore , between Middle and Pavillon waves. Once outside, to my amazement, I realized: Well, there was not so many people in the water. Has to be Big. F***, It is big. Believe me or not, but I saw some 18+ waves, when the forecast was calling for 12+ Max. Which is way over my skill level. Obviously. Couple of face plants and one missed bottom turn. Lot of salty water swallowed and lot of desperate swimming to avoid tons of white water. Double overhead ready ? Not at all.

No wind. 10mph. One guy got a 17m flysurfer. On Maui ?

Certainly a tourist. But why did he pack a 17m for Maui ? 

Did he read the wind charts ?

-Paddle boarding - 

Friday, I went paddle boarding. It was choppy, and windy, as I said. But overall, I am doing poretty good and hold my place in the line-up at Kanaha. Not yet ready for Hookipa or Lanes, but, well, double overhead waves are in my reach. Yes, I found paddle boarding way easier than surfing. Certainly due to the fact, like in long boarding, you can take the wave way earlier, and the drop is not that steep. Plus, the size of the board give you a lot of stability.

I did not have my camera on my board.

But I saw the stripes. And the body seemed to be at least 6ft long.

Did not wait long enough to see the tail.

Anyway, after a couple of waves, saw my first tiger shark, chilling in the line-up , doing turns between the set, maybe 10 feet from me. Of course, stressed, I fall down in the water. Which is not what you want to do when a 6-8ft shark is wandering around. It was only 3pm in the afternoon (yes, I took half the day off - I can see you coming), but tiger sharks are well known to not respect the common rule for  Sharks that only eat in the sunset or at dawn. Did not seem to be aggressive to me, but as he did not go away, I went home. Told the couple of guys that were surfing too. They seemed happy to go home as well.

Hard to say on this picture, so far away, but there is already 12+ waves.

And is picking up.

-Kitesurfing-

As I may have said in this blog, the last couple of months, we had good winds and waves, and except I am often overpowered on my 7m, I made tremendous progress in my strapless kitesurfing. Don't think I am very comfortable in 12+ waves, but in 6-8ft, definitively. Maui is maybe not the best spot in the world for kitesurfing (or is it?), but it is pretty damn close. Next week, the forecast seems very good.

Today was light again, And I tried for the first time to use my kite with my paddle board. I was able to go around in 12mph winds (??!!??) with my 10m and my 9' paddle board. Funny. 

The low that will plague our beaches with 20+ waves.

Cool.

Overall, I am pretty happy with my progress those past couple of months. My increased fitness and diminishing psoas pain allow me for longer session, more often. I think that's all I wished for.

Nothing surprising for 2013. More of the same. 

Of course, a french one. Bandit 6 !

But I will buy a 5m ;). Oh yes, it is already ordered !

2013 - Part 2

The fitness part.

What do I target for 2013 ? Easy more of the same and a little more of different.

Nothing surprising, I liked to lose weight. Feels way better. Looks better. Very satisfying. If you followed this blog, you will now that I was counting calories. Well, in 2013, I am not. I think I got a good understanding of what a 2000 cal /day is, at this point. But I will continue to track my weight. It is very satisfying too. Really.

Maybe I will go down to a weekly weighting, instead of daily ;) 

It sounds less crazy. 

Then, I will continue to eat the same and will try to exercise more. Theoretically, I should be able to continue to lose weight, for a target of 140 pounds, i.e.less than 64 Kg. Coming down from almost 80kg, not too bad, as a goal , right ?
Anyway, no hurry, my only real constraint is too stay below 150 pounds, 68 Kg.

Post-workout snack. (fruits, Vegetable, Coconut Water)

Slowly replacing those proteins energy bar when I can.

Exercising. No surprise either, I will try to continue to stretch daily at work (eh eh, I know, I know). And get up my chair. I will do at least one sport activity a day, surf session, kite session, or swimming, running. I will do a t least 3 endurance session a week (swimming, Running more than 45 min). I consider surfing and kitesurfing as taxing activities, not building ones.

What's new, then ? Yoga. I have started already "Sun Salutations" in the morning, and I really like it. But overall, I want to improve my flexibility. I came to the point than I think I do have the stamina to surf or kitesurf the waves I want to (not yet as long as I want to, come back to point 2), however, I do think I am stiff like a Rock.

The strapless song:

To begin to take some serious air Strapless,

I need to grab this board,

And to Grab this board, 

I need to bend my body.

And to bend my body,

I need some flexibility ....

.

3 keys for 2013:
Stronger, Flexible-er, Lighter.

Sounds like a plan, alright ?