Haulin' in Maui
Monday, March 29, 2004
Oh thank god the wind came, I was starting to get worried...
I awoke this morning to see that the water had some wind on it, there were caps outside, and the surf was up. Looked up the coast and there were only a few minor rain clouds, nothing to bad. Suuhhhwweet, I think to myself. My dad and I head up to the Dakine factory and I pick up a harness and some harness lines, and he gets a nice bag. On the way back to the cottage we stop by Hookipa to watch the pros warm up for the contest. Coolest thing ever, they were the best of the best training in the best spot in the world.
After a quick breakfeast stop in Paia, we head to Neilpryde Maui to switch out some sails. As we pull into Kanaha, I immediately see tons of whitecaps and tons of waves!!! The thing I learned about Kanaha in the spring is there is this reef that encloses pretty much the whole sailing ground a few hundred yards offshore, so there are plenty of waves to be had. I rig up 4.7 Manic and JP FSW 84 and head out.
On my first reach I'm lit up to no extent. I hit a 2 ft wave and soar about 10 feet or so. Jibe and come back in to downhaul the crap outta my sail, do anything in my power to kill the power in my rig. A few runs later I'm dialed in and I head upwind a little bit to this break called uppers. The Fanatic team riders were doin a photoshoot with a helicopter overhead, so it was pretty crowded, also pretty cool. I got enough waves to make me happy, ranging anywhere from chest to overhead. But these waves were mainly good for the ramps, and boy did I ever take advantage of that. Most jumps I didn't land, I was going balls out. I hit jumps that I would easily claim 20 ft, if not more. And on my first of these, I was stoked; on my second, even happier; by the third, I started to get confident. You see, with perfect 6-8 ft ramps coming at you, 20ft+ jumps aren't that difficult to pull off. So by the end of the day, I decided I'd attempt something new; the backloop.
I really don't know what I was thinking. It was late in the day, I was tired, my hands hurt, i shoulda just gone in. But instead I'm sailing out towards a small wave on the inside and my dad is jammin right behind me. I hit the ramp and just sorta turn my head over my front shoulder, and the whole rig follows. In in instant I'm completely inverted, I can see the shore and my dad; and they both look like they're in the sky. It was at that instant I moved my head and looked up to what was the ocean. That was my mistake, with my head off target, the rig stopped rotating, and I fell outta the sky and landed on my back.... ouch that hurt..
All and all, it was an awesome day. But now we are starving, so I gotta sign out and get some food, I think we are goin to the Fish Market tonite for some.... wait for it... thats right... Fish...
Casey