Tuesday in Maui
Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Hi Spennie and Debi--
    The trade winds hit their peak today. Just got back to the cottage, and it's currently 26 ENE 21 gusting to 30 at Kanaha. We sailed from about 1 to 3:30 after Casey did the Wind Minkey thing with a 4.4 on his Exocet 78 and came back in (looks like there was a 32 knot gust while he was out). We ran back to the shop while Janice stood by the only stuff that we had rigged that was still going to work!
    Because we only rented two rigs, I took Casey's cushy but big 78 with a small, comfy fin and a Zone 4.1 rigged to specs. Janice was on a JP 70 with a 3.7 and Casey on a 69 with his Manic 4.2. Absolutely terrifying for the first 20 minutes or so. Nice easy beach launch into increasing chop and wind--couldn't keep the Exocet in the water until I got the technique down of leaning forward and weighting the booms while doing full knees to chest deep knee bends over the tops of the swells. There was a solid wall of swells between two and three waves deep in each set all the way across the bay--no getting around it to get to the outside! Spectacular loops and air was had all around (but not by yours truly, of course...). Outside jibes were trickier as the swells seemed closer together and the chop was sloppier and less regular. And the wind...well! Never had something in the low 4's feel so big!
    Janice and I each separately spent about 15 minutes eating humble pie getting washed around in the breaking reef on the way in, but only once each. She fell trying to jibe before the wall, and I ran out of wind with the backwash in the middle of a set--just like instant Rio Vista flood in the middle of a 6 foot high set!
    Casey, of course, had a blast. And to cap off the session, a magnificent rainbow into the guys riding the surf at Camp One about 1.5 miles up the coast.

Later guys!

Cliff

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