Saturday, March 7, 2009

Friday Fun

Follow up on the teaser from last night...

So it was pretty light winds yesterday... But the waves were still there... I took a nice drive up into the hills in the morning just to check out some of the little towns up there. The words gorgeous and idyllic pretty much sum it up. I can see why so many people would want to make this their home!
Looking down towards the south shore

I was pretty wiped out from my extra long day testing on Thursday, so I had no issues with taking a break and sitting on the bluff above Ho'okipa, watching the pros do what they do best. What a show! As I said before, the wind was super light, especially on the inside... but these guys and gals all made pretty easy work of it.

Levi, gouge!

Levi, shaka

Jace was out filming for the WM, II. Levi, Kai Lenny, and Fransisco Goya were putting on quite a show!

Fransisco Goya

Marcillio Browne, super light wind waterstart in front of the rocks

Levi over Jace

The crowd, bobbing around waiting for the next set

After about an hour of watching, I couldn't take it anymore and had to go sailing. Those rocks were looking pretty treacherous in the super light wind, so I decided to head downwind a bit. I ended up at the same spot as last Monday, with just 3 people out and head to logo high waves, peeling down the reef setting up 2-4 turn waves! Super super fun, at the perfect size to give you some face to work with, and throw you around a little bit if you messed up, but not be totally jaw dropping scary... It was well worth the short swim out the channel, that's for sure! I put a 5.3 Manic HD on the Pocket 75. I was a little sketched out about the bigger sail on the tiny board, but the Pocket handled it just fine, and still schlogged and planed up like a champ. It honestly ended up being one of the best sessions of the trip!

Last night I joined some people for sushi and some Friday night crazyness at Jacque's. Let me just say, the place held up to its reputation! Sizable crowd, lots of ultra famous windsurfers hanging out, loud music, and a good vibe! Heck yeah!

And a quick story to finish this morning's post- The other day I was getting out of the water at Kanaha, kind of lost in my own blissful world. I heard someone say "Hey, you must be Andy!" Looking up, I saw PWA champ (and one of my personal windsurfing heroes) Kevin Pritchard extending his hand to introduce himself. So I responded "Yeah, I'm Andy, who the heck are you?" Hahaha, just kidding! I did not say that. I did, however, allow my ego to flare up for a minute... until I remembered that I was sailing on his brother's gear, driving his brother's van, and staying at his brother's house for the last week... Of course he knew who the heck I was!

2 comments:

George Markopoulos said...

Went thru the same thing last year. sat on the bluff at hookipa, and enjoyed watching the pros rip mast hi + conditions, and taking pics, which you've seen on my blog.

After about an hour, I got really ansy and as much as you enjoy seeing, possibly a once in a lifetime performance by the pros, i had to pick my sorry butt up off the grass and go rig at a less intimidating venue! and that too was a great session, with some of my best photos ever.

when are you coming home?

Anonymous said...

Great shots. The FG bottom turn might be my favorite. That no wind waterstart shot is pretty cool too.