Small Waves, Weekend Swell on the Way

 By Carlos Rock

Ho’okipa. Photo: Carlos Rock.

Take a look out at the north shore and you can see there isn’t very much happening in terms of riding waves.

Maybe Mother Nature is taking a break from pumping out swell after swell which made the month of November one to remember.

Take a breather Mother Nature, you deserve it, but the swell models are showing that you are not in for a long slumber.

A 10ft WNW swell is expected to hit the islands on Saturday (12/8) just in time for the first day of the holding period of the Billabong Pipeline Masters. The Pipe Masters is the last ASP event of the year as well as the final event of the Vans Triple Crown.

As history has shown, the best type of swell for Pipeline to work is a WNW, making the left, Pipe, one of the best and most life threatening left-hand barrels in the world. While many people will flock to the north shore of Oahu to catch the action on the beach of what many call “The Superbowl of Surfing,” the webcast will provide amazing coverage of what is likely to be a very action packed Pipeline Masters event.

Pipeline. Photo:Heff/A-Frame.

And with the World Title coming down to the last event of the year between Joel Parkinson (AUS), Kelly Slater (USA), and Mick Fanning (AUS), there will be drama as the best in the world battle the Hawaii underdogs and one of the best waves in the world, Pipeline.

With that being said, that same swell is guaranteed going to hit Maui just in time for the weekend for those more interested in catching their own waves, instead of watching the pros who get paid to surf.

 The WNW direction will pose some obstacles though due to blockage form the outer islands, most importantly Lanai and Molokai. But the wind will be light and there will be plenty of waves to go around.

The primary WNW swell is predicted to slowly drop for the rest of the weekend, but another 6-8ft NW swell is expected to hit Friday (12/14) with the trades looking like they will also be returning to normal as well.

One place comes to mind with a NW swell. Photo: Carlos Rock.

For the weekend, be sure to catch at least some of the action from the Pipe Masters on the webcast or on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channel 250 or 1250 HD as the waves are expected to go off with the perfect swell direction. We could have a repeat of the same epic conditions as the 2011 Pipe Masters.