Thankful for… That 8 Foot Swell

By Carlos Rock

Secret Spot Thanksgiving Day 2012. Photo: Carlos Rock.

While some people are thankful for the usual things that definitely deserve thanks and praise: family, friends, food, etc, surfers are thankful for a few extraordinary things as well.

This Thanksgiving, Maui was blessed with a decent 5-8+ ft swell combined with light winds that produced glassy lineups and plenty of waves to go around for everyone.

And since many surfers were out of commission due to consuming massive amounts of turkey, stuffing, and possibly some beers, lineups were unusually uncrowded in the afternoon.

It is these sessions that make you thankful not to be able ride waves, but to be a surfer.

If you got out into the water this Thanksgiving, you were more or less lucky to surf one of those very rare glassy days on Maui. And those glassy days are the ones that keep you surfing the windy blown out days to stay in shape.

It is those days that make you thankful to live on Maui and be a surfer.

There was also an east swell on tap for the islands that opened up more spots and surfers took advantage of the glassy conditions.

The secret to Maui is the glassy days with waves. There are so many spots that just light up with glassy conditions that don’t happen very often.

But when the stars align, there are world class spots just scattered all over the island, and with the right knowledge or friends, you could very well be surfing epic waves with only a few people.

A great day of surfing then spending the afternoon with your family eating until your jaw hurts and pants fit a little tighter is definitely worthy of a holiday and worthy of being thankful for what you got.

Thankful for uncrowded glassy lefts. Photo: Carlos Rock.

The new swell produced great waves, unfortunately the contest directors at the Reef Hawaiian Pro decided not to hold the contest on this day of thanks. Look for the contest to resume Friday or Saturday to complete the first of three events in the prestigious Triple Crown of Surfing.

The swell is predicted to drop slightly today (11/23), with a new north/northwest expected to come in Saturday. The light winds are expected to stick around as well until Monday when the trades slowly start to fill back in to clean up the vog blanketing the islands.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!