Small East and North Swells on the Way

By Carlos Rock

Foam boards have been turning one foot waves into loads of fun. Waiehu. Photo: Carlos Rock.

The windy east swell from the weekend is slowly fading, as the first signs of a decent north swell shows up on the forecast.

Finally some swell has graced the shores of Maui, and it came in the form of some classic east wind swell, as well as a small north. Even though these waves were mediocre at best, the right board can turn these types of waves into some of the most fun sessions.

Enter the Costco “Wavestorm.” This cheap foam board and others like it are a worthy investment the way this summer has been progressing, with minimal south swells and some small east swell waves rendering hard-top short boards useless.

This past swell was OK as the east side saw some action with wave heights of 3 feet, but as always, lineups were subjected to very windy conditions from the breezy trades. At least it was something to ride and get back in the water following all of the shark attacks, not to mention escape the summer heat.

Perfect lines at Ho’okipa. Winter 2012. Photo: Carlos Rock.

Ho’okipa came back to life with a small north swell as there were some small wind waves on offer on both sides of the beach. However, this north swell peaked out at 1-3 feet, so it was nothing special as far as what winter can provide out there.

The east swell quickly faded throughout the weekend, but not before providing a certain spot over on the far east side of the island with some easy overhead waves.

According to the forecast, there is an early season NW swell on its way for the weekend. This swell is expected to peak out at 4 feet, and Ho’okipa should see some nice waves for the weekend warriors.

Sunset on the south side. Photo: Carlos Rock.

This also means that the lineups will be crowded with the first real north swell of the season, so be sure to time your sessions right and everyone will get their fair share of waves.

The winds are expected to lighten up as well which means that there will be glassy mornings and afternoon seabreezes (light onshore wind).

This swell will provide everyone with a good warm up for winter to get back into real surfing shape, and it hopefully means that the winter season will come a little early this year to make up for a dismal second half of the summer season.