Maui is Part of the "Real World"

Maui hasn't been all that windy these last few days. We took two days off because of lack of wind, and finally got back out late yesterday for some very average 18-22 conditions. It was an awful lot like Hatteras sound-side. I was grabbing a bunch of boards in that few hour session because it felt like I could learn the most about the boards in the marginal conditions. I sail 18-22 on a 5.0 a whole heck of a lot in the bay area, and I'm thinking I'm not alone on that one. It was pretty amazing how varied Kanaha can be.

During the time off the water, I've been stand-up-paddle surfing, snorkeling, helping Windsurfing Magazine measure boards, helping to set up photo shoots. Yeah, it's been a pretty rad week, despite the lack of windsurfing conditions. It's also been pretty flat, which has been actually just right for me (but much to the chagrin of my fellow testers), considering when the ground swell goes off it can be over-mast-high waves.

I'll go into more detail on this topic later, but testing a bunch of boards really opens me up to a whole new appreciation of all the work that goes into the design of these foam water-toys. Every single one is so different and you can definitely tell how some are better for some styles of sailing than others. I've always been pretty skeptical about boards being all that different or affecting rider performance, now I'm a believer. There is a closed-mouth policy about the boards through the test, but at the end we're doing a round-table discussion. I'm willing to bet almost everyone ended up having a different favorite board and came away with completely different opinions about the same boards.

Sorry to my reader (hi mom!) for not updating this as much as I should be while I've been out here. If you want to find tons of content from this trip, check out Dave's blog. He's had the cameras rolling the whole time, and I only ask for his mercy in not posting things that could compromise my professional, social, and un-incarcerated life.

Here's a phew fotos I've shot these last couple days:

Hanging out on the boat that was used for the Board photoshoot. The crew that has been involved in the board test has been a lot of fun. Many different skills and abilities, lots of personality.

A few of the testers caught a sunset SUP session. I haven't seen many sunsets because I've been on the wrong side of the island, but this was a pretty amazing one.

This gorgeous couple is comprised of Chris and Heather from Newcastle, England. Super nice folks, but I have a suspicion they work for Her Majesty's Secret Service since they are expert skydivers.

The south shore of the island was littered with fun little friendly waves that were perfect for a SUPing rookie. I got out there and was immediately catching waves no problem.


Ray, from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico: Where the beautiful people live. He's a long time board tester and it's obvious why.