Peter's Maui Notes: January 07
Zitat von Thommen1Alles anzeigenHello there!
Sorry, I'm late with my first monthly Maui News report but I got back to the here only a couple of weeks ago. I had spent the Holiday Season with my kids Luca and Kiana in the French South Alps, in Serre-Chevalier to be more precise. We had a great time.
Since I got back here Maui didn't really show its "winter face" until this last week when we got blasted with a big Kona storm. Winds in excess of 50 knots! It's nuts. There were a few guys venturing out at Lanes - definitely insane…
In the weeks before the conditions were just fine to get some of my new toys on the water: I'm working on a new line of wave boards - and really making progress. I'm very happy with some of the "regular" sizes and made huge steps for what I call the "Big Boy Toys" - real waveboards for big and heavy guys who are entitled to get the same designer attention as "normal" windsurfers.
Designing and shaping custom boards for Fred Haywood (remember Big Wednesday? The guy still is a great sailor and waterman and he never knew only to go fast…) and tall Kevin Ozee helped to refine ideas. Thank you guys for trusting me…! Obviously I made some prototypes for my own use - I wouldn't feel comfortable to have other guys pay for my experimental stuff.
Noteworthy is definitely the growing popularity of stand-up paddleboards here in the islands and elsewhere, too. Pretty quickly specialized boards appeared on the beaches here: There are the surf oriented types and then there are the specialized downwind paddleboards. Some guys make those things over 16 feet long. That's 480 cm! Insane - but effective! A long waterline is a godsend when it comes to gliding…
I was intrigued by the whole movement - mainly because it bears the promise to spend more play time and fun in the ocean. And that's always a good thing. Obviously the old Standard Windsurfer memories popped right up in my mind. From there to shaping a windsurfable standup paddleboard was just a block of foam away.
I already had some great time on that thing sailing and cruising around in light air, even ventured out in masthigh surf and didn't get nailed or killed - hey, I'm still here to drop you some lines! Paddling is a whole different story - it really gets tipsy. But one pretty quickly gets a handle on finding the right balance. Curiously enough, the harder you paddle the more stability you gain - one can really lean into that stroke. What a work-out! Some purist surfer/paddler dudes here, kind of shake their head when they see me stick a windsurf rig on my board… Then they either laugh of turn away when I tell them that the old Hawaiians had slave to paddle when they couldn't sail… The same was true for the Greeks and Romans, too.
That's that for the moment - I'll be back soon with more news from the rock!
Aloha,
Peter