0131-12

Worked today.  No whitecaps on the water but went and checked out the beach after work.  There were a few people flying bigger kites and surfboards.  Would have been too light for my board.  Did nothing of note today.

0130-10

Paragliding lessons again this morning.  Got my P-1 rating.  I don't know what that means except that now I can do tandem flights with a new instructor who has never done tandems before.  I'm still not allowed to fly without supervision.  Another light wind day, so spent the afternoon driving around looking at nearby areas that I've never been to.

I've been looking around for windsurfing gear and boards and sails are cheap but masts and booms aren't.   Masts go for about $200 and booms $100.  Then I saw the ad below on craigslist.  It was a couple of days old and I couldn't believe that the stuff wasn't sold.  I went and looked at it and it is old stuff but in pretty good shape.  The sails are all Pryde sails and look like new.  Now my car looks like a real windsurf bum's vehicle.

Windsurf Package - $350 (N. Kihei)

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Date: 2011-01-27, 2:30PM HST

8'6" Timpone Wave board with case; 3 Neilpryde sails & cases (3.5, 4.7, 5.3); 3 carbon fiber masts matched to the sails + cases ( 1ea 400/26/19-2; 2ea 430/25/21-2); 2 Hawaiian Proline booms with extensions; 2 mast bases & mast pads; harness lines and spare parts. All in excellent condition. First $350 takes it all.

• Location: N. Kihei
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

129-10

Paragliding lessons again this am.  4 flights x 1000' vertical.  Just enough wind this afternoon to keep things comfortable.  No wind sports so went to the laundromat.

0128-25

Went to the old kite beach after work today.  Looked like a "kite cloud" in front of Naish beach.  There were only a few people at kite beach.  I guess that should have been a clue.  The wind only came onshore occasionally and it was really hard to get out of there.  Also, couldn't tell what size kite to set up.  I went by the "rig big" rule and it proved to be a mistake.  Once I got out of the wind shadow, I was way overpowered.  Didn't stay out long.  Sure has been a lot of good wind though.  On the way to lunch at the hospital, I always have a view out a big window looking out on the ocean and it is almost always covered with white caps.

0127-25

Great wind again today but took a day off and just jogged.  Thought I had a line on a nice place to live but it fell through.  Things are not looking good on that front.

0126-20

Yesterday the wind was 10.  Didn't do anything after work.  Today well powered on 13.  I think I had the biggest kite out there.  9 wouldn't have been enough some of the time.

0124-25

Went right form work to Naish beach for kitesurfing again today.  Nice steady wind all the way to the beach.  Not quite as crowded. The national weather service called for 16kt today but I was well powered on a 9m kite.  Regular gas is 3.98.  Looking for a short term rental is getting pretty frustrating.

0123-25

Continued my paragliding lessons this morning.  Flew the 1000' hill 3 times and did a tandem from the 3000' hill.  After flying, stopped at Burger King then out to Naish Beach to kite.  Wind was gusty on the beach again but pretty nice just a couple hundred yards out.  Got in a couple of hours on the 9m kite and the wind was good on the beach when I came in so was able to sail right to shore.  Seemed like thousands of kite and wind surfers out today again.  Almost ran into the third of a group of turtles while looking at the other 2.  There's all kinds of stuff to watch out for out there.

122-25.

Got in 3 hours of paragliding lessons this morning, flying down about 500 feet of Mt. Haleakala.  My instructor tells me that tomorrow I'll try 1000', which is all that is available for now.  There is another launch area 2000' higher but it is inaccessible right now because the road washed out and needs to be repaired..

This afternoon the wind was blowing about 25 or so and it was a real zoo out there.  On shore the wind came in gusts but it was real nice a couple of hundred yards out.  Waves are still pretty big.  Saw a whale breach from pretty close this time.  Also passed a pretty good sized turtle a few times.

I stopped by the windsurf shop and talked to the manager there about renting and he told me that this time of year the wind tends to blow for a few days or a week and then go away for a couple of weeks.  Summer is the best wind here.  In case anybody is thinking of joining me here, next time I'll see what he has to say about March and April.

0121-20

Windy again but Teal lake-gusty.  Wind was too much east.  Had to wait for a gust to launch and struggle out.  Even when out there the wind was very gusty.  Lots of kites out and on the beach when I got there.  Most were flying 7-9's.  Weather's pretty nice.  Kiting is comfortable in just a swimsuit.  Most people here use directional boards.  They are more into wave riding than jumping.  Many don't even use straps.  There was still plenty of surf today.  Saw some windsurfers getting big air off the waves.

0120-20

Lots of white caps  and some kites visible from the hospital at lunch.  Rigged a 9 after work which was the popular size.  Wind let up, should have had the 13.  Was underpowered and the break was pretty big.  Didn't try to go over it.  I've been underpowered in the impact zone plenty enough to know better.

118-10

Got to beach at 1600 after work.  Wind about 10.  1 guy on a 15 kite with a twin fin mini formula board was going good.  Snowed on the mountain last night.  They say that was the first time in years.

0117-8

Another light wind day.  Went to the hill where they teach paragliding this morning.  The instructor didn't show up but got to watch a few guys fly.  Checked out some beaches.  Right now the water at a lot of the beaches is brown and murky.  There was a big storm here about a week ago that washed a lot of mud out to sea.  Some of it didn't make it out to sea.  In Kihei they are still  scooping up mud from parking lots and lawns with bobcats. 

0116-8

I went to the beach at sunup to look for my board.  No sign of it.  On the way out to the car I started talking with a local fisherman.  He said that he knew the wind and currents very well and as we were talking he started looking around with his binoculars.  In a couple of minutes, he had found the board floating upside down about 300 yards off shore.  A surfer was kind enough to paddle out and get it.

It seems that if you are a kiter here, you are on your own as far as the rest of the gang is concerned.  I body dragged around for probably 15 minutes and nobody ever came over to see if I could use any help.

Hiked the Iao valley, watched surfers at Hookipa and paragliders nearby. Light winds today.

0115-20

I found a car to buy; a 95 Nissan Pathfinder for $1800.  If it holds up for 3 months, should be easy to sell when I leave.

Drove around the west end today.  Stopped to swim at a beach on the west side.  There were a couple of surfers out.  Guys on the beach yelled and waved them in because they saw sharks in the water.  I didn't see the sharks but did see a couple of whales further out.  Drove around the north end of the west side; curvy, narrow sometimes 1 lane road.  I saw white caps on the water as I was going and it took for ever to get back to kite beach.

Got out on the 13m kite very well powered up.  Beautiful afternoon, warm air, warm water and I saw a humpback whale breech 3 times.  Session ended when I fell and had a little trouble relaunching the kite.  By the time I got the kite relaunched, the board was nowhere in site.  Trolled back and forth for a while with no luck.  Will go out first thing in the AM and look for it on the beach.