Maui

I'm skipping some OB sessions both bodysurf and flex spoon. Not on purpose, I just didn't update before leaving for Maui. Now Maui memories have overshadowed anything previous.
We got to Maui early Monday the 10th. We grabbed lunch and headed to the beach. There was a big NW swell hitting and Baldwin had some good heavy beachbreak. I did some bodysurfing off to the side of where it was hitting the hardest. I managed some longer rides for the conditions, and managed to not hurt myself, save for the ankle bitters of coral pieces rolling around in the shorebreak. Hookipa was breaking way outside, but with offshore winds. Having only the mat to ride, I headed along the NW shore looking for waves. I found some all the way out at Waiehu Beach that were easy enough to be a warm-up session. This far over the waves were small, around 3', and the spot was inside of an outer reef, making them soft. The location is between the ass end of a golf course and a cool little beach ghetto. (Ghetto in the sense that they weren't million dollar houses, but still more than I can afford.) I got a handful of soft waves while sitting inside of the peak. Not exciting, but very pleasant to be in warm water and easy waves.
The next morning (Wed?) we got up before dawn and headed to Jaws. I opted to park at the top of the trail and hike in. It's a longer hike than expected and we welcomed the ride in the back of a truck for the second half of the hike. When we got to the lookout a beautiful set came in. It looked inviting with the nice bowl and offshore wind. It was early enough that nobody was out yet but several were gearing up on the top of the cliff. We watched another set and took note of how long it took the lip to hit the trough. This is the best way to guestimate size, and it was big. When a few finally got to the outside we saw it was about 20' or more. We watch one clean left ride, and one guy miss a wave and get caught by a wave later in the set. Held down for awhile, not popping up until the far inside. He was fine and swam to get his board, but it was scary to watch. We left soon after that knowing we had a long hike back and the sun was heating up. We scored another ride back and continued our day.
A few days later, after more Baldwin bodysurfing, JH gave me a heads up that the Kahului Harbor had good waves. We headed over there and saw he was right! It was only 4' on the sets and most waves were smothered after hitting the deep spot after the shelf, but the wind was offshore and the crowd was minimal. JH was out on a bodyboard, there were a few longboards, a sit-on-top, and some small boards. I surfed for an hour getting many waves and having a blast getting pocket rides and near barrels. About the time the wife was getting bored the crowd picked up so I came in. I could have stayed out for hours if the "conditions" had remained constant. As it was I was grateful for what I got.
A few more uneventful days (surfwise) and we rounded the island to the Lahaina side. I got out early Monday morning to Honolua Bay between swells. It was very small and the handful of people were just watching from the cliff waiting for the new swell to show. I didn't waste time and headed down to surf whatever there was. I ended up with about 45min to myself catching 2-3' waves next to the cave. It was dang fun and I must have made it look good because about 8 people showed up all at once. Still small, and I still got some waves, but I packed it in promising myself to return at dawn the next morning. Later that day we bodysurfed at Napili Bay. It is an odd spot with 3' waves surging, not breaking, up the beach. I bodysurfed it by riding the surge just behind where the lip would be. This kept me from getting pushed along dry sand up the steep beach. Surge up the sand, then try to surge back down the sand never standing up. It worked, and was a fun new way to approach to ocean.
The next morning I was up before dawn headed back to Honolua. This time there were many, many cars already filling the parking spots and most people were gearing up in the darkness. The swell had peaked the previous afternoon but was still big enough to give rides through the Cave section. I headed down the cliff in the dark, slowly picking my way along the foreign footpath feeling my way with my toes. I got to the small pocket of sand to gear up and could see several people already in the water. By the time I hit the water there were more than 10 guys just at the Cave. I returned to where I surfed Monday, now a"down the line" spot. The bigger waves were hitting a different part of the reef so I tried for smaller ones with better shape similar to the day before. I did score some larger ones when someone couldn't connect from the Cave. It was still tons of fun, but different, which is good. I know I could have made some of the waves from the Cave peak, but there were too many people and not enough waves, so I took what was available. The wave reminded me of WS Santa Cruz when it's good. I think the difference is that Honolua Bay is that good much more often, but I've gotten really good waves along the WS with fewer people to contend with.
I brought my GoPro to Maui but didn't once bring it out. I almost did at Baldwin one morning, but as I was walking back to the car I saw a few guys heading into the water with at least one GoPro. I had wanted some scenery picks from inside the tube and 5 other guys all trying for the same thing discouraged me off the idea. I took a few iphone cliff shots of Jaws and Honolua, but will not post them because they don't capture my matting experience.
I returned to CA to rain and storm surf. DH is on a surf trip, I have a cold, and the Oakland BS crew didn't contact me for Saturday surf anyway. The weather is supposed to stabilize mid-week before going stormy next weekend. I'll aim for something between storms, but wont enjoy putting on a wetsuit.

Three sessions later

Mid-week mid-day rush to surf before the wind turns. Waves were big enough to push me to the north end of OB, on the north side of Lincoln. The wind was calm and the swell was short period-ish and mixed up. Crossing waves and surfing a part of the beach that likes to double up anyway. I took out the spoon and got less waves than I wanted but enough to satisfy. Several drops were sudden when the wave hit the bar. I've learned that on late drops I need to find a sweet spot between dropping strait down (which results in a flop which throws off speed) and too much angle down the line (which results in hanging up on the lip.) There is a sweet spot angle that puts me right in the curl, but it's a line that I wouldn't take on a stand-up so I need to get accustom to it.
The spoon needs more grip towards the tail. A few times I got hit by some chop and my legs slipped out of position on the board. In those waves the moment of lost control was the end of the ride. Later I slowed down my approach and stayed put on the board better. I think I'll wax the tail of the board first, because I don't want to put the glued foam on top of the paint for fear it will just pull up paint and not stick to the board. If wax does the trick, great! If not, I'll strip off paint and glue down foam.
Walking back to the truck with the spoon I talked briefly with a guy who said he has a flex spoon too. He said he doesn't ride it much because he doesn't like wearing swimfins. Seriously? I love wearing swimfins! I didn't get his name, number or anything, and in the brief conversation I learned his spoon was made in Florida and he likes it as decoration enough that he wouldn't sell it.
The next session was a return to Baker to meet up with the Oakland bodysurfers. Saturday morning and the start of crab season and there were crab pole set-ups every 20' or so all along the beach. Waves were 2-3' with light onshore wind and not very hollow. I was going to skip it, but the Oakland crew wasn't. I followed them down the beach and had fun for an hour using my "cubit" hand board. I held on to it through a crush and folded back a fingernail. I also noticed it changed my approach to swimming through waves and made me feel less "in" the water. On the flip side, there were some longer rides that I might not have gotten if I was without the extra planing surface.
The plan for the day was to next meet the SF handplane (et. al) crew at Eagles. I headed down there with my wetsuit still on and found the parking lot full. Crabbers, beach-goers, and surfers filled the spaces to capacity+. I saw Kasey watching the waves and chatted with him while waiting for Dave to show up with the others. There were 4+ surfers riding the weak 2' waves rolling in at Eagles. Kasey and I talked about his mid-week session where he was hassled out there. He didn't even realize he was being hassled until later, and I told him I'm pretty sensitive to bad vibes in the water. Dave showed, but the rest were missing. We agreed to take our chances down at OB proper.
Even the far north end of OB was big and messy. I took out Dave's latest creation and was tired even before clearing the outside. The waves were a jumbled mess but surprisingly it didn't seem to matter much when riding the bodyboards. My third wave I rode all the way in and it reformed on the inside for a fun steep section. When that section slammed shut the whitewater rag-dolled me around and sapped the last of my strength. I limped to shore and rested awhile before I could walk back to my truck.
I cleaned up and laid down in the bed of the truck waiting for Dave to finish his surf and claim his board back. It was what I needed and by the time he returned I was in better spirits. We talked a bit more about design and such until Kasey cleared the water. Afterwards I grabbed a Safeway lunch and headed home.