Big Wave News

Mavericks not likely, Maui sees influx of PWCs aimed at Jaws

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 7 December, 2009 : - - When super typhoon Nida went extra-tropical last week she generated winds in excess of 50 knots with combined seas over 45 feet while covering a few thousand miles of Pacific ocean. The thrust of that storm is about to light up Hawaii, California and the rest of the eastern Pacific. Consequently tow teams are preparing for Jaws while the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau looks ready to run Tuesday. However, Mavericks might be too close to the source to reap the rewards of such a phenomenal storm...

Weather expected to disrupt epic pulse of swell

The famed Mavericks Surf Contest remained in a holding pattern Sunday after organizers determined that the proper surf conditions would not materialize on Tuesday after all. Organizers still hold out slim hopes that conditions could improve enough to hold the contest Wednesday or Thursday at the Mavericks surfing spot north of Half Moon Bay.

"But right now, it's just not looking good at all," said contest co-director Katherine Clark. "There's too much rain and too much wind from the wrong direction." The prestigious contest pitting 24 of the world's elite surfers has been postponed two of the last three years because of calm seas during the contest window, which last year opened Jan. 1 and closed March 31.

This year, contest organizers opened the window Nov. 1, two months earlier. Last week's forecast that a series of storms would be pushing east across the Pacific toward California gave the surfers hope they would have optimal conditions, with giant swells and clear weather Tuesday. In the past, organizers would tell the surfers to stand by, and gave them just 48 hours notice to show up when conditions were right.

Meanwhile in the birthplace of surfing...

Surfers and surf watchers are expected to flood the north and west shores of O'ahu and Maui today in what is being called epic surf that may be the biggest in 40 years.

Surfers were poring over maps, charts and weather information yesterday after waves were forecast today to reach heights of 30 to 40 feet — and possibly 50 feet in the outer reefs around the north and west shores of O'ahu, Maui and Moloka'i. Maui County officials yesterday moved the lifeguard tower at Baldwin Beach in Pa'ia farther inland to protect it from wave damage and made other preparations for "exceptionally high" surf expected to arrive today.

Maui police, ocean safety officers and rescue firefighters made staffing adjustments for the possibility that waves could inundate roads on Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i. Maui officials also warned that some beaches could be closed today.

On Saturday, volunteers from Maui's Community Emergency Response Team program delivered warning fliers to more than 500 homes and businesses in Ke'anae, Kahakuloa and Paukukalo. On O'ahu, advocates for the homeless visited beach encampments, urging people to move away from the shoreline. The city opened three shelters on O'ahu, all of which take pets.

The shelters are at Lili'uokalani Church, Sunset Beach Community Center and Wai'anae District Park. Honolulu firefighters yesterday stationed a helicopter at the Kahuku Fire Station for potential rescues. It will return today and tomorrow, said Honolulu fire Capt. Earle Kealoha. Despite wave heights of only 10 to 15 feet yesterday, Honolulu lifeguards remained busy.

As in 1998, 1983, 1974 and the Big One in 1969, surf like this makes legends. Jim McKinney's Sunset Beach home was washed away by the '69 surf. "I'll be watching the surf with interest," McKinney said. "If it comes in as big as they say, there will be a lot of damage to the shoreline. Already the sand is gone at Laniakea."

Buzzy Kerbox, a Maui surfer, said more than 25 jet watercraft have been shipped to Maui so tow-in surfers can take on "Jaws," off the Hana Highway near mile marker 13. Teams of tow-in surfers — those who use jet watercraft to race into waves too big to paddle into — are streaming in to Jaws from Brazil, South Africa and Australia, Kerbox said.

"Maui Jaws will be the premier spot for surfing," Kerbox said. "We're gonna see some of the biggest waves we've seen since we began towing."

Read The SF Chronicle  - Mavericks washes out for Tuesday
Read the Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii prepares for 50-foot surf today

Related articles:
A Day of Infamy
Oahu super surf swell coming 
Oahu to see surf, Big Island smaller 
Oahu opens evacuation shelters as surf nears
High surf closes part of Kaena Point park on Oahu

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