Congrats Kai and Dusty

Kai Lenny is Stand-Up world champion at 18. http://www.standupworldtour.com/
Not a surprise at all.

Congrats to Dusty Payne as well for re-qualifying for A.S.P world tour. I think he is the only Maui guy on the tour.

There must be something in the water here.

Lots and lots of surf this week. Not a very good chance of windsurfing, but I'm not complaining.

Lot of swell coming in this week. Should be fun.

Surfed out again

Way too much time in the water this week. Windsurfing, surfing, towing, bodyboarding, diving...

Schools keeping me busy too. Better post to come. Got a new sail to, 4.7 Superfreak M.E. can't wait to try it out!!

Smiles and Laughs

Put the windsurf gear away for a couple days. Fun day in the water today though. Most of the spots were surprisingly empty. All the forecast were calling for flat to a foot. You don't always have to believe the reports though, some of the best days are when the forecast looks really bad. People don't go, and if you know where to look you can have it all to yourself.

November was a blast. We had a few big Northwests, but most of the action was wind swell. Typical La Nina, but I'm not complaining. We might get some Konas this week, I don't if it's going to be windy enough to sail, but should be fun.

See you in the water.

Message from A.I.?

I found this on wetsand.com. The website is saying this shot was snapped at sunset on the day of Andy's memorial. Super sick shot of a guy soul arching through the sky. The yellow behind him even looks like a trail from a turn. He's still ripping, so sick!

Inna Vision

I'm normally not a big fan of concerts, large groups of people kind of freak me out. Think it's a side effect of growing up on an island. Last Saturday we went to Inna Vision's CD release party at Oceans. They played for over an hour and put on such a good show! Check them out at Innavisionmusic.com and support a local band with good conscious music. Buy their CD's, don't steal them. They are really nice guys following their dream and they nee out support.

HI Surveilance "Inna Vision" episode from idren on Vimeo.

Happy Gobble Gobble

Here is a video from the day Nov. 24th. I was testing out the new HOTSAILS superfreak Maui Edition. The sail is super sick! It's light and soft like the superfreaks but still crisp like a mono film sail. I might be ordering some of these up for next year!
Aloha and see you in the water.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1688641263176

you might have to be logged into facebook to see the video

Blessing in disguise

So glad I got to spend the last two weeks here in Maui instead of Cabo Verde. Congrats to Victor, such a nice guy. I can't imagine what he is going through waiting for wind over there.

What amazing conditions we've had here. Completely surfed out and ready for the wind to pick up.

Matt Meola FINAL from ACL Digital Cinema on Vimeo.

I will be a better blogger

More changes to come on the blog. Here is a great video, you have to turn up the sound to really appreciate it. We could all use a little more laughter in our lives.

Thank you Cabo Verde

for getting all the pros off the island this week. Thanks to Jimmie Hepp for the great shots too...Lots of surf this week.

It doesn't get much better then that.

Wow, I haven't seen Hookipa that good for sailing in a long time. No crowds and lining up from middles to the channel on the good sets. Amazing watching Levi and Mark rip. Incredible day, we are so blessed to live in such an amazing place. I've added some pics at the bottom, thanks Andres and Emily for the shots!!

The second half of this post is about kiters. There have been a lot of kiters at uppers the past couple of weeks. I have no problem with kiters, they are searching for the same stoke that we are all looking for. Many of them rip and are really fun to share waves with. There are exceptions of course, but smile and share a wave, we can all get along. There are some really great kiters out there too don't lump them all together with the bad ones.

Yesterday at about 5:00 one of the Italian guys got pounded and lost his stuff at Hookipa. He probably swam the wrong way, and got sucked out the channel. His gear washed into the inside of lanes, where I was de-rigging my stuff. He tried to fight his way in through the channel, but tired out and just started drifting. The lifeguards were gone and he was in a really bad position. At the same time a kiter who came up to Hookipa for a couple waves had his kite deflate. He lost it in the waves and it washed out to sea. Hopefully it won't strangle a dolphin or something...Before you get angry though, this is what he did next, he saw that the guy was in trouble and paddled back out the channel and gave the Italian guy his board. The Italian guy was pretty pooped and couldn't really paddle so the kiter pushed him into waves and stayed with him until he got to the inside. The kiter saved this guys life. Then another kiter swam out to his gear and helped bring it in at mamas. That same kiter helped me off the rocks at lanes. What a show of good seamanship.

Much mahalos to the kiter who saved that guy, and much mahalos to the kiter that helped me get my stuff over the rocks at lanes, I owe both you guys a couple of beers. If anyone knows who they are let me know. I know the hero kiter goes to MCC.

To top all this off, some asshole windsurfer came down to lanes 5 minutes before this and yelled at all the kiters for kiting Hookipa. There were 5 windsurfers out, and the kiters ripped, they weren't endangering anyone. I hope that windsurfer reads this and thinks twice before doing something so stupid.

To the Italian guy, what the hell are you doing out there? Know your limits, especially after the lifeguards leave. You didn't belong out there and I hope you share your story with everyone you know...

Pass on the good vibes...Aloha...











Sharing a wave with a legend

MauiSurfReport

Good post about wave etiquette on GP's blog. There is an argument that instead of most upwind it should be closest to the peak if two riders are on the same wave at the same time. Lots of waves this week with the surprise swell, heard the bay was really good. Lots of misunderstandings about right of way rules out there, but smile and have fun.

Waves everywhere

What a great week! Surfing, windsurfing, suping, bodyboarding, it was great for everything. It's not just Maui that is getting it so good, check out the wind guru forecast for Cape Hatteras. I don't know if that's a good wind direction for there, but look at that swell!! Barbados is posted below that one, looks sick too!! Then look at the waves coming to Morocco! So sick! I love winter! Long range forecasts are looking pretty good for us here too...

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=62
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=209042
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=26

Also, come check out the movie with us. For a good cause too!

R.I.P A.I.

so sad...

Zookipa

Zookipa today. I think the morning and late evening sessions were the best. We'll see how many people are out there come Tuesday and Wednesday. This should be our first big swell...

For all you earthy crunchies

R.I.P.

Rest in Peace Gregory Isaacs. Thank you for all the great music. You will live through your music forever. Here's some lyrics from one of my favorite songs.

Now I may not be familiar with your language
But I sure would like to cross over your bridge
Said I may not dress in style as the men in your town do
But I sure know what to say: I love you

I wanna love you in the morning
Love you in the evening too
Even when you're lonely
I'll make you happy when you're feeling blue

I'm just a stranger in your town
Once in a while I pop around

Waves!

Waves waves and more waves. Where's the wind? Replace your leash before it snaps. Swimming in to find your board smashed on the rocks is never fun. See you in the water.

New issue! Check it out!

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/85edfcee

Almost in the water again!

Look where you're going.

It felt really good getting in the water for the first time in a while yesterday. Fun little waves too. After about ten minutes someone decided to jibe right into me and end my session. I got another four staples in my head! Thank you. Please look where you are going accidents are avoidable. Lame, the surf looked nice this morning too. The lifeguards at Hookipa did a good job of patching me up. Thanks Chris!

Staples instead of stitches

Epic conditions all around Maui this week. I'm missing it all with 5 staples in my head. The fin caught me and split my forehead open. I got really lucky could have been much worse, and thank you to everyone that helped me out. Forecast is looking good all week got to stop getting injured!

Che-che-check it out

Cloudbreak September 2010 from Australia's Surfing Life on Vimeo.

Solo session

Finally some waves here! More pics to come...

The Accident

The trip to Hana started out great and ended in the E.R. Here are the exclusive pics. Always wear a helmet...so lucky

Scariest moment of my life.

Not the best weekend. Here is just a little comedy, we could all use a good laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0smNX2e9VSo

To me September 1st is the unofficial end to summer. It's might not be the start to the winter wave season in Maui, but there is hope for surf. We might not get waves until mid October, but there's usually hope once we're past August. Glad I got some surf this summer in Mexico. Here is a picture of my transportation around Puerto. I usually surfed the dawn session to avoid the crowds and the heat. It would get so hot during mid day that I would hide out in the shade somewhere. The Super Che is the big supermarket in town, it has everything you need and more importantly it has air conditioning. I spent at least an hour or two in there everyday shopping, reading magazines or just cruising.
Pray for surf surf...

Here is another example of a wave and entire community that is in danger.

http://blogs.surfingmagazine.com/news/downtime-at-teahupoo-a-hidden-threat/

There's some fun windswell out there for jumping. Sailing has been fun all week and it should be getting better as well. See you out there.

.
Some fun windswell out there today. Last weeks south swell turned out to be pretty fun as well. Here is a picture of the worlds biggest tree, measured by circumference.

Here (http://www.sas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Final-WAR.pdf)

is an interesting article about the value of waves to not only to surfers but entire communities. It describes the basics of how waves are formed, travel across oceans, and set up along the shoreline. It's not possible to calculate the intrinsic value of a surf spot like Kanaha or Hookipa, but it would be fun to know the value of those spots in dollars to the communities around them. My guess is that it would be a lot more then most people would imagine. It's all of our responsibilities to protect them. Three of the best surf spots in Maui are in danger of development right now, Honolua bay(http://www.savehonolua.org/) Makena(savemakena.org) and Maalaea(http://www.surfrider.org/maui/savemaalaea.htm). Check out the sites and see if you can do anything to help.

Surf in Mexico

I'll have daily posts about the trip, just getting settled into work here and Maui life again. Here are a couple pictures from Mexico. They don't really show how epic it was. "The Mexican Pipeline" which is Zicatela beach is a knarly beach break that usually closes out, but can have great barrels. About a mile down the beach is La Punta which is a long left with three barrel sections, sandy bottom and perfect offshore wind. I surfed there everyday. This was a small day, but you could still catch it from the outside, get barreled, shoot the rock, pull in again and get shacked all the way to the inside, ride up onto the sand and walk back to the point. Epic. The wave goes another 50 yards or so past the photo.

Colombia

Here is a couple of pictures from the jungle in Colombia. I spent ten days there with Laura and her family. Nothing but good vibes the entire trip. They showed me around the city, took me through the rainforest, into the jungle and around the coast. So much Aloha...

Travels

Sorry for not updating for so long! I had a blast in Colombia, and Mexico as well but after two months I'm heading home. Lots of pictures to come as well as stories but for now nada mas nada mas.

Back to the Aina

I love traveling but it's always good to be home. I brought some gifts with me, and also the stomach flu. Not fun, feeling better today though. Here is a little picture slideshow from the event, I took most of them(that's why they suck) and some are from Maxime. Enjoy

Time to relax.

The contest is all wrapped up here in Morocco. We had all different types of conditions during our ten day waiting period. In the first two days we had small waves with mostly jumping, and on the last couple of days we had some down the line action with over head sets. The down the line days were a bit tricky as it was a long wait between sets and finding the right wave of each set was critical. Some of them lined up across the whole bay and closed out while others held up and peeled allowing for great rides. The wind was light and gusty and sometimes just disappeared. Our team had a good third round with the local knowledge of Sofiane getting us a second place. The wind picked up a little in my heat, I was riding my 5.3 Fire and Quad 80. I managed to put together a couple of nice waves and tied for second with Yann Sorlut and Francisco Fonseca took the win.

In between these two days Zane decided he would do some laundry in the hotel we are staying at. He did a whole bag and when they gave it back to him it had a list of prices for each piece. Bad choice. They ranged from 3 Euros a sock to 17 Euros for a shirt. The total bill was 175 Euros for a bag of laundry! More money then all the clothes were probably worth. After a few panicking moments he got it together and with a smile at the receptionists he managed to talk it all the way down to 30 Euros.

The next day Francisco Porcella was in the first heat, but he got the Moroccan stomach flew and was stuck at the hotel. I sailed for him in that heat and finished with another second place after JB Caste. Finally our veteran Kai Katchadorian showed everyone the Hawaiian style of riding with big vertical cutbacks on every wave. He had a tight heat but pulled out the win and secured our first place in that round. Our first place in the last round wasn’t quite enough to move us into second place, but we were all pretty happy to show what we can do in wave sailing conditions.

We got really lucky with this event, the forecast was really bad the entire time, but every day we showed up at the beach we had conditions. Just before the closing ceremony we got word that the council of Morocco in Hawaii was in town and wanted to meet with us. It was a great meeting and they are really motivated to help the watersports community here in Essaouira. We exchanged information and hopefully we will be able to work together in the future.

At the closing ceremony, local boys Boujmaa and Fettah cleaned up with the best team award, best international rider, best local, and best move. Another of the local rippers, Abdel, won best wipeout with a big pushloop bail. Everyone made a pretty big party at one of the local bars. The sinus infection I got earlier in the week turned into a fever and I went home a little early. Judging by the look of a couple of the guys I think I was pretty lucky to avoid it.

All the riders have headed home now, but I have an extra week to hang out here in Moulay. I’m staying at Cafe Moulay it’s the family home of Abdel and Fettah. Two of the young charging windsurfers here in Morocco. Boujmaa took care of me yesterday as my sinus infection got worse. He set up a doctor for me, took me to pharmacy and cooked me the best meal I have had so far. The Arabic translation of Aloha is Marhaba and many of the people in the windsurfing community here know how to practice it Boujmaa is a great example of this.

The vibe here in Moulay is very relaxed. There isn’t much rush to anything except if it’s possible to catch a free ride to the city. When there is no wind the wave is very soft which makes it great for SUPing. It looks like the wind is going to pick up just before I leave. There is a video up on waveclassicinvitational.com and they will be adding the final video sometime this week. Hopefully I will be feeling better and able to get some more time on the water.

Aloha,

Nick

nickwarmuth.blogspot.com

A big thank you to

©Maxime Houyvet:Open Ocean Media for the action shots and the group shots

1st day of Competition

Aloha from Morocco!
Yesterday we had our first day of competition. The conditions were 25 knots and 1 with the occasional 2 foot waves. Great jumping, but not the best waveriding. I was fully powered on my 4.2 Fire and 72 liter OES Quad. The first round had some great action with big backloops, pushloops, and even a couple of doubles! The contest format is very cool, one sailor from each of the five teams sails in every heat. All the competitors sail and judge each others heats. Our team is Kai Kachadorian, Francisco Porcella, me, and our local boy Sofiane. Our whole team are hardcore wave sailing specialists, even our local is one of the best wave riders here. The jumping style of the contest is not the best for us, but after two rounds our team is locked into 3rd place. The most important part is that we are having fun and enjoying sailing with the locals here in Morocco. Today we are getting a little later start, everyone is pretty tired and sore from the action yesterday. We might run another round today, and a small swell is forecasted for next week. Praying for surf here. Check out more of the action at waveclassicinvitational.com

Morocco pics

What an amazing place. I can only imagine what it is like when north swells pound the coastline for months. I might have to come here in the winter time. The food is great, the people friendly, and the town is full of good energy.

What happens when you spend two days trek

king around the world and then

get stuck an extra 16 hours in a

two room airport terminal. You look like this... Here are couple shots while we cruised through Essauira. The day before and the day after had amazing sunsets. Action tomorrow, check out the webpage(waveclassicinvitational.com).

Lets sail!

Still hoping for wind here in Morocco. The forecast is for it to hit 3.7 windy. Lets hope, some more pics to come...

Camel surfing!!

Not much waves yet but we've been able to get some surfing in! I did get an hour of sailing today if you can call it that in front of the hotel. Very light even by my standards, side-on and one foot fun though. Thank you Guy Cribb for letting me borrow some stuff. He's here teaching windsurfing lessons at the local mistral club, check him out. More pics to come, forecast is looking good!

Summer break/Morocco

Finals are done, papers are turned and I'm out of here! Summer break is here, which means, no waves for Maui sadly. I can finally keep this blog updated now though.

After a long trip where I got stuck in New York for an extra 8 hours and then in Casablanca for another 8 hours, I made it! The country is amazing, we're waiting on wind and waves, but the forecast is looking good. I'll be taking some pictures today and posting later. Last night I sat on a castle wall and watched the sun set over the Atlantic. Amazing.

We have an great group of people here for this event. We've been having way too much fun. I can't wait to get on the water too.

Morocco Wave Classic

This May I will be heading to the Essaouira Wave Classic!! I don't think I have ever been this excited for an event. It's a really cool team format for the competition with good friends. Hopefully we will have good conditions, check out the event at

http://waveclassicinvitational.com/essaouira/

Hookipa last week

Here are a couple of shots my wonderful girlfriend took from Hookipa. Some really nice shots, especially since I don't have a big lens for my camera and it was her first time using it. I kind of like the photo shopped one I did at the end, that's me in the background and her brother pipe in the front. Let's pray for surf, it's not looking to good. Lots of wind though.