birds and waves

Let's get rid of the birds first.





Not exactly the same bikini top that Stephanie Gilmore wore when she won the contest at Sunset the other day (and together with that her third consecutive world title), but sure looks cute.


I have three questions for you, dear asian beauty.
1) what's up with the double leash?
2) who put the pad on that board?! A few inches more forward and it would be good for nose riding!
3) how do you clean the wax off the piercing?

And now the waves.
12 feet, 9 seconds from NE and 9 feet 12 seconds from NW made for a big mess on the north shore.
Pascal knew better.


Like often happens in light wind, the kiters impressed me a lot. Specially this guy.


Let's see who throws more spray:




Uff, I don't know...
It's early for new year resolutions, but here's (a conditional) one: forget about trying to learn in winter time (I'm too busy surfing and wavesailing), but IF next summer I'll be in Maui, I'll give kitesurfing another try.
Ok, and now let's start planning where to spend next summer...

Here's a brief forecast.
This week: big waves.
Next week: bigger waves.

This post is dedicated to a friend who left today for a short mainland trip. Brah, you missed a really fun session. Wind forecast doesn't look good though, so no more torture posts for you. Oh wait, I forgot you surf too...
Oh well, there will be plenty more... technically winter hasn't even started yet.

God, it's already December though!! I'm about to panic... soon it's going to be June! Can't waste time, can't miss sessions. Time to go to sleep. Tomorrow morning there's more waves to be caught. Goodnight.

Pretend we are actually surfing

That's what Andy and I did yesterday morning. It was the last day of Thanksgiving break, and I hadn't surfed the whole time. It was half a foot. It was offshore. The water was green. We grabbed our longest boards, and said LET'S GO! We paddled out at tenth street for a whole 30 minutes. Andy did have one wave that was worth the paddle out just to see. He stood, relaxed, and cruised across the emerald face of a mini-peeler that sparkled in the sunshine. I had one, just before he arrived, that was worth paddling out for, too. Plus, I got to try out my new Matuse fullsuit. Nice.

Wet suit - Making Big And Comfortable...

Wetsuit safeguards you against the heat loss while taking part in water sports. A wide range in all the shapes and sizes has made the water sports lovers happy. Wetsuits could be worn according to the circumstances,they are specially designed for that. Wetsuit acts scientifically by trapping a small amount of water to maintain the body heat. The absolute fitting is necessary,for the same reason. It should neither be too tight nor too loose. If it is tight, then you are uncomfortable,if it is loose the water drags you down.

Wetsuits manufactured by Ripcurl clothing are the most comfortable ones. They protect arms,legs and the upper part of the body with hood. Very comfortable in cold water. Rip curl produces spring suits also,which have short arms and legs. Mostly these are found in one or two pieces.

Wetsuits are differed in thickness. The thicker they are the more protection they provide obviously. Thinner wet suits are suitable for warmer water. These wet suits are mostly used by the surfers as they need high speed in water.

Select a right wet suit according to your needs and sticking to the quality. If you happen to be in water for more time then you could go for Ripcurl Clothing. Go for lined wet suits because you feel better. When you go to buy, ask every detail you have in your mind before using. Seek their assistance in wearing also. Because fitting of the suit is very important.

Wetsuits should be always comfortable. So check before buying,specially on the seams.Usually the stitches holding it together do not penetrate the neoprene all the way, creating thousands of small holes for water to leak through. Mnay wetsuits are sewn with overlock stitching, that irritates your skin and lets the water in; so always spend more and get a worthy wetsuit.

Wetsuits should be rinsed and hang for drying in the sun. If your wet suit has a bad smell, then wash or rinse it once again. Please follow manufacturer's directions for care.

This Thanksgiving Holiday BLOWS!

Okay. We made it through another Thanksgiving without one single family member getting shot, yippee!

And now, I will admit it. I am ungrateful! So sue me! Five days off, and no surfing... It's enough to make me cry. Oh, wait. I did. My cat rolled in poop, so I washed him with shampoo. So, sue me! How was I to know it would make his fur mat up like a rastafarian?

So, google matted cat fur already.

I did, and learned that it was torturing him, pulling at his skin like a sadistic mom's braiding of a stepchild's hair. Naturally, I went to the vet for advice. The vet's assistant took a shaver to him, and 30 minutes later my cat has a five inch gash on his leg, and a million shiny silver staples. WTF? People have actually told me cats don't feel that much pain over something like this.

Oh, really? Which cat did you ask?


On day four, I decided to relax with a hot bath, since I ended up working more than biking or surfing this holiday. Next thing I know, water is gushing from the ceiling below, and my landlady is knocking on my door.

I lead no boring life.

On the bright side side, my cat looks like he has a cute, new, form-fitting, velour sweater.

thanksgiving bliss + Jaws pics

Just updated this post with a few PS's at the bottom.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I gave plenty thanks... to mother nature, as usual.


Actually my session started pretty bad. It was the second day in a row that I drove to this super fickle spot. I got skunked already the day before and it looked like I was going to get skunked again: as soon as I hit the water, the wind dropped drastically.
Super light, super offshore. Thanks to all that practice at Da Spot last summer in Oahu, I was able to do my usual slog and surf thing and catch waves doing just one turn.
A bit frustrating, since till a few minutes before they were sailing on 4.5s... but, better than nothing I thought.
Lower Kanaha was onshore, there was no point to drive back. Allegedly Uppers was pretty good instead.

So, having finally given up the fantasy of an epic session, I was enjoying my one turn waves when unexpectedly the wind came back. At that point it was only me and Glenn and it was getting better and better. He had to leave kind of early though and I was left completely alone.

Let me try to describe how bloody awesome the thing got.
Upwind the clouds were low, dark and full of rain, framed by a monster super bright rainbow. The water upwind was very dark, but, since the sun downwind was out and low on the horizon, the white caps were so bright that they were almost glowing in the middle of the menacing chops. In this surreal beauty, I found myself catching peeling head high waves perfectly powered on my 4.7.

The wind was about 30 degrees offshore (0 degrees being sideshore) and the non intimidating size of the waves pushed me to do my top turns as close to the breaking lip as possible, in the so called pocket. I did so also because I thought that most of the times it was going to be a one turn wave anyway. But here's what happens when you do a turn in such a critical section.
The lip that is about to break but is held in place by the offshore wind acts like a slingshot being tensioned... and when you hit it just before it falls, you get a incredible push from it. That projected me in the next bottom turn with unexpected extra speed that, guess what, allowed me to stick another unplanned top turn. Still in the pocket, of course, and the whole thing happened again!
In other words, I had several waves in which I thought I was going to do only one turn and I ended up doing 3, 4 or 5... but not racing down the line, rather hitting the most critical section instead!
Unbelievable amount of fun.

I was just sorry for Glenn that had to leave early and I thought that it was a shame not to share such bliss with anybody else. But - cherry on the cake - when I got out of the water (5.30... couldn't do till 6 because my arms gave up) a couple of tourists renting one of the condos right in front of the spot gave me a standing ovation thanking me for the "awesome show".
It was probably the first wave sailing action they saw in their life, but still... I admit that I was flattered. They kept clapping hands until I walked out of their sight slightly embarrassed...

Photos now. Again, these photos were taken before the magic happened...
The one on top is Glenn doing a backloop. He pumped his arms off to get the speed. Click on the photo and admire the dramatic cliffs on the background. That's an awesome shot! Patrick did great, considering that it was the first time he used my camera...

This one is Nico instead, who was part of the early crew.


Just like Ferdinando. He was rigging down from 5.0 to 4.5 when I arrived. 20 minutes later the wind dropped and he headed back in.


That's how Nico made it back.


And that's me heading out. Had to swim for a while before I was able to uphaul and catch a little puff...
Those guys seem to be having more fun than me.


Didn't know kitesurfers could swim back in like that.


Glenn bottom turn.


Blog author.


Glenn top turn.


Patrick got bored.


This is Nick the day before. The wind was so light that me, Glenn and Andres decided it wasn't worth it. I'm sure Nick disagrees with us. BTW, brah I need to borrow those fins!


Couple of Hawaii shots.



And now a few photos of Jaws on Wednesday that Tormod sent me.
This looks like Polakow.


This is Levi.





But the most amazing shot I actually took from Nayra's blog. That is Francisco Porcella sliding on his back, head first, down the face of a monster. Patrick was there (congrats on his first Jaws experience) and told me that he kept sliding until he got caught by the lip and thrown over the falls.


That didn't stop him from going windsurfing later on.


For more Jaws photos, check Tormod's and Nayra's blogs.
Special thanks to Tormod who is about to leave the island. Very nice guy and I have to admit that his peculiar English spelling and grammar crack me up... I'm sure I do the same effect to someone else!

PS. Congrats to Tatiana for winning the 2009 Paia Bay invitational surf contest.
PPS. Thanks to Ian and Danny for the delicious food. You guys rock!
PPPS. The forecast continues to be awesome. New swells on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. And check what Pat Calwells says in his latest forecast:
In the northern hemisphere, it will be the 40th anniversary next week of the hugest surf of the last 50 years, a series of episodes with the peak day on December 4, 1969. That episode was a typhoon-fueled, extratropical source. Presently, there is a typhoon in the western Pacific, nadi, to watch for re-curvature into the central north Pacific mid next week. It is too early for specifics, though the potential for the gender bender, meaning a tropical warm core low turning to a mid latitude cold core low, ups the surf potential ante.

And this is the weather map modeled to happen Sunday dec 6th.
It's going to be Jaws time again for someone. It's going to be uncrowded smaller waves again for someone else...
Meanwhile, the Pipe Masters in Oahu is going to be epic just like the women's contest at Honolua Bay in Maui.
Winter in Hawaii: what a bloody awesome thing!


PPPPS. The surf contest at Sunset Beach in Oahu is on. Here's the link to the webcast.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Anyone who is not a surfer will just laugh and snicker at such foolishness as my ingratitude for what happened this evening. I mean, here I am, having a wonderful Tofurkey feast with my dearest friends, and I want to cry right into my vegan gravy. All day long the wind was messing up the waves, ruffling their brilliant potential. I rode the bike up A1A gazing out at the waste of swell, marred by that stupid wind. And then, at the moment I absolutely could not go, when I was knee deep in culinary complications that needed my undivided attention, the wind got sneaky. It did what no one predicted. It turned straight offshore. And there we were, happily eating our Thanksgiving feast, when we happened to look at the surf photos from this evening. Green and glassy, with perfect offshore winds. Oh the irony! People are starving in the world, you ungrateful bastard surfers, and all you can think about it how you missed two hours of good waves.

first HD gopro clip + upcoming Jaws

This is the first clip I shot with the new HD GoPro.

first gopro HD clip from giampaolo cammarota on Vimeo.

The action is not that exciting and there's a couple of drops on the lens, but I just wanted to give you an idea of how crisp the image is. And I didn't even select the highest resolution. And uploading it to a vimeo (or youtube) reduces its quality. But still, compare it to this other one shot with the regular definition wide angle and you'll see the difference...
I'll do a more extensive report on the camera when I have a bit more experience (and better footage!).
Oh, I was trying the chest mount. Nice angle from between the harness lines...

Wednesday morning, the dawn of a giant NW swell episode that should last a couple of days. With all these pros in town and a strong wind forecast (at least for Thursday), Jaws is going to be packed. I heard of three helicopters, plenty jet skis, hordes of people on the cliff filming and watching.
I'll make sure to be somewhere else, sailing relatively uncrowded waves...

PS. Don't miss the live action at Sunset beach in Oahu for the first day of the surf contest. It's going to be massive over there. I actually doubt they will run it... we'll see. BTW, the webcast is also on OC16: I'm going to record it and watch it tonight (if I'm still alive...).
Plenty Maui surfers in the first round:
- Ola Eleogram in heat 1
- Clay Marzo in heat 4
- Hank Gaskell in heat 5
- Kai Barger in heat 14
- Granger Larsen in heat 15

Talking about surf contests, Thursday (Thanksgiving day) the annual Paia Bay invitational surf contest will be held. Unfortunately I have to work till 1.30 and won't be able to take part. Bummer.
Well, actually, with this kind of forecast I'm kind of relieved... the (alternative) Bay can get gnarly with that size...
Have fun without me, you guys. Be safe!

The Holidays Begin!

The surf drops, the wind comes onshore, and we get a slow and steady rain. I was going to ride the bike today, instead of surfing.

Welcome to the five day Thanksgiving break!

Thanks!

This Evening's Session was a Flop

I did not sit down to a bountiful feast,
I was greeted with leftovers and winds from the east.
The walls they were ruffled, and closed out too fast,
I cried and I whined and landed on my ass.

Surfing Wetsuits -A good safe guard

We are talking about one hidden factor. Water conducts heat away from the body a lot quicker and more efficiently than air. The condition that results in too long exposure to colder water is called as hypothermia, that causes severe damages,if not treated right on time. You witness on the beach many surfers in the wet suits irrespective of the temperature of water.

The material used and the way it has been manufactured in these wetsuits, make all the difference. Neoprene, used in these wet suits,is a type of rubber material allowing water into the material, this in turn forms a barrier against the temperature of the water surrounding the wearer. This keeps the surrounding water of the wearer suitable to his body temperature.

These wet suits are the result of advanced technology and the significant research. Heating panels,which can heat the important areas of the wetsuit is the example of this blend. Three main developers are there .They are heating panels being powered by batteries, solar powered cells and chemically respectively

Wetsuits are known for the variety,design and the material used. It's remarkable thickness is varies from 3mm upwards. There is a huge variety in shapes,size and designs. There are even vests and shorties also.

Rash guard is the most popular among the wetsuits. It is available in all shape and sizes. It safe guards your skin against rashes,stings and sea water. If you are getting rash guard ,it means you are buying surfing gear and equipments well.

Redemption!

About three hours before sunset, everything changed. The wind went offshore, the sun came out from behind the clouds, and oh, what fun we had! Bob called after lunch
(with my pals Amber and Matt) and said, "Keep an eye on the wind, it may be turning." I knew the tide would be perfect for Crossovers in an hour or so, and with a bit of luck...

I pulled up to Crossovers at about 3pm, and it had already cleaned up. The parking lot was empty, and there were only three guys in the water. I called Bob, and he said he was on his way. Andy was tired of chasing it all over creation, and went to look at his ramp.

"Well dip me in shit..." were his exact words, as he walked up to his ramp to check it.

He decided to just hit it there with Mark. We compared notes later, at sunset, and he was frothing, had his stoke back, and was mumbling semi-coherently about the waves he had ridden - and had seen Mark ride!

Redemption!

Bob had so many good ones, in fact I paddled down to where he was after one left I saw him flying on. We were so stoked! I had about four waves that stand out in memory. The first was a glassy right that a-framed, and I raced outside to meet it. I turned that little Dominator and three strokes later, I was flying down the steep face sticking my arm in the face to slow it down to better set up for the bowling wedge, yippee! And, cutback!

Number two was a set wave left that walled up where I was. It almost seemed I was too deep, but the guy that was paddling for it saw me at the last second, and said GO! and I did. It was one of the better ones of the session, and walled up and started pitching. I had to race around a section and then it opened up, and I slid up the face and around, it was heaven!

The third one was sketchy, but proves what this board is capable of. The sun came out, creating this golden glare that was almost dangerous because you couldn't see, on the take off going left, what was inside. A bigger left wedged up, and I had to go for it, and was instantly engulfed in the vortex.

This is something every surfer needs to experience at least once.

I was pitted inside the foam ball, in the dead center of it. I knew because I could feel the whitewater swirling all around me, which in and of itself is rather frightening because you have no control, really, and could just roll with your board at any moment. But, the board stuck and held, and I stayed on it, feeling the airy vacumn all around me. It was amazing. Then, I came to the end of it, still on the board, grabbed the rail, and popped out of the whitewater with the board in my hand! It felt like I had defied gravity and the very forces of nature - ha!

Last memory was the scariest. I was riding another vertical rolling left and the whitewater engulfed me, only this time, I was not in the center. I got rolled, and felt the board slide from under me, and I rolled like a ragdoll with the board inches from me. I hit it once or twice as I bounced and rolled, and then when I landed, it was on my ass on the fins - OWwwwwwww! Luckily, I has me some padding there, and will only have some bruises, no punctures, thank you, King Neptune.

Bob and I stayed out until the sun was sitting on the horizon. The sunset was astounding. The clouds were orange and pink, as dolphins frolicked nearby. One dolphin tried to catch a wave, right in front of me! What a difference from this morning. From crap to epic!

The Addiction Turns on Itself

It seems this curse has disturbed me so much that I lost sleep last night. I did the calculations when I woke up before dawn. Hmmm, let's see. Weekend comes, it turns to crap. Tomorrow, back to work, and the forecast calls for offshore winds! The good: I only work one full day this upcoming week. The bad: the one day I have to work (and should work) is ... tomorrow when the waves will clean up. More bad: predictions of onshores for the entire holiday that I have off. That's FIVE days of predicted crap winds. Arrrgggh! More bad: the fact that the San Francisco trip to see my boy has gone belly up, too many complications to pull it off.

It just feels like a curse has been imposed.

Around 4am, I was focused on coming up with some excuse to get out of work on Monday, resulting in oversleeping for the first time in ages. This resulted in our missing catching Crossovers at dawn, like we planned. I was supposed to check it before dawn. By the time Andy, Mark, and I checked it, it was too late. The tide was already getting too high. We ended up trekking back to the pier to ride crappy, choppy junk. Andy gave up first, but Mark and I hung in longer, convincing ourselves that we were actually having fun. The Dominator did prove, again, that it can handle junk ... creating an illusion of semi-joy while doing it.

Here comes the cold front, the rain, and the gray skies ... curses!

Bali Surf Guide

The island of Bali is one of the most incredible surf spot in the world and has been known for years. Lately, the numbers of surfers in Bali has increased big time and also many Balinese go International for surfing competition around the world. Not only that its has been so many times Bali also make the International surfing Competition, many surfer from overseas come and join the surfing competition.



Facilities for beginners, intermediate, advanced and professional surfers on Bali has been improved, surf shops and schools in Kuta, Legian, Sanur, Nusa Dua and other spot surf will sell just about everything what you need for surfing. Not only for that, Bali has provided so many good surf school for short lesson. There are surf boards and boogie boards for rent in every spot for surfing. For beginner, you don’t have to worry about starting for surfing, Bali has provided everything for the beginner until professional surfer.



Reasonable place to stay for surfer are important also, in Kuta you can find reasonable price for surfer and also for some place they provided for surf camp or you just rent a boat and enjoy the surfing trip them. Its pretty easy to arrange your surfing trips, which is you can booked when you arrived in Bali or you can booked true the surf school website before you fly down to Bali.



Bali has several beaches that considered as famous surf spot in Indonesia. One of the beach is called Uluwatu. Uluwatu is just incredible beach for surfers, attracting surfers from all around the world and beware Uluwatu is for experienced surfers only. The acces is quite complicated and there is a very small beach among rocks and cliffs. There is a bar on the top where you have amazing views. There is accommodation just there so this is the place if you go to Bali just for surfing.



Actually Indonesia has some spot for surfing, maybe if you have plenty of time for surfing you should go to G-land (East Java); Mentawai and Nias (Sumatra Island) and Sumbawa (Flores). If you want to get the best out of your next surfing trip outside Bali, may I advice you to go on with organized surf tour. There are surfing charters and tour from Bali to all spot surf destination.





With great quality surfing school and waves for surfers, Bali is the best destination for surfing. No doubt that Bali named it with Surfing Paradise. Start from now, booked your trip for your next surfing journey, you will never disappointed because Bali has the good waves for entire year.

water shots!

Boy, was Hookipa crowded today or what?



I chose to sail there only because there were two friends in the water that would have taken photos of me.
Very hard to catch the good waves when the level of the other sailors is so incredibly high like in these days (most pros are here), but thanks to the talent of Francky, I got a couple of nice shots!

Tomorrow is going to be pretty damn big. Unfortunately I have to work in the morning and I won't able to take photos of Hookipa. Hopefully Francky will. Check his website for that, he's got some really good shots.


This one is Morgan. Great colors: Superfreak, rainbow, shorts...


And this one is Glenn on his new Quatro custom quad.


These are the photos I took instead.
Monsieur Bergeron.


Monsieur Albeau. We had a nice swim for our boards together. He beat me.


Glenn.


Long time no see something like that.


The buoys are already sensing the forerunners (1 foot 22 seconds at Waimea) of the new NW swell.
I just received my new HD Gopro camera. Time to put it to work...

PS. Sunday and Monday will see the last two days of the surf contest at Haleiwa. Live webcast here. Start at 8am Hawaii time.

mid wipeout nap

Found this photos on FB:

Russian sailor Seva taking Super Freak "comfort" to a whole new level! zzzz.


Just a few words on the forecast that looks awesome. From the NOAA site:

Outlook through Thursday Nov 26: a large northwest swell is expected to begin filling in Saturday night, likely reaching advisory levels Sunday and Monday then slowly lowering into Tuesday. A larger northwest swell is expected to fill in Tuesday night, and peak late Wednesday or Wednesday night.

Holy smoly guacamole!!!

The Spell is Broken...

Are you happy now, Bob? The weekend has arrived and what happens? ONSHORES! Andy and I were whining at sunrise, moping at our assigned dawn patrol posts. Our luck had to run out sometime. We stared out at a choppy sea, with all the time in the world to surf, and it looked like crap.

But, all hope was not lost. We had our secret weapons! The quads!

Andy said his ramp looked like poop. I gazed out at Crossovers, the tide already filling in. It would have been the best spot of all, if the tide had been low at 8am. We decided to look farther south, and so it began.

We met up at the new wash-through inlet, and Mark joined us. We watched it for awhile, talked about board design, and then said WHAT THE HECK, LET'S PADDLE OUT!

It turned out to be a good call, as with lower expectations we found that we were quickly dropping in a ton of waves and ... smiling. The quads were proving themselves, and how they stick and fly in crazy and marginal conditions. Time after time, I had a lurching wave that, on my other board I know I would have blown, but on the Dominator miraculously pulled off. One left lurched up in a closeout, and I just went for the lip, knowing it was worthless, but the board popped up and over and down, and I my jaw dropped as I tried to comprehend HOW I had pulled it off. On one late drop, I felt sure I was going clam digging on the ocean floor, but boom, it slid and held and I felt confident, and I made it, just unbelievable.

I cannot wait to get this Firewire in a glassy, shoulder high day, in waves with open faces. So far, all I have had are jacking peaks with not much wall. And, I have had a blast. Imagine when it's a really good day...

More to come...

Friends are the best...

Philippe + bunch of links

New NNW swell and very hard conditions yesterday at Hookipa with the wind that got shut down multiple times by the squalls. I managed to take a decent shot of Philippe.


And now it's time to publish a bunch of links I received from the readers.

The Windsurfer International issue 3 is out. (note: I can visualize it with Firefox, but not with IE)

Fabrice Beaux and Bruno Sillac made another Oahu wave sailing video. Plenty Da Spot action at the beginning.

Cookie's new video.

Some cool beach environmental art action.

Hawaii's beaches are disappearing.

Pat Caldwell's local tv interview.