Category: Surfing

0809 Trip Day 20 | Maui

It was another early riser this morning. Pre dawn we pulled up to Ho’okipa to be extremely disappointed. There has been all this talk about the XXL Swell headed to Maui and we were supposed to be getting some by now. It was small, waist to head high waves coming through. It was still a good time, but we were hoping for a little more size. We were in the water until about 10am and then it was off to the Airport and on my way to Florida.

Maui was terrific. I had a great time meeting tons of new people, old friends and seeing a new place. I learned a lot and even progressed my photography a bit. It was a great leg of the trip.

For all the pictures for Day 20, Click HERE

0809 Trip Log:
Day1, Day2, Day3, Day4, Day5, Day6, Day7, Day9, Day10, Day11, Day12, Day13, Day14, Day15, Day16, Day17, Day18, Day19, Day20, Day21, Day22

January 15, 2009
0809 Trip Day 19 | Maui

We woke up this morning just before sunrise. After looking out over Maui we narrowed down our search of waves off of Frank’s porch. We headed out to go check a couple breaks. The spot we rode was nicknames “Sandpiles” by the guys.

A few others joined us for the dawn session including, Bryan Altham, Randy Royse, Greg Sheehan and helicopter master Eddie. We rode there for a couple hours. There were some good waves that came through but the waves really backed off from the previous day.

Tomorrow is expected to pick up a lot again so we might be able to get a morning session in before my flight. After the session we checked a couple other spots, Kanaha was too far of a swim and by the time we got out to Paia the Kona winds were already starting to crank. We headed back to Frank’s house for a little R&R, food and editing.

Julien and I again headed to Morris’ house to do a little more work to his standups. Then we went to Hookipa where julien did Standup at Lanes and I shot Lanes and Hookipa. The waves were still large and there were some rippers out again. As soon as the sun went down, Frank came out to shoot a couple portrait shots. We then ran up to Haiku to go see Daniel the board glasser and then returned home for my last night in Maui for a while.

For all the pictures for Day 19, Click HERE

0809 Trip Log:
Day1, Day2, Day3, Day4, Day5, Day6, Day7, Day9, Day10, Day11, Day12, Day13, Day14, Day15, Day16, Day17, Day18, Day19, Day20, Day21, Day22

January 14, 2009
0809 Trip Day 18 | Maui

I had got a bunch of editing done yesterday morning. After we headed back towards Paia. Julien headed out to Tow with Eraldo and Gerald. I hung out at Lanes and Hookipa. I took a nice nap on the beach and then Jon Modica and Greg Norman showed up.

The surf was large today, although my large is not a lot of these guy’s large. It was easily twice as big as the day before. They were calling it 6-7 foot Hawaiian. I wound up spending the rest of the day there shooting from the lookout watching the massive waves roll in. Without anywhere to store my gear I couldn’t head out.

I waited there until dark for Julien to come back in from towing. I meet up with Frank Forbes (the guy in the Standup shots from a couple days ago) again. He invited me to come to his house and then head out early in the morning to ride. I took him up on the offer so hopefully we’ll score something tomorrow.

For all the pictures for Day 18, Click HERE

0809 Trip Log:
Day1, Day2, Day3, Day4, Day5, Day6, Day7, Day9, Day10, Day11, Day12, Day13, Day14, Day15, Day16, Day17, Day18, Day19, Day20, Day21, Day22

January 13, 2009
0809 Trip Day 17 | Maui

I’m not even going to tell you how we started the day today… after the coffee shop and some work we headed to Hookipa again. I hung out on the beach for an hour or so watching the surfers and relaxing. The tide started to drop a bit and the waves started to get better. I put the waterhousing together and swam out. The break was still packed at Hookipa.

We grabbed one shot at Hookipa before we had to move to a different break as it was too crowded to Standup there. We swam down to Lanes which looks a lot closer than it really is. Already at Lanes was Frank and Brian. I shot with the three of them for a couple hours.

The tide was really dropping out and the reef was getting uncomfortably shallow. To add upon that, twords the end of the session we had about 15 set waves hit us in a row. Duck dive after duck dive I made it out, somehow unscathed, while the boys were having a much tougher time on the inside with those big boards.

After shooting for a couple hours, the swim back to Hookipa was not the most enjoyable. Back on the beach exhausted and striping myself of gear I hear, “Hey do you shoot in Hatteras?” I look up and laugh, its Elliot Leboe of ACL Productions headed out for a surf. It was good to run into him again. We headed into town for a little and then again on the way home we stopped back at Lanes to shoot a couple sunset pictures.

For all the pictures for Day 17, Click HERE

0809 Trip Log:
Day1, Day2, Day3, Day4, Day5, Day6, Day7, Day9, Day10, Day11, Day12, Day13, Day14, Day15, Day16, Day17, Day18, Day19, Day20, Day21, Day22

January 12, 2009
0809 Trip Day 16 | Maui

Day 15 was started the same as the last few days (I’m hoping one of these posts will start a little different). We headed up to Haiku to meet up again with Danny of D Surfboard Repair so that Julien could give him the exact specs for glassing his new Rawson Tow Board. I was able to get off a couple cool shots in the finishing and glassing rooms.

From there, we headed to Ho’okipa. The waves really didn’t look too great and it was way more crowded today because it is the weekend. I decided to shoot while Julien headed out on the SUP. I hiked around Ho’okipa a bit. After shooting and watching the grommets rip up the mushy waves, we headed to Morris’ house to work on one of the SUP boards.

We then went to the grocery store where I think there is at least a dollar markup on every product. On the way back home we stopped by Lanes so I could grab a couple sunset shots. As we were back on the road passing Ho’okipa Julien spotted a couple Humback’s out past the break. We pulled over to try and grab a shot.

We finally made it home with the ice half melted. Julien finished getting the ski ready for the up coming swell. I pulled out the strobes and setup for a couple portrait shots. After running completely out of light we headed in and called it a night.

For all the pictures for Day 16, Click HERE

0809 Trip Log:
Day1, Day2, Day3, Day4, Day5, Day6, Day7, Day9, Day10, Day11, Day12, Day13, Day14, Day15, Day16, Day17, Day18, Day19, Day20, Day21, Day22

January 11, 2009
Surfs up

Sam, Jason and Julien headed out for a quick surf session during lunch. I stayed about 20 minutes after deciding not to paddle out. I grabbed a couple shots of them getting the three waves in the 20 minutes of me being there. I get back to work to find out that it started firing after I left the beach. That is the way surfing seems to be, “you should have been here an hour ago the waves were pumping”.

November 7, 2008
Blue Waves in Hatteras

It was a full moon tonight. Carrie, Scott, Judith and I headed to the beach to check it out. The Bioluminescence were out in force. As the wave broke, it looked like a fountain with blue lights glowing where the white water usually was. It was a very cool thing to see. I have heard people talk about going out and kayaking when that happens but to see the waves break with them glowing was something really cool. I tried to grab a couple shots but without a tripod proved difficult.

October 15, 2008
Dawn Patrol

Woke up pre-dawn to get all set up to catch the sunset at the pier from this really cool place we had found that gives you a nice video of the beach, pier and ocean. This was the morning, you could tell by the cloud pattern already in the sky. As the sun started to come up it broke trough the clouds on the horizon along the colors and light to shine through. I waited to for the perfect moment to grab the shot.

I was looking for then ran to the beach were i saw people had left their beach chairs set up for the next day’s beach going. I thought it would be a cool shot to see all the texture in the clouds with the pier but light up the chairs so i ran back to the truck to grab the flashes. I grabbed a couple shots. I couldn’t take it anymore by that point, so i called my photo session to an end, went back to the truck again and switched out my camera for my surfboard.

It turned out to be one of my best surf sessions in a hong time. Kyle was out paddling already with only 2 other guys out, it made for an amazing morning session. The waves were waist-head high and glassy. I rode a 6’4 fish and scored a bunch of fun rights and a couple lefts that came through. Ryan was out shooting and grabbed a couple shots for me.

August 28, 2008
Last night was REAL Watersports’ 7th anniversary party. To say the least it was a blast. The whole company looked great all dressed up for a change. Dub Island played on the boat on the way to dinner. The rest is better left unmentioned.

The surf today was extremely fun. It was chest high and pretty clean. I headed out for a paddle during lunch and Chris Stephany snapped a couple pics. Most of the crew and just about every other surfer on the east coast was out in the lineup. I was still able to grab a couple fun rides. The forcast for the waves looks good for the rest of the week, while the wind forecast looks dismal at best.

August 25, 2008