Life around Maui in the winter time is interesting, we get a mixture of cooler more northerly weather, mixed with wind from the north east, and them some tropical rain. On the North Shore of Maui this weather pattern hangs out for about 3 months out of the year, because of this perfect storm of sorts, Maui, over the past 20 years has become a meca for surfing and windsurfing.
About 12 years ago a few surfers( Gerry Lopez, Laird Hamilton and Derrick Doener) came over to Maui in search of bigger waves to ride during the winter months. At the time Waimea Bay on Oahu's North Shore had been the the wave which all waves were measured. On a good day Waimea would break around 25 ft. Surfers would contemplate paddling out in the large surf knowing that a wave of the size could easy end your surfing season with one wrong move, or worse end your surf program permanently.
What Gerry Lopez found next was a freak of a wave here in Maui. The wave the surfers nicknamed "Jaws" only begun to break at 25 feet. Gerry made the call to Laird and the boys to come to Maui and take a look at this so called monster wave. Gerry told the others they might want to stick around for the winter just to see what it could do with the right conditions.
What happened next changed the surfing world and Modern Big Wave Riding was born. Surfers now, with assistance of powerful jet skiis, tow surfers into waves that are to big to physically paddle into. Now keep in mind that waves of this size only happen maybe a few times a year, the last time Jaws broke with any "Good Size" was the winter of 2004-2005 when 40-50ft waves created some amazingly large waves.
Fast forward to December 6th 2009. We started getting reports that a very large swell was headed straight for the Hawaiian Islands. The news was reporting a major high surf advisory, and a caution was issued for all beach areas around the Hawaiian Islands. Sunday night there was so much nervous energy around town, it was definitely the conversation around the dinner table.
At about 2am Monday December 7th I was woken up to what sounded like a light thunder, the crashing sounds coming about every 15 to 20 seconds. (As a note, I live just up the road from Jaws) I stayed awake for about 2 hours listening to the sound get stronger and stronger. By 6am I was up and packing photo gear ready to see what the conditions looked like. What I saw at first light was one of the most amazing feats of mother nature's power, the north shore of Maui was in direct path of 30-40 foot waves!
By Tuesday Deccember 8th the waves were holding at about 30-40 ft. We decided to pack gear and head out to the break on a friends boat to get a very up close, and personable view of the waves. About a 45 minute boat ride out to the break, through 20-25 foot swell made for a interesting commute to work. Once we got to the break I unpacked my camera gear and set myself up to capture the action of surfers towing into monster waves. Being an active member in the surfing community here in Maui, I knew a lot of the surfers out in the lineup. Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Archie, Kaleo, Kiva, most of the boys were well on there way to catching some of the biggest waves of their lives. To surfers like Laird, and Dave who have surfed this wave for over 10 years, the control and confidence that they posses when riding waves that are taller than a 4 story building is very impressive.
Throughout this adventure I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to see such a impressive display of power and beauty. I look forward to the next big day.
Below are some shots from my boat time at Jaws. enjoy!
