TRADE SECRETS
There are a couple of spots over that way that are closely guarded secrets by the locals, in the loop though was Timo Mullen who had found decent wind and waves and was heading in. As soon as word spread that it was on, the likes of Boujmaa, Philip Koester and Kevin Pritchard were all up for a road trip and ten minutes outside Kahului on the North Shore we broke free of the cloud cover and were now heading round the West Maui’s, bathed in brilliant sunshine. Another hour or so of driving and we finally came to a spot way past Lahaina where Timo was already out with a bunch of locals looking like he was having a ball. Having been to this spot umpteen times in the past, I knew it was a terrible place to shoot with the main peak breaking over three hundred metres from the beach and so many stories of sharks in this area that water photography is a pretty risky option. With Koester, KP and Boujmaa all hungry for a session I decided to let them go sail while I hunted down another spot. After half an hour of total frustration, I stumbled upon a little alley beside some hotels with a beach access sign so decided to investigate. Five minutes later I was looking out at head to logo breaking waves with around twenty five knot winds blasting all the way to the shoreline. There was nobody out but this place certainly looked doable, all I had to do now was persuade the others to come give it a go. Easier said than done! Twenty minutes later I am back at the first spot with all the guys out ripping on the water and little hope of dragging them in. To make matters worse, the moment I rocked up I watched in awe as Boujmaa hit a logo high ramp at warp speed and spiralled into the highest back loop I think I have ever seen. Talk about frustrating, this just didn’t feel like my lucky day so far.
“ Out of nowhere Maui had delivered another one of those magical moments, combining awesome sailing and amazing scenery ” – JC