Hawaiian_Mermaid

Great ocean conditions here in Hawaii, but no big swells yet. This photo is from the Menehune Surf Contest in Haleiwa on the North Shore last weekend.  We start our kids early here.  Contest was for kids 3 thru 12, with parents biting their fingernails on shore, although parents were allowed to help their kids aged 6 and under.  The tiny surfing town of Haleiwa is getting ready for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing due to start up in a couple of weeks. 

Beginning last Thursday October 28 and going until November 10 is the holding period for the HIC Pro at Sunset Beach Park. This contest used to be known as the XCel Pro, and this year picked up a new sponsor, Hawaiian Island Creations (HIC). The HIC Pro is an ASP sanctioned 4-star event and the final qualifier for the Vans Triple Crown due to begin on November 12.  Nothing's really started yet; wave faces have only been 2-3 feet with blown out conditions.  A significant swell is due to start tomorrow, and we think that by Tuesday and Wednesday there may be advisory conditions of 10-20 foot waves.

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It's been a long hot summer in Hawai'i.

There's been so much going on in these islands that I've been too busy to take time out & write about it. Here in the middle of the Pacific surrounded by ocean and nothing else, we don't get picky about what kind of water sports we do - because everybody does it all.  Whether we're surfing, swimming, snorkelling, stand up paddling, boogie boarding, paddling canoe, kite or wind surfing, or scuba diving, it's all good. We're all sharing the same ocean.  So the main thing is to take care of each other and enjoy.

We've had surfers from Hawai'i competing all over the world the past few months.  A big choo-hoo to Kelly Slater who won the recent Rip Curl Pro Portugal surf competition; Hawai'i's Dusty Payne was the last island surfer left in the competition and was eliminated in the third round in a loss to Australia's Adrian Buchan.

A couple of weeks ago, the third swell of an early big-wave season hit the North Shore of Oahu with average peak heights of 10 feet signalling an early winter and getting everybody excited for a few days.  Boards hit the water, kids ditched school and the traffic slowed down as the waves cranked up.  Monster waves never happened, but they will... to check on surf conditions visit http://www.hawaiibeachsafety.org.

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Nobody was disappointed at Dave & Buster's Sandy Beach Pro, the Hawaiian part of the USBA Body Glove Tour. Surf was between 3-6 feet most of the day, while an enthusiastic crowd watched Brazil's Guilherme Tamega overpower the current world champ, Kauai's Jeff Hubbard, in a close daylong match. Hubbard caught some good early waves which got the crowd screaming at the get go.

During the final heat that lasted about a half hour, it was anybody's guess who would end up winning as the lead went back & forth several times. 18 year old Trevor Kam, a local who surfs Sandy all the time, competed as an amateur but made it into the Pro division final with a $6,000 purse as the prize.

Jeff Hubbard's brother, Dave, won the Drop Knee Pro in a squeaker over Bud Miyamoto, also from Kauai.

I'm especially happy to report that Karla Costa Taylor scored beautifully on an air roll spin and strong combo waves to beat out Claudia Ferrari. Both of these women are from Brazil but call Hawaii home today.

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It was a busy weekend for Hawaii's water lovers...both Kamaaina (those who live here) and malihini (visitors). Weather varied from solid sun to partly sunny. People say we have the most perfect weather on earth. A few scattered showers, but it didn't hurt the ocean any. Some warnings of box jellyfish offshore last week didn't last thru the weekend. Two divers spotted a 10 ft. tiger shark off Alii Beach in Haleiwa a few days ago. Haleiwa is on Oahu's North Shore and home of the Reef Hawaiian Pro. Because of the mostly flat ocean conditions, sea turtles come closer to shore and sharks naturally follow their prey. Lifeguards closed the beach for a day & then reopened it in time for the weekend. Northerly swells provided some moderate surf under pretty windy conditions, but most spots were barely rideable while a few spots picked up waves in the knee to waist high range. Tradewinds whipped up some rough offshore conditions.

At Ala Moana Beach Park, stand-up paddlers and swimmers are co-existing with buoys that the county put in the water to separate each group from the other. It's a bit of overkill since a few skirmishes reported to lifeguards brought out the buoy police.

Sat 7/10 and Sun 7/11 saw flocks of bodyboarding fans at Sandy Beach for the Dave and Busters Sandy Beach Pro, part of the Body Glove USBA Tour. I'll be reporting on the outcome of this two day dynamic event soon, so stay tuned.

And congratulations to Hawaii's own Zeke Lau, a 16 year old from Honolulu who won the High School Varsity Men's Shortboard title at the 2010 National Scholastic Surfing Assn championships in Huntington Beach, California last week. Schools in Hawaii are struggling to legitimize surfing as an interscholastic sport amid safety and liability concerns. Wins by young people like Zeke can only help the future of the sport.

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Aloha everybody! I call myself Hawaiian Mermaid because I'm at home in the ocean and on land. I live in Hawaii - Honolulu to be exact. Home to surfing and most other water sports. I'll be posting regularly & keeping you up on what's happening in my part of the great Pacific, so be sure to check in regularly. There is now a way that you can view some of Oahu's famous surf spots from wherever you are - & it's all in real time. The Diamond Head Beach Hotel recently installed 15 high-definition cameras on their roof and web users can control the cameras. Cool huh? Besides being able to view some awesome sunrises and sunsets, the web cam looks directly at Rice Bowls, a local surf spot that can crank some waves during the right season. This web cam isn't in the North Shore or Pipeline area of the island, but you can still get a good look at some spots that locals love on the south shore - Boneyards, Old Mans, Publics, Suicides, Castles and the Waikiki breaks as well. You can view live images (and eat your heart out) on the Ohana Beach Rentals Hawaii website @ www.OBRHI.com. As we say in Hawaii - 'a hui hou' - see ya around!