Jip's new video!

Check out Jip's new video, he shot it while his lovely girl friend Inga was in town. Enjoy...

Theo's Cove

Earlier this week Jip, Turbo and I (Juan) headed down to Theo's house which is in the middle of the Haiku/Huelo forest. Theo started working with us when he moved to Maui about a year ago. Its been pretty cool to see him quickly turn into such a sick windsurfer. He used to be a sponsored surfer in high school, but stopped competing when his family moved to Florida. His solid surfing background has helped him become a ripping wave sailor.



He's been raving about this beautiful little beach he found near his house where he's been going spear fishing with his roommate Tony. His house is a good 5 minutes off Hana Highway on a windy one lane dusty road, it probably makes for some exciting driving when it rains. At the end there's a steep eroded dirt driveway. If I didn't know any better I'd say his house was designed by a collaboration between Tarzan and Robinson Crusoe. Its kind of a luxury tree house powered by a huge solar panel, but they don't use anything electric in there. He still uses candle light and cooks all his meals on a propane grill. Pretty rad, man.

We all geared up and started trekking down a trail along a river into a gulch which ended at this perfect bay. Completely unspoiled, this place felt righteous, irie, peaceful, just perfect. If there was ever a Garden of Eden, this was it.



We jumped off the lava shelf and into water. There were steep valleys, I estimated them to be at least 100 ft deep. Theo said they were only 40 ft, made me feel like a wuss when I tried to touch the bottom and didn't come halfway there. We've seen allot of big fish down there. Theo's seen his first ever Ulua, I've seen a few big Uhus. I tried to shoot a couple but missed every time, lucky buggahs. Getting out of the water was much harder than jumping in, Theo told us that we had to wait for a wave to sweep us onto the lava shelf which was a good 6 feet (3 feet on Theo's measuring scale) above our floating heads. I thought he was kidding until he gets picked up by a wave that gently sits him on the shelf completely unscathed. I was up next, first wave slams me up against the wall. I should've waited for a bigger one, but just tried to pull myself up onto the slab. It was much harder than I thought it would be, but I eventually made it up. Turbo was much smarter and came right up on a good wave, Jip was next and had a hard time getting up. Like me he tried to pull himself up, but long dive fins, wet clothes and surging waves made this pretty difficult. He eventually got out with only a couple scratches on his stomach.



It was a beautiful day, and it was amazing to see how there are still places that haven't been ruined by over development. It was cool to see that there are still plenty of adventures to be had and places to be "discovered" even in densely populated countries like the US. I hope no one takes advantage anymore of what has been given to us. Gotta keep da Country country.

The Bob Chronicles

This is the first of Bob's chronicles. He also sent us these pictures. Enjoy...

When I passed Ho’okipa the waves were huge. The wind was light but I felt encouraged that it would be stronger down at Spreckelsville. The weeks of rain had left my driveway in Haiku a muddy mess and I was filled with "cabin fever". I thought, "Finally an opportunity to get in some wave sailing and work off all of that eating."

This time of year at the beach is my favorite. At Sprecks, Drew and the others were tired, having already been out for hours. I rigged a 4.5 and noticed when I hit the water, nobody else was sailing Uppers. The waves which usually broke on the two reefs appeared to be breaking everywhere.

The surf was larger than I had realized, but since I was never scared at Sprecks
like I am sometimes at Hookipa, I was feeling pretty good. I did some reaches, jumped a couple and made some turns. Then the stuff hit the fan. I was caught inside a mast-high plus bomber and my timing was bad. It was too late to turn, jump or get around the shoulder. When I tried to pop over I went backwards over the falls and my rig was stripped from my hands. I swallowed water and fought for breath. My heart was pounding when I saw my board was way down wind and still going.

My experience told me to try to remain calm but the next wave was breaking and when I went to dive below it threw me over backwards. This time I sucked in more salt water and felt dizzy. My swimming and resolve were weakening and as I headed downwind for my board I realized that it was more important to save my energy for the next wave. While I was swimming to reach my board another set coming through gently picked it up and dropped it even farther away.

I was scared being so close to the beach yet so out of control. Then there was another sailor who seemed to materialize from nowhere. Riding a slalom board with a speed sail in this big surf, he still looked like he was out for a Sunday drive. He told me, "Grab my footstrap and I’ll tow you!" A couple of minutes later I was back with my board and out of trouble. He asked if I was alright now and I nodded my thanks.

I held on to my flotation and let the waves wash me across the reef and into shore. I may have drowned if I hadn’t received the help. The news later told of an experienced surfer missing that day. Jim Broach (45) of Oahu was presumed drowned by a set at Phantoms estimated by his peers at 25 foot. When I later thanked the sailor who towed me, he said, "I only hope someone would do the same for me."

So, unlikely as it is, if you ever see world champion speed sailor Eric Beale in trouble out there, please help him. On a sunny Maui winter day that I will long remember, he came to my aid and saved my life.

Robert "Mystery Bob" Gilbert