Catamaran Surfing in Hawaii

[SurfNRG]

This is CRAZY!!! Check out this photo my friend took of a nice catamaran racing down the face of a sizable swell in Ala Moana. Let's Go Surfin' Now Everybody's Learning How!!! Yikes!!!! Not me, at least in MY boat.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha,
Occasionally the surf breaks across the entrance channel to the Ala Wai. Maybe once or twice a year depending on the storms in the area. Surfing a large boat usually isn't done for fun but to get back into the harbor. Not something for the faint of heart.
Sometimes the boats don't make it and end up on the reef.
regards

[SurfNRG]

This guy supposedly pulled it off quite well and made it safely into the Harbour. I'm sure the only person that really knew how scared the captain really was is the person who does his laundry..,

[Sonosailor]

Is that a Hobie 21? Looks like one of the H-21s they initially made before they calmed it down to a "sport" or "cruiser".

[ColdFusion]

Wow what a picture! That guy has bigger balls than me

[SurfNRG]

Sonosailor, I hope you're joking.., that's no little Hobie cat. It's one helluva nice cruising cat surfing down that wave. How'd would it be sitting on your surfboard watching this guy coming down at you? Lucky no one got run over. Guess the captains only other option would have been to circle outside the harbour and try the next day in hope the swell dropped a bit. I knew a guy who had to do on this in his trimaran outside of Hemingway Marina in Cuba. He ran out of fuel so had to sail a triangle throughout the night.

[roverhi]

Maybe large cojones but a small brain. When the AlaWai closes out, usually lose a boat or two that try and get in or out. They lucked out and got in but it's not always the case. Patience is a lot better reaction to harbors when seas are running or an unfamiliar harbor at night unless really well marked.

[Aussiesuede]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Maybe large cojones but a small brain. When the AlaWai closes out, usually lose a boat or two that try and get in or out. They lucked out and got in but it's not always the case. Patience is a lot better reaction to harbors when seas are running or an unfamiliar harbor at night unless really well marked.

Ain't that the truth. And his was at mid day ffs. With that type of on shore action, he should have just headed for the shadow of Diamond head and hung out. Worst case scenario is that if he had some pending business ashore that he had to attend to, he could have left the shadow of Diamond Head and easily beached it in front of the Surfrider or Dukes and come back the next morning during the tideout. Coming in the way he did @ Ala Moana was a singular chance of successful entry. If he would have rode too far down the face of that wave and started to pitch, he had only a single option - port turn against the face and hope like hell he could miss the shallow shoals of the Ala Moana beachfront. And if he had pitched??? Not pretty. Any swingin one eyed shooter with a board knows that exact spot is prime Tiger Shark feeding country. I look at that picture and just don't know what on earth he was thinkin. Risk vs Reward was like 10 million to 1. He hit the lottery....

[caribcat]

Reminds me of trying to get into Orient Bay FWI with a hurricane swell up my backside on a Lagoon 55. Lost some bowel control on that one....