Did you ever play a video game and start out so bad you just hit the restart button, then you did it again and again and again until you finally got a good rhythm going in the game? I was earnestly seeking that red button all winter; as each month came I thought, this will be it, this will be the month where it really turns on, but it really just never happened.
Flynn Novack
There were a few decent swells in February, it was similar to January, but it certainly was not good enough to make up for the rest of the year. As a matter of fact, a good portion of the month was plagued with horrible winds and you know it just never really did the dang thang here on the North shore this year.
One thing you can be sure of is that you are probably not the only one feeling left a little hungry this winter. The Waimea guys got really ruined. If there were any 20 foot sets this year, you could count them on one hand and that would be pushin' it, and I don't mean for one day, I mean all year. The Pipeline had several days of second reef surf if you don't mind surfing in between wash through waves or surfing contests. This year, most of the events took 1/2 days because of the poor conditions causing the spot to be even more overloaded than usual.
Despite the fact that so many days were taken by the contests, the Monster Pro was run in pretty terrible conditions compared to former years. One morning of the event however had really clean conditions and 12 foot sets, but a lot of the waves were still shutting down right in the middle.
Jesse Hines
Many pertinent Pipe surfers struggled to make their way into the quarters qualifying them into next years Pipemasters, but it was certainly a task especially on the final day which looked like a big beach break with swells coming from about 4 different angles. Jamie O' Brien was not phased by any of it, taking his third Pipe title that day. Runner up Australian Mark Matthews made his mark in the event grabbing one of the best Pipe waves ridden all season, Rob Machado took third and Gavin Gillette fourth. Flynn Novak was pretty stoked to make semis along with young Chaz Chidester, Fred Patacchia and Danny Fuller.
Mark Mathews
Ironically, the Monster Pro ended on the same night as the Bob Marley fest concert with Lauryn Hill, providing contestants with the perfect celebration. They played at the Water Park so a bunch of the guys packed into limos and did it right that night.
North Shore Limo
When they called off the Monster Pro one day due to the swell being too big for Pipe; Jamie Sterling, Jamie O Brien, Dave Wassell and Garrett McNamara teamed up to take advantage of an ESPN film crew who had a permit allowing them to tow in from the third reef. That was pretty exciting to watch because they had so much speed they were able to carve up and down the huge faces of the wave and really surf it like never before.
Dave Wassel
Jamie Sterling
The Bank of Hawaii Tow In Event ran on February 15th, which just so happened to be the biggest most rideable Pipe day all year, which shows that they didn't get what they wanted size-wise for the tow in event, but still delivered some great surfing all the same.
North Shore Tow
The Bay was reported to have had a couple 18 foot waves early that morning around 9:30am which was probably the peak of the swell, but the afternoon was more consistently breaking in the 12-15 ft range when Makua Rothman and his partner Ikaika Kalama won the event leaving Brazilians Carlos Burle and Heraldo Gurrieros to take second place. It was a busy day for lifeguards who performed 9 rescues at Pipe alone.
North Shore Tow
North Shore Tow
Cholos Mexican Restaurant is getting behind the girls along with Heavywater Magazine to present the Women's Pipeline Championships from March 6-16 so we will see if the waves will come together and deliver a nice package for the girls this year. There have been more girls than ever spotted charging big Pipe, and a handful of Brazilian girls have been taking it to a new level in big surf this year so it should be an exciting event.
Pipeline
Plenty of whales were putting on a good show for locals and tourists alike this month along with an occasional Monk seal.
Monk Seal
There were also a couple small days where the water was so clear, it seemed as if you were surfing in an aquarium.
Pipeline
Brian Bielman won a photo contest for Red Bull, which earned him some cold cash money and a ticket too shoot for them this year.
Volcom purchased the Pipe house for a rumored 4.2 million dollars. They practically own the Pipe path now.
Pipe Aerial
At this point, it's looking like Game Over already. Tiny surf and summer like conditions prevail, besides the fact that its still pretty cold for Hawaii. Typical March looking trade wind weather has set in as well, but surf forecasters predict that the jetstream could reform for one more big one so we won't give up hope. Town is starting to show face already; a true sign that summer is around the corner.
by Lane Davey
Fire Dancers
