Sometimes April can be really good. Last year we had a couple big swells during April and even a 10-12 ridable day at Pipe. This year in April we had lots of waves, but nothing extradordinary on the Northshore. Now if you like Rocky Rights, Poops and Lanis you would have had some fun days, but between the strong trade winds and NE to NNW swells there were rare moments of really great surf, but certainly something to ride almost every day. There were a few days with perfect conditions where even Ehukai got fun. I know a lot of people were checking out Mokuleia which must have been pretty good too. Town got going and there were a couple days that had some solid 5 foot barrells at the Big Bowl and it was no secret, a lot of people showed up for the excitement.
It's really quite around here, hardly anyone on the Northshore, Its real nice and peaceful.
It's almost like the old days except for the turtle crowds and tourists who never fail to cause traffic jams by Laniakea which has been made out to be some kind of a natural zoo for the turtles. It is very strange and has really changed the beach there so it is kinda sad.
The Vog has been a problem for most Hawaii residents this month. I guess you could say Kilauea has been heating up over on the Big Island. It is erupting in two areas which had sulfur dioxide levels elevated to the point where they had to close the park and evacuate people from nearby areas.
The Vog travels to Oahu with the Kona or variable wind patterns and you can get a variety of irritations from it including; allergies, itchy eyes, lathargy, joint pain, sore throat, migrains and more. In the nearly 20 years I've been in Oahu, I've never been able to see the Vog like I have this month. One day when I was driving back from town, I felt like I was in a crater with something that looked like steam rising in the trees on each side of me, a strong haze amongst a glowing ball of a sun and I could actually taste it on the tip of my tongue.
The Ala Wai Parking problem threatening Bowls, Rockpiles, Kaisers and Threes seems to be getting another chance after the outpouring of support and hearings early this year. They had one more meeting this month and will have two more in the upcoming month to see if the DLNR and the community can come up with a good plan for the area. It seems that the second meeting will strike right on the same time as one of the better south swells we have seen in a long time.
A lot of the guys are in Tahiti right now for the trials and have put the word out that its coming. Sets were said to be as high as 18 ft at Teaupoo when they had to stop the contest and let the tow surfers do their thang. Jamie O'Brien who had a broken ear drum was going to sit the contest out, but once he saw the swell, he went straight over and got slotted into the early rounds. Obrien scored some killer waves on the first day along with a swollen eye and a fat lip, but it didnt stop him from joining into the tow session that afternoon nor to claim his victory 2 days later.
Linda Lingle has started a webpage concerning the progress of their purchase to buy Turtle Bay. http://hawaii.gov/gov/turtlebay It is certainly still moving forward.
Aloha Airlines and ATA arilines went out of business this month within 10 days of each other leaving several spring breakers stuck in paradise. Some had to pay astronomical prices to get home whether it was tourists going back to the mainland, or Hawaiians coming home. It was a mess! The government stepped in to help out by chartering some extra flights with Hawaiian Airlines for travelers who had time to wait. Aloha's cargo planes stayed in business until April 28th when lawsuits caused them to go down too. The islands are threatened by the fact that Aloha Cargo carries over 80% of Hawaii's imports. Its making residents and businesses in Hawaii nervous to say the least.
The Kokua Festival was held this month and there were several events which accompanied it. Matt Costa played at Next Door and the crowd was wall to wall.
The line up for Kokua included Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews/ Tim Reynolds, Paula Fuga, Mason Jennings and Go Jimmy Go. The event which focuses on going green and coincides with the celebration of Earth day usually sells out in moments and is really hard to get tickets for. Surfrider had a successful beach cleanup this month on the Ala Wai canal, they are brave because the Ala Wai can really stink on a bad day! wooooo
Renowned big wave surfer Woody Brown died this month. He was 96. RIP
