When I first turned up at Pipe this morning before sunup there was a solid 15 foot plus set, but after that it was pretty much 10-12 ft. The waves were an absolute mess, no barrels, not even anything that looked like a wave. The hardcore handful of boogies went out with Anthony Walsh and then one other surfer paddled out, but it was bad. Even Anthony who makes the impossible waves, possible was having a hard time finding a ride, maybe he was trying to fake out the contest. The boogies weren't getting much either, it was bad, doesn't get much worse, but its been like that for most of the last couple months, so its on. The contest is on. They may have to take the guys out to their heats with jetskis after ever ride because otherwise they may only get one ride per heat. It was starting to drop and cleaning up a lot right when I left but still far from decent. A lot of guys who should be in this event are not, local guys like Tamayo and Myles are on the waiting list. Stephon from Brazil who puts himself into some serious pits on big days said he was like 40th on a list of 70 or so alternates and who knows with conditions like today some may be eager to give up their slot. To my knowledge, the local Pipe event used to get four days and now that they have cut it back to three days, some key guys are left out. As much as I hate contests, I hate it more that locals guys don't get into these events. This event deserves another day! Dave Wassel said we are going to earn our money out here today. One thing about Pipe, it can change and get good real quick so for the sake of all the guys who put it on the line out there, I hope it does. Good Luck to all the guys out there and to Volcom for holding their first Pipe event.

Sorry about the delay in blogs. For most of the week I was so frustrated with the surf, I could barely think about it, much less write about it. I kind of gave up surfing other spots a few years back, trading it all in for the Pipeline, but this exceptional year has been anything but exceptional for Pipe. We have waited for two years for one swell large enough to just pull all the sand out in front of the break and we finally got that, but swell after close interval swell has proved to be a bad pattern for the Pipeline. Some mornings its more like the wave formerly known as Pipe. The sandbar from Gums has moved so far into Pipe that it looks more like Gumline than Pipeline. Other days there are sandbars inside of the wave that make it look like 5 waves in one and it is very dangerous. There is hardly ever a channel to get out anymore and the current is so strong from the sandbars that you have to paddle the whole time just to stay in the line up. I think even the best Pipe surfers are still missing anything close to an epic Pipe ride this season. Our best two swells were still from late September and early October.

Most seasons we wait for the waves to get big, but this season I have been waiting for it to get small because I am hoping a few days of small waves might solve this sandbar problem we have had at Pipe for the past two months. I heard Thursday evening was like Kirra on the sandbars and yesterday was really fun too. By tonight it was pretty manini, but I wish there was one more day of small waves for those sandbars to relax. This afternoon, it looked at least like the bars inside Pipe were a little less menacing, however I still got stuck in a current line out there this morning and it was only 3 ft.

It has been a crazy season. I just hope there are some presents for us Pipe soldiers in the next couple months before its all over. Looks a little bit funky with weather patterns and and more NW swells in the near future, but February has proved to be exceptional at Pipe in the past so my hopes are high even though there will be back to back contests.

The Volcom Pro Trials for the Pipemasters started their waiting period today and the Boogies kick off February 17th. All I can say is what kind of local trials is it when Tamayo Perrry is 20th alternate? What does a man have to do to earn his place even for the trials? Tamayo is definitely one of the most dedicated, tried and true surfers at Pipe for more than a decade. I mean there are all these contests and all these permit restrictions, but what is the point when the restrictions that are suppose to be for the locals to surf, prevent the locals from surfing in their own event. Pitiful. That whole thing needs to be revised. I think they should take a whole month, run every event at once and run every day if they half to and just get it over with. The worse part is one crew coming in and another crew going out like a broken record all the way till past the surf season mid April. Our beaches suffer from it and look like they are eroding away. So over it. I mean what ever happened to surfing for the sake of catching a good wave?

Here is my husband's gallery from Massive Monday II, January 11,2010. He was calling it Everyman's Day since there was such an absence of Pros in the water. Early looked pretty eerie out there with slight onshore winds, close interval swell and some bombs that looked like they were breaking in a pretty weird section of the Bay. It cleaned up later and the regulars got their feast without any contest or any craziness going on. I guess there was one near close out set that caught everyone out and had a bunch of broken boards all tangled up, I can't believe noone died! I even found a spot right in the parking lot on the point that morning, no problem. A pack of guys are featured on Surfine from that morning riding Himalayas. Looks beautiful out there. I guess now that spot will start getting more crowded too.

Everyone is excited about the huge surf, but if you don't surf Waimea, its kindof like you don't surf. Props to the Bay crew who have waited years for this kind of consistency. Last year the the Bay broke only once for a couple hours and once onshore, the year before I remember it breaking one afternoon in April. This year we have had 4 days, each which would have been a pinnacle of any season and January is not even pau yet. Today's swell and the day before the Eddie were the biggest with sets up to 25 ft but conditions for both were unfavorable with a slight northerly onshore wind chopping it up. I would say there were 25 ft sets early this morning, but that was most likely the peak. Seems like it is dropping and cleaning up already 8:30am. Besides Waimea however, most spots have not had their hayday yet. Pipe has been a big mess for the most part of the month. Its like sandbars are going inside out and coming at you from every angle while you paddle in a current trying to find the usual Pipe peak. A few dedicated kids who stay at Pipe have been the heros so far this year paddling out in every possible window between big Waimea days, but most of us sit sulking for more Pipe approriate type swells with longer intervals. Its a bit of a bummer when everyones raving about great waves and your spot is not providing, but now I know how those Waimea guys felt for all those years. Go get em. Hopefully Pipe soldiers will get their share next month. The Shootout is still on hold. They could have run Friday and Saturday, but the waves were pretty bad at Pipe those days. What I like about the Shootout is that they wait for good waves or dont have it at all. Thats how all contests should be. Ace might be cringing a bit that he let today go for the Northshore Tow-in, but it is pretty choppy right now and might drop a bit by noon. I guess if there is any season to wait for big and perfect, it might be this one.

West swell with west wind. It looks wild washy and warbly, but since its the first swell in a couple months that is just one straight west there is something really apealing about it. There is a nice big channel by Pipe instead of the relentless sandbar thst has been there lately. I think this swell finally pushed the sand over to Ehukai. Good thing because I was starting to forget what its suppose to look like. Thats right, Pipe is a reef break not a shore break. Last night had a couple bombers breaking all the way across from third reef Pipe pass outside Poops but besides that it was mostly 10-15 ft and still that same size this Wednesday morning at 7:45am. The mornings have had a little window of calm winds, but it gets really ugly before midday. Noone paddled out yet today and the wind is getting stronger, it has a bit of south in it right now but it feels like it is starting to swirl around. I guess it should be north wind by tonight and another big west swell coming in with the front. Pat Caldwell says more west swells than normal this January so we should score at some point. At least the landscape is starting to look good. We love west! A cool reggae band from DC called Soja is playing tomorrow night (Jan 7) at Pipeline. They are said to be currently rated in the top ten on ITunes.