Night Stars

As the night falls on the North Shore of Maui, the first thing I see is the planet Venus.

To see other night stars in the area, one just needs to head to Charley's in Paia.  Here you will find a healthy dose of North Shore nightlife as well as live bands.  Willy Nelson comes here.  

Dawn Patrol

Hookipa at dawn - a special and magical time.  If you live on the North Shore and you love to surf, when can you?  Usually, it's before you need to punch in, which is before the sun rises - especially in the summer.  Like a daily ritual, people come to Hookipa Beach Park to exercise their bodies, awaken their minds, and refresh their spirits.  These are all locals.  As a matter of fact, I recognize two people this morning.  One works at Mana Foods and the other at Upcountry Fitness - all Maui citizens enjoying their mornings.   Just another day on the Valley Isle.



Just Arriving - 5:21AM

Stretch and Pray

Follow the Leader

Ridin' Solo

Just Leaving the Truck

Stretch and Focus

About to Jump In

Shreddin' It

Talented

Out For Fun

The Lineup

To Catch or Not

Fresh Coconut Juice for Breakfast

Human French Fries

Frankly, I'm not one to hang out at the beach.  Don't get me wrong, I love the ocean and the beach as long as I'm doing something in and on it like freediving or playing volleyball, or anything actually, but to just lay out or sit on a towel or chair and zone out, well, that's just not for me thank you very much.  Laying at the beach, for me, is akin to slathering myself with olive oil, setting the oven to 425 F, and roasting for 45 minutes.  I need to do something at the beach if I stand any chance of staying longer than 3 minutes.  I was at various North Shore beaches today and took some shots.  There was actually a very attractive girl sunbathing topless, but hey, I didn't shoot her because she looked right at me the entire time I walked by.  I couldn't help but look at her too! :)

The image below illustrates what happens when you set your white balance to auto and let the camera decide what it thinks is the best setting.  It chose tungsten!  Welcome to the blue planet!

The Last Days Of A Honu

Honu means "turtle" in Hawaiian, and this particular honu was beached at Kanaha Beach the same day I took the pics of the kiteboarders in my previous post.  Now, from my experience, I never see turtles on shore on Maui, and as far as I know, Green Sea turtles only come ashore rarely, and mostly to lay eggs.  Furthermore, Maui is not the prime nesting grounds for these gentle giants, which are the French Frigate Shoals located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands - 500 miles northwest of Maui.

So what is this honu doing on the beach?  Well, unfortunately, this turtle looked like it was dying - rather, it beached itself knowing it was going to die.  If you look at the following photos, pay attention to the areas of soft tissue around the mouth and neck of the turtle and you will see tumor-like growths.  These "warts" are the result of a virus which causes fibropapilloma tumors that shorten a turtle's lifespan considerably.  Scientists don't know what actually causes these growths, but the most common theory I've heard blames all the pesticides, fertilizers and chemicals that run-off golf courses and manicured landscapes, as well as leach from wastewater injection wells - all of which abound on Maui.

 The hard part was looking into the turtle's blinking eyes (the effect is multiplied peering through a telephoto lens) knowing that it wasn't dead yet, but on its way.  Somehow I wished I could just put it out of its misery, but they are "protected" after all.  I actually thought about calling the DLNR - Dept of Land and Natural Resources - but what in all reality could they have done?

For more info on the fibropapilloma disease: http://www.turtles.org/tumour.htm

Kanaha Kiters

Besides Hookipa, Kanaha Beach, located near the airport, is another kiteboarding and windsurfing gathering hole.  From beginner to pro, local to foreigner, you will see myriad of kite boarders along these longs stretches of large-grained sand beaches.  If you take a kiteboarding lesson, chances are you will have it here at Kanaha.

I think kiting is so incredible due to the amount of AIR one can achieve!

Baldwin Beach Bunkers

I went to Baldwin Beach on the north shore early this morning to get some shots of the rising sun.  On both ends of the beach lay two WWII-era pillboxes apparently used by the US military as part of amphibious landing exercises in preparation for the campaign in the Pacific.  You can also find a pillbox on Big Beach on south Maui.  It's interesting because I never really paid attention to these pillboxes until now -  no wonder tourists can visit more places in a week than residents do in an entire year!

Here's the view from inside the above pillbox looking out.  You can see crescent-shaped Baldwin Beach to the left and the West Maui mountains in the background.  

I found this guy while strolling to the other end of the beach.  :) 

Here's the opposing pillbox at the other end of Baldwin.

Phantasmal Flyers

Like I've said before, there are all kinds of people living here on Maui.  If you cruise around the North Shore, you will find advertisements for various services and businesses.  If nothing else, these flyers are entertaining.  You can find bulletin boards full of these ads at Mana Foods, Veg-Out, and the Temple of Peace just to name a few.

Just Another Day at Hookipa

The real call of the North Shore - its whole existence really - is based on the surf.  Oahu has Waimea Bay and Pipeline, and here on Maui, we have Peahi a.k.a. - Jaws (tow-in), Kanaha (kitesurfing), and the granddaddy of them all - Hookipa Beach.  Arguably the finest stretch of windsurfing to be had anywhere, this place attracts world-class talent and Hookipa regularly hosts various windsurfing and surfing contests.

However, before I starting showing you the meat of today, I just have to show you this couple who walked in front of my truck to cross the street in Paia.

I don't know about you, but to me, that looks intentional... :)

OK, back to Hookipa... As I pull into the overlook parking lot, I see all sorts of people ranging from locals to visitors gazing in awe at these superheroes of the wind and waves.  I heard stuff like, "did you see that guy fall?  I hope he's not hurt!" and "look at that turn, that's crazy!"

Oh, to be placed on a pedestal.

Everyplace has its rules and regs, and Hookipa is no exception.  You can see the windsurfers in the nearer distance and kiters in the background.  In the immediate foreground directly underneath me and not in the shot are the surfers.  Clearly designated, yet invisible boundaries separate these three cousins.

On the beach now and waiting at the water's edge for windsurfers to get out of the water, I kneel camera in hand to get close-ups.  As I wait and watch one windsurfer after another glide to a halt and proceed to walk up the beach, I realize that everyone seems to really know what they're doing.  Not like the I'm kinda-good intermediate know what I'm doing, but the if you shoot me and show the logo on the bottom of my board, you the photographer can make money selling my image to a magazine kind of good.  Don't get any ideas people and steal my photos!  However, this is how I heard it works in the surfing mag photo business - the more advertiser names and stickers showcased, the better for the surfer and the photographer.

Now all I need a 600mm telephoto lens...  In the meantime, I'll just get paparazzi close.


Superhero #1

Superhero #2

Superhero #3

Now that's what I call using your head.

In the parking lot I come across the Hawaiian version of the lemonade stand, the infamous and deliciously addictive Pickle Mango for sale.  That's the stuff sitting atop the blue cooler.  Wonderful!


Future Superhero