Kitesoul Magazine #21 International Edition

88
WAVE RIDING
Oahu strike mission
Keahi de Aboitiz
It actually took a little convincing in the beginning,
but I was stoked when the guys pulled the trigger and
decided to fly over to Oahu to shoot some content
for the 2018 lineup. The gear had just arrived on Maui
and with one of the best-looking swells of the winter
forecast, I pleaded my case and convinced the guys
to come over to document it before the official shoot
started on Maui a few days later. When you personally
make the call, it’s always stressful to know if it will
be worth it, but I felt it was a risk worth taking. For
anyone that’s kited Backyards, what you’d know is no
matter the forecast, it’s always going to be a gamble
and you never really know what will happen until
the day. It’s one of those places that seems to have a
mind of its own and you need to be there waiting and
hoping, but when it all comes together it’s one of the
best waves in the world.
Super west swells on Oahu can be pretty interesting
really. Some waves like the direction and some don’t,
but for the 2 main kite spots here on Oahu, that’s exactly
what you want. The biggest thing that comes
into play though is actually Kauai. Once the swell direction
goes beyond a certain point it starts becoming
shadowed and what you end up with is a dramatic
size difference from one end of the north shore to
the other. With the wind starting to come up early,
the plan was to try and bag some water shots down
the coast before heading up to Backyards as the swell
started building.
With some shots in the bag and some decent sets
starting to show, we figured it was time to change
venues and rush up the coast for round 2. Arriving
at Backyards, it was clear the swell was actually already
here. Due to the swell angle what we found out
was our first session was actually suffering from the
swell shadow while yards was feeling the full brunt
of the swell. Walking down the beach the first thing
I saw was a solid 8ft set clearing the lineup. The last
remaining surfers were relegated to the beach and
it was on. I decided to keep that first set quiet from
Moona as she pumped up and she joined us for a few
bombs before the swell started to jack even more and
it was time for her to call it a day.
In fact, it was almost too big. What we thought would
be the day of days actually turned out to be a pretty
difficult session. Within an hour, the swell had jacked