The Last Day of 2012

The Last Day of 2012

Several months back I got a call from Dave, a surfer/realtor. He told me he has the listing for two twenty acre lots overlooking Jaws on Maui and did I think I could get an aerial photo of the two lots in the foreground and Jaws breaking in the background?

Don't see why not, I told him. Let's wait and watch the north Pacific and when it looks like a monster swell is headed to Maui I'll fly over and get the shots.

I didn't hear anything from him since then until the day before the last day of the year of 2012 when  I get a voicemail from Dave..."Monday morning, Jaws..twenty feet, that's the day to get the shots" 

I look at the weather charts and all the online weather info and he's right..Monday morning Jaws will be firing at 15 to 20 feet. The next I arrive early, check the plane, clean the windows and call for the weather. The surf is definitely up and the winds are down, but there is a winter storm front moving south from beyond Kauai toward us here in Hawaii. There's a lot of moisture in  the air and it will be condensing into clouds and other non see through stuff throughout the day. It will be a race to get to Maui, get the photos and get south before the crap catches us.

After a 9:00 AM takeoff from Kona I see that this is going to be a challenging assignment because of the massive amount of VOG and moisture in the skies above Hawaii. The light winds from the southeast have spread the volcanic haze all the way to Molokai and as I climb out I see nothing but a silver sheen all about us.

I gradually make my way to Maui dodging clouds and the rocks imbedded in Mount Haleakala. My target is a small point of land on the northern most tip of Maui. The land on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean below its cliffs is what I have to capture. But I also have to time my turns right so that I get the lots in the photos with giant surf breaking in the background at the legendary surf spot known as "Jaws". This will raise the selling price of these already pricey pieces of land.

One day Jaws will be the world center of big wave competitive surfing. These lots overlooking such a spectacular venue will soon be worth a large fortune to the royalty of the surf industry such as Quicksilver, Volcom, ect., who I expect will build mansions overlooking the huge waves breaking below.

I make my way past La Perouse Bay and slide into the saddle of central Maui with Mount Haleakala off to our right, large white rain filled clouds menacingly forming all about it's summit. Through the vog I can see the north shore of the island ringed with a white lining of white where the huge waves are breaking upon the deep reefs. My iPad tells me that my target should be dead ahead five miles and gradually following Steve Job's finger pointing I spot a massive wave crashing in the distance...Jaws is alive.

I begin to circle to try and figure out the best angles I need to get myself to in order to get not only good photos of the 20 acre lots, but at the same moment a large set of waves breaks  in the background. Gonna be some interesting flying going on here today at low altitudes with twenty foot waves and a bunch of big wave surfers below, steep cliffs rising in front of me and thick clouds moving down the slopes of the tall mountain trying to snare me. Oh well, better quit worrying and get to work.

The first thing I need to do before have fun shooting the surf is get the shots I'm getting paid for. Here is the view looking at one of the available lots. Imagine building yourself a little beach shack there and waking in the morning to see fifty foot waves crashing beneath your lanai!

I have seen very many photos of Jaws being ridden over the years since its' discovery, most are taken from a helicopter hovering just above the waves or from a boat bobbing just outside the lineup. I've not seen any taken from an airplane moving at 80 knots and 800 feet above. I have to admit it was a bit challenging, there were a lot of moving partners in the dance going on off of North Maui on the last day of 2012. Waves, clouds, wind, surfers, other aircraft all moving about and me yanking 26Mike at steep angles trying to get in position to get a good shot.

Here is what it looks like when you throw the plane into a steep bank and look straight down at a twenty foot wave breaking.

 if you eat it at Jaws on a big wave like this guy did, you find yourself being violently thrown about in a swirling mass of boiling whitewater that is impossible to swim or paddle out of. You just have to wait for the water to calm down before you get thrown onto the jagged rocks and hope that there is not another larger wave racing up behind you to slam you into the reef below and then throw you on the rocks ashore. Surfing a place like Jaws is not for sissies.

For those fortunate enough to have the means there are friends willing to race in on jet skis and save you from either drowning or being bashed to death. 

I crank the yoke over and get a shot looking down on a brave surfer taking off and racing left trying to make it to the shoulder.

The house in the foreground of this photo, with Jaws in the background, belongs to legendary big wave surfer Bill Hamilton's son, who I believe is a surfer as well.

For now at least the locals can drive down a cane road to park on the cliff and watch the action at Jaws. I suspect one day this will be someones front yard. But till then it's a great thing to be able to do.

I make a turn in toward the sugar cane covered slopes in order to set up for a run at a huge set I see moving in. As I level out I suddenly find myself surrounded by white, the clouds have finally raced down the mountain at incredible speed and the only way out is to yank a hard 180 and head offshore before I'm enclosed. 

It looks like our time here is up, the whole surf spot is going to be in a low overcast in minutes. I drop my wing and take one last photo of Jaws before powering up and heading back to Kona some 80 miles away over the sea. It was a great way to ring out an otherwise lousy year. Good riddance 2012!

Aloha and lets all have a great year in 2013!

Mahalo,

Brian