Page 6 - MidWeek West - July 27, 2022

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JULY 27, 2022
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
Our historic July south swell has come and gone — but when it came, it was insane. It will be the event we remember about the summer of 2022 for de- cades to come.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Monster Waves Crash Along Hawai‘i’s South Shores
Maui’s gift, Mā‘alaea Bay (aka “Freight Train”), is seen at 6-10 feet on July 16-17. PHOTO COURTESY REID INOUYE
Luckily no one died — that we know of — thanks to our amazing lifeguards. They performed more than 1,960 rescues on O‘ahu alone over just two days.
As of this writing, it’s back to normal swell lev- els. I’ll bet more than a few surfers are relieved — and pooped.
Throughout the weekend of July 16-17, I heard from just about everyone (plus social media) that they saw
There were many closeout sets across Ala Moana/Ala Wai channel to Magic Island as well as Kewalos. Most regular reefs were closing out including Waikīkī from outside Castles across the entire bay.
very rare for south swells. nel harbor entrances was Yet, Hawai‘i exceeded the issued. Waves poured over high surf warning thresh- roads and even two-story old — 15-foot faces — by condos — not to mention a a significant margin. A rare beachside wedding in Kona. marine warning for chan- It was nuts.
Indeed, an extra-large south swell of this caliber hasn’t been here since the mid 1990s. That means de- cades. So, it’s reasonable to call this historic. The crazy
The spot that stole the show was on Maui at a place called Māʻalaea Bay, which is usually a quiet boat harbor on the west side of the large bay. It takes a special angle — usually straight south — and pretty good size (this had more than enough) to
some of the biggest waves they’ ve ever seen along the south shores. By the looks of it, I agree. The original forecast was close to 8-10 feet Hawai‘i scale, but no cigar. There were isolated sets of 12 feet-plus Hawai‘i scale or 20-24 feet crest to trough!
episode was big, plus there were strong trades making it more challenging and dan- gerous.
High surf warnings are
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