ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunny Garcia, of Kauai, came out of the surf yesterday at Sunset Beach after winning his heat in the first round of the Rip Curl Cup. The contest is the second jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. A half-hour later, the contest was called off for the day due to dangerous surf conditions.
High waves helped clog North Shore traffic and grew so big that a surf contest had to be suspended yesterday.
Heavy surf pounds the North Shore,
Irons hopes to prove his mettle with title
forcing beach closures and snarling traffic
By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comThe Oahu Civil Defense closed Waimea Bay Beach Park at 5 p.m. as surf with up to 25-foot faces sent water over Kamehameha Highway.
The National Weather Service expected even bigger waves to follow and issued a high-surf warning for the northwest-facing shores of all islands, predicting waves of up to 30 feet on Oahu's North Shore for early this morning.
Still, other than the traffic disruption, officials reported no major problems and no rescues.
Doug Aton, Oahu Civil Defense administrator, said he chose not to close the highway after volunteers reported that the waves that sent water onto the roadway appeared to have come from just one set.
"There is sand but nothing to endanger traffic," he said.
The high surf forced the suspension of the Rip Curl Cup surfing contest at Sunset Beach, the second jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.
"What we wanted to do was run as many heats before the waves got too big, but they just rose way too fast," said Jody Young, Vans Triple Crown of Surfing media director.
Organizers started the contest about 8 a.m. when the waves were in the 12- to 15-foot range. They were able to hold six heats.
By the time they suspended the contest about 10:30 a.m., the waves had reached 25 feet, Young said.
"There was way too much white water. You couldn't see the surfers," she said.
CAROL CUNNINGHAM / AP
Robert Coleman, 14, of Walnut Creek, Calif., left, Elmer Bakk of Ft. Shafter, Hawaii, and Bakk's mother, Cathy Bakk of Cleveland, look at the high surf at Shark's Cove in Pupukea, Hawaii on the North Shore of Oahu. Surf warnings were issued for 20-foot waves, and the first round of the Rip Curl Cup surfing competition at Sunset Beach nearby was called off for the afternoon.
Rip Curl organizers were hoping to resume the contest today.
But readings taken at 2 p.m. from buoys about 300 miles northwest of the islands were higher than those taken in the morning, meaning potentially bigger waves were on the way. Based on their projected speed, the swells were expected to begin arriving about midnight.
"We're expecting the waves to be un-ridingly big," Young said.
The suspension of the contest sent surfing enthusiasts to the cliffs of Waimea Bay to get a better look at the huge waves.
Heavy traffic from both directions clogged Kamehameha Highway. The situation was made worse by work to install water lines in front of Sunset Beach Elementary School, which limited traffic to one lane.
The high waves also prompted city lifeguards to close Ke Iki Beach in Shark's Cove and warn swimmers to stay out of the ocean at all other North Shore beaches.
The weather service also issued a high-surf advisory for Oahu's west shores expecting waves of up to 18 feet.
The big waves are the result of a storm that occurred a couple of days ago in the western North Pacific, said Hans Rosendal, National Weather Service lead forecaster.
He said the waves are expected to remain high for most of today and begin to diminish in the late afternoon and evening.
