 The Call of the Jungle
Haiku, Maui
The idea was to head over to the islands to film a TV show and begin testing the Powerski Jetboard™ in some heavy surf. The Learning Channel had called to say they wanted to use the Jetboards for a show produced by the same folks who produce Trading Spaces and this sounded like a great excuse to get to the islands and put the boards through their paces. It would also give us an opportunity to bring some Jetboards to our Maui dealer, Ed Suzuki and his son Kai. Powerski sent over a stealth crew of 5 including Bob Montgomery, Jim Habig, Dave Lajoie, Shawn Chait and Todd Lindquist. These were to be the ones to take the historical first trip to the islands to ride big surf on the futuristic motorized surfboard.
Ed set-up the television shoot and had us in Paia for the first few days of our visit s o we could possibly drop in at Jaws, Hookipa or many of the other big wave breaks on the northside of Maui. We arrived at the Spyglass House, a complete flashback from the days when Maui was the perfect getaway for the Love Generation with stained glass windows and an earthy sense of panache. We could see Tavares from the edge of the property and way outside on the outer reef was a reef point. This was the perfect set-up, except one thing........it was raining and windy. The locals said it had been an exceptionally wet winter but the forecast called for a clearing. In the next few days we learned how the forecast can change hourly, along with your plans of course. One minute the news says look for clearing with light trades and by days end a new storm is on its way with heavy winds. "You can always try the other side of the island" we were often told.
It was decided we should go look for flat water to test the boards before the shoot. Ed said he had a friend up in Haiku he would contact. After the aloha was extended to Ed, we embarked on our journey to his friends ranch. Nelson Armitage comes from a strong family of Hawaiian watermen including Buffalo and Brian Kealana, who are legendary in the surfing world. Upon turning off of Hana Hwy and up into Haiku, the boys knew they were in for a treat. Houses were majestic on large properties and the farther up the road the less and less houses we saw. Then we saw it....a lake in the jungle. Maybe it was more like a large pond, but nevertheless it would be a great place to drop in. But where was Nelson's place? We quickly turned off the main road on to a dirt road and there was this smiling face full of warmth and Aloha. This was going to be a day we would never forget.
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