i’ve been cleaning up my house and throwing so many things away. just trying to live a simpler life. i’ve been finding things that i don’t need anymore, and i’ve been also finding memories. yeah, i’m getting old so i tend to forget a lot of things that happen in the past. but once i see a photo, everything comes back like it was yesterday. so i decided not to throw away any photos.

my friend took this photo of me about 15 years ago. i took off on a wave at backdoor and got the barrel of my life. he was shooting from pipe so the angle is sick! it shows you the size of the wave, and shows you how barreled i’m going to get. he gave me this photo 10 years after he took it and i think i’ll keep this one forever. just by looking at it makes me want to go out there and get barreled again.

and my dive friend Shane just came by to drop off this photo the other day. i didn’t even remember this day to tell you the truth. then as i looked at the background, my wetsuit, and the fish i caught, everything came back. we actually walked through private property at kahala to get to the beach. yeah, cut through a million dollar home to access the beach. we swam out and dove for hours. then on the way in, we used the million dollar homes water to rinse off. lucky nobody was home. haha. that’s the hawaiian lifestyle. then after we went to my house and barbecued the fish. gosh, those were the good old days.

Tou-san came to hawaii and wanted to surf early in the morning. i said if we go early, we should go earlier than early. so we paddled out at dark and seen one of the most amazing sunrises. we surfed, we took photos, and we were so happy!

Hi Tou-san, I hope you enjoyed the dawn patrol session. I love the feeling of waking up feeling so fresh in the ocean. And riding waves into the golden light makes me feel free. I hope you had a great time and hope to surf with you again. This is a nice photo of you. Enjoy, Kirby

Japanese Soba for lunch.
Itadakimasu!

i was digging through photos and found these. i was shooting photos at log cabins on the north shore. then i seen these tourists go near the ocean and i knew it was just a matter of time that one was going to get swept in by the current. well, 2 of them actually did so i sat back and watched. there were enough surfers in the water and i knew they react fast so everything was under control.

pro surfer josh kerr was one of the first to get to the drowning guys. then when i seen my nephews paddle over to help, that’s when i got scared. i know that when you are about to drown, you will cling on to anybody and anything. if one of those big tourists grabbed one of my nephews, it could have been trouble. then i seen seth throw his board to the guy and swim away. that’s how you do it. i was so proud of him.

then instead of making a big scene and calling the coast guard or helicopter, josh kerr just pushed the guy into the shorebreak. yeah, everything is under control. look at kelia paddling up the wave laughing.

i know exactly how this guy is feeling. he’s thinking “omg, i almost died!” i’m pretty sure he won’t be playing in the shorebreak again.
*anyway, if you are in a situation to save a drowning person, PLEASE DON’T GET CLOSE TO HIM. because once he grabs you, he won’t let go. a lot of people that try to help actually drown this way. put a board or something between you and him. or go from the back of him and put him in a choke hold and drag him back to the beach.