good morning. or should i say good mid-morning. 9am and i just got up. checking the waves now and it’s looking small everywhere. town is knee high and the north shore is 2′ or so. nice conditions everywhere with light trade winds and sunny skies. i’m taking nyquil and going back to sleep. goodnight….

i’ve been trying to teach this little japanese girl how to surf since she was 2 years old. there were times when she didn’t want to surf and i was ok with that. i don’t like to push kids too hard into doing something they don’t like because they will end up hating it. i think it’s better to let kids be kids and just try to encourage them, not push them. surfing is something that will come as time goes on. and when that time comes, you will see the true happiness in the kids face. from being scared of the ocean and not wanting to go near it as a baby, now this little girl loves the ocean, loves to surf, and already rode enough waves to last a lifetime… so here’s the message, “surfing isn’t something that you should have to do, surfing is something that you should want to do.” get it? if your time didn’t come yet, it will someday. and when that someday comes, the wait will be well worth it…. enjoy…
**oh, i forgot to link kat’s blog on my blog yesterday. CLICK HERE FOR KATMUSIC BLOG….
**and last, here’s another youtube video that got cut because of copyright violations. i put another song on it and it should be ok this time. now i really want to go diving….

good evening. my batteries shut down. might have caught a cold but don’t want to admit it. too much work? too much play? what ever it was, it hit me like a rock. but today is today and tomorrow is tomorrow. waves and storm on the way. and one more reminder to all my japanese sponsors and friends coming next week. please don’t forget a wetsuit. the water is freezing… see you guy soon…
**since i started going to japan, it’s been my dream to bridge the gap. a bridge, or rainbow, or something to connect hawaii to japan. there is so much japanese culture here in hawaii and it was all around me while i was growing up. so i know that there huge interest in japan from the people of hawaii. yesterday, i get an email response from jared katakura. jared surfs, dives, and even hunts pigs. we’re so alike but there is one thing that separates us. jared is deaf. i was taught by my mom to use the word hearing impaired but jared told me to use deaf. so i will. anyway, after i seen jared’s photo, i remember him from last year when he came to watch yumie surf the contest at pipeline. they were communicating in sign language and i knew that japanese and english sign language was different. but the smiles were still there. these are the kind of things that bridges the gap between hawaii and japan. and these are the kind of things that make me happy. so just wanted to thank jared for his email and for bringing the deaf communities from 2 countries together. keep up the good work…

check out some photos of jared in japan with other deaf surfers… this is in hanamatsu, shizuoka…

BBQ’s in japan are the best. that’s jarad wearing the brown baseball cap backwards…

and when you guys do another BBQ in japan, give me a buzz. maybe jared and i can go grab some abalone, lobsters, and fish. and maybe even a wild pig…. yummy….
**and also wanted to thank eiko okano for linking me up with jared. that’s what friends are for….

and last, pipeline doesn’t discriminate. even the best get hurt on even the small days. pipeline charger nathan fletcher broke his leg in 2 places yesterday at 3-5′ pipe. yeah, so when ever people tell me that surfers have the easiest job, better take that back. our office is much more dangerous than yours. and if you dont’ believe me, i’ll drag your ass out to pipe on a small day and you can see for yourself. but before that, make sure you have life insurance…. hope nathen fletcher makes a speedy recovery. photo by sean davey.

cool photo….