i was watching some heats of the backdoor masters in the comfort of my house. this is my favorite for this contest. shane dorian is super cool, surfs really good, and hunts big pigs with his bow and arrow. he deserves to win…

i stopped by to see roma and taku at their hotel in waikiki. 6 year and 8 year old surfer groms from kugenuma, japan. till this day, i haven’t met any kids that have more energy then those 2 boys. by the way, the guy in the middle is my 24 year old younger brother. haha… just joking. i just got a fresh haircut and i’m feeling kind of fresh….

check out this photo of a guy wakeboarding in the canal in venice, italy. pretty cool shot….

last, i told the guy in okinawa that we don’t have big lobsters in hawaii. i lied. i totally forgot about this photo of one of the biggest lobsters i grabbed. kenji sahara took it at the dove house about 5 winter seasons ago. here’s the story. i went for a surf at ehukai sandbar one afternoon. i did a floater and seen this lobster swimming in the wave. so i dove off my board and tried to grab it. it was too fast, but then it did a cutback and i was able to grab the head. huh? do you actually believe that? haha. actually, i caught that lobster in 45′ deep water on the 3rd reef pipeline. then we had a lobster sashimi party after. if kenji didn’t take this photo, i would have forgotten about it. i might have to go back to the lobster hole again soon….

pipe masters LIVE… waves 4-6′ and perfect. nami sugoi ii yo…..

good morning. 6:30am and the waves came up overnight. north shore looks 4-6′ but the swell kind of looks straight. or more out of the north. we’ll just have to see if the pipe masters are on. it might be the backdoor masters if it’s on today because backdoor is looking good. got some dark clouds over the island but should clear up. south winds on the way so epic conditions on the north shore all week. what a great north shore winter for waves so far. better enjoy it while you can because it can turn shitty for 2 months straight. remember last year? well, have a nice day….

walking through a little remote island in the maldives a couple of years ago was an experience. the people there were so shy compared to other countries. they kind of kept to themselves. but the thing i remember the most were the smiles. happy smiles. we couldn’t communicate through words but their smiles were enough to make you feel warm and welcomed….

gosh, i still can’t get over the simple lifestyle there. they don’t need the materialistic things, all they need is each other….

wanted to say hello to miura-san and the locals over there in toyama. sorry i couldn’t make it there this year but i’m still thinking about our awesome memories last time. memories that i’ll never forget, and keep secret… mahalo…

i met this little cutie last time in okinawa. and i’m glad she won the stickers in the presents section of go-naminori. if you get a chance, try your luck. if you don’t go, you don’t know… click here for G0-NAMINORI PRESENTS….