good evening. our economy in recession, the yen trading at 93 yen/dollar, stock market crash, terrorists in india, bangkok international airport getting taken over, and now this. “Pirates fire on US cruise ship in hijack attempt.” yeah, a U.S cruse liner with more than 1000 people on board almost got hijacked today in the gulf of aden. what’s up with this world? people laugh at me but when ever i go on boat trips in third world countries, i sleep with my passport, money, and my mask/snorkel right next to me. i thought of my plan and if that day ever comes, which i hope not, i will be ready to survive and get help. i’d jump off, stay under the boat, and swim away underwater when i get the chance. call for help, buy a freakin gun, borrow a locals boat, and go rescue the rest of the crew. maybe i’m watching too much movies? haha.. but really, the last thing i want to be is a hostage. no way. i’d rather risk my life escaping then to be held hostage. if i’m a hostage, i can’t surf or dive. that’s hostage enough….

wanted to congratulate russ and yoshika again on their newborn baby girl tia. and sorry yoshika for keeping russ out until 3am the morning before you gave birth. we had to celebrate!!! it’s a guys thing. welcome to america… haha…

i’m still so amazed on babies. so precious…..

i took this photo last year and totally forgot about it. this is the waikiki strip. i call this photo “Honolulu City Lights”. maybe my new screen saver. anyway, waves got big and out of control up on the north shore. i had a great day eating lunch with former USA olympic swimmer and legend free diver sonny tanabe. more on sonny tanabe tomorrow. then i drove around the island shopping for new dive gear. santa told me i could get a new gun. thanks santa….
**and last, check out this slide show of the 2008 pipeline bodyboard chicks going wild at pipe….

Going to catch a Big One, Going to catch a Big One….

good morning. 6:30am and the waves on the north shore on the rise. looks surfable right now but will probably be out of control by lunch. straight off shore winds making epic conditions again. town? forget it. ugly junky winds and no swell. 11 guys at pipe now. nobody in town. north is the call. see you in the water… check out some photos from yesterday. have a safe and nice day….

i don’t know any other 11 year old kid that can barrel ride as good as seth moniz. he can read a wave better than most adult surfers. if you seen him barrel ride recently, you will agree too….

remember this kid fisher louis. he’s getting coached by tony moniz and surfing with the moniz kids every single day. i can see his surfing getting better by the day and he’s pretty determined….

it’s pretty funny how many fans kelia has in japan. i get email all the time asking about her. by girls, boys, and even adults. i respond to all the emails, except the ones from the boys. sorry guys, she’s not allowed to have a boyfriend until she’s 30 years old. that’s what her uncles say….

WCT top 44 josh kerr’s been surfing out there doing the craziest airs. and pulling most of them off. he must have some strong knees…

isaiah moniz is starting to go big. doing big turns, and doing big airs. he ended up falling on this one and his board hit me in the head. itai….

todd mitsui’s known for doing big moves. how crazy is this floater???? pretty nuts….