good evening. gosh, i love my life. woke up this morning to epic conditions again. wanted to get barreled and wanted to catch fish. why not do both….

pulled up to backdoor this morning and once again, freaking going off!!! 3-5′ and epic!!!

i seen my friend from the east side randy myers out getting shacked. this is him riding his green wade tokoro on a flawless stand up backdoor barrel. yes, i was jealous. and yes, i ran to my car and got ready. paddled out and had such a fun session. it was uncrowded and every wave was barreling right and left. dream session…. so after 2 and a half hours of getting barreled, i went in, jumped in my car, and headed back to town with one thing on my mind. “dive”….

shawn met me at my house, we threw my dingy in the back of his truck, and we were off…. today was a perfect day to test out my new toy…. by the way, i’m thinking of a name for this dingy. any ideas? what about “pocket rocket?”… haha….

it was off to the east side. pulled up on the beach, backed the truck, and carried the boat into the water. the boat worked good, we speared so many fish, and we had a great time. it was like two adults playing like kids on the toy boat. i was laughing the whole time. and so were the guys watching from the beach. but when we got back with the fish bag full with fish, they weren’t laughing anymore…. too tired so photos coming tomorrow….
**then get this, i came home, turned on my computer, looked through some of the 40+ emails, and came across this one from kenji sahara….

this was from today. gosh, after i came home from diving, i forgot i even surfed today. i mean worked today. haha…. this is my office, an office i wouldn’t mind spending my life in. most of my friends hate their office but i love mine….

the sky was blue, the water was clean, and the waves were epic. i took off on a couple of waves today and watched as the lip was going over my head. that’s how beautiful it was. i was feeling high. natural high. guys calling this the best winter season ever. i agree!!! and 3 more swells on the way. tomorrow pipe should be 8′ and epic…. i’m out there…. oh, thanks so much kenji for letting me relive my morning. i really forgot about these barrels but now i remember. doomo arigato gozaimasu… lights out. good night….

good morning. 5:45am tuesday morning. waves going off all over!!! the buoy came up on the north shore so the waves should be 3-5′ and epic. town looks chest high and everywhere is really glassy and perfect. i’m going north. hope i don’t break another board today. oh, did i just jinx myself? hope not. have a nice day!!!
**traveling throughout japan, i’ve see gyotaku prints in a lot of local seafood restaurants and fishing stores. it’s a fisherman’s way of telling his story and showing proof. a photo can be altered and the actual size of the fish can be distorted. but in a gyotaku, it’s the real deal. it’s the actual print of the actual fish…. there are a few guys doing it here in hawaii. same concept but taken a little farther. well, a lot farther. the gyotaku prints in japan are all in black ink. i’ve never seen one in color in japan before. but the ones we have here, it’s in color and the fish looks real. it takes an artist to do this and probably takes a lot of time too. i have a couple of fish i speared printed in my house hanging on my wall and now i have another one. my prized 3.75lbs kumu…..

my friend through surfing kyle nakamoto is the producer of “hawaii skin diver” tv show. his father is the artist who does these awesome color gyotaku prints. here’s a little info on Richard “Crow” Nakamoto and the meaning of gyotaku…..

The Artist:
Richard ‘Crow’ Nakamoto, born in Hilo, Hawaii, began painting at the age of 10. His passion for art and the creative process is his way of life and evident in all of his creations. Crow combines the traditional form of Gyotaku with his own unique style of painting to bring the image of the fish to life and preserve the story of its capture.
The Meaning of Gyotaku:
Originating in Japan during the 19th century, Gyotaku (meaning “fish print”) was developed to preserve the exact size of their trophy catch, and over the years has evolved into a beautiful art form.
Quality Artwork:
Each print is quality handcrafted in Hawaii and printed on “shoji” rice paper. We have a wide vareity of standard or custom sized prints. Many of the fish printed are featured on Hawaii Skin Diver Television. We have an extensive library of fish species from all over the world.

this is mr. nakamura and happy me. and my not so happy fish….

it comes complete with a serial number and the information on the fish. i caught this fish in honolulu, hawaii in jan. ’08 with my andre speargun. it weighed 3.75lbs and is called a “kumu”. something i will never ever forget and everytime i look at it, it will make my day… thank kyle and mr. nakamura..
**want to get your fish printed the right way? contact kyle or mr. nakamura by CLICKING HERE…..

good evening. for the 30th day straight, what a nice day. woke up this morning without a cloud in the sky. no winds and perfect waves on the north shore. i took another day off and surfed in town. paddled out to bowls. the waves were small but it was as clean as it gets. crystal clear water and all i was thinking about was going diving. i haven’t surfed small waves in a while and i could barely pick up speed. i’m use to taking off and just getting barreled. i better practice small waves more often… it’s 8pm and i can see the waves around the island. buoy 1 came back up a little so tomorrow should be 3-5′ and epic on the north shore. it looks pretty dam good already. that’s where i’ll be. as for town, the south swell looks like it’s arrived. seen some nice clean waves peeling across bowls. sleep early because tomorrow will be epic all over. i got so much things going on now that i need more time to do everything i want to do in a day. why can’t we have 34 hour days? oh well, i’m going to maximize my day tomorrow, starting off with surfing. have a great night hope you get a good wave where ever you choose to surf…. goodnight….

check out my new 7′ toy. since i was 11 years old, i always dreamed of having a little dingy. a little little dingy that can go on my surf racks where i can just carry into the water. well, after years and years of looking and looking, i finally found one. this is a little 7′ livingston boat. the boat i have now is 14′ so this little thing is half the size. check it out…

i can carry this thing by myself no problem. how much did i buy it for? $200. yes, only $200. i found it on the internet and it was a steal… i also bought a little 2006 4hp yamaha 4 stroke engine to go with it. freaking can’t wait to use it… good for surf and good for dive. now i won’t ever have to paddle out to the far surf spots again. but this dingy can only carry 3 people so first come first serve….

put my diving stuff in already. i don’t think there’s enough room for another person. haha. anyway, my childhood dream finally came true. this set up with the motor costs $2,500 brand new. i got it for dirt cheap…. and this dingy stores standing up right next to my surfboards. now i can really surf and dive… so happy…..[:????????$B!r(B:][:????????$B!r(B:][:????????$B!r(B:]

check out this photo i had. this is maeyama-san, chiaki, and masato watanabe on the north shore of hawaii. only good times….

by the way, the canon 70-200 USM IS f2.8 lens i was selling is SOLD!!! it sold in 18 hours…..