good morning. 6:30am. light winds and small waves around the island. north shore is 2-3 and probably too small for the pipe masters. semi-clean conditions but still a little bumpy. north/west swell on the way tomorrow so the pipe masters should be starting. town is really clean but no waves. knee/waist high with nobody out anywhere. oh wait, one guy paddled out to bowls. south swell coming in later tonight. it’s going to be a nice day so get out there and enjoy… be safe….
**had some time yesterday so was deleting photos off my computer to make room for this winter season. found some that i totally forgot about. it’s only been a year ago but seem such a long time ago. anyway, before i delete it, check um out…

i took this lineup shot of pipeline and backdoor last march when they were running the women’s contest out there. a perfect 4′ pipe/backdoor barrel with nobody on it. i couldn’t believe it. you’ll never see this on any other day…

this is ikaika from tahiti grab rail at pipe. he can surf, paddleboard, dive, and do pretty much anything that has to do with the ocean. a true waterman…

and this is satoshi kubota from miyazaki. i’ve known satoshi since i’ve been going to japan. he comes to hawaii for one month out of the year and always seems to get the best photos. here he is cruzing through a backdoor barrel… yeah satoshi, see you soon….

and this is aoi koike. aoi just won the japanese bodyboarding circut this year making her a 10X grand champion. that’s pretty amazing. she’s been the girl to beat and now that she’s retiring, next year’s up for grabs. congratulations aoi for accomplishing something that will probably never be done again…
***and last, got this email from ryu nakamura asking for your help. it’s a petition opposing the operation of the Rokkasho Nuclear Waste Reprocessing Plant in aomori, japan. discharging any kind of radiation in the ocean is screwed up. please sign the petition…. CLICK HERE…..

good evening. i drove by kahala mall at 3pm and seen people running the marathon. can you believe that? 10 hours later and still 5 miles away from the finish line. did they stop by and have lunch at burger king? haha. just joking. i can’t say anything because i didn’t run it. i drive out to hawaii kai all the time so i know how far it is. i don’t think in can do it but i might give it a try next year. anyway, the waves were terrible again today. winds changing so the tradewinds should be back by tomorrow. and hopefully they can get the pipe masters started. andy irons is in the first heat so don’t miss it.

it’s been raining so everything is so green. this plant at my house was almost dying a few weeks ago. now, it’s as healthy as can be. and next time you past diamond head, look how green it is. the greenest it’s ever been…

and check out the waves in japan. better than hawaii. i wish i was in that barrel…. check out the rest of the photos by nakajima on Go-Naminori.com….
**dolphins and turtles are the coolest. seeing them in the ocean is really amazing. i see them all the time when i go diving or surfing. i’ve swam with wild dolphins before and rode on turtles backs. it’s pretty cool… anyway, check out these photos i took….

everybody watched the movie flipper right? how smart are dolphins? it’s amazing how you can communicate with them. one day out waikiki, we passed a pod of dolphins so i jumped in to swim with them. they were checking me out but kept their distance so i made dolphin noises through my snorkel and they looked at me and came right in. i could have touched them. it was pretty cool… some of my friends don’t believe me but i don’t care. can’t wait to swim with dolphins again. check out this one winking at me….

i remember when my grandma use to read me the japanese children’s book “urashima taro” when i was a kid. it was about a boy who rode the back of a turtle and went into the underwater world. i use to dream of riding a turtles back as a kid so now that i can, i go for it whenever i get the chance. one time i rode a huge turtle out in the north shore and he took me pretty deep. i felt so good that i didn’t want to let go. but once i did, he followed me back to the surface. then i rode him again. and again. that day, i didn’t catch any fish. but who cared. i was reliving my childhood dream….

ready, get set, go!!! the honolulu marathon is on!!! light winds, cloudy skies. perfect weather for the marathon. worst weather for surfing. waves junk all over the island. town is waist high and got a bunch of surfers out at bowls. north shore is 3-5′ with only one guy out at junky pipeline. no contest today and look for a possible start on tuesday when the first of three swells arrive. i guess another day of relaxing. can’t wait until the waves get good and i can get barreled all day long. until then, i’m resting. have a nice day….

the haleiwa international open is the longest running amateur surfing contest in the world. and probably the only amateur contest with the longest waiting period. it runs from dec. 21 to 31. i remember surfing it back in the 80’s when it was called the Mabo Open. it was super fun and i remember them holding it when the waves were huge. it’s good to see such an awesome event still running after all these years. this year should have over 250 competitors in 11 divisions. a lot of japanese pro surfers enter this contest so the level is pretty high. in fact, higher than any jpsa contest held in japan. this is the real deal and who ever wins the contest, deserves it. you know why? because they always run the japanese in the biggest craziest waves. that’s cool…. so get ready for some huge haleiwa and good luck to you all….
**and congrats to jason shibata and the boys for putting on such an awesome event. check out HIOHAWAII.COM…..

**and last, i miss my japanese food. there is a place in wakayama where kimura-san took me to. there are all kinds of japanese dishes lined up you just pick what you want. i chose the samma, yama imo, tuskemono, tonjiru, and rice. this was my brunch. oh my gosh…. oishi desu ne….