Another 2 days of travel to final destination. 40 hours total travel time. Surf trip has started!

It’s been a weird winter season for the south shore.  There’s usually a couple overhead west swells that wrap into town, or there’s usually a couple south swells that pump.  But this year, there was none.  The past 4 months of small waves.  BUT, if you’re coming from Japan, this is epic!  Nakamura-san scoring Bowls lefts.

The winter season also brings beautiful skies.  Everyday will be different and everyday will amaze you.  We have days with clouds, days with no clouds, days with haze, and days of the most clearest air in the world.  This day was right in between.

When I’m giving tips on surfing technique, I prefer the waves to be small like this.  That way the emotions are less, and that way I can ride behind and take photos like this.  We build muscle memory on days like this so we can perform on the bigger days.

I’ve been seeing so many surfers these days not wearing a leash.  When someone takes off like this, the leash is first thing I look for because I’m measuring distance.  If they’re wearing a leash, I know how far I should be away.  BUT, when they’re not wearing a leash, anything can happen.  In this case, this girl had no leash, she looked straight at me, fell, and her longboard shot over my head and missed me by inches.  I was pissed!  I don’t like when low level surfers try to act cool by not wearing a leash.  Low level surfers that don’t wear a leash are the total opposite of cool.

Boot camp bottom turn.  

Nakamura-san flowing.

Okada-san next wave.

Building muscle memory.

Good morning 4:15am.
North shore chest high and coming up. Offshore and good.
Ala Moana chest high and coming up. Onshore and junk.
Diamond Head shoulder high and onshore.
Southeast winds at 20mph.
Clouds, winds, and heavy rain coming.
Have a wonderful day!