Here is the second shot of the sequence.  I’m paddling my hardest, I see the traffic, and I decide in that split second to go for it.  John John Florence is still on the right of me watching to see if this old man actually goes.  Haha.  The 4 surfers in front of me are still there as 2 of them started their duck dive.  I’m trying to keep calm, but at the same time, I know this is risky because of the traffic.

Here I’m taking off and it looks perfect for now.  I’m popping up at the perfect time.  This is when John John pulls back as you can see on the left side of this photo.  I knew the angle I needed to take to get right under the barrel.  Yes, no time and no space for a bottom turn on this one.  It’s just take off, pull in, and hope for the best!

The next shot is when everything starts to go wrong.  Coming soon.

Remember Surf Trip 2018@SouthSumatra:  Swell of the century!

Good morning 4:30am.
North shore overhead today and triple overhead tomorrow.
Ala Moana waist high.
Diamond Head waist to chest high.
Light South winds at 10mph.
Sun, haze, and warm.
Going to the sea.
Have a wonderful day!

I went to check the waves this morning in the dark and even though it looked fun, I decided to take a day off.  I’ve surfed over 100 rounds since January 1st so my body felt like doing something else.  That something else was to take a long walk.  I only had slippers so running wasn’t an option.

I walked around looking at trees, the ocean, and of course, the waves.  I saw a couple fun spots with nobody out.  Even seeing that, I still enjoyed my walk.

Very interesting buildings near Diamond Head.  They call this the Gold Coast of Oahu.

Back to yesterday.  Watari-san’s been surfing for 5 years and he caught his best waves of his life in Hawaii.

A super cool guy with a good surfing style.  More big swells on the way.  My bruised ribs finally healed so feeling 100% again!