good evening. gosh, what another awesome day here in hawaii. the waves, weather, and everything is just awesome. all day long!! i’ve been waking up early in the morning for the past month and i still don’t mind. every single morning the waves have been perfect and it’s just getting better. yesterday was perfect but today was perfecter? is that even a word?

this is 7am at off the wall. sick waves with only one lucky guy out. that lucky guy was ryu nakamura. i watched him catch 3 waves all by himself with nobody around. grabbed my board and went to say hi on the way out to backdoor. paddled by ryu and he looked so dam happy. i didn’t want to bum his trip so i went to backdoor to grab a few. gosh, it was absolutely perfect. crystal clean long barrels…. then i went back to off the wall because i could see the photographers coming out. i guess sometimes i gotta work. it was only ryu and i. photographers kinsan and kenji sahara shooting from the water. then shuji kasuya and tetsu urayama paddled out. not even 30 min into the session, i caught my second wave. it was a shitty one and after it closed out, i jumped off my board and started paddling back out. i could see big sets coming in from the outside but i thought i could make it back out. see, if you don’t know, off the wall has no channel. catching a wave is the easy part, paddling back out is the hard part. you have to time it right our your in serious trouble. i started paddling back out as the sets came nearer and nearer. made it over 2, then there it was, a solid 7′ double up ready to break in front of me. i threw my board and dove under. i felt the board pulling my leash and then i felt the board not pulling my leash. i knew my board broke because destination makes the best leashes which never break. so there i was on the outside with a piece of my tail left. got pounded a few more times then finally made it back to the beach. i was on the way to my car to grab another board but thought, enough for today. i got barreled and there will be many more days to come. i was back in my car heading to town by 10am. a little bummed out, but happy bummed out. understand??

i break so many boards every year. at the pace i’m surfing recently, one broken board a day is enough. if i paddled back out, it could have been another one easily. as i was watching from the beach, i seen 5 guys coming in with broken boards. and watching dino miranda break 3 longboards 2 days ago, i’d thought today was already an expensive day for my surfboard sponsor. sorry yasan. but gosh, the waves were going off today. backdoor was at it’s best and the boys were getting deep long barrels. can’t wait to go out there again….

and on the way back passing waimea bay, i stopped to take this photo. i saw 5 whales in all different spots jumping around. where else in the world can you see all the things i seen this morning? i love this place….

and last, kelia borrowed uncle robbie’s camera one day and took some photos at her house. i kind of freaked out when i saw this photo of seth in her iphoto library because it looks pretty dam professional. gosh, i don’t think i could give such a cute smile like that to my older sister… haha…[:??????:]

good morning. 5:45am and i can smell it. yeah, i can smell the waves going off. still pitch dark but i’m out of here. if it’s anything like yesterday, it’s all good. oh, was watching the quiksilver pro yesterday online and oh my gosh. the surfing level is so high. it’s like if you can’t do an air in your heat, you won’t make it. kelly slater is on another planet. he just keeps getting better and better. unstoppable….. anyway, have a nice day…

we had a barbecue at carter’s house the other night. i went there, grabbed a chair, and the boys cooked all the food. it was nice to get served and i didn’t realize that the food tastes better that way. thanks guys. and sorry i didn’t help but i know you understand…

this was like our 3 year bali trip reunion. gerald, carter, kenji, russ, and i took a trip to bali 3 years ago and had a great time. we were talking about doing it again….

this is a photo from that bali trip. complete with a cold bintang…. gosh, that was a fun trip. can’t wait to do it again…

old time bodyboard friend erin stopped by. i knew erin back in the days when we use to surf sandy beach. 20 years ago this winter, i seen her out at big sunset beach. i thought she was pretty hardcore because i only seen her bodyboard sandy beach before. anyway, a freak 10′ set came in and broke right in front of us. after i came up, i looked for her and didn’t see her. then right as the next set was approaching, i saw her pop up and she was freaking out. her leash broke and she panicked. i threw her my board and told her not to let it go. she hung on for her life and made it safely to the beach. since that day 20 years ago, i bumped into erin 3 times. and every time i see her, she gives me a big hug and tells me “thanks for saving my life”. i think that’s pretty funny. but i guess she was serious because she hasn’t gone near sunset beach since then….

good evening, i feel like i’ve been saying this for the past month but “shit, the waves were going off today!!!” perfect surf and weather with no crowds….

once again, i pulled up to off the wall and as i was walking through the path to the beach, i seen this perfect 4′ wave peel across and spit. and get this? not one guy out….

then i look right and saw this perfect wave peeling at pipe/backdoor. like always, i don’t check it for more than a minute before i’m running back to my car to grab my board. paddled out and scored…. i caught a set at backdoor, pulled in off the take off, and was driving through the barrel. kept going and going. next thing you know, i was already at off the wall. i tried to squeek out but the lip caught me at the end. by far my longest barrel of the year… and the whole time i was in the barrel, it was just me and the crystal lip going over my head. no photographers or bodyboarders getting in the way. that’s how empty it was… after that, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. and i’m still smiling… i love surfing….

after i came in, i was looking down the beach at the little sandbar. it was as beautiful as it gets. i just couldn’t resist….

this is mermaid aoi koike. 10X japan champ and 2008 pipeline pro champ….

and check this out. this is a hawaiian monk seal having the beach to himself…. one month ago, this beach would be lined by 100 photographers, pro surfers from all over the world, girls in g-strings, and a lot of stress. i can’t believe i made it through that. i’d rather have it the way it was today. there was nobody… gosh, it was beautiful. and the good news is, it’s going to be like this for a while more…. so get your ass out of your house and enjoy this island we call “paradise”…..[:Zzz:][:Zzz:][:?????????:][:?????????:][:??????:][:??????:][:????????$B!r(B:][:????????$B!r(B:][:??????:][:??????:]
**by the way, kelly slater vs. mick fanning surfing in the final at snapper rocks right now…. it’s going to be a good heat. don’t miss it…