The morning crowd and evening crowd is so different at every spot in Hawaii.  Mornings are more mellow, and evenings are more aggressive.  If you surf the same spot in the morning and evening on the same day, you will understand.  

As I was sitting in the lineup waiting for a wave, this little turtle came up to my foot and hit it.  I was surprised!  With all the shark attacks recently, everybody’s been on edge.  

The first Boot Camp I did with Seira-chan was about 8 years ago.  I started her off on a huge 10’0 longboard.  Throughout the years, she’s been riding smaller boards and connecting very well.  It’s pretty cool to see her surfing so well on a high performance shortboard now.  

When you start to forget about the basic fundamentals of surfing, I won’t hesitate to put you back on a 11’0.  You will be humbled, and you will learn how to learn again.  And when you show me that you can ride a 11’0 like this, you can go back on your shortboard.  Then you will be amazed on how better you just got.    

I was teaching someone how to dive under big waves.  He figured it out and actually perfected it.  I love to watch people experiencing things like this for the first time.

The Last Swell:  Makua Rothman at Big Rights.

Good morning 3:30am.
Ala Moana waist high and coming up today.
Diamond Head chest high and good.
Light trade winds at 20mph.
Sunny and warm.
Going to the sea.
Have a wonderful day!

Walking on the beach early in the mornings can be dangerous.  I never take for granted that just because you’re walking on sand, it’s ok.  Early this morning, I walked towards the water and thought I saw a dead fish.  I looked closely and it was a fishing lure with a rusted triple barb hook sticking up!  OMG, if somebody stepped on that, that’s a guaranteed trip to the Emergency Room.  That’s not a way you want to start your day so please watch your step.  

There were 5 guys out before me so they must have walked right over the fishing hook.  Thank goodness nobody stepped on it.  Jerome on a really fun wave.

If Malcom had a fishing hook in his foot, he would still be smiling.  Haha.  

These 2 monk seals have been on the beach a few times in the past week.  A male and female couple that have been roaring at each other making a lot of noise.  I think that’s their love language.  

Perfect timing as Carter paddled out for a session.

Does anyone know what this big glass jar was used for?  I was in a small fishing village in Hokkaido when this elder lady took me to her back yard and showed me this.  It was in a woven basket that looked a hundred years old.  She told me that she was going to throw it away so she asked me if I wanted to take it back to Hawaii, which I did.  She explained to me what it was but I don’t understand the language dialect in Hokkaido.  I was just saying “hai, hai, hai, arigato gozaimasu, arigato gozaimasu, and arigato gozaimasu.”  I was so happy to bring this back to Hawaii.  I look at it everyday in my living room thinking about how generous the Japanese people are.  This is my treasure.  I just wish I knew what it was used for…