good morning. 5:45am thursday morning. small south swell in town with chest high sets at bowls. it’s pretty windy again but looking fun. bowls looks best so bowls it is…. see you in the water…

this is hawaii!!!! and this is how you take a photo of yourself… haha…

this is how you jump off a rock. with your board and everything…. check out shun charging with kelia and alyssa on the cliff looking down…

this is how two good friends have fun…. pure fun….

and this is how you charge big. run from the back, and just let it fly!!! after the first initial jump, shun went bigger and bigger…. before we slept last night, shun said “today was super fun”…. i hope he had a good night sleep because we’re having more fun today….
**wanted to thank everybody that sent kind supportive emails and left messages on my phone about the 1st annual go-naminori grom contest. yeah, the kids had fun, yeah, it was all worth it, and yeah, we’re doing it again next year. we might even have to make entry forms because so many people are inquiring about it. i’ll have to contact contest director seth moniz for more information. stay tuned…. and once again, thanks to the sponsors and volunteers that made it a success….
**i also wanted to give a shout to my friends in japan. after seeing the smiles in the kids faces the other day, it’s now my dream to make it happen in japan. yes, a grom contest in japan with hawaiian and japanese kids surfing man-on-man together. a great learning experience, and a great way to build relationships. if you can in some way help me make this happen, please let me know. want to keep the positive vibe going and pass it on to the next generation. mahalo…

**i’m still kind of buzzing about the contest we had yesterday. 3 days of planning equals to years of memories. cool vibe, happy faces, high level surfing, and excited kids. we pulled $1,000 cash along with prizes from sponsors and friends. it was all about giving to the kids and making their friendship even stronger. i wish we could do these every month… now my goal is to put together one in japan. send some kids from hawaii and mix them up with the japanese kids. form friendships, encourage them to learn a different culture, and get an experience of a lifetime. for that one, i’m going to need some help to get through the red tape. but if we do, or shall is say, when we do, it will be worth it. stay tuned…..

we had an expression session. the top 6 groms with the highest scores in the contest got to go out and fight for cash prizes…
BEST WAVE: SETH MONIZ
FUTURISTIC MOVE: EALA STEWERT
BEST BARREL: SETH MONIZ

kelia moniz got 2nd in the girls shortboard final. look how happy she was getting her trophy…. good job sis…

when the results were announced, the sodas and water got dumped on the winner. this is shun running away from the kids pouring things over his head….
**ONCE AGAIN WANT TO THANK ALL THE BOYS DOWN AT KEWALO’S FOR LETTING THE KIDS CATCH WAVES YESTERDAY. SHUN TOLD ME THAT THE LOCALS WERE YELLING “GO, GO, GO!!!”. THAT MAKES ME SUPER HAPPY…. HONTO NI ARIGATO GOZAIMASU…
**and last, check out this photo from today. we surfed and had some fun today…. more photos coming tomorrow…

good morning. wanted to sleep in today but couldn’t. just got too many things to do before i leave so better start now. waves came down in town. looking cloudy and windy so i’m not too excited to go surfing. maybe get wet this afternoon. check out some of the photos from yesterday. have a nice day…..

when the finals started, it was all business. judges mike shimooka, hayato maki, and derek wong made sure the right guy got the right score. great judges and nobody was complaining….

i’m still tripping out on how fast this contest was put together. it’s incredible how when people pitch in, things get done. it would take months to plan something as big as this. but when you have everybody participating, things get done fast. and right….

girls finals. kelia moniz 2nd, alissa quizon 1st…

under 12 grom finals. joshua moniz 2nd, shun murakami 1st….

under 16 finals, eala stewart 2nd, and isaiah moniz 1st…

we had a trophy and prize money for most inspirational surfer of the contest. cassidy kuakini won it hands down. why? because he lost early but still held his happy face up and supported his friends that were still in the contest. that’s class man. good job cassidy…

seth moniz won the trophy for best ride of the contest. in round 1, he took off, got a super long deep barrel, came out and did 2 huge turns… i gave him a perfect 10 point ride…

seth became the youngest contest director in the world 3 days ago. he worked hard to put the get the groms together, make the heats, get the trophies, and pretty much run the contest. for all that hard work, he won the prize of “outstanding surfer” donated by todd mitsui. it was the DS guitar hero. anybody would be happy with that….
**once again, thanks to everybody who helped out with this contest. the vibe was so awesome and i’ve never seen the kids happier….