good evening. flat waves is perfect for diving. so off to the east side it was… gosh, the conditions were epic. for diving that is…

glassy conditions on the east side are rare. so when the winds are down, better get on it. yeah, heard there are still huge tiger sharks hanging around after eating that dead whale but it was just too perfect today… i just took precaution and didn’t put the fish i caught on my belt. i kept it far away so if a hungry shark wanted it, he could have it…..

i met randy in hanapaa. he was a friend of a friend and we’ve been diving ever since then. he’s like a kumu magnet because he always catches the big ones. that red fish on the bottom right corner is a big kumu. and yeah, randy caught it…. but not a bad catch for 2 guys yeah?? fish all week again….

flying back is refreshing. my boat goes 26mph and it feels good with the wind in my face… and the fish in the cooler. that’s chinaman’s hat in the background….

i hardly see these. this is a “nohu” or scorpion fish. i heard you could die if you step on one. really? take off the poison fins and it’s all good in the steamer. i love this fish, until it pokes me…. ouch…. by the way, it weighed over 5lbs….
**i was checking the waves in town this evening. it look like it came up. maybe 2 inches? yeah, the new south swell isn’t here and hopefully when i wake up tomorrow morning, it will. but if it aint, might have to go diving again…. waves or no waves, this guy is happy…. i’m going to take a deep breath, and fall asleep… [:Zzz:][:Zzz:]

good morning. waves super small around the island. great day for a dive. so a dive it is…. have a nice day…

this is yukiko and friend. if you haven’t met yukiko before, let me introduce her. yukiko surfs kewalo’s everyday and surfs it pretty dam good. she won the state contest last year in hawaii and got her pro license for the JPSA tour in japan this year. she’s one cool surfer girl….

i dive kewalo’s a lot of times and as soon as i jump in the water with my spear, the fish are gone. they are pretty spooked and know what’s up. but when you don’t have a spear, they swim right up to you. if i had my spear yesterday, i could have caught 3 uhu’s. but then again, if i had my spear, those fish wouldn’t have been there. maybe i’ll hide my spear in my pocket next time….

my nephews and their friends hang around the beach all day. this day, they made a little contest out at kewalo’s and they were pretty serious about it…. game on….
**i got this photo from bobby and all he said was “WTF”. know what that means?? “what the f@&K. yeah, i said the same thing too….. WTF….

i grew up at sandy beach back in the days. half point was a dream to me. i was so young and such a kook that i had to sit on the inside shoulder watching all the boys rip it up. so i’ve been keeping my eyes on half point. town was pretty much flat today so i chanced it and drove out to the east side solo. i saw 4 perfect waves like this break with only 2 bodyboarders out. shit, i was on it…. and when i was surfing the wave, i couldn’t believe i could catch the sets. gosh, i guess the boys out at sandy’s back in the days traumatized me. the sandy beach boys were nuts…. i took that photo at 9:06am…

even the chicks knew where the best spot on the island was today. oh, when i first pulled up the the empty beach, 2 japanese girls pulled up in their rent-a-car right next to me. when they got out, they ran on the beach jumping and screaming “sugoi, sugoi, kirei”. shit, i wish i shot that. i took a photo for them and it’s been a while since i’ve seen such happy tourists…. only in hawaii….

then i jump into my car and pull up to kewalo’s. the boys were out ripping so i figure, go get some shots…. this is JPSA pro keito masaoka doing the layback snap….

then jason shibata was killing it too… i took much better photos but have to hold out. wait till the mags come out….

this months surf1st cover boy kaito ohashi going left. to the left, to the left…[:????$B”L(B?:][:????$B”L(B?:] the boys are here for the contest coming up at bowls this weekend. hope they all do good….

1:02pm. gosh, this is a cool photo. a keeper. nick mita, jason shibata, keito masaoka, u-ske, kazuya sato, kaito ohashi, shuji kasuya, me, and yukiko. no, this is not japan, this is hawaii. and yeah, each and every person in this photo has some connection with hawaii and japan. a connection that brings people together by chance. no, this was not planned, we all met there by chance. that’s the cool thing about surfing, it brings everybody together. gosh, i felt like getting out a grill, a cooler of beers, and putting on “we are family” on my ipod. maybe next time…