SHARK!!!

Good morning 3:20am.
Ala Moana shoulder high and good.
Diamond Head head high and bumpy.
Trade winds at 20mph.
Sunny and warm.
Going to the sea.
Have a wonderful day!

i could do this every single morning for the rest of my life.  and i want to do this every single morning for the rest of my life…

if you can ride a wave in the darkness, that means you’re connected with the ocean.  because if you’re not connected with the ocean, it would be impossible to ride a wave in the dark.

then when you master surfing in the darkness, your whole perspective in the lightness changes.  it’s that magical.

then you will be able to see things others can’t see.

after this magical morning, i was passing through Chinatown and stopped at Izumo Taisha.  i stood back and admired this beautiful Shinto shrine as it slept.  this is the indicator for Japanese tourists in Hawaii.  when Japanese tourism is booming, this popular shrine is crowded all day long.  but for now, that’s not the case.  for the past 2.5 years, it’s as peaceful as it will ever get.  and this is when i love to admire it…

i’ve know Neal Miyake for a very long time.  he use to shoot Backdoor all the time back in the early 1990’s.  he’s a really good photographer with unique and artistic angles.  i saw him out at Bowls the other day and he was in the perfect spot when a took off on a set.  i knew he had a fisheye so i had to get really close.

so i’m flying down the wave on a very fast section.  i saw Neal and i had 2 choices:  one was to do a floater so i could keep up with the wave after the section.  that photo would have turned out average.  the second choice was to do a big turn right in the pocket for the photo, and forget about completing the wave.  and as a surfer, you have to make that decision in a split second.  one part of me wanted to float over that section because i could have done 4 more turns after.  another part of me wanted to do a turn so i could get the shot.  what did i choose???  i chose the middle choice which was to try to do both.  and guess what?  i failed a 100%!  Neal did his part in capturing a close up super sharp photo.  but i didn’t do my part because you could tell by my expression, i was confused.  that one was on me…

back in the day, my job was to get the shot no matter what.  so when i was paddling out, Neal was laughing at me because he knew i screwed up.  haha.  next time i see him out, i’m going to put my mentality back in the 1990’s and get the job done.  i won’t fail again!