For about 20 years of my life, I would leave Hawaii starting in every April to travel the world. Summer in Hawaii was boring for me because I’ve done it my whole life, so venturing off to other countries was so exciting. I’d spend a lot of time in Japan and when the waves were flat, I use to drive down to the beach and people watch. Many days in Shonan watching the surf craze happening right in front of me. None of my family and friends in Hawaii believed me when I told them how crowded the ocean was. Until they saw this. 
Then when October comes, I make sure I’m back in Hawaii for the whole winter season because this is what I lived for. Backdoor! In those 20 years, I don’t think I missed even one good day out there. I would be there from pitch dark for hours and hours everyday. Everyone wants the wave of the day, and everyone wants to get barreled. So paddling out on days like this was very challenging and exciting. Sometimes you have to be aggressive, and sometimes you have to be lucky. I remember sitting outside next to Mike Stewart and when this huge set came. Mike went left and I went right. Left is Pipeline, and right is Backdoor. Gosh, I wonder how big this wave was?
