for the past 20 + years, i’ve been taking this walk down the path at off-the-wall in the beginning of every north shore season. since today was my official start to the ’09-10 season, i was kind of nervous walking down this path this morning. surfing the north shore isn’t a joke. the very best of surfers die here each year. come february or march, i’ll be running down this trail heading straight for the water. sometimes i don’t even check the waves. but today, i took it slow. i got there at 6:15 am, watched it carefully for 15 minutes, chose my 7’0 to be on the safe side, and walked to the waters edge slowly. as i was paddling out, there were butterflies on my stomach. but once i caught my first wave, it was back to normal. i felt good being out in the most famous point in the world, Backdoor/Pipeline…..
the waves were 3-5′ and not that perfect. you had to go looking for the good one today. i surfed for 3.5 hours and caught only 7 waves. 3 of them barrels. my sister them are staying at the billabong house right in front so she used my camera to take some photos….
this is my second wave. and my first official barrel of the season!!! after i made it out of this barrel, i was thinking to myself, “no where in the world feels better than getting barreled at backdoor. i got so many good barrels in indonesia and japan this year but the feeling is different. backdoor is the most heaviest wave breaking over knee high deep water, it’s also the hardest place in the world to catch a wave because of the locals and talent, and this is my home.” after my long session, i jumped in my car, drove home, ate lunch, took a nap, and went to yoga. my life is finally back to normal and i love it!!! it’s been a while but tonight, i’m sleeping with a big smile on my face. then tomorrow morning, i’m doing the same thing!!! good night….[:Zzz:]
**once again, thanks tammy for taking these photos. tomorrow too??? haha….
