good evening. WOW!!! what a great day!!! i drove out the the north shore the earliest ever. i got there and it was pitch dark. i tried to check the waves from rockpiles because i was too cold to get out of the car. i couldn’t see anything but i could hear the “BOOOM.. BOOOM..” the ocean was alive and i knew it was going to be good!!!
i couldn’t wait so i pulled up to backdoor and parked my car. it was only me. i walk down to the beach to try to take a look at the waves. next thing, i see 2 silent shadows. i was thinking “wow, dawn patrollers, cool” we were standing 10′ away from each other in like a triangle formation watching the ocean for 10 minutes. then i hear somebody say “hey kirby”. i looked and couldn’t see who it was because it was so dark. so i walk closer and it was teppei tajima. then i look at the other guy close up and it was photographer kondo-san. we laughed about it and it was so funny because that’s the same thing that happened to me yesterday morning.
anyway, when i see japanese surfers pulling up to the north shore when it’s still dark, it makes me happy. why? because it shows that they are dedicated and here to surf!! they are here to get good waves and don’t give a shit about photos. they could catch the best wave of their life and nobody will ever see it or hear about it. so what? then you got those surfers who wait for the sun to come out and wait for the photographers to set up before they paddle out? then complain that it’s too crowded? honestly, i use to be like that for years and i wasn’t happy doing it. now, i’m different. yeah, i want and need photos to make my sponsors happy, but i also want to make myself happy. and paddling out early in the morning and getting some of the best waves of your life is what happiness is all about. anyway, what i’m trying to say is: i give JPSA champion surfer teppei tajima a lot of credit. i respect him in a totally different way now. and if any of his sponsors reads this, you should be proud of him….
[:???:] this morning was freezing!!! i had my heater turned all the way up to 90 degrees. [:???:]
i was the first guy in the lineup this morning. it was super weird surfing the heaviest and most crowded surf spot in the world in the dark. and it felt super weird getting out there before wade tokoro. well, he paddled out 20 seconds after me… haha. the waves were 4-6 with 8 foot bombs. a-frame backdoor/pipeline. there were just a few surfers out today and probably the most uncrowded backdoor/pipeline i’ve ever surfed in my life. i couldn’t come in and ended up surfing for almost 3 hours. i’m very happy now!!! i even got into a car accident on the way back to town but that never got me down. all i remember is the waves i caught. i’ll worry about the accident and insurance stuff tomorrow….
wait!! what brought me down was the market being closed!!! oh my gosh!! i purposely killed time in the north shore today so i could have a nice fried chicken lunch at “The Market.” i even pounded on the door but nobody came out. shock!!! i’m going there tomorrow….
**OH MY GOSH!! I JUST CHECKED MY EMAIL AND LOOK WHAT WAS INSIDE!!!
getting hurt this year in okinawa changed the way i do my job. yeah, i’m paid to get good photos and promote my sponsors. but i have a limit now. i’m not going to put my life on the line like i did in okinawa just for a photo. if a photographer wasn’t on the boat with me in okinawa, i probably wouldn’t have paddled out that day. i take my job in a different way now and i think it’s paid off. i paddled out this morning not even caring about a photo. people die every year at pipe/backdoor. even i had my near death experience out there so i’m very careful. i don’t take closeouts, and i don’t do anything out there for a photo. i’m surfing out there for myself. sorry sponsors, i love my life too much….
so coming home today and seeing a photo like this of me surfing this morning almost brought tears to my eyes. here i am at an age in my life were most people are retiring or converting to stand up paddling. not me! i feel better than i’ve ever felt in the ocean, physically and mentally. i had no idea i rode a wave this big today. no wonder i was smiling all day long…[:????????$B!r(B:]
this photo made my winter. and it’s only just begun… everything else from now on is just a bonus!!! thank you gordinho for capturing a special moment in my life. i owe you big time!!!
and last, nobody in this world enjoys their job more than i enjoy mine. i love it!!!
