salamat pagi! can you believe i’m here on vacation? not me. the first day, i wake up at 3am. yesterday, 4:30am, and today, 3:45am. it’s 4am now and i’m on my computer uploading, downloading, typing, and deleting. have Kinsan on the side of me doing the same thing. it’s pretty cool shooting, and reporting the action through our own eyes. so here it is!
if you get up early here in bali, you can actually score perfect waves without the crowd. Kimura-san and I headed down south to a spot that is not too well known yet. and i was sitting on the outside getting barrel after barrel, i thought to myself, “this spot will be uncovered, discovered, and in 5 years, there will be hundreds of surfers and tall buildings on the beach. so mine as well enjoy it while i can.” check out this empty barreling right. i came here to get barreled, and i’m getting barreled!
then we go back to the contest and it’s crazy! so many people on a beach once deserted. Keramas wasn’t even a surf spot when i first went to bali 21 years ago. how times change so fast.
Kelly Slater is beatable! omg, when he was matched up with CJ Hobgood, i thought he would win for sure. but CJ spoiled the champs winning streak. nice turn yeah?
Joel Parkinson was the man to beat. posting 2 perfect 10’s right in front of my eyes was a great memory. of all the surfers, Joel is on top of the game now.
Josh Kerr is the dark horse. if this guy wins, i wouldn’t be surprised. good at barrel riding, good at big power turns, and good at airs. he has it all.
watching Kelly Slater surf, i can learn a lot. i learn about barrel riding, learn about bending my knees, and learn about surfboard design. check out this round pin 4 fin setup.
CJ Hobgood stunned the surfing world by taking out the 11x world champ. if you made a bet in las vegas picking CJ to win, you would be a millionaire.
i can also learn from watching Kelly how to lose. of course he’s super bummed out and frustrated, but he keeps his cool. i seen a brazilian and a hawaiian super pissed off after losing yesterday. i thought that was unprofessional and if i were one of their sponsors, i wouldn’t be too happy.
John John Florence was surfing really good, but it all came down to wave knowledge in the heat against Joel. Joel surfed Keramas 100 times more then John John and it showed on the waves he picked. wave selection was everything yesterday.
to all you kids out there, surf hard and do your best. and if you do lose, or should i say, when you lose, please take it like a man. keep your head up, smile, walk back to your car, drive home, then you can swear, scream, and cry. just don’t do it at the beach because the whole world is watching you. got it?
first time i seen a women water photographer. that’s cool!
CJ Hobgood isn’t that famous, but after beating Kelly Slater, now he is. look at him getting mobbed on the beach after the heat. it’s so weird how so many people want Kelly to lose. and when he does, people cheer. that’s kind of a bummer but i can understand how people don’t like other people winning all the time. it’s called jealousy.
Julian Wilson was looking good too. the quarter finals should be on either today or tomorrow. i’m going to watch, cheer, study, shoot, and learn. this is my job and i think i love it even more.
it’s 4:30am and time to get ready to leave for the beach. going to shut down this computer and enjoy this beautiful day in bali from sunrise to sunset. surf, eat, shoot, massage, bintang, laugh, and sleep. have a wonderful day!
