i had such a great time surfing these past 2 days with Furuya-san. we are still in training for him to become a better surfer and his level already went up 2 steps. he’s surfing smoother, stronger, faster, and lighter. Furuya-san told me he is going to enter the TSSC Cup in shikoku next april and i bet anyone he will at least make the final, and might even win it. tomorrow is our last full day of training and i just hope he remembers everything he’s learned when next april comes. haha.
Furuya-san also wrote in his email before he came to hawaii that he is a big fan of Mick Fanning. and if there were any chance to see him surf, he really wants that. so everything fell into place today. i figured out the contest heat timeline so we surfed early in the morning, Daniel shot some video, we jumped on the freeway and headed to the contest. arrived there right in time of Mick Fanning’s heat. Furuya-san’s dream was about to come true.
the only bummer thing is the waves were so small! i think bowls was bigger!!! but hey, if you are a professional surfer, you have to adjust to every situation. 3 days ago they cancelled the contest because it was too big, and now they ran it in the smallest waves ever in a north shore event. as a surfer, i would have much preferred surfing on the out of control 15′ day. and as a spectator, i would have much preferred to watch some death defying rides rather than seeing waves today that ants can barely surf. i actually felt sorry for some of the competitors.
world champion mick fanning was coming out of the water and i told Furuya-san, “now’s your chance! go there and take some photos!”
then i figure “i’d better go there and make this guys dream come true.” i ran there and asked mick to take a photo, he said ok. and this is it! the perfect photo of fan meeting world champion.
Furuya-san ran back and was so happy! then before he could sit back down, i told him “let’s get out of here and go back to town.” we jumped in the truck, stopped by to eat some frozen yogurt, and went to surf bowls again. another level up as he started to surf like mick fanning! and i’m not joking!
then came home to unload boards and load up other ones. went back to bowls and had an awesome sunset session with Toda-san, Takami-san, and Matsu. it’s 9:15pm and i just got home from another long day in the ocean. i had an awesome day and hope you had one too! good night.
