surfers try to conquer pipeline on their own. that takes years to do and comes with super high risks. you either can get hurt, or get beaten up. i was lucky to have my brother in law Tony Moniz teach me everything. there’s the wind, swell direction, currents, reefs, and scariest of all, heavy locals to deal with. with what Tony has taught me, and by surfing out there for the past 30 years, i can now pass that on to the next generation. so before we paddle out, i tell Aoi “stay very close to me and everything will be alright!”
for me, jumping into pipe is normal. but for Aoi, i’m sure he was freaking out inside.
and no, the waves weren’t small at all. in fact, it was solid 3-5′ or 10′ faces. this is Taylor Knox and he’s 6’0 tall so figure it out.
i take my smallest 5’10 short board that i would have never rode if i knew the waves were that big. but hey, you have to do what you have to do, which is to hang on for my life.
Aoi was going left, i was going right. and every time i paddled back out, i would look at him and smile.
and Aoi ripping the ends!
on a day like this, i would normal ride a 6’2. then making it out of backdoor barrels like this would be really easy.
but my 5’10 couldn’t keep up as the insides of the tube would swallow me up. then picking me up and slamming me to the reef. gosh, it felt good to get beaten up like that. it’s been a long time!
the kids are ripping these days. amazing! by the way, Aoi got to see Rob Machado, Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, Taylor Knox, and many more super surfing heroes!
when ever i take Aoi surfing, i see so much of myself in him. i was once in his exact same shoes. it feels so rewarding to coach this kid and watching him grow into a fine surfer!
