good morning. i took this 15 year old japanese kid named Kohei surfing the other day. it was his first time and i couldn’t believe how much energy he had. we surfed 3 hours in the morning, then came in for lunch. then paddled back out for an afternoon session. after an hour into the session, he stepped on a sharp piece of reef that was stuck in his foot. we came in, i looked at it, grabbed the piece of reef sticking out, and yanked it out. he said “OUCH!!!!” blood started to pour out. i was about to change into my dry clothes and Kohei said “can we surf again?” i said “of course” and we paddled back out for an hour more. tough kid….

i wanted to thank bruddah vance that was shooting out there that day. he took some cool photos of Kohei and i’m sure he will be stoked to see it….

hey Kohei, keep on surfing dude! you did a great job for a first time surfer. a few more times and you’ll be getting barreled. i had a great time. keep on studying in school, keep on speaking great english, and keep on coming to hawaii! and if you ever have something sticking out of your foot again, don’t go to the doctor, come see me and i’ll yank it out. remember, surfers are tough! mahalo….

in Afghanistan….

i really wasn’t expecting any waves when i went to palau because the wave charts weren’t looking to good before we left hawaii. i took a board anyway and that was a good decision. we ended up surfing a really fun wave. i would describe it as a long right with 3 sections. really long, and when it gets big, it’s probably really hollow. the kind of wave us regular footers love. here is red sea adventure boss kyle nakamoto in red!
*no, the water isn’t cold. kyle and i surfed with full suits because we were between dives and were too lazy to change into trunks. the water is pretty warm and really clean. if you like free diving and free surfing, palau is the place to go….

speaking of red. check out this rare red uhu. i’ve dove for so many years and seen so many fish but this is the first time in my life i seen a bright red uhu. this is cool!
**i took the most photos in palau that i’ve ever taken on a trip. i’m starting to go through them so you will be seeing lots in the next few days. stay tuned….