good evening. wow!! what a long day. it started at 5:30 when i woke up. i paddled out at dark to backdoor. the waves were 3-4′ and super fun. and as i was in some barrels, i could see the reef. yeah, the reef in the dark!! the water was sooooo clean!!! i already knew that i wanted to grab my fisheye and snap some underwater world…. so after i caught enough waves for the day, i went to grab my camera. right as the sun came up, the waves got super clean and perfect off shore. i shot for a while, then went back to my little room i’m renting to eat lunch. then i was planning to go to hayato’s house to take some photos and as i was passing by backdoor, perry dane called me and said “what you doing? grab your board, the waves are going off!!” eeh??? i stopped my car and went to check the waves again. OMG!! the swell came up and the conditions were perfect…. 5′ and epic backdoor. i was out there!!!
with the stiff off shore winds, backdoor is dangerous. the waves are 2x more hollow and very very shallow. i shot earlier so i knew how shallow it was. so i just wanted one good wave. i waited, waited, and waited. there were a lot of locals in the lineup so it wasn’t an easy day to get a set. 2 big A-Frame sets were coming in, makua got the first one, kamalei got the second one. then after i paddled over the second wave, i looked behind and there it was, a bigger 3rd set. i paddled, took off, bottom turned, and got a freakin good stand up barrel. then i came straight in….

and here it is. my perfect tube for today taken by kinsan. thanks kinsan for posting my memory on your blog. you don’t even know how happy i am….

here’s my lunch. spam saimin….

i went to pupukea foodland last night to get some ice cream for a hot happy day. today was hot and happy!! it’s so amazing how a barrel can brighten up one’s day….

TEAM YAMARI!! wanted to wish kimura-san and atsuko-san a warm welcome to hawaii. and thanks for all the fish!!!
**i worked hard today. when i was driving back to town, i almost fell asleep on the wheel. abunai!! i have a dangerous job but i love it!!! stay tuned for some cool photos i took this morning…

JANUARY 26, 2010
10:49 AM
CLEAN
OFF SHORE
3-5′
SUNNY
PERFECT
BEST DAY OF 2010
GO-NAMINORI!!!

good morning. 6 am. south winds. guessing 2-4′ and perfect north shore. going to be the first one out. have a nice day…{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}check out yesterdays OTW action. this is hiromichi soeda checking out the morning surf…..{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}kinsan doesn’t miss anything. if your japanese and surf, kinsan will probably get your photo. the most hardcore photographer in the world….{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}maoh toda hooking up with japanese water photographer kamio….{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}shimpei horiguchi hooking up with japanese water photographer kamio…{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}matchi got the wave of the day, or maybe year. too good of a photo for a blog so i’m keeping it for the magazine… when he came out of the deep long barrel, he was happy. and so was i….{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}this is ma-kun’s first winter here in hawaii. in fact, i think he just got his passport. a young kid coming from miyazaki and already getting barreled at backdoor???? i think this kid is hooked on surfing!!! watch out!!!{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}this is kenji sahara enjoying every minute in hawaii. look how happy he is….{:rn:}{:rn:}{:rn:}