4:45pm. Rain Rain Rain…. Samui….

good morning. 6:30am this warm monday morning. gosh, it was the first time in months that i didn’t need a blanket. is hawaii back to normal? hope so. well, the waves are still big on the north shore. i saw a couple 6-8′ perfect barrels at pipe. i bet sunset and haleiwa are pretty good too. town is small but looking fun. the winds look good everywhere but might turn onshore by mid morning. it’s overcast again but the weather report says it should be clearing up this week. the suns haven’t been out for a while so i’m getting pretty white. everybody is. i’m going surfing. have a nice day!! oh, i see a big storm going through the north shore right now. the sky is black and the wind just turned weird. yuck…

norihiko “matchi” nakayama is one of the first guys i met when i went to japan. nice, kind, cool, funny, and respectful are some of his best traits. everybody likes matchi and i consider him family to me. we grew up surfing with each other for the past 17 years and have thousands of memories. i have some photos on the wall in my house and you have to be one of my good friends to be up there. why? because i have to look at your ass every single day.. haha… matchi is up there and this isn’t the only photo with him in. 1994 japan….

i shot this photo 2 years ago when i first started shooting. when i was cleaning out my computer, i almost threw it away. i’m glad i didn’t because this one is a keeper…
**well, great news for all you matchi fans. matchi shapes, surfs, and knows how to have a good time. he just started a blog and i’ll be checking it everyday. yeah matchi!! ganbatte!! see you soon in shikoku….
**CLICK HERE FOR MATCHI BLOG….

and last, this is the reason i’m going to japan. the TSSC users cup is happening sunday, april 5th in shikoku. i’m going with tony and seth moniz. we’re doing a surf school on saturday, april 4th so make reservations fast because space is limited…. more info BY CLICKING HERE ON GO-NAMINORI.COM….

good evening. woke up and checked out the buoy. 9 feet 19 seconds early morning so that means BIG by afternoon. when i checked the waves at 7am, it was only 2-3′. then when we pulled up 2 hours to check out backdoor, the waves were on the rise. maybe 6′ and pumping…

this is Made Adi Putra or better known as Bali ripper “BOL”. he came to town last night to watch the UFC fights with us. we were driving our way out to pipe and i could imagine what he was thinking, “shit man, i’ve been here for 3 weeks and the waves and winds have been shitty everyday. i wonder if i will finally get a big pipe barrel today so i can finally go back to bali”…. go Bol…

there were 2 policemen pulling over speeders this morning at the haleiwa bypass. please drive slow, and drive safe….

pulled up to backdoor to check the waves and every single japanese on the north shore was there. that’s jun jo, ryu nakamura, tetta mori, u-ske in this photo. kinsan, kondo-san, shuji kasuya, and more… i call the guys from japan that come in march “hardcore”….

we ended up surfing velzyland. today was the kind of day where you could have your best session ever, or your worst. it was already too big but there would be a sick double up every so often. as i was paddling out, i seen pancho sullivan get one of the heaviest barrels i’ve ever seen ridden at velzyland. i paddled out and said “ho, how was that one?”. pancho answered “that was probably the best barrel i’ve ever gotten in my life out here”. enough said…. as for my session, i was duckdiving 20 waves straight before catching one. then another 20 waves again before catching another. after a few rounds of that and fighting the current, it was time to go in. the waves got too big but i loved the workout….

after eating some awesome thai curry at the lunch wagon in haleiwa, it was time for the long drive home. rain makes me tired and i’m glad i made it home safe… going to bed and waking up early tomorrow morning. surfing again!! good night….[:Zzz:]