Diving Ikitai na…..

good morning. 4:30am and north shore bound. have a nice day…
**turned on the news last night and seen todd doing an interview after being attacked by a shark at crouching lion. yeah, crouching lion. the same crouching lion i’ve surfed many times, took my japanese friends to surf many times, and also the same crouching lion i dove many times. makes you really think. shit, it could have been anybody. then they closed laniakea and chuns yesterday because of a big tiger shark in the area. then they closed a few beaches on the big island because of sharks. what? is it breeding season? you know, experts say that the chances of an average person being attacked by a shark is one in millions. but these experts don’t factor in that us surfers and divers spend most of our lives in the ocean so the odds are much higher. yeah, the chance of a tourist that swims in waikiki once a year chances are slim, but for us? much more… makes me think. makes me really think….

i took this photo of todd murashige in the finals at the surf into summer contest at bowls a few months ago. i think he won it. i hope he recovers soon. ganbatte todd….

and last, wanted to say what’s up to reyton from kauai. here he is dropping in on an outer reef on the south shore of kauai. reyton, surf safe and watch out for the sharks out there….

good evening. checked bowls this morning, 13 guys were out. by the time i got out there, there were only 5 or so. the waves were chest/head high and pretty fun. it was good to surf without hassling anybody for waves. and it was good to see keiko back in the lineup. it wasn’t the same without her. going to sleep early and head out to the north shore at 5am tomorrow morning for lester’s ceremony at pipeline. gosh, it’s going to be sad seeing his family and loved ones there. surfing with lester all these years has taught me to be more welcoming to people, and to surf pipe for the glory, not for the fame. that big hawaiian is going to be missed… goodnight.

**gosh how time flies. it seemed like years ago when shun came to stay with me, but it was not even 2 months ago. we both took the same flight back to japan so i did a short interview on shun from the airport. he was so stoked to win the go-naminori contest and held his trophy the whole way back to japan. i just made this short clip and after i watched it, i really miss this kid. shun murakami is one of the most well mannered kids i’ve ever met. he always says thank you, please, and is sincere in everything he does. he’s got great parents and guidance from the locals in yugawara. watching shun even taught me to say thank you more often. gosh, what you can learn from a kid… he’s welcomed in my house anytime… if you want to be respected in the surfing world, you got to be cool, sincere, and well mannered. shun has it all. and not to mention, this kid rips. i tell everybody that if you come to hawaii and surf with the locals for 2 weeks, your level of surfing will go up 1 notch. shun’s went up 3. watch out for this kid because he’s going to blow minds…..

**check out 11 year old shun murakami’s honolulu international airport interview…. kawaii…