Morning Glide!

Good morning 4:30am.
Ala Moana chest high and good.
Diamond Head shoulder high and bumpy.
Trade winds at 20mph.
Sunny and warm.
Going to Boot Camp.
Have a wonderful day!

Another beautiful morning in Hawaii.   Seems like I’ve been saying this for the past 8 months but it’s really been beautiful for a very long time.  Itabashi-san and his son Takezo-san paddling out as the skies started to light up.

When surfers come to Hawaii and want to surf with the sunrise, they get to see a part of Hawaii not to many others can see because 80% of the island is still sleeping.

Takezo-san starting off in the inside to perfect his form.

Beautiful form and beautiful view.

Itabashi-san’s a surfer so he knows how to surf.

He caught some really nice waves and was smiling the whole way.

Takezo-san wanted to challenge himself so we went to the outside and caught some nice sets.  Perfect rides and a perfect smile.

When I get to share a special moment like this with father and son, it’s kind of emotional.  It’s every surfers dream to be able to surf with their son someday.  Today that dream came true…

Since the foilers division started on Molokai at 9:30am, I thought it would be perfect to show up at the finish line at 12pm to watch them starting to come in.  But when we got there, the foilers were already finished!!!  The 1st place wing foiler only took 1.5 hours to cross the channel.  That’s faster than my boat!!!  Kai Lenny won the SUP foil division and it took him 2.5 hours.  

Still stoked to see a Japanese win his division.  This is the hardest paddle board race in the world.  

We were cheering on the Japanese competitors. 

Watching their faces when crossing the finish line says it all.  Total exhaustion and too tired to celebrate. 

One of the spectators yelled at this competitor, “See you next year!”  his reply was “NEVER AGAIN!”  Haha.  

This was the lady foiler winner.  Unbelievable. 

Then we drove to the tip of Oahu and saw the competitors approaching the island.  Always happy to see a Japanese flag!  

Ganbatte!!!  Ganbatte!!!

The foilers are taking over the race.  That was cool to see.  I respect everyone that finished this race.  And I also respect everyone that didn’t finish this race.  It’s brutal!