good morning. once again, false alarm. no big swell on the south shore. it looks head high and junky. bad wind and weak swell. what happened? don’t know…. north shore came down too. 4′ out there with clean conditions. too small for the last day of the x-cel pro. try again mid-week when the next swell supposed to hit. anyway, the weather is clearing up. have a nice day….
**on my last day in the philippines, i woke up early and was walking the beach looking for shells. then this kid i met 4 years ago asked me what i was doing. i told him i was looking for shells. he disappeared and i just continued looking. as i was eating breakfast later that day, he came to the restaurant and took this huge perfect shell out of a plastic bag. he said “here kirby, this is for you”. traveling through different asian countries, i understand that nothing is for free. so i asked him “how much do you want”. his answer was “nothing, it’s a present for you”. then he walked away. gosh, i felt so stupid asking him how much he wanted for it. i wanted to tell him sorry but he left right after. i felt pretty shitty but at the same time, so happy that he gave me something so valuable from his heart. later that day, i saw him at a restaurant near my room, i asked him to come over because i wanted to get a photo with him. i will never forget this kid…..

this kids name is “mitchbergh”. i met him 4 years ago at cloud 9 and he remembered me the first day i got there. these are the kind of experiences that make traveling worth it. so mitchbergh, if your reading my blog, thanks so much buddy. i’m glad i met you and i will keep this shell in my house for the rest of my life. salamat…

then get this. on my way out of cebu airport, they scanned my suitcase and the customs guy saw the shell. he told me to open my suitcase and told me that the shell was illegal to take out of the philippines. he told me to give it to him. i looked him in the eye and said “no”. and i meant it. i explained to him that this isn’t no ordinary shell, this shell was given to me from a friend and there was no way i was giving it up. we had a stare down for 20 seconds or so and i wasn’t going to give in. then the custom agent looked at me and said “ok, close your suitcase”. i told him thank you and was on my way. now the shell is in japan at matsuo’s house. i was too scared to bring it back to hawaii this time because i didn’t want to take the chance. i’ll bring it back next time for sure. i have a shelf of shells in my house from around the world and there is a space for this special shell. a shell that reminds me how lucky i am to have met such a special person on the other side of the world….
***WARNING: 2 million gallon sewage spill in pearl harbor…. STAY AWAY!!!

good evening. heavy rain, lightning, thunder, flooding, big waves here today in hawaii. it all started last night. we needed rain here on the islands and boy did we get it. it’s been a while so the run off water is all in the ocean now. and it looks pretty dirty. yuck. and i was kind of bummed today because i woke up at 5am to go diving. but when i checked the buoys, winds, and weather, i knew no way. now i have to wait until the water cleans up again….

this is 1pm at diamond head. the waves came up but the wind was straight onshore. i saw a few nice ones coming in but you had to be patient. the south swell should be peaking tomorrow. stay tuned. oh, they ran the x-cel pro today at epic 6-8′ sunset beach. i watched some heats and the surfing level was pretty high. as for the japanese, none passed the 4th round. bummer…. the contest should finish up tomorrow with a dropping swell but epic conditions again….

there was a north shore beach cleanup yesterday. i was stoked to see coach rainos hayes and my nephews putting in their part. sorry guys, i wish i could have helped but i was working yesterday…

and this is rocky point at 1pm yesterday. i wasn’t joking when i said the conditions were epic. epic…..

and you want to eat a pretty good salad bar? go to chucky cheeses in aina hina. for $2.50, you can pile it on your plate….

mick fanning just signed with wade tokoro. so expect mick to be on all of wade’s boards this winter. what a good combo… and if your wondering, mick is the leader in the world now with 2 contests left. the only guys that can catch him is kelly slater and taj burrow. the three of them are in the 3rd round in brazil with only pipeline left. here is the senerio…..
??$B!q(B If Mick Fanning wins in Brazil he clinches the World Title.
??$B!q(B If Fanning gets 2nd, Taj Burrow needs to win the event and Kelly Slater is out of the race.
??$B!q(B If Fanning gets 3rd, Burrow needs a 2nd and Slater is out of the race.
??$B!q(B If Fanning gets 5th, Burrow needs a 3rd and Slater needs a 1st.
??$B!q(B If Fanning gets 9th, Burrow needs a 5th and Slater needs a 2nd.
??$B!q(B If Fanning gets 17th, Burrow needs a 9th and Slater needs a 3rd.
??$B!q(B If Fanning gets 33rd, Burrow needs a 9th and Slater needs a 3rd.
watch the drama unfold BY CLICKING HERE…..
**anyway, high surf warning for south shores of hawaii. big waves in town coming tomorrow, and more rain on the way…. i love rainy days here in hawaii. you know why? because i go ice skating… haha….

5:45am. strong south winds. town is blown out. north shore came up. buoy is 11′ 14 seconds. big surf by the end of the day. heavy rain, lighting, thunder, flash flood warnings. not a really nice day in hawaii but there are waves so get out there…. see ya….

pro surfer dave rastovich, wife, and a really famous american actress hayden panettiere were just in taiji, japan protesting the dolphin killings. i was watching the national news tonight and it’s all over the internet. so many people around the world who didn’t know about it, knows now. gosh, this is such a touchy subject. something that i wanted to get to when i had time to write how i felt. i still don’t have time to write much about it now but all i can say is that there are two sides of the story. yeah, the video looked sick. so would video of filipinos killing little dogs and deep frying them in the philippines, and so would video of chinese cuting open the heads of live monkeys and eating their brains, and so would video of indonesians putting a knife in the heart of a baby pig and sticking a rod up its ass and cooking it. sitting at home here in america and judging what people do in other countries is wrong. but i give dave rastovich and the protesters credit for going there and seeing it with their own eyes. that’s the only way to get to the bottom. don’t get me wrong, it’s sad and i don’t agree with what they do in taiji. BUT, it goes deeper than just simply killing dolphins. it’s been hundreds and hundreds of years of culture in taiji. it’s a way of their life and it’s easier to understand the other side if you actually talk to local japanese fishermen. i know so many japanese fishermen and when i ask them about it, they act as if nothing’s wrong. and to them, nothing is wrong. ask they guys in america who slaughter cows and they will tell you the same thing. i can understand what people in different countries do because it’s a part of their culture and part of making a living. pretty much part of their everyday lives. for example, hawaiians use to kill turtles and eat them all the time. when i was a kid, i ate turtle once a week. i’ve seen the heads being cut off and the shells being ripped off right in front of me. it was part of the hawaiian culture. was that right? maybe not to the outside world, but it was something so normal to hawaiians here. everybody loves turtles, dolphins, whales, dogs, monkeys, and yes, pigs too. there are people in the world that won’t agree what some people do in other countries, but that’s their way of life. so after visiting taiji for myself, it’s not the dolphin killings your fighting to change, it’s hundreds and hundreds of years of japanese culture, and more important, the fishermans way of living. and to me, that’s a challenge….
don’t get me wrong, i love dolphins. if i didn’t travel around the world and seen what saw on tv last night about the dolphin killings, i would be pissed. but i’ve been traveling for years so i can understand the different cultures and way people live. i love the people, the culture, and everything about japan. i have so many japanese friends that are stuck in between this issue too. it’s really complicated and it’s so complicated that i don’t even know what i’m writing now. i know both sides to this controversary and for right now, i’m neutral. all i know is that for now, i won’t support any kind of dolphins or whales in captivity. so no more seaworld for me. where do you think those dolphins and whales come from? that’s a little dent, but a start….
**once again, this is a very touchy subject and i’m just trying to express my feeling. and please don’t send me any hate mail. i got one last time about this subject and it was from somebody who didn’t know the whole story. i don’t think he even had a passport. by traveling, i learned that in every situation, before you judge something or somebody, listen to both sides of the story and come to your conclusion. i have much more to say about this touchy subject but wait until i can sit down and really think about it. it’s a lot more complicated than you think. i guess what i’m trying to say is that everybody in america will probably see the video on tv or the internet. before making judgement, think about both sides before you come to your conclusion….