Work in Progress:  Almost there…

Good morning 3:50am.
Ala Moana waist high and clean.
Diamond Head chest high and bumpy.
Trade winds at 15mph.
Sunny and warm.
Going to the sea.
Have a wonderful day!

this morning was looking like a perfect Summer day!  the ocean was absolutely beautiful!

the further up i position my foil, the more unstable everything gets.  so today i put it all the way forward and it felt like i was riding a 5’2 fish surfboard out at 20′ Waimea Bay!  it was so unstable that it felt super dangerous.

so taking off on these waist high waves felt like jumping off a 100 story building.  so much adrenaline running in my body but i knew i had to keep calm.  it’s crazy how a small adjustment can make a huge difference.

as you can see, the waves were absolutely perfect today!  uncrowded too!

and look how clean the water was.  you can see the reef and my foil gliding through the wave.  cool!

my friend Randy was diving out there.  thank goodness i didn’t run him over.  that’s why it’s always good to have a bright float when you’re diving.  it’s also the law…

my sponsors paid me to be at the right spot at the right time.  thanks to the weather maps, my travel agent, my local Japanese friends, and my sponsors for making my job pretty easy.  i just had to show up, wax my board, wait for the biggest wave, and make the drop.  this wave was 10′ solid Hawaiian scale and i still think Chris Van Lennep was crazy to swim out with a fisheye lens on that day.  but he’s the best in the world for a reason.  it was so big and dangerous!  i was riding my Mike Woo 7’0 and holding on for my life.  thank you Surfing Magazine for publishing this 2 page spread.  and thanks especially to the heavy locals for always sharing your waves with me.   i love you guys!

shortly after this photo was taken, the government built a big harbor with tetrapods right in front of this spot.  after that, the wave never was the same.  you’ll never see a 10′ wave barrel like this ever again out there. kind of sad when i think about it..