i get asked a lot about wave heights.  in Japan, they scale the size of the wave using body parts.  a small day would be knee to waist, a medium day would be head high, and a large day would be double overhead.  in California they scale from the front.  so waist high would be 3′ and head high would be 6′.  but in Hawaii, old school surfers like myself scale from the back of the wave.  so a Japanese head high or Californian 6′ wave would be 3′ for us.  so when the surf report comes out, it could be tricky.  10-14′ faces on the South shore?  that’s really 4-6′ for me.

this was one of the strongest swells i’ve ever experienced in town.  there was so much water moving and so much energy in the ocean.  i’ve had some of the worst wipeout in years.  this one i took off too deep so it was either have the lip land on my head, or eject.  i chose to eject.  i’m just so thankful i didn’t get hurt.  i saw broken boards, i saw one of my friends almost get held down for 2 consecutive waves, and i saw a lot of fear in many faces out there.  there was over 300 rescues per day so that tells you how powerful this swell was.  but i live for days like this.  and now i can’t wait for the next big one!!!

Back in the Day:  Power surfing by Egan Inoue @ Kewalos

Good morning 4am.
South swell still big!
Ala Moana 3-5′ and good.
Diamond Head 6′ and wild.
Trade winds at 25mph.
Winter weather continues.
Going to surf.
Have a wonderful day!

i get to Bowls in the dark this morning.  i was watching the waves and saw some big sets.  looked a little smaller than yesterday and there were only 3 guys out.  lucky me!   the Hawaii news is calling these waves 10-15′.   some guys out where calling it 6-8′ Hawaiian.  next week some guys will probably say it was 10′ Hawaiian.  which ever way you look at it, it was big enough to scare most surfers away.  i’m almost 6′ tall so you can imagine how big this wave was.  my mistake was riding a board that was too long.  the take off was easier but pulling into the barrel was harder.  

if i had a smaller board, i could have put myself in better positions, and also slowed myself down.  but with a longer board, once the rail sets, it will shoot almost too fast out of the pocket.  even though i tried to slow down, i couldn’t.  

i still enjoyed the beautiful view though.  i haven’t been this excited about surfing in my entire life.  i wish it was like this everyday!  anyway, tomorrow expect the crowd to trickle back as the swell starts to drop.  one of the best Summers in Hawaii and we just got started!!!