Ronnie Burns was one of the best surfers ever at Pipeline.  if you surfed the North shore in the 1980’s and 1990’s, you will know that too.

Seth was surfing his heat while Mateus was playing in the sand.  it reminded me of the days when Seth use to play like this in the sand when Kelly Slater was winning Pipeline Masters and World Titles…

i saw a very familiar face checking the waves at Diamond Head.

OMG, it was Ohmi-san!  i’ve known Ohmi-san for 30 years!  i love this guy!

my Trinx foil boards are working really good for me.  i’ve had many guys in the water asking me to sell it to them.  i always say “no way, my magic boards aren’t for sale.  get your own!”  haha.  

who is TRINX?  Trinko is a very hard core surfer and a hard worker.  he surfs every morning, then shapes right after, then goes to his night time job.  i’ve known him for 35 years and he’s been doing that ever since.  not too many 65 year old guys can do turns like this.  i always tell my friends to get boards from shapers that can actually surf good.  forget about those boards coming from China that are made by people that haven’t even touched the ocean before.  when it comes to happiness, get the best and don’t settle for less!

i arrived on the North shore in the dark and checked Backdoor. it was crowded and only a few good waves.  so i got back in my car and drove 40 minutes to surf a super secret spot with nobody out.

the waves were epic!  i rode my Vesso 5’10 Black Jack and it was working pretty good.  paddles easy, rides fast, and works on knee high to double overhead waves.  that’s a magic board!

then i went to check out Haleiwa after.  very small but lots of surfers having fun out there.

then i came back to Diamond Head and the waves were perfect to longboard.

i picked up my A+ student from the airport today and drove her straight to Cliffs.  she caught 14 long waves in her 1.5 hour session.  from freezing cold flat waves in Japan to surfing perfect 1 minute rides in a bikini?  welcome to paradise surfer girl!

i finally got to sit down and watch the replay of the Pipeline Pro.  watching it on the webcast vs. on the beach is totally different.  the waves looked much bigger from the beach.  the webcast gives you replays and commentating.  on the beach, you got one chance to see it and when you do, it’s much more dramatic.  this was the quarter finals featuring Seth Moniz vs. John John Florence.  this heat belonged to Seth Moniz!   

after watching the heat, i would say that Seth surfed a very smart heat.  he knew he needed 2 excellent scores to beat the 2x World Champion John John and that’s what he did.  Seth had a game plan and executed it perfectly.  adding he was calm and confident from the start to the end.  one of the biggest upsets at Pipeline!  

in the post heat interview, Seth said he was speechless.  haha. our family uses that word very often so i was laughing…

watch one of the most exciting heats of the 2022 Pipeline Pro!

**CLICK HERE AND WATCH SETH MONIZ VS. JOHN JOHN FLORENCE