Quality Time…

Good morning 6:50am.

Ala Moana chest high and good.  Very crowded.

Diamond Head head high and fun.

Trade winds at 15mph.

Sunny and very warm.

Going foiling.

Have a wonderful day!

 got a text from Mao-san.  last year she prone paddled the Molokai channel, this year, she’s going to SUP the Molokai channel.  another challenge for this amazing girl.  i’m sure she’ll be faster than half of the men.  Go-Mao! better finish uploading the rest of the photos from Australia before i forget.  walking through the forest for our first surf on the Gold Coast.   i’m still amazed on how good the waves are.  it’s definitely a surfers paradise!  riding my foil along the longest wave of my life giving room for the surfers to enjoy it too.  sharing is caring.   was so awesome meeting Stephane Gilmore’s Dad.   if it weren’t for the foil, i would have never met this man.  we’re like friends now.  haha.   this is the worst thing that can happen to you when you foil.  falling on the foil is like falling on a samurai sword.  ouch.  are you ok Matt?  i learned so much in Australia.  learned about the country, the people, the waves, and the foiling.   i went in for a 1 hour full body massage.   as 45 minutes approached, i was in heaven.  the only thing left were my arms which i was looking forward too.  then another customer happened to walk in, my Chinese therapist went to greet him, then she came back to my room and said “you finished.”  what???  i said “what about my arms.”  she said “no time. bye.”  omg!  this is by far the most amazing photo i’ve ever seen.  my foil buddy Michel Bourez in a barrel being followed by a crazy photographer on a surfboard.  i would never even attempt something like this.  that’s crazier than crazy…  watch the video below and see how he got the shot.  good job Leroy Bellet!

 it was Dr. Ryu-san’s last day for Boot Camp.  good to see everything coming together for his last day in Hawaii.  perfect rides and perfect style.  super cool!   one of his last waves of the day.  then it was off to the airport for a happy journey back to Japan.  thank you Dr. Ryu-san for the wonderful time.  you surfed super good and it felt so good to watch you loving the ocean so much… exactly one year ago, my life has changed.  i lost someone so precious to me.  so precious that i didn’t want to talk about, think about it, or even believe it.  it was some sort of denial and the hope of him just walking back into my life.  one of the longest years in my life to reflect on.  sometimes so sad, sometime so lonely, and sometimes so lost.  so many nights i wanted to wake up from this bad dream…today was the day i could finally say my formal goodbye.  a goodbye to someone who changed my life, a goodbye to someone i highly respected, and a goodbye to someone that i will cherish in my heart forever.  from today, we share the same ocean, we share the same waves, and we share the same Hawaii.   Goodbye my friend…