Big smile Sonosuke-kun! So cute!!!

Good morning 5:45am.
Hurricane swell and storm coming! Getting BIG very fast!
Ala Moana shoulder high and getting bigger. Clean offshore winds.
Diamond Head head high and 6′ by this afternoon. Stormy and challenging.
Strong trade winds at 30mph.
Rain, high wind, power outages, floods, and dangerous weather.
Going foiling.
Have a wonderful day!

just a couple days ago, the weather was perfect.

and the brightest rainbows out. hard to believe a hurricane is coming…

and just a couple days ago, i was surfing with the boys in perfect weather.

it was Sonosuke-kun’s turn! 9 years old and super stoked on his first wave!!! look at his stoked face! haha… i’ll post more photos soon…

because just 2 days ago, i jumped on a little airplane to Molokai for research and relax!

yes, i know there was a hurricane coming, but i’ve been tracking these things in Japan for the past 26 years so i know not to panic…

did like i do always in Molokai. live the slow life and live off the land. fresh opihi with a cold beer. can’t beat that…

with the Catagory 5 hurricane right offshore, the slow life continues. sat on the beach and watched locals living very calmly. while the whole island of Oahu was in panic, Molokai was just simply Molokai.

a few of my friends were worried about me getting stuck there. but for me, there is nowhere else in the world i’d rather be stuck at. so flying on the little plane leaving was pretty sad. i’m totally in love with this wonderful place…

and when i approached Oahu just a few hours ago, i felt sick…. jumped in the truck and seen traffic lights, people panicking buying every drop of water, and even some road rage. it’s crazy to think that this island was once like Molokai.

anyway, the crazy thing about this hurricane is not too many people in Molokai knew about it. there was a little airplane flying around with the pilot saying “HURRICANE WARNING!!!” i looked up and thought to myself “wow, old school…” but hey guys, a hurricane is coming so please keep calm. just like surfing, panicking won’t do any good for anyone. be safe…

i get a weird text?? “hey Kirby, look what i found.” omg! somebody found my gopro i lost at Bowls last winter!!!

it was Ian who surfs at bowls everyday. he said he found it on the rocks. i’m guessing the hurricane pushed it up on the rocks after being in the ocean so long. the case was all corroded, but the camera inside was as good as new. so i upload the memory card…

and find the data i thought i lost forever. Nakahodo-san and his brother Taishi-san at Ala Moana Bowls.

Nakahodo-san surfing at that time. but now he’s surfing and foiling! seems so long ago…

i really like this photo of Taishi-san. the is called commitment!

had a few photos of Mai-chan too! cool!

right after this happy ride, i dropped my gopro.

then it sank straight to the bottom and was there for who knows how long. i really thought it was lost forever…

want to thank Ian for being so honest and returning my gopro. i still can’t believe it turned on and worked fine. amazing lucky man i am! this gopro was lost in the parking lot, and retuned by Dave. then it was stolen from my truck and returned by the police. then now lost at Bowls and returned by Ian. somehow this gropro and i are connected in a way. a good way!!!