i picked up Nakagami-san and Kanazawa-san up early this morning. i knew the waves were going to be big, but i also knew they were both capable of survival.

Nakagami-san was very nervous in the beginning. he’s staying right in front at the prince hotel so he knows how big the waves were. when we were paddling out, he wouldn’t even talk to me. haha. but once he caught a few waves, the nerves settled.

Kanazawa-san caught some super good ones. the medium open rights and surfing it really good.

then the waves started to get bigger and bigger! solid overhead and powerful.

so i told Nakagami-san, “ok, it’s time to practice not being nervous. and the only way is to charge big waves! so don’t go on anything unless it’s over your head.” and when you have a loud guy like me yelling in your ear “GO, GO, GO!!!!” you will go. haha.

and i was yelling in Kanazawa-san’s ear too. i must have yelled “GO” about 400 times today! haha.

and when you charge big waves and survive, all the nerves will disappear. Nakagami-san sure wasn’t smiling like this earlier in the morning. haha.

beautiful waves and beautiful rides! i’m sure this is probably one of the biggest waves in Nakagami-san’s life.

Kanazawa-san has a good surfing style. and riding a 5’8 like this takes a lot of skill. awesome bottom turn!

and on our last wave, i saw Kanazawa-san bottom turn on a nice wave and so a super good backside off the lip! he was stoked!

we laughed so much again today. if you were at ala moana shopping center, you would have probably heard us laughing so loud. haha.

great surfing and great paddling. on Nakagami-san’s watch, he logged in 7km of paddling in our 2.5 hour session! OMG! anyway, so stoked to meet these cool surfer boys! thank you guys for the unforgettable morning session!

Ala Moana Bowls 5’ and perfect!
Looks like Indonesia!
So happy day!

gosh, the weather has been so perfect! starting off the morning with rain and clouds, cooling everything down, then the sun comes out for the rest of the day. so it’s a cool hot!

wow! i had an amazing afternoon with Mizuno-san. Mizuno-san can’t hear so it the first time i taught someone how to surf by feel. yes, how to feel the ocean! and Mizuno-san felt it pretty good.

imagine not being able to hear and surf for the very first time in your life? she asked me “how do i know when to stand up?” i said “you will feel it. and when you feel it, that’s when you stand up!” and that’s just what she did, and did it perfectly. i’m very inspired by the courage of Mizuno-san. an amazing person, and a newborn surfer!

after this, we had a wonderful conversation about surfing and traveling. Mizuno-san’s been all over south america so she knows it very well. in fact, she even lived in mexico and chile. that’s so amazing!

went to eat an acai bowl at The Health Bar. always the best there!

i always recommend the “Mana Bowl.” can’t go wrong.

i’m glad you liked it!

this is how we were communicating. and this is where Mizuno-san recommended to me that i must visit, “Torres de Paine” in patagonia.” i came home and added it to my “bucket list.” i can’t wait to go! thank you Mizuno-san for pointing me to a new travel destination!

went to check out diamond head in the evening. some fun head high waves and not too crowded. it was so beautiful.

then the city government just added these yellow signs all over the place. it totally ruins the panorama view! omg, are you kidding me???