Good luck fishing yesterday: 22 fish in 22 minutes.
Good morning 6am.
Clean waist to chest high waves at Ala Moana.
Clean shoulder high waves at Diamond Head.
Perfect morning conditions!
No wind.
Super sunny and very warm.
Going to the ocean.
Have a wonderful day!

had another awesome day with Masamune-kun. started off surfing and smiling this morning. such a cool kid!

was stoked watching him catch so many waves by himself. i was just riding on the side laughing with him. it was so fun!

then we went down to bowls and snuck in a couple of nice rights. the waves were perfect today! we ended up surfing for almost 3 hours straight!

so stoked to see my old time college days friend Joanne out. she comes back to hawaii every summer and we always see each other in the water. the best place to bump into old friends. we say hi, give each other a hug, and surf together. can’t beat that! by the way, if anyone knows Joanne’s email address, please send her this photo. thank you.

seen this japanese girl get one of the best waves of the day. she seemed super stoked.

then it was lunch time. Masamune-kun wanted to eat mushroom chicken from Andy’s. but instead, i took him to another delicious mushroom chicken place. he loved it.

then it was dessert time. i asked him ice cream, shave ice, or frozen yogurt. he said frozen yogurt.

this was my wonderful creation!

then it was time to teach this kid some other ocean related activities. i asked him “did you ever fish before?” he said “no.” so fishing we went!

i set up the poles, we go to my secret spot, he drops the fishing line down for the first time, then “bam!” he hooks up!

i think Masamune-kun was tripping out! it was his first fish ever caught! and guess what? he got two!

we got the photo, got 20 more fish, and headed to a couple of my dive spots.

the first dive was pretty deep. i was trying to train him how to go deep. i told him at first, “watch and learn.” then he did the same thing. amazing how smart this 14 year old kid is. beautiful diving photos coming tomorrow. i can’t even keep my eyes open anymore.

and want to thank the Urakami-san family for the wonderful snacks. please have a safe flight back to Okayama and see you all next year! mahalos!

omg, this world is so big, but yet so small. remember the japanese fisherman boat i came across on a secluded beach in hawaii? well, i posted it on my blog and the word spread pretty fast. first i get an email from my friend Abe-san in ishinomaki telling me he will help me find the owner. then he finds out the next day that boat belongs to a relative of one his employees. then the same day, a japanese surfer girl in hawaii sends it to her brother in japan. Ishikawa-san who is a director of a disaster relief organization called “It’s Not Just Mud” contacts me telling me he will find the owners. then one day later, he finds them! and come to find out, one of Ishikawa-san’s friends teaches english at the We Are One Kitakami shop. that’s where he met Naomi-san. what an amazing world we live in.

i remember getting the chills when i first approached this boat. i’m in the ocean every single day and haven’t seen any debris that came from japan. yeah, i heard about things washing shore, but to find a boat intact on a beautiful white sandy beach over 4 years later? OMG! one part of my was telling myself “let it go.” one reason was i didn’t want to find out a sad story behind it. but another part of me was telling myself “we have to find the owner.” if it were me, i would want to know what happened to my boat.

Ishikawa-san drove to Ogatsu, Ishinomaki yesterday and explained to me where the boat came from. a little fishing port right on the ocean front. it’s unbelievable that this port is right in-between We Are One Kitakami and Kobuchihama. both places i frequently visit so i probably even passed by here at some point in time.

Ishikawa-san even went to visit the owner of the boat yesterday. his name is Abe-san. they used the boat for uni and nori fishing. the day before the tsunami hit, they launched the boat from land to prepare for the next day of fishing. then the tsunami hit and luckily the were out of the village at the time.

Abe-san’s lovely wife. they are both retired from fishing and said that they were really happy to find out where their boat is.
so there it is, a very happy ending. i want to thank everybody that put so much effort into helping me out. as much as it is closure for the Abe-san couple, it is for me. now when i see the boat sitting on that beautiful peaceful beach in hawaii, i can put two happy faces on it. i know the owners are alive and happy. so am i!
We Are One!