planning is very important. woke up at 4:30am to organize the day. how? well, the waves predict pretty much everything for that given day. it’s pitch dark but looking at the winds, weather, buoys, swell direction, and feeling. today, i had the feeling. south shore too onshore so super junk. north shore off shore in the morning with a new north swell building. i pick up Kubota-san and 8:30 and explain to him the situation. he said up to me, so i drove straight to the volcom pro because Kubota-san never seen professionals surf in real life. only on the internet but that’s a totally different world. nothing beats the real thing.

we get to the contest right in time to watch the semi-finals. got to watch Kelly Slater and John John Florence surf twice. and even got to see Japan’s Mar Ohno surf into the semi finals. the final? i thought it was a joke! the final had more talent and was more interesting than the pipeline masters. i kept on looking at off the wall and seeing it getting bigger and bigger by the minute.

so stoked to see the japanese gallery cheering for Mar. this is called “full support!”

Kubota-san and Sanae-san on the beach live at the Volcom Pipeline Pro!

right when the final finished, we seen Seth getting ready to paddle out for a free surf. good boy Seth! keep on practicing because one day you will be the pipeline master! practice makes perfect!

on the way out to the north shore, i ask Kubota-san what’s the biggest wave he surfed. he said “overhead at Kuta Airport Left’s.” i’m thinking “omg, the north shore is already 6′ and growing and growing. should i take him out? or shouldn’t i?” honestly, i was a little concerned because i knew it was a matter of time a huge obake freak set will clean us out. we pull up to laniakea, i let him use one of my boards, walking on the beach, we get stopped by the lifeguards. they say to me “hey, are you sure your friend can handle out there? it’s big and getting bigger really fast.” i reply “oh yes, my friend can handle.” thinking to myself, “oh shit, i hope nothing bad happens.” we paddle out, seen some solid 8′ huge barrels on the outside. i see a big one coming and yell to Kubota-san “GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!!!!” and he went! caught a huge wave and rode it perfectly! he was stoked, so was i!!! we surfed for an hour, then as we just decided to go in, i see a big freak set coming. 2 big mountains on our heads. we survive, and went in. right after that, an even bigger 10′ solid set cleans up everybody in the lineup. the lifeguards get busy and scramble out to rescue a surfer. i look at Kubota-san and say “hey, good job. you survived!” haha. a day i’m sure he will remember for the rest of his life.

then we go eat a healthy grilled ahi plate.

then we go watch haleiwa for a while. it was perfect!
a perfect day. watched some amazing professional surfing, surfed some intense waves, and survived to tell the story. good night.
last thing: “IF YOU DON’T GO, YOU WON’T KNOW.”

3pm Haleiwa perfect 2-4′ with 8′ obake sets!
Offshore and barreling!
Nobody out????

Seth was only 8 years old when i took him to Kewalos’ for the first time. he’s the youngest of the 5 brothers/sister, but the bravest as a kid. i remember clearly pulling up to waikiki one early morning and asking them to come surf with me. nobody wanted too because they were all scared of kewalo’s. sharp reef, shallow, and big sharks? then i looked at Seth and said “hey, let’s go!” he said “ok uncle,” jumped in my truck, and we headed to Kewalo’s. the kid could barely see over the dash of my car. it was so classic! i pushed him into a couple of waves and the rest is history.

i met shun in japan when he was 8 years old. such a cute kid that just started surfing. he ended up coming to hawaii and stayed at my house. it was his first time so i took him surfing everywhere, even to pipeline. Shun was never scared.
one night while shun was staying at my house, i asked Seth to sleep over too. i picked Seth because they were around the same age. i asked Joshua too but he was too scared and shy to sleep over. Seth and Shun didn’t even know each other, but it has always been a dream of mine to link these 2 kids together. Seth couldn’t speak japanese, Shun couldn’t speak english, but who cares! from then on, they became friends. friends from two different countries, friends that surf the world together, and friends that will be friends forever.
the night Seth slept over, i woke up the 2 kids early morning for a dawn patrol out at bowls. at the time, Seth was 10 years old, and Shun was 11. watch this classic video of the 2 cutest surfer kids in the world. haha.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNYpMv-mbRs[/youtube]