about 8 winter seasons ago, i went out to the north shore to hang out and shoot my nephews and niece. it was such a beautiful day. the waves were around 3′ and very inviting. Seth and the other kids were having a normal day in paradise.

such a perfect little barreling sandbar for the kids to enjoy. i shot from the water, then from the land.

then i see these tourists walking down the beach to the waters edge. this is log cabins so there are no lifeguards. i see them getting closer and closer to the waters edge so i had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. why? because i see this all the time.

sure enough, 2 of the guys get swept off their feet by a wave, and sucked out to sea with the current. they were yelling help and fighting for their lives. Seth, Josh Kerr, and Todd Mitsui went out to help them. we always teach the kids ever in hawaii to never help somebody drowning with your bare hands. if you grab them, they will grab you and you won’t let you go. it’s a natural thing to do when you’re fighting for you life. so i was stoked to see Seth throw one of the guys his surfboard, just like he was taught.

they give the 2 guys their boards and help them in.

the best way to get a guy into the beach is to push them into a wave and let the wave take them in. it’s kind of funny for us surfers to watch because normal people would freak and think you are trying to kill them. haha. look at Kelia laughing as the tourist is about to get pounded. haha.

one of the guys finally got to the beach and collapsed. a tourist thinking he almost died in paradise.

i was super proud of Seth being relaxed and smart at such a young age. as soon as those guys were in trouble, he just went straight to help them without hesitating. i’m sure he will be saving more and more lives as he spends most of his time in the ocean.

the tourists walked back up the beautiful beach back to their car. they don’t even know how lucky they were that the kids were surfing this day. if nobody was out, the 2 guys would have died for sure.
please be safe in the ocean surrounding hawaii. it looks so inviting, but things can and will change very fast. it happens all the time.

Filipino BBQ!
Good morning 5:40am.
South shore chest high and clean.
Diamond Head shoulder high and side shore.
East winds at 15mph.
Sunny and very warm.
Going shooting and surfing.
Have a wonderful day!

been riding my Matchi Single Fin by TSSC on the small days. just something different and something that reminds me of surfing 30 years ago. back to the basics.

i let so many people try this board and pretty much get 100% positive feedback.

the difference between a single fin and the more popular truster mainly is drive. you have to put the board on the rail for it to work. and when you go from one turn to another, it keeps the flow.

going to use it again tomorrow because the waves should be dropping off more. then on thursday, another big south swell so going to get back out my thruster.

i went to Palau to spear fish back in 2011. one of the guys on the trip was a doctor from Guam, his name was Mike. on one of the dives, we all got split up because of the strong current. the boat picked us up one by one but we couldn’t find Mike. then we heard a “help, help, help!” and seen Mike in the far distance waving his hands in the air. we speed over to get him and it looked like he just seen a ghost. turned out to be a big shark trying to attack him. Mike was totally freaked out, stunned, and exhausted. he sat up against the cooler thanking God to still be alive. being the photographer on that trip, i shot this photo. it was the moment. have you ever thought you are going to die before? well, this is the look when almost facing death. it’s so calm, relieved, and will change your life forever.