slept at 8:30pm last night. my world record for earliest sleep. got up at 5:30am feeling like a teenager. tonight i hope to do the same.

well, i think i can finally put away my 2mm rubber wetsuit top away for the year. today all of sudden turned into summer. the weather blazing hot, and the water very warm again. thank you Dove Wetsuits for keeping me warm throughout the coldest winter in hawaii’s history.

the Hitachi Tree? only japanese knows about this famous tree. us locals don’t know and never understood why so many people come to see this tree. well, since all the tourists started coming here all these years, the park decided to start collecting an admission fee. $3/per person. that’s sucks.

yes, i’m a very busy man. just look at the truck and you will see that i don’t have much time to play anymore. haha. but had such a wonderful time with the Ocean’s Love crew this morning. the kids are getting more confident in the ocean and surfing so much better. huge smiles and big hearts. i’m going to miss those kids.

picked up Moriguchi-san this afternoon. had such a great surf with nobody around. good waves and excellent rides. when Moriguchi-san told me she’s from Kochi, Shikoku, i had a feeling that we would have mutual friends. come to find out, she knows a lot of the surfers i know. i told her the story of me surfing a local kochi river mouth 23 years ago. i borrowed a car, drove the coastline, don’t know anybody, pulled up to a river mouth (didn’t know it was totally localized), got out my board, paddled out to the peak, caught a wave, then a local started telling me something. i just waved and gave him a shaka. then the next wave, i broke my board so had to go in. come to find out, the local guy was telling me to go in. they must have been tripping out on me as a foreigner surfing their local break. fast forward 23 years, those guys are now my friends and i was just surfing with them last year. funny story huh? anyway, can’t wait to go back. and thank you Moriguchi-san for the great surf session and all the laughs. see you tomorrow morning bright and early.

and thank you Junjun for the treats from Shizuoka! love it all! going to eat some for dinner tonight. itadakimasu!

Shoulder high and very long rides at Diamond Head.
101 surfers out at 6pm.
Feels like summer has begun!

day 1 of Ocean’s Love was so beautiful. love watching the kids that are so pure and amazing.

these kids have disabilities but you can’t tell because they have a big heart. the sky is the limit for them!

this is the 2nd year i got to tandem with Mari-chan. she gets so excited and happy when riding a waves. it’s so awesome!

2nd annual Ocean’s Love. today i’m heading down there right now for day 2. can’t wait to see and surf with the kids again!

always so kind. these kids are very thankful and very respectful. true japanese culture.

thank you kids! keep on surfing and keep on smiling!

and wanted to thank Kitamura-san for always bringing me a gift during this time.

how cool!!!!

this is my name!! so stoked! thank you Kitamura-san! see you down at the beach today.