had an awesome pho for lunch. tried a different place out and loved the results. i’ll be back there again soon.

took 18 year old Kouji-kun today for a surf in the wild weather. super strong south/west winds making it the most challenging conditions at bowls. i’d say at least 50 waves per minute. non stop paddling and non stop wave after waves. Kouji-kun never gave up as we surfed until our arms couldn’t move anymore. it was a wild day in the ocean but many great waves ridden.

when you see 12 kite surfers out at ala moana, you know the winds are at least 35mph onshore or they won’t be out. only had one other guy out in the whole ocean surfing so that made it the 3 of us. only the strong survive on days like today.

Kouji-san is a very strong and athletic boy. but after 3 hours of continues paddling, i could see his arms getting heavy. he must have had to go over 200 waves today. never giving up! and when it was time to turn around and catch the wave, he rode it perfectly! i’m sure he’s sleeping good tonight.

it was cloudy and rainy all day, but as soon as we pulled up to the beach, the sun and blue sky came out! had an amazing day in the wild sea. south/west winds continue all week so expect challenging conditions pretty much everywhere. see you again on friday Kouji-kun!
last, right after the volcom pipeline contest yesterday, a whole bunch of kids paddled out for a surf. my nephew Seth paddled out too. so waking up this morning and watching the news about some kid drowning at pipe right after the contest, my heart stopped. it happened to be a tahitian surfer who was found unconscious. he’s in critical condition at the hospital now and we are all praying for a full recovery. everybody, please surf safe.

Another beautiful day!!!
Surf and sightseeing!

watching the contest yesterday was cool. to see so much talent in one place was unreal. backdoor/pipeline is the most famous surf point in the world. you do good here, you do good anywhere. John John Florence won the contest for the 4th time yesterday. i use to see this kid surfing out here before he even had hair on his balls. putting in the time and paying off big! i’ll bet anybody that John John will be world champion really soon. it seems to me that Kelly Slater’s ora and magic shifted to John John. the world has it’s eyes on the new wonder boy! photo. Bielmann

the dark horse of the contest has to be Mar Ohno. Mar kept making heat after heat. advancing is all that matters. getting through round after round taking down big names in the meantime. Mar made the semi-finals and lost to Kelly Slater. that’s nothing to be bummed about. great job Mar representing japan!!! photo. Bielmann

to me, Seth blew minds. only 17 years old and already surfing against the best in the world. Seth isn’t scared of anybody. he’s not scared of waves, and he’s not scared of world champions. he wants to win and will pull into any wave to do so. photo. Bielmann

i’m not only bias, i’m Seth’s uncle so every time i see a good photo of him, i post it. it’s for my documentation of this kid going from little baby to world champion. mark my words! photo. Reed

why not one more of Seth. haha. lost in round 4 but next year, i see this kid in the final. photo. Reed
Volcom Pipe Pro
World Surf League QS 3000
Banzai Pipeline, Oahu Hawaii
RESULTS:
1st – John John Florence (HAW) 17.63 (9.2, 8.43) – $16,000 – 3000 QS points
2nd – Mason Ho (HAW) 15.9 (8.6, 7.3) – $10,000 – 2250 QS ratings points
3rd – Kelly Slater (Florida, USA) 0.0 (6.7, 2.3) – $4,750 – 1680 QS points
4th – Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 8.47 (7.0, 1.47) – $4,250 – 1580 QS points
Semi Finals:
H1: JJ Florence (HAW) 13.4; S Zietz (HAW) 13.33; E Lau (HAW) 12.8; I Walsh
H2: K Slater (USA) 8.76; M Ho (HAW); K Andino (USA) 2.6; M Ohno (JPN) 1.9
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54iJcLCwF_s[/youtube]