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]

Another week of winter weather! Rain and strong wind!
Good morning 6:20am.
North shore 3-5′ and super junky.
South shore 2-3′ and super junky.
Super junky South/West winds at 25mph.
East side best and offshore.
Watch for kite surfing today at Ala Moana.
Weather dark, cloudy, and rainy.
Going surfing!
Have a wonderful day!

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.”