had a great time surfing with Kumiko-san. another surfer girl that just wants to get better and better. and yes, she got better and better in one session.

perfect balance, perfect bending of the knees, and perfect looking forward. perfect surfing.

great job Kumiko-san! keep on surfing!

check out some photos Uchiyama-san from chigasaki sent me. this is shonan a few days ago!

it’s december, cold, and still everybody wants to surf!

i remember coming here to kugenuma almost everyday when i use to live in shonan. i would sit on this wall watching people all day long. i was so amazed on the japanese surf culture. and still am.

i actually surfed here about 10 times in my life. and all 10 times, it was this crowded. when i took off, i couldn’t turn because there were too many people in the way. haha.

and the thing that use to fascinate me the most was how dedicated japanese surfers were. the water was cold, the wind was cold, and the weather was cold. but there would be thousands of surfers in the ocean anyway. that’s how much japanese love surfing. i really respected that. thank you Uchiyama-san for these cool photos.
maybe next week i’ll go back to my roots of surfing in japan. stay at a hotel in kugunuma and surf this everyday? i think i will have fun!

Welcome to Big Wave Surfing!
Good morning 6am.
North shore: 6-8′ and much cleaner than the past weeks.
South shore: waist high and clean.
Winds: trade winds at 15mph.
Weather: cloudy, wet, sunny, rainbows.
Contest: i think 100% ON!
Plan: pack
Have a wonderful day!
Watch World Cup of Surfing LIVE:
http://www.aspworldtour.com/events/2014/mqs/728/vans-world-cup/live

ok guys, waves on the north shore finally came up! seen some 10-12′ sets this evening and looks like the World Cup at Sunset will be a GO tomorrow morning! good luck Seth and Isaiah Moniz!

went to visit grandpa this morning. i can’t believe he’s 95 years old and super fine! we were talking about the old days and he told me “hey kirby, you were very stubborn when you were a kid. your brother mason was stubborn, but you were 2x more stubborn than him.” grandpa told me stories when i use to refuse to get into the car and just try to walk home from places on the opposite side of the island. him and grandma would drive along the side of me in the car yelling at me to get it. i use to refuse. then my grandma would get out of the car, grab me, and pull me in. i use to kick and cry. haha. we were just laughing! of course, i don’t remember any of that, but my grandpa sure does. we talked for a while over hot chocolate and after i left this morning, i felt so happy that my grandpa is still laughing and smiling. that is the key to a long life!

when i took the South Shore Monkey’s surfing yesterday, one of the girls fell off in the shallow reef. i jumped off my board and pushed her up from hitting the reef. yes, it was this shallow. when i seen this photo my camera shot, i realized it was a very close call. next time we will surf in a little deeper water.

the South Shore Monkey club went from one girl to 4 girls. i just sit in the lineup thinking to myself “wow, these girls will be friends forever.” a bond surfing creates.

ok, after every trip, people ask me to scale things from a level of 1 to 10, 10 being the best. i never rate anything a perfect 10 because i feel that there is always something better out there. that’s what keeps me going on these trips. BUT, there was this one trip that was probably a 9.8. waves like this for the whole trip. uncrowded and just mind blowing. i couldn’t count how many barrels i made on that trip but this was just one of the hundreds. surf your dream? yes, that’s what we do!

and these were the members of that awesome go-naminori dream trip. i’m sure if you asked each and every one of these members, they would tell you the same thing, “this trip was the best waves we surfed in our lives!” i would have to agree.