well, as most of the world has forgotten about the tsunami and earthquake last year in japan, we sure haven’t. i woke up yesterday morning and checked the news of another earthquake and tsunami that struck japan the night before. yeah, another big earthquake in tohoku followed by a tsunami. luckily, a much smaller one. then the memories started to come back. i actually felt a huge earthquake right after 3/11 when i was sleeping in the car up in sendai. it scared the shit out of me. so i could imagine how the people were feeling on this one, and on the thousands of aftershocks. i just hope our earth calms down.

this was one of the first images i took up in oshika hanto 4 weeks after 3/11. to drive the coastline and see village after village totally wiped out was sad. people still looking for their belongings and loved ones. the empty faces that will never go away.

from fukushima to iwate, we seen just total destruction. imagine driving hours and hours up the coast seeing this. we were totally speechless.

but when we found areas where nobody else could find, this is what made our missions worth it. some people refused to evacuate, and it’s those people we were looking for. and all the supplies that were donated made it to the right people. the smiles started to come back little by little and it was those smiles that gave us power.

kobochihama has a place in each and every one of our teams hearts. the strength of the people has taught me a lot. ever since then, i work harder and try not to complain as much. and of course, appreciate all the things i have and don’t have.

well, mission 7 starts next week. we have our team assembled and from what i hear, it’s going to be freezing cold. but hey, it was 0 degrees this freezing night on mission 2 as half of us slept in tents, and half of us slept in the car. i still remember sleeping in the car and somebody forgot to roll up the window before we slept. i woke up frozen! ever since than, i can handle anything.
**i got in touch with kobochihama kimura-san yesterday. he said the oysters and wakame survived the small tsunami on friday. that is great news! it was nice talking to you kimura-san. see you in a week!

Clark Little Gallery Haleiwa 2 Year Anniversary event tonight Dec 8 (5:30-8:30pm)

PLUS: Kelly Slater GoPro Photo Exhibition of shots taken by Kelly (artist proof and signed)
Good morning 5:45 surf report.
It’s dark outside but I will guess the waves.
North shore small now but coming up to 6-8 with the new North/West swell later today.
Haleiwa, Sunset, and Pipeline best! Pipeline Masters should be ON today and tomorrow!
South shore still super fun. Shoulder high at Ala Moana with Diamond Head bigger.
No wind now but becoming East wind later.
Perfect morning conditions everywhere!
I’m surfing all day again!
Have a wonderful day!

PIPELINE MASTERS POSSIBLE START TODAY AT 8AM. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE!!!

good evening. wow, the waves were so good in town today. i surfed ala moana 2x and had so much fun. clean glassy conditions as the sun rose. it was so beautiful! the south swell should continue through the weekend and the big north/west swell is coming tonight! the buoys are up to 8′ and 16 seconds which means 6-8′ by tomorrow morning. should be good enough for the first day of the pipeline masters! i’m not sure where i’m surfing tomorrow but i’m surfing for sure. tradewinds starting to come back to perfect conditions everywhere. have a beautiful evening.

surfed with 3 cool guys from okinawa today. they are here for the honolulu marathon so why not surf and warm up the body. maruyama-san, watanabe-san, and kazunori-san. great guys and great surfers. i was stoked to see them catch a lot of waves. good luck in the marathon guys! and when you get back to okinawa, please keep on surfing!

remember the suunto dive watch i took apart and changed the battery by myself? well, i wasn’t too confident so when my friend umino-san offered to take a look at it for me, i sent it to japan. umino-san has a business fixing, repairing, and replacing batteries for waterproof watches. when i got it back today, i couldn’t believe how professional the company is. the battery was replaced, the o-ring was changed, and it was tested. now it’s like a brand new watch and ready for a deep dive. gives me an excuse to take a day off and go diving. haha.

thank you so much umino-san for taking care of my suunto watch. now i know where to take my watch again when the battery dies. and for all of you who try to change a battery in a $600 watch, i highly recommend sending it to umino-san for the best service in the world. don’t take a chance like me.
**CLICK HERE FOR DC CLINIC JAPAN FOR BEST DIVE WATCH REPAIR!