good evening. went down to watch my nephew’s final heat at the NSSA REGIONAL CONTEST AT KEWALO’S….

i was watching some heats and the level of surfing is so high now. the kids are just going off now days….

the waves were 2′ and really good. long lefts with high scoring waves. a perfect day for a contest today….

it was pretty cool to see all the support. after every heat, the competitors would come in and hear it first hand from their coaches or parents. i had an awesome talk today with my former coach, ben aipa….

i was cheering for the moniz clan. i’m so proud to see them all do good. josh and seth were in the same final for the menehune division. i think seth won the whole thing….. he caught 2 really good waves and ripped it all the way to the inside. and i heard that kelia and the rest of the boys are ripping it up. i hope they kick some ass this year at the nationals in california…. they all qualified and are going in july….

here is billabong team rider coach “uncle rainos hayes” and seth. i use to surf contests back in the 80’s with rainos so it’s so cool to still see him around passing on his knowledge… and plus, uncle rainos rips….
**anyway, the waves came up today in town. should be getting bigger throughout the week. as for the north shore, it’s still good too. i think everybody on this island is surfed out…. i sure am…

good morning. 7am tuesday morning. looking at pipe/backdoor now and it looks good. 3-4′ and some pretty good barrels. the conditions cleaned up and i might have to go out there to get my last barrel of the year. got so many things to do in town today but one barrel will make my day. ummmm… town is waist high with a little bigger sets. contest going on at kewalo’s again today. the finals are on!! i heard my niece and nephews are surfing really good. micah, kelia, isaiah, joshua, and seth stayed at the billabong house this year on the north shore and it’s paying off. seth went out in his first heat and kicked ass. he had 2 perfect 10 point rides. finals start at 10am so go down and support our local amateurs. i’m still stuck in the middle of town or country. going to make some calls…. have a nice day….

recognize this doggy? this is one of the most famous dogs in the world. he’s the doggy star on the drama “lost”. pono lives next to me and is one of the smartest dogs i’ve ever seen. i went outside yesterday morning and he showed me how smart he is. i asked him what 5 plus 2 was, he barked 7 times. then i asked him what 3 plus 5 was and he barked 8 times. i was tripping out. gosh, the dogs smarter than me. i see pono everyday and just found out yesterday that he’s the dog on lost. gee, i should take some time and watch that drama….

pono just had pups. want to buy one? full bread labrador/retriever at $2000/each. these pups will be gone fast so here’s your chance. cute little things….

i would love to have one. he can do my taxes for me…. haha….
**a 23 year old bodyboarder died yesterday at pipeline 2 days ago. he hit his head on the reef and died at kahuku hostpial. he surfed pipeline for the past 2 weeks every single day. this kid was too young…. be careful and be happy because your life could end in a flash….

good evening. spent the whole day, or should i say, the past 2 weeks working on my taxes. it’s an annual event that every american must do. yeah, it sucks but if you don’t do it, you’ll end up in jail. so after sorting out the receipts that i can’t read because it’s in japanese, i finally have space to walk in my house. a few more days, then i’m done…. i had to get wet so i went to jump in at bowls this morning. paddled out, caught 4 waves, and paddled back in. my hair didn’t even get wet. and it was freaking cold. seen jeannie chesser and toru-san on the way out and they told me it was freezing. they weren’t lying. it was cold…. came back home and pressed buttons in my calculator all day. after i’m done with my taxes, i’m going to have a big party. an after tax party…. well, got to get back to the calculator. see ya….

oh, check out the deck we built yesterday. we used all old wood sitting around the house so it didn’t cost us anything. just a few arguments is about it. but that’s normal around here….
**and check out this clip of big game fishing in the mentawai islands, north sumatra, indonesia. this was a TSSC/DOVE surf trip back in 2003. all of us were good friends and gosh, we had a good time. perfect HT’s with nobody around. and to top it off, our big fish… this was my second time to the mentawai’s so i took everything. my surfing stuff, diving stuff, and fishing stuff. my bags must have weighted a ton. i bought this penn 9.0 reel and pole all the way from hawaii. and the lure i used was made by my friend derek kiyota. i fished the whole trip and didn’t get one bite. then it was on the way back to padang on our last day when it hit. i was down on my bed reading my maxim magazine when i heard the boat come to a stop and everybody yelling outside. i ran up and seen my line going out. game on…. check out the action and all the excitement from all the boys. matsuo took the video and is talking. and everybody else is yelling their heads off, including me. something i will NEVER FORGET…..