Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble gobble!   Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with your family and friends.  

Women Surfing Champions

Congrats to Carissa Moore for winning the Target Maui Pro. She surfed so well and made all of Hawaii proud.

And Stephanie Gilmore for winning her 6x world title. Women's surfing has reached a new level in surfing today.

Surf Travel Friends

Surf boat trips are by far my favorites.  Not just the waves and uncrowded session, but making new friendships and building old relationships are so important on our Red Sea Trips.  New comer Tiare Thomas joined us along with seasoned Red Sea veteran James Oshiro and it was neat to see them having so much fun.  Both of them surfed super long and scored some good waves.

Angela Maki Vernon also signed up and it was her 2nd boat trip in her life.  She loves her shells and was always out early stretching and with Coach Kirby pushing her she got to grab some nice waves.

We got to help rescue some fisherman who shipwrecked their boat and it was truly like straight out of a book.

My friend Travis Masutani sat inside and got all the good nuggets catching everything that the others didn't want.  He probably got the most pics.  I can't wait to go back next Aug. and our group is already getting excited.  There are a few spots open so if want to experience some of the best waves in the world without the crowd sign up today!   

Final cut new chapter

Cold winter weather means perfect indoor edit time on final cut pro. Been busy working on next months hsdtv show and planning next years trips. Visit our website for details. 

Also want to congratulate Brent and Susie Ching on their marriage and starting a new chapter in their lives. Thanks for inviting us to your wedding. 

BBQ opihi bra

Last nights pupu hour! Compliments of two old crows. Broke da mouth!

Hawaiian style bbq are the best! Teri Hoe starts the line.

Japan friends in the house, Toda, Takami and Eri, thank you for always supporting us! Great to see all our friends!

After dinner Toda had to make use of his opihi shells. 

Surf Satisfaction

Been wanting to surf some hollow waves since I got back from Taiwan and saw the forecast last week that today was the day. Pulled up early at backdoor and 3 guys were out! I quickly waxed up and was out there!  Surfing Backdoor/Pipe you gotta focus and there is no room for error.  There can be 30 guys out and not many conversations going on in the line up.  Just pure focus and being in the right spot.  I love it!

Camera guys all over the place. Cool to see mike Stewart, Nat Young, Aritz Arenburu, and some other pros in the line up. I caught my share of waves and came in early as the crowd started to fill in.

By 8 am I was driving home totally satisfied.

Rifles throwback

Mentawai throwback 2011.  Remembering this epic session at Rifles.  Handful of surfers out with super long rights peeling down the line.  

Gopro Photo by: Michael Wall

Green Room

Behind the scenes filming with Merlinda Garma. Congratulations to her for all her accomplishments including her passing her bar exam. 

Hawaii Bound

Back to paradise! Blue skies and blue water.

Last supper

Finally get to eat Taiwan beef noodle soup!  Been searching for this for a while.

Gonna miss these grinds...We will be back!

Taiwan Open of Surfing

Today is the final day of competition at the Taiwan Open of Surfing. This ASP rated contest is the biggest surf event in Taiwan. Lots of local surfers from Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, and four other countries.

Waves were overhead and looking fun so borrowed a board and went out to grab a wave later. 

Got up to the media booth area to film some surfing.

Local Taiwan news also wanted to know why we were there as well.

Governor Justin Huang also came by to snap a few photos and chat.

All the media were there to follow his footsteps. Elections are in a few weeks so every vote will count.

Marlin Hunting Tour

Today we joined a marlin hunting tour to see their method of spearing marlin. 

It was pretty neat to see how Taiwanese fisherman learned the harpoon method from the Japanese.

These are the fishing boats used today.

Water was rough and waves were up but these little kids handled out there. 

There usually 3 on board fishing. One throwing the spear, one spotter, and one driving the boat. I got the spotter job today.

Later we had a fabulous lunch provided by the Taiwan tourist bureau. Haven't eaten sashimi for a while.

Sun fish skin was Ono!

Nitsuke marlin.

And another marlin dish. 

Marlin hunting time

Now this is a 3 prong spear!

Windy Day

Today winds were blowing 30-40 mph so opted for sightseeing. Taoism temple first stop.

Each sept there is a big festival where teams climb these poles filled with oil.

Lunch was some hot sour soup and gyoza. One of the specialties here in kenting.

Nuclear waste water dumping into the ocean. Good thing we didn't dive here today.

There was even fisherman here trying their luck. 

Of course had to end the day with another boba tea. This one had azuki beans inside. So Ono!

Waverider House

Our kenting guide, Keith Kajioka is one of the few surfboard shapers here. We stopped at his shop to check out his office.

His other venture with the waverider house is doing well. Great location for visitors.

Very clean and comfortable rooms. 

Took a stroll looking for food and saw a line of people here.

Decided to go for pork soup with picked cabbage first.

And steak and rice with rice for second dinner.

No such thing as car seats here in Taiwan.