Hot Off of Press & Stove

HSD Mag issue 51 just out on Newstands!  Check out last years trip to Punta Mita where Jonathan Muratsuka spears his biggest fish of his life!  

And those little black fish with orange eye was fried perfectly for our dinner!  My friend likes these so much that he even makes Kole sandwich.  Yup he put them between 2 slices of bread and grinds um.  The fish on the right is the Aweoweo which is also hard to find nowdays.

Final main dish is steamed Kumu, fit for a king!  These were so delicious!  Also known as white saddle goat fish, they vary from 2-4 lbs and sometimes even bigger.

Kumu Kole Hunt

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving holiday!  We had so much food that I probably gained 5 lbs.  Weather was nice and water was flat today so diving was the call.  We had the onos for Kumu and Kole so reef diving was the plan for today.  Kekoa Mau and Keith Yamane boarded the Red Sea boat and we were off bright and early to see the sunrise.

Kekoa got a nice Kumu and his smile said it all!  This prized reef fish goes for $14/lb here in Hawaii and anybody who gets one is super happy.

Keith Yamane also got this nice Kumu at one of my secret spots and was also a happy camper.

Our final catch was a mixed bag of red kumus and black kole and some tako for the next Red Sea Party!  Looks like fried fish tomorrow and steam fish for Sunday! Thanks guys for a great day on the water, I'll be sleeping good tonight:)

Shrimp shack

Giovanni's shrimp $13 plate. Pupu hour starts now!

V-Land Calls

Finally got out of the house with hopes of timing the arrival of the next north swell and help with my jet lag. Decided to surf a short paddle wave that was hollow and fast like Ht's. V-land was the call.  This spot is heavy localized spot and this is where you park your car and walk about 10 minutes before you paddle out.  Today only had 15 guys out so I was able to get my share of waves.  Then the groms came out and I went in.  Waves should hold tomorrow and drop on Friday so gotta get the dive gear ready!

"lady killer" shrimp

After returning from Indonesia, there was one dish that everyone remembers.  Kekoa "Paduan" Mau entitled this "Lady Killer" shrimp dish that our cook made 2x for us.  This may just be the dish to make for the upcoming thanksgiving party.  Only problem is only Kekoa knows the secret recipe.

Good Times!

During this trip I really wanted to get good shots of our guests so spent alot of time shooting at filming.  I would try and surf early before everyone woke up and in between times when no one was out.  Fortunately our Indo guide Yanto also had his camera and grabbed a few shots for me to remember.  By far HT's has to be one of my favorite waves to ride on this planet.  I was up till 3 am sorting photos this morning and still haven't put a dent in my photo album.  I think the jetlag process has begun...

Alone in Indo!

Mentawai 2012 Trip will go down in history as the most uncrowded Mentawai trip ever!  We scored every spot with great waves and only a few boats to be seen all throughout the Mentawai islands.  Every time we pulled up to a spot we were all so happy to surf our dream waves all alone.

Lena Ching above was carving her way to the top on every wave!  

Cecile Kim also took her surfing to another level, charging waves way overhead and giving her 110%.

Al Ah Nee loved every minute and got shacked.

Kekoa Mau also loved his lefts and seen here dropping in on a bomb at lances left.

David Patterson got his barrel of the trip at HT's and will remember this wave for the rest of his life!

Mentawai continues to be one of the best spots for surf travel.  You can find perfect waves and if you time it right you may be able to surf it all alone like this group did.  Thanks to all awesome group of surfers/divers for joining us on this amazing adventure!