2011 Indo Season

Last year I got to surf the Mentawais in Indonesia and got one of my best barrel of the 2010. We had 2 solid days of 6-8 ft waves at a spot called Ht's, the rest of the trip was gravy. Beautiful sunsets, perfect waves, and lots of fish! If you ever are considering the Ultimate Surf Trip this is a MUST DO destination! We live on a boat for 10 days/11 nights and surf/dive/fish our brains out.

2011 Indo Season has begun and I'm excited to head back for more barrels, fish, and fun times with a group from Hawaii and hope we score again! Now that the south swells in Hawaii have slowed down, it's time to start chasing some Indo swells. I'll be bringing my camera and taking some photos of the boys so stay tuned!

Mexican Shootout 2011 Pau

Just in from the 5th Annual Mexican Shootout and it was a BLAST! Lots of FUN, SUN, and Good times again with divers from Hawaii, Seattle, San Diego, & Alabama. The tides and full moon made for strong currents with a thermocline 40 ft below. The waters were changing from cool spring to warm summer so the fish were coming in. Lots of sighting of Marlin, Roosterfish, and even 80# Yellowfin tuna and big Wahoo was taken a few days before the competition.

We raised about $600 to support the El Sarjento School with new sporting supplies and the kids came down one evening to perform a dance for our group. Its a great feeling to catch fish for a good cause. Tim, Karon, and Jimena Hatler do an excellent job every year.

We had a host of great sponsors who generously donated prizes for the event and we were so thankful for their support! Prizes to our Captains, Teams, and Individual awards were given out and appreciated by all.

Team "Revolu-Sun" Puna Apio and Ernie Ripley took first place this year and their strategy paid off and the end. Congratulations you guys! Ken Oakes also nailed this huge trigger fish weighing in almost 10 lbs winning the target reef fish!

I was hoping for one nice fish and got lucky at the end of trip with this sailfish that came in a little to close to my speargun. Palapas Ventana is the place to land a billfish and all sorts of fish we don't have in Hawaii so I can't wait for next year! Thank you to all our divers, boatmen, sponsors, and Palapas Ventana Ohana for making it another successful event! Make plans to join us next year!

Mexican Shootout coming soon!

Every year we team up with Palapas Ventana to host a fun dive tournament in La Paz Mexico. We have a great team of sponsors who are very generous to support the event and welcome divers and non-divers to join the fun for a great cause. If you are interested in joining us send me an email: redsea@hawaii.rr.com.

Waiting game

Saturday Morning "Dawn Patrol Crew" anxiously waiting for the new swell. Looks like about a dozen surfers out already. Call me when it comes in...back to zzzz.

Memorial Day Ono

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend! My friend Erick Itoman had a day off and hasn't had a chance to dive in a long time so we headed out to the blue once again in search of Wahoo. Saw some of the boys on the kayaks diving as well since it was a nice day. The current was mild so it seems the fish was not around but then two wahoo came by. Erick was down hunting as I watched him from above, then as he surfaced I saw them come in. They were not hungry so had to chase them down but luckily one turned and I got a shot off. Erick later gave it a back up shot so we at least got one for today. I wanted to test out a new underwater camera I got so grabbed a shot as well. Thanks Erick for a great dive!

Got a Virus?

My new toy "5'-5" virus" has arrived thanks to Jason Kashiwai! It is super fast, easy to turn, and it's the perfect shortboard. You can ride it 3 fin or 4 fin and I'm ready to test it out with the new swell in town. I debated to let it cure but was too anxious to get it wet so I gave my nephews some posca pens and they went to town on the top deck.

Kai (left) was super proud to color the board while Maika (right) focused on the details of each circle, spot, dot, etc..Guess which boy wants to test ride it first? MEEEE! See ya in the water!

Pargon Alley

Last years Mexican shootout we got some nice fish come up and this year we are hoping for the same. On one of the warm up days I took a drop to find a school of Pargon (Dogtooth Snapper) on the bottom and lined up on one with my 120 cm pipe gun and luckily it stuck. There is a spot called "Pargon alley" which hold a bunch of these and they are fun to spear and also great eating. If you haven't speared a Pargon, Marlin, Wahoo, Mahi, or Roosterfish this is your best opportunity. We got some great sponsors again supporting the event and look forward to seeing you there on June 13-18, 2011! Email me if you want to join us!