final day at the Rell Sunn's Menehune contest

today was the final day of the 33rd annual rell sunn's menehune surfing championship. waves were little smaller today than yesterday but that didn't stop all the kids to have a day of fun in the sun.

it's amazing how good they all surf and they are all 12 and younger.

not just boys, girls were ripping too.

here's my favorite (probably everyone's favorite) division, 4-6 years old. these kids were so cute.

goodies these kids got were bigger than they were! backpackes, deckpads, bodyboards, and other great stuff including so many surfboards were given away.

thanks everyone for a fun weekend!

33rd annual rell sunn's menehume surfing championships

This weekend is 33rd annual rell sunn's menehume surfing championships! so i went over today (saturday) to check it out!! they usually hold it at makaha but the waves were too big for menehune so they moved it to rest camp. the waves were perfect 1-2 ft for the kids.

i love this contest because it brings out all the kids from all over the islands!

kids were having so much fun! when they weren't surfing their heats they were just playing all day!


these kids were ripping! it's amazing how good they are at such young age. i think i was still learning how to swim at their age... ha ha

surf hard, play hard all day, you gotta eat!! lunch time!

they had raffle tickets for some cool goodies all day but the highlight of the day had to be the autograph session. kids were so stoked! not only they got autographs, kahea (hart) brought tons of stickers and shirts for all the kids.


it'a amazing how one person can bring so many people together.
i think moving to hawaii from california made me a way better person. people always talk about "aloha" all the time when they talk about hawaii. it is real, i've met so many different great people and they make me realized strangers are just friends i haven't met yet. it's amazing how much love they have for families, friends and their comunities.

tomorrow is the final day of the contest so i'll be there again soaking in "aloha" from everyone in the west side!!

super fun photo shoot!

sorry for not blogging for a while. i've been super busy with planning my new project. it's getting there. i can't wait to let you guys know what it is!

a few days ago i went to waikiki to shoot troy and kaeo for their cd cover.


it's kindda crazy cuz i used to listen to ka'au crater boys all the time whem i lived in cali. i met troy at bowls surfing and he's been nothing but really cool to me. i've never met kaeo until the shoot day but he is another super cool guy and i've heard he's an amazing guitar/ukalele player!

so troy hit me up about this photo shoot because he wanted me to shoot photos of them surfing WHILE playing their ukaleles! i was wondering how are they gonna go that but they did it no problem!

pre session warm up. i thought they were gonna stretch or something but they were actually warming up there throats and hands for playing. ha ha

troy brought these really nice ukalele for this shoot. i couldn't believe they were gonna get those thing all wet...

i can't show you some of the better shots so it'll be surprise when their cd comes out.
here's a teaser for you.

after a while they started tandom surfing. kaeo would just jump on troy's board while they are surfing, playing and singing!

the shoot was super fun. i didn't feel like i at work at all and how often do you get to see and hear live music performed by these guys in the water!! thanks guys!

since it was raining and cold last week end, hawaiian south shore is having their swapmeet / sample sale THIS saturday. so stop by and treat yourself to some great deals!!

BUI surf contest!

today was a friendly Bui contest at mokuleia organized by greg (nakamura). i was little worried cuz when i left my house this morning the wind was blowing so hard i thought there won't be any waves to surf. what do you know, when i got to the secret location in mokuleia there were some decent waves!!

there were waves but it was raining, little windy, and cold... hey, there were waves! so it's on!!

i never went in the water to shoot because the condition and lighting were bad for shooting. i'm sure glad i brought my water housing tho. i just put my camera in the housing so my camera was safe while shooting some lifestyle shots!

so stoked we had 2 tents from BayVI and a tarp. they kept us dry all day!

everyone took turn judging. judges' tent!

it's kindda hard to see but you see nick (mita) wearing the in4mation g-shock? he was the first one to have that watch when it came out. i used to want to steal that watch from him... ha ha nick is a JPSA (japan professional surfing association) and one of his sponsors is g-shock. it's ok tho, i got a sponsor name michael kawada who found the watch for me! ha ha thanks michael!

rob from Redbull hooked us up with cases of redbulls for the contest! we only had one trophy for the winner so we got creative and made another one for 2nd place using redbull. came out pretty sick!

so 1st place gets a trophy and a case of redbull, 2nd place gets a redbull trophy! thanks rob and redbull!!

since it was raining we were all chilling in the tents but every heat someone had to walk out in the rain to blow the horn. so we just kept sending kids out to get wet. ha ha

kaito (kino) doing his job. he was getting so good at it, i think he's ready for wct as a horn blowing guy. ha ha

so what do you do when you got a bbq grill, hotdogs but no plates to put the dogs? serve them on a surfboard!! thanks goose for being in charge of the bbq and keeping us fed all day!

at the end of the day, it all came down to greg and gopal (butler) battling for the trophy and a case of redbull. and the winner is...

gopal!

gopal was surfing solid all day. he was busting some airs, shove it, fins out turns and moves i don't even know how to explain.

awesome day! thanks greg for puttin this contest together!

where are my fins??

my friend bobby and i've been working on a new project (i'll let you know what it is when the time comes) so we had a meeting on his boat last night. i should've taken a photo the other direction with the ocean in the background but i was so tired just took a photo where we were sitting... i'll take a photo or two next time i go over there so you can see an amazing view he has on his boat.

i got tons of stuff to do for the project so i've been sitting infront of the computer doing that a lot these days... so i figured i should check out makapuu again today in the evening.

i wanted to get some shots of hanna (harrison), a new and the first girl team rider for BayVI. so i picked her up and off to makapuu where derek (wong) and nelson (ahina) met up with us.

i was getting ready to go out and i couldn't find my fins!! hhmmm... i have no idea where they are. shiiiiiit. this is the 2nd time losing my fins this year. i guess i'm getting old or something.

well, so no fins today.

hanna getting ready to get some serious poundings on waves breaking on 6 inches of water.

derek and nelson just brought their bodyboard and they were having so much fun.
i thought it'll be fine but the current was super strong and i was having a hard time getting in position. so i didn't really get any good shots today.

nelson about to get shacked and punded.


derek dropping in on a nice close out. ha ha

hanna bottom turning. look at the water. it's so shallow, pretty much sand with little water mixed in.

it was nice being in the water even tho i was out there getting tossed around cuz no matter how hard i kicked (with no fins) i wasn't moving in the direction i wanted to be moving...

it was getting dark so time to go!

do you have some old surf related stuff you want to sell? or want to find great deals on used and brand new surf realated stuff?

hawaiian south shore is having a Surf Swap Meet and Sample Sale this saturday!!

if you got stuff to sell, you can get a space for just $5. you can sign up at their website, www.hawaiiansouthshore.com

here are some companies who will be selling their samples.

Oneill
Lost
DC Shoes
Von Zipper
DVS Shoes
Globe
FCS
Futures Fins
Board Works
Resin 8 Surfboards
Keep The Country Country

it's perfect if you wanna start your xmas shopping, just treat yourself to brand new stuff at huge discount, or want to make some extra cash selling stuff you don't use anymore!