On To Peru

Looking out the window on my way to Peru in anticipation of the adventures ahead of me :)

Apologies

I apologize, for I have not been keeping up on my blog, and the whole point of reading a blog is to have current and consistent information being presented, and I have failed to provide this info.  I took a trip to Peru, where I had an amazing trip on so many different levels, but I unfortunately did not have the internet access I have become accustomed to being available to me, and it prevented me from updating my blog with current adventures, pictures, and stories.  So I apologize.  

I did however record events down in my journal, and emailed a couple of them to my surfboard sponsor Channel Islands to post on their team blog, so I will now present them here to you, even though the date I post them under will be near the date the stories occurred and not the current date after my trip has ended and I am back home.  I hope you can forgive me, and please enjoy the reports from Peru.  Thank you.

Juice :)

I went over to my good friend Brie's house tonight to help her and my bro Cyrus to make some of the best juice in the world.  So thankful to be home and have a network of health conscious friends who enjoy creating the healthiest and most delicious food ever!  Brie has a Norwalk juicer, the best in the world due to the fact that it is not a centrifugal juicer, which will oxidize the juice making it spoil quicker, but instead the Norwalk is a hydraulic press, where the veggies are pushed through a grate and then pressed to remove the juice.  Not only does the juice stay fresh longer, but the taste is phenomenal!  While Cyrus and I worked on the juice, Brie made one of her amazing sprout salads, and we had a hero feast fit for royalty.  Soaking up the nutrients and life force of this incredible elixir is exactly what I needed!  Thank you so much Brie and Cyrus for the awesome night!

Veggies prepped for the juicer

Cyrus at the controls

The Norwalk juicer, with grate on left and hydraulic press on right

Cyrus mixing up a hero medley

Supergreens :)

Liquid Love :)

Roxanne

Went surfing two days ago with a couple friends up here in Santa Cruz, and my bro brought his dog Roxanne with us to the beach.  She is really smart and extremely well behaved, so it was a shocker to all of us that she took off from the beach and was not waiting for us when we came in from our surf.  My friend ran up and down the beach looking for her, but unfortunately she was nowhere to be found.  He went back to check the beach later that day and early the next morning but didn't find her anywhere, everybody was pretty devastated.  Then when he woke up today he said she was waiting by the back door to his house, and other than being a bit muddy and pretty tired, she was happy as ever!  Pretty incredible, whether she chased some cat in the neighborhood or whatever initially got her off the beach, but she made the journey of around 8 miles to find her way back to her house on her own over the course of the last 2 days!  So stoked to see her back home!

Roxanne the super dog

Avocado Bowls

Super stoked to come home from Hawai'i and score one of the last winter swells of the season before the North Pacific goes into hibernation for the summer.  Another amazing reminder from the universe that everything is happening right on schedule in accordance with universal time and that I am in beautiful alignment with these energies and existing in harmonious flow.  So incredibly thankful for the wonderful blessings I receive continuously, and especially stoked that Surfline ran a photo from this magical session to provide me a fresh perspective on this special day, along with a visual reminder of the beauty of nature and the joy of special sessions with good friends.  

Good Times :) 

Photo by Billy Watts

Trip To The Farm

I took a trip to my buddy Barry's Farm to pick up some fresh organic produce, so thankful to have a direct source for the food that I choose to nourish and fuel my body and life with, and a beautiful reminder of the bounty of California welcoming me home.  

The Goods :) 

cherimoya, sapote, avocado, cara cara, passion fruit, macadamias

Cherimoya

One of my favorite foods :)

New Blades at Moonlight

Coming home from 3 months in Hawai'i is a lot easier when you know you are coming back to a brand new quiver of hero blades from Channel Islands.  I have been riding Al Merrick's shapes for well over a decade now, and they are the absolute best surfboards in the world! This batch of boards includes the copies of my magic board that I dropped off at the CI factory before I left for Hawai'i, so I was really excited to see how they came out.  I am so thankful not only to have the opportunity to have the best shapes ever, but also for the fact that my boards have been finished since day one by the best glassing shop in the universe, Moonlight Glassing, which prides itself in the highest quality work and produces the best surfboards ever!  Without the best glass jobs my boards would disintegrate under my feet in a couple of months, but all of the boards I have had finished by Moonlight are still around and solid (some close to 10 years old), a testament to the quality of their work.

 

Moonlight Glassing is a North County San Diego surfing staple, a family operation that was founded in 1979 and still going strong today thanks to the hard work and efforts of the talented team in house.  Peter St. Pierre is the Pinliner extraordinaire, airbrush artist to the stars, while wife Sally handles the books and phones, and son JP is responsible for the finish sanding, putting the quality touch to the finished product.  JP is a busy guy, also responsible for the highly popular Surfy Surfy blog and is opening the new Surfy Surfy Surf Shop in Leucadia in the next couple of months.  And with Moon Kitty keeping an eye on the shop, everything keeps running smoothly around here. Thank you so much for the amazing efforts to everyone at Moonlight Glassing!  

New quiver of blades ready to shred with Bamboo Fins from 101 Fin Co

The Cali Hex board looks like a perfect copy of my magic board

JP with stickers for the new Surfy Surfy Surf Shop opening soon

Moon Kitty guarding the front door (and soaking up a little sunshine)

Natural Products Expo West

The Natural Products Expo West took place Friday - Sunday, March 12 - 14 at the Anaheim Convention Center.  Expo West is always an amazing time, with so many awesome people coming together in one place to make new friends, reconnect with old ones, and generally celebrate life, while also accomplishing some business, and this year was no exception.  

I worked the show as an Athlete Representative for two of my sponsors, Manitoba Harvest and Sunfood and split my time at the show between their two booths, with a little time to walk around Sunday and check a couple other products.  Vapor Brothers threw a phenomenal party on Friday night in their hotel suite, with live sitar and drumming, 4 different vap stations, open bar, and catered by Au Lac!  Definitely one of the best gatherings I have ever attended in my life!  All of that was just warmups for the Julian Marley concert later that night, all time! Then Saturday night was the Organic Roots concert that takes place every year, another awesome show, and Sunday finished up the show with a dinner at Au Lac with the Sunfood team, and this incredible weekend became one future Expos will be compared to for years.

Working the Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods booth with Certified Nutritionist Meghan Atkinson 

President and Co-Founder of Manitoba Harvest Mike Fata with the Founder of To-Go Ware Stephanie Bernstein, creator of reusable bamboo utensils that help you reduce your forkprint

Co-Owner of Sambazon Jeremy Black helping provide information on acai at their booth

Sunfood COO Brian Bowers with a raw cacao pod

Vapor Brothers party was one of the best ever!  Their booth rocked too!

Julian Marley sharing some irie vibes with the Natural Products family

Coconut Bliss and their vegan coconut milk dessert, while not raw a very worthy substitute for ice cream

Cole Meeker at Artisana with their mental coconut butter to sample

Sunfood team dinner at Au Lac to finish out one of the best Natural Products Expos yet!

Aloha Also Means Goodbye

Heading home

Friends In The Yard

Today I hung out with some friends in the yard.  I decided to enjoy some soursop outside in the beautiful Hawai'ian sunshine, and when I sat down in the yard I noticed all of the friendly little braddahs that came to hang out with me for lunch.  It was a nice reminder, taking a little time to look around us and appreciate where we are right now opens up a whole new awareness of things to be thankful for.  They were all happy, smiley, friendly little guys that pretty much just cruised together in our own little group celebration even while they were on their own unique lunch missions, taking down any mosquitoes that came near.  I love them!  Such great company, I am so thankful I decided to join them for lunch, and another glorious day continues...

Happy

Smiley

Friendly

Soursop :)

Sprouted Coconut :)

The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is a common sight on most tropical islands, and is one of the most valuable plants for humans due to the multitude of uses it provides, which legitimizes its title as the "Tree of Life."  

Sprouted coconut 

In fact, across the Polynesian archipelago of the South Pacific, every part of the coconut palm is utilized for a specific purpose, from food to shelter to tools.  The palm fronds are woven together to create everything from thatched roofs for island-style huts to floor mats and baskets.  The woody material in the trunk is used for building purposes, and the fibrous interior of the coconut husks is used in and around lava rock borders of tropical gardens.  The hard shell of the coconut is made into tools such as bowls and spoons, and chips of the shell make an excellent type of charcoal due to the slow-burning oils helping extend the duration of a fire.  All of these incredible uses and I haven't even mentioned how good they are to eat!

Young coconuts

The young green coconuts contain delicious and nutritious coconut water, an excellent source of rehydration and replenishment of electrolytes.  Coconut water is isotonic, meaning it has a similar electrolyte balance as blood plasma, and has been used by doctors as an intravenous solution and injected directly into the bloodstream to prevent dehydration, especially during emergency situations such as World War II where other intravenous solutions were either not available or in short supply.  The water sealed inside the coconut is sterile, free from pathogens, is non-allergenic, does not harm red blood cells, and is readily accepted by the body.  On many small tropical islands, coconut water is the only source of safe drinking water for the local inhabitants where rainfall is minimal.  The nutritional profile of coconut water includes containing a complex array of vitamins and minerals including high levels of potassium, chlorides, calcium, and magnesium, along with a variety of trace minerals, and a moderate amount of sodium, protein, and natural sugars.  Some of the health properties attributed to coconut water include its therapeutic effect on the urinary and reproductive systems, minimizing the effects of glaucoma, preventing the formation of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), promoting digestion, and as an antioxidant.  The "fluid of life" living up to its name in a variety of ways.  

Opening the coconut husk

Removal of coconut from husk

As the coconut matures, the flesh or meat lining the inside of the shell begins to thicken and become tougher, and the water inside loses some of its flavor, while the green exterior begins to fade and becomes brown. The flesh of these mature coconuts are used to make coconut milk, thicker and whiter than the clear coconut water, as well as copra, which is the source of coconut oil production, and the major source of income for most small tropical islands.  

Botanically speaking, the "Tree of Life" is not really a tree, but instead is a member of the palm family Palmae.  These botanical characteristics include a woody trunk, perennial (as opposed to annual) growth, leaves folded like a fan, and along with grasses and lilies, the production of a single 'seed leaf' which classifies them as monocotyledons.  

Inside of a sprouted coconut

Coconuts can float for around three months in salt water until they get washed up on a sandy shoreline of some tropical beach, and despite the nutritionally-poor sands as a soil substrate to root in, with the presence of available fresh water the coconut will still sprout, and grow into a mature palm in about six years, thriving in this otherwise harsh environment.  Once a coconut sprouts, the water inside develops into a ball of foam, spreading out toward the flesh and filling up the interior of the coconut.  While I fully encourage allowing a sprouted coconut to grow into a mature palm, which can produce hundreds of new coconuts per year, in cases where space is lacking to allow a new coconut palm to form, harvesting the sprouted coconut for food is an incredibly delicious treat.  The ball of spongy white foam inside a sprouted coconut is such a delicious food that it has many different names, including coconut foam, the apple of the coconut, and coconut cotton candy, but I think the closest description that it resembles in taste and texture is coconut angel food cake.  Not only is this tropical delicacy nutritious and tasty, but it is also quite filling.  My first time sampling this beautiful blessing from nature and it instantly became one of my favorite foods!

Coconut angel food cake, so delicious!

Balancing Energies

So much happening in this last month that I have been wanting to write about but not found the time for yet, I figured I better make time now and catch up.  This winter surf season has been one for the history books, with the El Nino fueled storms and subsequent swell spanning across the Pacific Ocean relentlessly bombing huge surf onto the reefs of the Hawai'ian Islands and marching solid lines into the West Coast of America, this will be a season surfers will remember forever, and become a benchmark for future seasons to be compared against.  My big wave tow in day was an amazing step along this journey, but there have been many more swells to follow.  

The day after the tow day was when the real force of the swell hit, probably the biggest day of surf that Hawai'i has seen in about a decade, and it was going off!  I witnessed some of the most amazingly big, perfect, and gnarly barrels I have ever seen with my own eyes.  I gave my best effort to paddle into some epic waves and am thankful to have caught a few perfect ones myself, but the barrels I saw a few friends get with the jet ski assistance were absolutely mind blowing. One of the best days of waves ever, complete sensory overload, from sunrise to sunset being tantalized by spitting barrels relentlessly, I was completely tapped out that night.  Even more epic dream sessions to follow as this swell declined, letting the other waves become manageable and allowing a full variety of waves to be surfed through the course of this swell event.  

About a week after the tow in day, my friend that towed me in psyched me up to paddle out into some of the biggest waves I have ever paddled out in, probably the second biggest paddle day of my life, but way nicer than the biggest day because unlike the rough and rugged nature of the waves that day, this day was as big and perfect as you could ever dream of waves being.  Not a drop of water out of place, just perfect huge peaks jacking up and running the length of the reef, with a friendly and mellow vibe between the few guys out, it was truly a magical day.  I borrowed a big wave board from my friend, so I was a little tentative to catch my first wave, not only because it was my first time back paddling into solid waves in a few years, but also because I had not ridden this board yet and had no idea how it would go, so I took my time watching a couple sets come through before I paddled into the thick of it.  My friend was heckling me from the zone, looking at me like "what are you doing in the channel?  you know you need to be over here to catch a wave, right?" and waving at me to paddle over where he was waiting under the ledge.  As I have mentioned before, my friend loves huge waves, so I wasn't completely sure whether he wanted me to catch a wave from where he was, or if he just wanted to see how I would handle getting caught inside by a macking clean up set, but after seeing him late drop a couple nuts ones, I figured I better get in there for a closer look.  I managed to pick off a couple of inside ones, too small of a board to compete for the bombs up at the top of the reef, but right on the ledge where the wave would stand up as it connected the inside for a solid drop and fun wall to race, super stoked!  Traded a couple of sets with my friend, stoked to have gotten back out into some solid waves and feeling comfortable with so much water moving around.  When we got in, I thanked him for hyping me up to go out there.  I know it is not that hectic once I get myself out into the mix and put myself in the lineup, but taking that initial move to go out there is always easier when you have a friend to join you on the journey.  

The next morning the swell had dropped a bit but was still solid, and my friend paddled out in the dark on his shortboard to get a couple late drops at first light.  On maybe his third wave or so, he took off late, ran into some chop at the bottom, and skipped out in the trough, falling on his side and breaking at least three ribs.  Falling on water.  Broken bones.  Heavy.  The most agony I have ever seen him in, for a guy I have never seen affected by anything, this looked like the most excruciating pain anyone could ever endure.  Drove him down to the the hospital in town to get x-rays but nothing you can really do for broken ribs except chill out and let them heal, shocker.  In the blink of an eye, done. Season over.  The best season ever, over.  So harsh I went into a sympathetic depression with him, hanging out for the next week and helping take care of whatever I could for him so he could just sit and chill and heal.  I didn't want to be coming home glowing from a hero session and describing epic waves I had ridden while he had been barely moving so no shooting pains would pierce his chest, so I just hung out and talked story, made some food, and provided support as best I could.  The universe was sending out so much positive energy in a relentless stream that it had to regroup and begin to balance the energies out.  

It kinda felt like eating really spicy salsa, where if you keep eating non-stop you just replace one extreme experience with another in such succession that they all begin to blend together and have less individual impact, that is until you stop to take a breath and it all catches up quick, bringing you abruptly back to reality.  I had been in such a state of delirium surrounded by the perfection of this season that I got caught up thinking that maybe it could really just be like this forever, and life would be this grand adventure where the waves were phenomenal all of the time.  Everyday would dawn another gloriously stellar light wind sunny dream of swell lines marching in from the horizon, with the toughest decision of the day being deciding where to surf because everywhere is firing.  

But the highs have to get balanced by the lows.  Otherwise, how would we even be able to appreciate the blessings?  If everyday was perfect, sunny, and firing, how special would it be?  Can something still be special when it becomes the standard?  If everyday was perfect, it would no longer be considered perfect, it would be common.  We need the rugged stormy onshore flat days to appreciate how truly magical the perfect days are, when all of the elements do align, the right size swell coming from the right direction, with the right winds speed coming from the right direction, with the right tide and the sun shining, all culminating into one beautiful session, where we are in the right spot for the right wave, and draw the right line with the right timing, all elements synergizing to manifest a spiritual experience and deeper connection with the universal energy we are all one with.  Such an incredible alignment of the elements cannot slide by unappreciated just because they happen to be in temporary abundance.  

It felt like the energy had shifted, maybe not disappeared, but just vibrating at a different frequency now.  There have still been all time sessions and great waves to be ridden, but lately they have been smaller and more manageable, allowing for a different approach to be explored than just that of putting your head down and going hard in waves of consequence, and it felt nice to just relax and have fun in friendly waves again.  The weather shifted, and the trade winds began to return, replacing the ridiculously sunny and amazing days with some mountain showers, and some stormy days showed up bringing in colder north winds, starting to actually feel like winter over here finally.  It seemed like the season had hit its peak, and while there will still be waves to ride, and many more fun days ahead, the concentrated energy focused into the last couple months had finally begun to dissipate, reestablishing a sense of normalcy and familiarity to everyday life.  A mandatory balancing of the energies, so that we can find equilibrium once again.  

Taking time to soak it all in

Chocolate Maca Almond Haystacks

This was my first experiment at making a raw vegan chocolate recipe, but I knew I was going to make haystacks, chocolate and coconut are the most incredibly delicious combination!  

Chocolate comes from a tropical fruit that grows on trees called cacao, and inside the tough colorful shell of the cacao pods is a gooey white membrane of a deliciously unique sweet-tart flavor surrounding big brown cacao beans, the source of what most people know as chocolate. The cacao beans are sun dried and then separated into their two components, the bitter brown cacao powder and the lighter fat that is the cacao butter.  The whitish cacao butter is the source of white chocolate, and when the powder is added back in, the more cacao powder added the darker the chocolate becomes.  

South Pacific Cacao Pod

I have a few friends that have their chocolate recipes down to an art, so I asked a few critical questions to acquire the information gained from lifelong searches of knowledge, and for sharing that wisdom I am extremely grateful to Jacob Gilbert for his insight and experience. Chocolate production is truly an art form, as the trick to creating a great chocolate comes through an understanding of the tempering process, where the warm liquid mix cools into a solid at a specific rate of crystallization that creates a desired texture for the final chocolate treat. The key to raw food production is to maintain the temperature below 108 F in order to preserve vital living enzymes, so I keep my temps below 105 F.  The goal is to warm the cacao butter just enough to melt so that the cacao powder can be added back in for a smooth and creamy mixture, easily dissolving the powder into the butter.  Recipes can vary according to taste, with a larger ratio of cacao powder to cacao butter creating a darker chocolate.  

My personal recipe used all raw organic ingredients of the highest quality, ideal for creating the best quality treat, both for health (personal and planet) and flavor.  I use Sunfood Nutrition's raw organic cacao powder and cacao butter along with their agave nectar for a sweetener, along with their raw organic Italian almonds.  An incredible synergy complimenting the cacao is to include the superfood maca along side it for amazing energy and stamina, and I use only the highest quality grade and strain of maca, Lepidium Peruvianum Chacon, from Sol Raiz Organics.  Maca is a superfood grown in the highest elevation of the Peruvian Andes mountains, with this particular plantation located above 14,000 feet, and it is an incredible part of a vital and healthy life when consumed regularly, I personally swear by the stuff daily for increased energy and health.  In this recipe I added one of my favorite foods, Artisana's raw coconut butter, which I will eat by the spoonful because it is so amazing.  Also in this recipe was some lucuma powder, a fruit from Peru traditionally used in their ice cream providing a creamy maple caramel flavor, a bunch of shredded coconut, and a pinch of sea salt.  

Ingredients for CacaoStacks Recipe

The specific ratios pretty much come down to experimentation and personal preference, mixing the ingredients to create the desired taste and texture, but the amounts for cacao butter and powder are somewhat similar depending on how dark you want your chocolate, with agave nectar maybe half that, and small amounts comparatively of the coconut butter, maca, and lucuma, and the pinch of sea salt.  Once the mixture has reached the desired taste for a final product, add in a bunch of raw organic shredded coconut, the largest quantity of any one single ingredient, and a bunch of soaked and sprouted raw organic almonds. The almonds should be soaked and rinsed repeatedly a couple days ahead of time in order to remove the phytates or enzyme inhibitors which will create a more easily digestible and lighter tasting nut.  Once the final mix is ready you scoop it into whatever size treats you want by selecting that size cups or tray and then placing them in the fridge to cool.  In about an hour or so they should be ready.  Absolute heaven, enjoy :)

SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD :)

Happy Surfing :)

Today I am celebrating the anniversary of the first day I ever went surfing.  Such a defining moment for my life path this event manifested, that I feel it is worth celebrating every year, hopefully by catching some fun waves.  I owe a huge thank you to my Dad and my cousin Mark, who both took me on my first day surfing and gave me countless rides thereafter to continue my all-consuming addiction, keeping the stoke and setting me up for a beautifully unexpected life course.  So many amazing lessons surfing has taught me over the course of my life that I am so grateful for experiencing, I am the person I am today because of all that the ocean and nature has taught me.  On Valentine's Day it is a common tradition to express gratitude and affection to those that have touched us deeply, and with that in mind I will give thanks for how blessed I am to have been able to live this incredible life!  I LOVE SURFING!

Helicopter Angle Photo by Steve Knox

Little Sis Getting Bigger

Happy Birthday to my little sister, such an incredibly amazing human even at only 11 years of age, I am in awe at how much I have learned from her already.  I love you kiddo.

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way

So much going on, so much I have been wanting to write about, so many thoughts I want to share, not only for everyone else to enjoy, but because somehow the process of this blog helps me to clarify and make sense of my world through the review and analysis of daily events, allowing me to view them through the lens of a holistic perspective.  But it is funny how quickly my schedule has become too busy to find time now that I have acclimated to "island time."  Surf, stretch, eat, and sleep routine really does prove to be a full-time commitment.  Reviewing surf and weather forecasts, virtual buoy projections, and wind direction models, then analyzing all of this information along side personal experience of which breaks will favor those conditions, and have the best potential for the best waves, and to then decide the plan for the following day takes some time.  Harvesting ripe citrus from around the neighborhood or hacking into a young coconut for a meal requires some effort.  And there isn't enough time in the day to do all of the stretching I wish I could do, keeping my muscles and joints strong yet flexible is a mandatory counterbalance to release tension from the taxing that all-day surf binges will inflict.  Just thinking about some yoga asanas instantly calms my energy.  Actually, what am I doing right now?  I can't sit here, I gotta go stretch.........

My Biggest Wave Ever

You know it.  I know it.  Everybody knows it.  It's everywhere.  It's inescapable.  It's coming.  Every forecast from every perspective says the swell is going to be HUGE.  Guaranteed, for sure, get ready, time to do this, it's on.  

I know everything I have done in my life up to this moment has been in preparation for this event.  I know I have the necessary skill, talent, preparation, and perspective.  I know I can do this, it is what I have dedicated my life to being ready for, this exact situation, this specific challenge.

So why am I still scared?  Well, maybe not scared, I choose to not give my energy to fear, after all it is a four letter f-word, just like fall, and I have taken those words out of my vocabulary.

But maybe anxious is a better way to say it.  I am excited, but still wary, uncertain.  It is the unknowing that is killing me.  My lack of experience in huge surf feels like a branding I wear across my face, a scarlet letter I cannot hide.  Sure I have surfed some solid waves compared to most surfers that grew up in Southern California, thanks to over a decade of winters spent in Hawai'i, but in the real world, the world with real waves, SoCal isn't even on the map.  We are hidden on the lee side of a continent, in the bight behind Point Conception, tucked in its shadow, and sheltered by the scattered offshore islands, with a big continental shelf extending out into the sea ahead of us, a scenario that prevents almost all major swell from being able to reach our shoreline with any significance.  Very different from places like Western Australia, South Africa, or islands dotting the Pacific, like the one I am on right now. These places, like this Pacific Island chain here in Hawai'i, have open ocean swells marching straight onto the shallow reefs, unobstructed, with the full force of the world's largest ocean behind them.  Water is moving over here, a lot of it, focusing into huge chunks of ocean that surfers here call waves.  Waves that look considerably different than what I grew up calling waves.

But, nonetheless, they are still waves.  Liquid manifestations of universal energy.  So I know I can adapt, evolve, and expand my perspective to a greater magnitude, in order to become one with the flow, and coexist within these waves, ones that exist with exponentially larger size, power, and energy.  

My good friend over here is one of the gnarliest humans I know.  He grew up surfing Hawai'ian waves, and thinks the surf is flat anytime it is below double overhead.  He is one of those guys that could almost be considered a madman, due to his perspective on waves being so warped compared to most of society, that very few can even relate to him.  After all, insanity is defined due to its divergence from the status quo, and the waves he lives for most people would consider a death wish.  But his confidence and comfort in heavy surf has helped me incredibly over the course of my life, to realize that is an available perspective to have in these types of conditions.  Grace under pressure.

So when he saw the weather charts and swell forecasts, he gave me the heads up.  "It's going to be on, so you better be ready."  He and his firefighter/lifeguard tow parter like to tow surf the biggest waves they can find, and when he "invited" me to ride a couple waves as this swell filled in, I didn't really have any option but going.  

Sleeping was a little tough last night, just because of the anticipation. So much hype on the swell, so many thoughts running through my head, a little overwhelming.  Mid morning the buoy starts to jump, solid start and steadily increasing.  Taking our time cruising around, having some lunch and acting like it is just any other day, I know that keeping my mind quiet is the only path.  We get down to the beach and there are waves, but they are by no means huge, maybe almost double overhead, so we sit and watch the ocean for a good hour plus.  

And it starts building.  First the outer reefs start to show signs of life, with big swell lines pulsing up from out of the depths, marching in toward shore.  The sets on the reef start to build, becoming slowly but surely bigger and more consistent.  Then the outer reefs start to feather, the crest of the swells beginning to feel bottom and crumble up top, with rings of whitewater highlighting the horizon.  And when the first real 8' Hawai'ian wave hits the reef, it's on.  Time to get the ski prepped and in the water.  

The two of them head out into the ocean and start to score some incredible waves.  Big, heavy, solid waves, but still incredible, linking up amazing rides.  I wait on the shore as they trade off, staying focused on the ocean, getting in sync with the sets, feeling the rhythm of the ocean and getting in tune with its timing.  Now the outer reefs are breaking heavily, much bigger and much more often, and the really outer reefs are starting to awaken.  It is getting BIG.  The anticipation is tough, with all of the projections my mind can create about how gnarly these slabs are, how heavy the water is, and the deadly thrashing that exists in the impact zone.  Staying calm (I know is the path).  Excited but relaxed (is what I'm telling myself).  Totally confident (I believe myself completely, right?).  But this is the only way.  And I know it.  

It's all about perspective.  Power of the mind.  Cool, calm, and confident, knowing everything is coming together just as it is meant to, and I am just this one piece in the cosmic puzzle, fitting right in place. Even as the swell continues to build, the outer reefs keep bombing away with huge barrels, and the reef begins to look like a hectic cauldron of rough water, all is good.  I am living in the now, and right now all is good.  Even when I get out there, it is all going to be good, and if at any point that is not the situation, I will deal with it in the now, not here projecting it into the future.  When I see someone pull into a heavy section and disappear, I assume they got axed, and am amazed when they pop out of the end section to finish with one last hook in the pocket.  Then when they hop on the ski and it heads in instead of back out, I know I am ready.  

They come in to pick me up, and we are straight back out there, for my first big wave tow-in session ever.  My friends said my eyes were as big as golf balls popping out of my head, and as much as they are champion hecklers, I honestly was a bit blown away at the magnitude of the surf.  

My first wave is surreal.  Easily as big as the biggest wave I had ever previously ridden, that I paddled into about 5 years ago at this same spot.  Taking the whip from the ski and letting go of the rope was intense, committing myself, knowing I'm going.  My friend's tow board is epic, super solid and holds in really well, while still being responsive and flying with tons of speed across the face.  Just getting to feel it out on this big liquid canvas is amazing, so incredible!  I kick out in the channel and they come to pick me up, ready to head back up the reef for another one.  My adrenaline is pumping, but I'm still just cruising.  It really is just like surfing has always been, pick the right line and surf your wave.  

It's all about perspective, realizing the same patterns I know extended to a grander scale, and harnessing the similarities.  That is where the comfort is found, the familiarity to make everything flow as I have envisioned.  All of the projections of what might happen in the future don't exist.  I am here.  Now.  There is nothing else.  There never has been, it is only illusion.  My focus on the present moment makes everything simple.  While the lulls occur, we sit out the back and talk like we do while watching the surf from shore, and when the sets come and waves appear, we get focused and make the most out of the opportunities nature provides.  

My next two waves are a little funky and don't line up like I had hoped, so we head back out for another one.  Then it comes.  I knew it would.  It was inevitable.  A bomb set starts stacking solid black lines charging in toward us.  I know it's on.  And all of the anticipation and expectation doesn't even register, because it doesn't exist.  Only right here, right now. Grab the rope.  Get up on my feet.  And go.

My friend is racing the ski along the crest of the swell and points to his left, to this gurgle of water sucking off of the shelf and starting to stand up, and I know this is it.  I am here.  Now.  I let go of the rope, and trim back left to get over the ledge and ahead of the gurgle.  I drop straight in, letting the wave face stand up in front of me, watching it continue to grow and grow, higher and higher.  Then I start to think, "I might want to begin heading down the line now," and watch the wave continue to grow, bigger and bigger.  I set my line and begin streaking across the face of this chunk of ocean, watching the wall line up for 100 yards ahead of me.  I wondered what was going on behind me, and took a peek back at the bowl, instantly freaked out by the amount of rugged water contained in the lip detonating behind me, and told myself not to do that again.  Just keep my focus on the wave face in front of me, pick my line, and make my wave.  Toward the end of the big section, the wave slowed down for a second, and let me draw a big sweeping carve off the top of the face back down toward the trough, burning off some of my speed and setting me up for the end section, where I connected through kicking out once again into the channel.  Peaking on adrenaline, so stoked when my friends came to pick me up on the ski, beaming like the light of the sun.  Easily the biggest wave I have ever surfed in my life.  

As the sun began to set, we packed up the ski and gear, and I realized how significant this experience was for me.  Not just for my surfing goals, but for my life goals.  All of the conjecture and contemplation, anticipation and projection, mind games and brain warps, none of it mattered when it really mattered.  In the now.  Living every moment to its fullest involves maintaining your awareness, your ability to remain present and focused on the current situation.  The only way to know how a situation will unfold is to put yourself right in the middle of it, to test your strength and your character, by living it.  I believe we will always find that actually doing something is much easier than thinking about doing something, creating obstacles and boundaries that only exist as illusions in our mind, and have no bearing in reality.  Take the opportunity to take up the challenges that you believe to be the toughest, for it is in these situations where we can find the greatest learning and personal growth.  Free your mind, live in the now, and become the person you know you already are.  

Making our way in

Photo by Steve Knox

Even More Perfect Waves

I figured it out.  Today made sense of the world for me, as I was so blessed to enjoy another amazing day of incredibly phenomenal waves, having one of the best surfs ever, and witnessing so much beauty that I didn't even think about anywhere else.  In regards to what I wrote yesterday, all I need to do is go to my most favorite wave, then I am captivated all day with no other thoughts to derail me.  I didn't care what waves anywhere else were doing, because I was exactly where I wanted to be.  So that is the lesson I learned.   Decide on your favorite wave, which is subjective and will differ from person to person, and doesn't even have to be a wave, just whatever you are most passionate about.  Pick your favorite wave and go celebrate it with all of your being, throwing yourself over the ledge and into the vortex and allowing it to consume you completely, finding that place where thought doesn't exist and you just live on instincts and intuition.  Then the mind is at ease and contentment exists.  At least that's what worked for me...

Too Many Perfect Waves

Maybe it's just me, but I start to trip out when I think about all of the perfect waves going by unridden, all day long, everyday, everywhere. These beautiful manifestations of universal energy, conceived in a storm halfway across the globe, created by rugged storm winds that howl out across the ocean surface, until they travel thousands of miles and begin to organize into rhythmic pulses of energy, that travel until they reach some sandbar, reef shelf, or cobblestone point and explode their collected energy back to the universe in the form of one glorious, beautiful, perfect wave.  I think waves possess magical energy, harnessing the culmination of this universal rhythm into a physical form that allows us the opportunity to tap into this energy and be vitalized from it's power.  Waves are a beautiful expression of the natural vibrations of the universe, and with this perspective I believe they should be appreciated, as I am extremely humbled, thankful, and gracious for the incredible blessings they provide, so I choose to celebrate them by joining them for their final ride.  

So when I start to think about all of the different spots that are going off at any certain time and knowing how many perfect waves are firing away, I feel like I should be there to appreciate all of their beauty, but I can't be everywhere at once.  So even on days where I have a super fun session getting amazing waves, I still wonder about the waves at other spots, and wish I could be there to praise them as well.  Like on an island, when the swell is pulsing and the winds are light, there are so many good spots to surf that just deciding where to paddle out is tough. The choice to go out at one spot keeps me from scoring waves at the other spots, so I have to choose wisely in order to put my mind at ease. Then the swell carries on its way past the islands over to the mainland, and even more spots and more different perfect waves are rifling away, and I start to get a little overwhelmed.  That is when it reaches the point of going from so many perfect waves, into too many perfect waves.  And I haven't even traveled everywhere I want to go yet, I can't even image what will happen when I add more breaks to my list.  I think I might lose it...

Liquid manifestation of universal energy  :)

Photo by Steve Knox

Happy New Year!

Such an incredible start to the new year!  Dawn patrol surf sessions with a couple friends, watching the full moon make its journey across the morning sky and set off the pacific horizon, with early morning golden light liquid glass barrels, loving life!!!  I want to wish everyone all the best for an amazing year ahead, filled with intention and purpose, incredible adventures, amazing experiences, and above all LOVE!!!  Make the most of every second, living in the moment, being here now and appreciating this blessing of life, after all it is what you make it!  Manifest positivity and turn your dreams into reality!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

Here are a couple of the sights I have been enjoying here in Hawai'i the last couple weeks, keeping me inspired, hope they do the same for you!

Taro Fields

Rainbows

Left points

Fruit medleys

Black taro

Island landscaping

Neighborhood streams

Bay overlook