Looks like the waves will continue from an epic spring into an exciting summer. We have all been watching the exciting waves at Teahupo‘o on our Facebook pages and are super anxious to see what exactly will make it here to our town shores. Whatever it is, the forecast suggests that it will last for one week straight so I hope you all got your chores done.

Make sure to check out Kamehameha Schoolʻs big sample sale tomorrow. It is an important fundraiser that helps their surf team raise funds to travel to the NSSA Nationals in California. The sale is held at Kamehameha School on Kōnia Field. This sample sale is always a blast. You see a lot of people you know. They have music, food and killer deals from brands such as Billabong, Adidas, FCS, Skull Candy, Nixon, Lost, Pualani Swim and many more. The event runs from 10am-2pm with a $3 entry fee. Itʻs like a shopping pā‘ina! Have fun!

Small swells have keep us in the water all week. Todayʻs swell was a bit of a disappointment, but the beautiful conditions made up for it. We had such a cold winter that nice weather seems like a treat right now even though it is still kind of cold.

Make sure to check out Storm Surfers 3D which opens tomorrow, Friday April 26th at Ward Theaters in Honolulu and at Ka‘ahumanu 6 on Maui. Surfing legends Tom Carroll and Ross Clark Jones will be in Honolulu at the 7pm screening to kick off the film.

We went to check it out last week and were amazed at the 3D footage since it was the first 3D surf movie we have ever seen. The documentary follows Tom Carroll and Ross Clark Jones on their big wave adventures throughout the Australian surf season with a fresh new outlook that values friendship and family. It is an exciting film for surfers of all ages!

An interesting article in The Age Business Magazine confronts Billabongʻs financial slump suggesting that the company is "perilously close to a wipeout". It is a pretty harrowing article which challenges the companies business choices and even their street creditability. Simultaneously Quiksilver has downsized itʻs staff and team reportedly letting go of leading Hawaiian surfers Freddy P and Reef McIntosh. You can read about it in Stab Magazine. What can we say, these companies are no longer niche lifestyle brands and therefore they have lost a lot of their core market in order to appeal to the masses. We will have to wait and see how that works out for them in the future.

Ocean Vodka is hosting itʻs grand opening on Saturday April 27th in Maui. It is an organic sugar cane farm and solar powered distillery. For more information go to www.oceanvodka.com

Kamehameha schools will be holding their bi-annual sample sale on Saturday May 11th from 10am-2pm at Konia Field . Our support helps the surf team travel to the mainland for NSSA Nationals this June.

Tom Carroll and Ross Clark Jones will be in town this week for the first screening of their new flick, Storm Surfers 3D. The official movie release is coming soon so we will keep you posted.

Carissa Moore is on a role. After winning the WQS at Margarets last month, she recently captured the title at Bells Beach. Koko Ho took 2nd place at the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival. She returned home just in time to score some late season Backdoor barrels with her Dad.

Pipe never really got that epic this year. Sure there were some great waves, but not many if any perfect days. In my opinion Pipe has not shown its classic form since that El Nino winter in 2010. One method of separating the new school surfers from the old school diehards is the way they talk about waves. In our time, it was not cool to say the surf was bigger or better than it was; the older guys would look down on you or even scold you for doing that. Nowdays, it is trendy to hype everything up as we experience so readily through the commentators who host the big surf contests on channel 250. Unfortunately this irritating method of getting people to watch what is on TV has made its way to our youth and produced a form of egomania which sort of suggests that each surfer should promote themselves through hyping up the size and surf conditions in their sessions.

The Womenʻs Pipe Pro wrapped up on March 12th and 14th with 3-4 occasional 5 foot surf. Dax McGill won the Womenʻs open, Tatiana Webb took the Jrs division, Izumi Baldwin claimed the Longboard title and Karla Costa Taylor was the bodyboarding champion. The event also included a celebration of female surf artists at Wyland Galleries this year. San Lorenzo Bikinis and Surf n Sea in Haleiwa were the proud sponsors of this one of a kind womenʻs event. For the past two years, the womenʻs event has combined with the Jr Mens series. The Jr men were probably in for a shock when the predicted medium sized swell showed up with a couple freak 10 foot plus sets early that morning before their heats. I do not know if they were scared, but I was frightened for them. As I sat in the line up that morning watching barely 4 foot tall boys paddle past me with chunky Pipe waves behind them, I remember thinking something is wrong with this picture, but somehow they all managed to survive in what is now being called the most dangerous Jrs event in history. whew! The older teens were ready and rearing to surf Pipe all to themselves. Micah and Seth Moniz were charging some serious waves that morning before the contest, but dedicated Pipe soldier Kalani David claimed the Jr title with Koa Smith in second, and Nathan Flourence in 3rd place. Mini Makana Pang was another standout grom that day who won the heart of the crowds with his confidence and aloha spirit.

Looks like Red Bull is running a full feature on big wave rider Jamie Stearling. You can check it out on the Red Bull video series website.

Garrett McNamara goes on a wild ride with Anderson Cooper in a very interesting segment on 60 minutes. Anderson is an animal in this classic clip, you just gotta check it out. It seems like they set it up after Garrettʻs CNN interview about his recent hundred foot wave. Garrett goes big in the surf and the media. Rumor has it that he barred the XXL awards because they are sponsored by a beer company which is a bad example for the kids. Ah, who needs XXL, when you have Anderson Cooper on the back of your ski?

Bethany Hamilton with be teaming up with Chrissie Beavis for the all-womens off road rally raid. Looks like it will be an exciting adventure for our local surf star. You can tune into Rallye Aicha des Gazelles for more information on the event. Carissa Moore and Dusty Payne shared the stage at the Margret River Drug Aware Pro claiming the menʻs and womenʻs title. Airwalk recently signed 6 time NSSA champion and Maui local Granger Larsen to join the team alongside homegrown surfer Anastasia Ashley.

Yesterday we had another underpredicted swell. It was suppose to be a mere 3-5 feet, but managed to produce 6-8 foot surf throughout the day with a freak 12 foot set right before dark last night. It was really backwashy and weird in the morning, but by yesterday afternoon some of the sand had moved and guys were scoring some sick rides. There were still a couple 8 foot sets early morning in the dark, but it had dropped back to 6 ft by first light and continued dropping throughout the day. There is still another solid swell predicted for this weekend, but the direction may be a little too north for Pipe and conditions look pretty shaky. We canʻt complain, it seems like whatever we get from now on is just a bonus round. Photo: Dan Campbell-Lloyd.

I get a lot of people from the mainland and overseas asking me to promote their products and events, but I always remind them that this is a Hawai‘i blog for local people so if they do not have Hawai‘i teamriders or personalities involved in their marketing campaign, then it is not typically appealing for my audience. There are already so many sites that market mainstream surfing, i figure we do not really need another one.

When Wanderlust Oahu contacted me I found it exciting that local yogis, musicians and Hawaiian cultural practitioners would be featured in their venue at Turtle Bay Resort last weekend. The festival congregates in several locations throughout the year, but the Oahu event was centered around yoga and surfing. The majority of Wanderlust attendees came from the mainland for the event and many of them were beginning surfers and yoga enthusiasts.

I do not think you could find a better fit for this event than Gerry Lopez who taught several workshops with a broken leg. He gave an illuminating speech with religious undertones which drew parallels between surfing and yoga. While he struggled to draw the line between punky surfers and spiritual enlightenment, he somehow did. No one can talk surfing like Gerry Lopez. He has this incredible gift to break down the feeling of surfing in terminology that everyone can understand and relate to. I think when he speaks, surfers are all thinking, yep that is exactly what it is like and the people among us who don't surf, suddenly feel more connected with us through their new understanding of our experience. Surely Gerry Lopez is a surfing guru on so many levels.

Professional Surfer Rochelle Ballard also participated in the event and as I mentioned in a prior post, attendees seemed particularly impressed with her unique style of a more athletic yoga.

Legendary Hawaiian waterman and educatorTom Pōhaku Stone delivered a fascinating talk on surfboard carving which featured several of his hand shaped boards. Tom has a MA in Pacific Island studies from the University of Hawai‘i; Manoa where he specialized in ancient Hawaiian sports. He puts theory into practice through rejuvenation of he‘e holua, the classical sport of wave sledding. Tom's "native made" boards are derived from a variety of different woods based on classic designs from the ancient papaholua sleds. People who signed up for the class were able to touch, carve and even test some of these beautiful boards. Tom gave at talk a Wanderlust last weekend, and will be the guest speaker at the Surfer Bar again on Monday March 11th for the opening ceremony of the Women's Pipeline Pro.

Ian Akahi Masterson aka "The Surfing Professor" hosted a tour of the Turtle Bay landscape. He started with a Hawaiian chant and a moment of silence before teaching us the underlying meanings of the original place names upon the ahupua‘a. He also shared a hands on description of some significant historical landmarks in the area. Being the surfing professor of course, all the information was set to give new meaning behind the surf breaks in the area which helped us all to answer the question prosed at the begining of Ian's presentation, "What does surfing mean to you?"

Finally, Wanderlust concluded each day on the lawn which was set with an array of local vendor booths. Popular musicians Michael Franti and ALO were combined with local talent John Cruz, Paula Fuga and commentator Rocky Cannon. I heard it was packed out every evening.

Event organizers were pleased with the location and turnout for the event and plan to come back next year.

The waiting period began on the 19th just missing a blustery, but solid swell which had second reefers breaking by the evening of February 17th. The event got off to a real slow start for the first two days with waves running in the mere 1-3 foot range, strong winds and predominant north to northeast wind swells which are not too good for Pipe or even Backdoor. They had planned to finish up last Monday, but a swell moved into the window and the boogies scored two days of solid 6-8 foot surf with occassional 10 foot bombs and even a couple freak 12 footers on Thursday February 28th. Conditions were poor with gusty trades again and the weird sand set up composed enough backwash to launch boogies in the air like frogs with their feet extending out over their heads. From a surfers perspective, the last day of competition had too much north and was just kind of a mess, but as the boogies always tell me, "we don't mind, we can just launch off those north closeouts and use the wind to fly higher". Apparently two time world champion Ben Player did just that and was able to use the warbly conditions to his advantage winning his first Pipe championship after entering the event for 19 years. He defeated Hawai‘i's own 2012 world champion Jeff Hubbard who came in second. His brother Dave Hubbard finished fourth in the final behind Pierre Louis Costes. Brazilian bodyboarder Isabella Soussa won the women's event while Hawaii's Brazilian, Karla Costa Taylor placed third. Minami Hatekayama placed second and Saro Ohhara took fourth place. Watch out for these two young Japanese girls because they surf Pipe every morning and follow in the footsteps of Aoi Koike. For more information www.ibaworldtour.com

Congrads to Australian bodyboarder Ben Player who owns Movement Bodyboarding Magazine and is inspiration to an extremely dedicated pack of bodyboarders and surfers out at Pipe every year.

I have to admit, while February is usually the month when I myself and so many other Northshore residents find ourselves completely exhausted by the crowds and contests, I was inspired by several foreign surfers throughout my sessions over the past two weeks. Whether it be a reflection on Australian bodyboarders like Ben who are polite and respectful to the locals year after year, a Californian bodysurfer who reminded me amongst the less than favorable conditions that Pipeline is " a very special place", or through a Japanese bodyboarder who did not even speak english, but communicated to me through universal surfing gestures that even though she lost in her heat, she would be back next year because she just loved surfing here so much. It reminded me that amongst the many tourists and surfers nowadays who come to the Northshore with the mentality to "take, take, take", there are still so many pilgrims who surf their whole lives dreaming of the experience we enjoy every day on the northshore. It seems that their interaction with us is still a precious part of their experience. These sojourners who come year after year from almost every part of the globe also become an important part of our journey because they become eternally embedded in some of our greatest surfing memories.

The waves deteriorated further today at Pipe with winds kicking back up another notch and the swelling turning yet a smidge more north, it was pretty much a mess this morning. Even the bodyboarders were having a hard time out there. Looks like Monday's swell will be a little too NNW again for Pipe, but Wednesday and Thursday might turn more WNW for us. The weather has been very strange here lately. It is February with the cold temperatures that are more standard for January and the strong winds which are more typical for March. I usually stop hoping for big Pipe swells this time of year, but there is always a chance for a freak swell with good conditions. If the season ends how it began, we should be in for a good spring. These winds have been whipping so hard for so long already, they must be getting tired by now.

There is a lot going on the Northshore right now. There was a march against Monsanto gmo's today in Haleiwa. Wanderlust is currently underway at Turtle Bay Resort with a strong contingent of yogis and Hawaiian practitioners centered around the underlying theme of surfing. People are traveling from all over the place to attend Wanderlust and they have even allowed camping on the beach at Turtle Bay for this event. Some of the attendees told me they really enjoyed Rochelle Ballard's yoga class because it included a mix of athletic exercises which really warmed them up for surfing or any sporting pursuit. Gerry Lopez is also teaching classes at the event and will give a talk tonight at Speakeasy just before several exciting bands at set to hit the stage including Kaki King, Soul Fire and ALO. For more information go to oahu.wanderlustfestival.com

Looks like the crazy crowded contest season is finally winding down, or is it? Last month we had back to back contests including the Backdoor Shootout, Volcom Pipe Pro, Jr.ʻs event at Sunset and recently a SUP contest at Sunset. The IBA Go Pro Pipe championships will start on February 19th and that will be followed by another Jr.ʻs contest at Pipe around March 10th. So looks like we will have contests all the way until the end again, but at least maybe not two or three running back to back and all at once like it has been lately.

The Bodyboarding event almost did not run. Apparently, they cancelled the event due to one of the sponsors backing out until other sponsors filled in and they were able to reinstate the event. I have not heard if there will be any womenʻs Pipe contest this year, but there will probably be womenʻs heats in the jrs event.

There still seems to be lots of tourists on the Northshore. It is like a mini version of the holiday crowds. Some people like it because it is good for business or it is more exciting, but as for me I am looking forward to one of those mornings when I can take a deep breath without guys running by me in the dark to beat everyone out to the surf and tourists coming up to me asking me questions about my surfboard. When I paddled out V-Land the other day, I was pretty excited just to surf with people I know who actually live here. Donʻt get me wrong, I love and enjoy my foreign friends who I see in each pack of competitors every year, but it is just hard when you never get a break from groups and groups of people who are surfing specifically with the goal to win a contest every day. It is just a different vibe than surfing with people who just want to catch some good waves and enjoy watching their friends get a couple too. I miss the days when foreign guys and gals came just to surf the big waves and the Northshore without any pursuit of winning a contest. Those were the days that I often here guys refer to as the "wild wild west".

The service for Henry Preece was held at Lili‘uokalani Protestant church on the Northshore a couple weeks ago. He was 83, and honored as one of surfingʻs pioneers.

Wanderlust, the Northshoreʻs first yoga and music festival will be held at Turtle Bay Resort from February 28- March 3rd. Surfers such as Gerry Lopez and Rochelle Ballard will be participating alongside other instructors from the mainland. Artists such as John Cruz, ALO and DJ Drez are part of the music line up throughout the event. Check it out at www.wanderlustfestival.com

The traffic is out of control this year. Every holiday is a madhouse on the Northshore forcing most residents to hide in their houses most of the day.

Check out explore.org for new surf cams and progress on Mike Prickets recovery.

Tomorrow January 23rd, surfers and NFL football players will team up with Mauli Ola Foundation to fight cystic fibrosis. They will play a celebrity game of golf which starts around noon and the benefit proceeds at The Surfer Bar at 8pm. For more details check out www.mauliola.org

As I noted in my last post, local surfer Dwayne Scharsh recently passed away. On Saturday January 26th, there will be a paddle out for him at Ala Moana Bowls from 2-3 pm. We will paddle out from magic Island. Please come and show the aloha!

The Backdoor Shootout has not run yet, but they may score some waves at the end of their waiting period on Monday/Tuesday if north winds do not set in with the swell once again.

While in recent years the month of January has produced some of the biggest waves in the best condtions, a lot of north winds and stormy weather is more typical for the month of January. The good news is poor surf in January can often lead to epic surf in the spring which we missed out on last year so keep your fingers crossed.

Local surfer Dwayne Scharsh passed away last Tuesday morning while surfing Makapu'u. His passing is a big loss to Oahu's surfing community. He was one of the main regulars at Bowls and most would agree he mastered "middles" better than anyone else in the line up. He was also revered for his humble Hawaiian spirit. Aloha Braddah Dwayne. RIP