Wed 30th Jan....An Away From The Beach Day Off For Me.

 No competition on again today.

A small day today, so a chance to catch up on things that need doing without feeling guilty about not being on the beach, but I have been down to check it out about 4 times today and there are quite a few photogs down there ....it's tiny and blown out so I can't work it out with yesterday being so good.

I have spent a considerable part of the day up the road at Jensen's house going over the two lots of video footage from yesterday. I was shooting from the beach in the rain and he had the GoPro on the board so there is a lot of data to trawl through.

I have made a short two minute video from the GoPro footage from a couple of days ago, click on it and check out the North Shore from a different perspective....Jensen Hassett's from out at pipe. For some reason, once you click the link you will probably have to click on one of the icons below the you tube screen to get this to play...don't know why but will sort it out later....play in Full Screen mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL8enY0eo3o

A couple of pics after I cook dinner and have a shower maybe. I have to meet Dave Wassel down at the lifeguard tower fairly early tomorrow morning so I'll see how the timing goes for uploadfing pics tonight with everything else I have to do...., shit, I just realised how damn hungry I am. I'm out of here.

Still Smokin'....Just Better.... Pipe's Popped A Viagra.

The rain has eased and the sun is out today.

I'm shooting from Ehukai Beach for a new angle. Freekin hell.....what do I say. Pipe's on fire.....big and clean in the morning. Shoot until 1pm and call it a day and go into Hale'iwa to get some more board mounts for Jensen tomorrow. We are going for the front view looking back into the barrel.
Volcom Pro has been called off for the last two days because of the massive surf and sketchy beach conditions. Word is it's on tomorrow.

 The Bus.....have I mentioned the bus...  I wait, and I wait some more (maybe 20 minutes) Finally it turns up, but I still reckon it's a good deal compared to what we get back home, it's still $2.50 to get fully accross the island...Waikiki to North Shore or right back to Waikiki again as long as it's in the time frame.
One of Jensen's rides yesterday has been submitted to "Surfline... wave of the winter"  the same ride had my camera on his board, we are trawling through footage tonight. That's just a little bit special I think.

Aquatic Ballett  !

Count 'em...there's a few there.

What A Difference A Day Makes On The North Shore.....It's Take It To The Outside In BIG Smokin' Pipe....

A whole new dimension for my blogs starts today...all thanks to Jensen Hassett.

Very much appreciated Jensen.

On a particularly unfriendly camera day (rain,and LOTS of it along with all things anti photography and anti having a car) the big west/north west swell punches into  the North Shore of Oahu.....and when I say punch, i mean PUNCH.

 It hammered in over night and was just detonating on the reefs by first light this morning when I went over to have a look. Half hour later I get a phone call from Jensen saying it's on......and to meet him on the beach to check all the GoPro camera settings and hit "start" before he paddles out. After last nights prep up it was just a formality, but hell.....it was pretty full on looking out into that firing west swell and hoping I was going to see my camera again still intact.

30 odd GB of video data and two surf sessions later I hook up with Jensen on the beach in front of the Volcom houses and unclip the camera for the second time today to go home and  download, and right now I'm torn between blogging and going over Jensens files from today.

So, I'm sorry, but the"trawling" wins hands down.   I'm checking files and will talk tomorrow hopefully. BUT, I'm up to my Surfline forecast (120 hours ahead) for one day before I leave the islands and it's all good or better so it could be a very frantic last week here. Hopefully there will be one or two pics from today posted with this blog entry before I hit "submit"
 Sorry....no chicks on the beach today guys but heaps of carnage for my next movie......yeah, I know I've been "worded up" for less surf and more "other stuff" Maybe tomorrow.

Talk later guys.

                    Above....Jensen Hassett with the camera on the back in a sizeable Pipe pit.

And two frames on...totally covered.

Above....Jensen finishing off a ride at first reef after taking off way outside at second reef Pipe, and Yes....the camera is still attached to the back of the board even though you cant see it. Tomorrow we may try a new perspective from the front of the board.....but I have to get into Hale'iwa first for some new mounts, which could be a challenge given the lack of car and size of swell at the moment. 

Above...One very smokin Pipe Pit.

Didn't know which of these was better, so they're both in here...@#$% that guy is in heaven right now.

                                   Flying sponger..... I'll have that drop, thanks very much.

                                                                    Incoming !

Rainy Sunday 27th Jan. Not Big Wednesday....But Maybe Big Monday Tomorrow.

Sunday 27th Jan. The rain has come......I've been soaked twice today, caught out and copping it.

A small day by any measure surf wise, but very nice little OTW barrells for the taking. No photogs on the beach and very few tourists due to the rain periods. When I say small waves, I mean small by Hawaiian standards which still looks ultimately perfect compared to offerings at home on any normal day, although I hear that the Goldy is copping a bit of a flogging from a cyclone at the moment with big swells hitting up the coast.

Today I went and caught up with Jensen Hassett who with any luck will tomorrow paddle out into some nice big solid Pipe bombs with my GoPro camera on his board. We stuck it on his 8 footer ready for an early morning hit on Pipe but now the forecasts are saying it could be coming in bigger than first thought, if that's the case the 8' stick already kitted up with the camera may not be big enough... If it turns out as I'm hoping, there could be some really interesting footage coming up from inside the Pipe Pit, and the flip side of that is that I also could loose my camera if it's that big, we'll see how it goes.

Todays offerings are below.

Below. Pipe shot from Off The Wall

                                                    Below.... crunchy little OTW barrells.
                                     
    Below...Howitzers in the lineup !!!  A Chinook transporting a Howitzer from Hickam Air Force base.

                                                                               

Below....The girls were amongst it today...look at the pack all checking out what's going on.

                                     
      Below...  Jensen Hassett's 8' board kitted with the Go Pro, laying on his deck waiting for tomorrow.
                                    
                                                                              

Off The Wall...26th Jan

                          A couple of pics and I'll try and write a bit in here in the next few days.

     Below...Sydney grom, Jamie Krups bailing me up for pics after a session out at pipe earlier in the week.

Walking The Dog...!

                   Below....  How to get schacked at OTW, stick your fist into the wall to put the brakes on.
                                    

                               Below.... Peaks everywhere looking down towards Sunset Beach.

                                                     Below....Setting up for the comp

           Below....Fuel TV camera set up. Last year I was watching waves wash up under this platform.

                                                                  Below....RVCA

                                                                                  

The Makaha Beach Park Shorey, 24 Jan.....!!!

Stay posted to this entry.....it IS coming....(28th) Jan 2013)

Oh....the pain.
I thought it would be a good idea to go and check out the Makaha Beach Park  as it is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'd heard that the shore break there can give you a good little workout and be a lot of fun. Well yes to both of those is the answer, but geeez, am I feeling it today.

 I'm heading over to shoot at OTW now, but will be back here to post and fill you in a bit later.

A couple of pics below of the angry little beachy.

About to get a hiding from a wall of water and get dragged up the beach rag doll style. Fun though I will say, except for the gravel rash !

Tuesday 22nd....The Swell Increases and The J.O.B. Freak Show Takes Centre Stage.

Well, it just keeps getting better, and today was something else again.

JOB.....who is JOB you may very well ask. When I say he's a freak, I mean that in all the best ways.
Obviously the surfing fraternity will know straight away who he is but the rest of you will be left wondering.
Jamie O'Brien is a local rider who grew up here on the North Shore. He likes to push the envelope I suppose you might say, experimenting and trying new things in the water....seeing where the boundaries actually do lay and what is and is not possible out there in the surf, big and small. For me, I like watching his antics in the bigger waves.
Last year I shot him out at big pipe working on a two board approach to wave riding. Two boards you say !
Yes...actually riding two boards on the one wave. Yesterday when I saw him paddling out I started keeping an eye on him out in the lineup wondering what was coming. Then through the lens I see him paddling into a sizeable Pipe bomb and yes, he did have a spare board tucked up under his chest. He's obviously got a caddy taking a spare stick out for him, like I said before, I watched him paddle out and he only had one board with him then.
Anyway, the photos below will tell the story..
There will be heaps of good images from today but I will be a while getting into them.....stay tuned.

Pushing the boundries like I said.  One anhialated Costco longboard and the ridden shorty still intact.

Below is a selection of other images for this same day. 

Above....Balaram Stack at it again.

Above....A bit of free falling on the Pipe Giant Drop.

Above....A sponger going for gold.

Speed Bump.

Above....A very very nice place to be.

Above...Takayuki Wakita, pulling out and spotting that the last wave of the     set that he just rode was the biggest, and cursing the fact.......he likes them big this guy.

                                Above...The boys swapping stories on the path of broken boards     

Above....Some poor bastard encased in a pipe face and about to get a workout.

Above...Ass to the wall ! A cropped up shot of 8 images up.