I met Eric Arakawa

I can’t believe what just happened during my Hawaiian vacation.

I was staying at my very good friend and international waterman/athlete Rico Leroy when one afternoon he took me to visit his friend… Eric Arakawa!

The factory was 5 min away from the house. Too short of a drive to realize that I was about to meet a worldwide acclaimed master shaper.  In front of him, my brain just froze. As a consequence I felt stupid when he was the one asking me questions… He picked up the Mère-Made board I bought to show him and started inspecting it with his ultra-expert eyes. I was paralyzed. Fortunately we stayed long enough so that I could relax and start being less shy. 

Also, despite his iconic status he was very accessible and willing to spend some time talking to me. I was blew away by his modesty.

I left with a goodbye instead of a farewell as I am determined to come back next year with more time for some shaping action!

I will never forget the day I met Eric Arakawa.

looking at the padawan mistakes