![]() Over time, the water carved through those mountains, forming a river valley. On the island now called Oahu, primordial volcanoes spewed molten magma, slowly constructing a verdant mountain range. Then Luke got on his 10-foot gun and paddled out into the raging sea.įorces had been conspiring for over 2 million years to create that special day. He grabbed his board and ran down to hug his family, who had arrived to watch. Competing in the Eddie was his lifelong dream, this North Shore kid who first got into the ocean at three days old and onto a surfboard at seven months. He was surprised when he started to get a little teary-eyed. He retreated inside the lifeguard stand, where he slipped out of his work uniform and into his white competition jersey. When he had finally worked past the throng, the bay opened before him and the undulating ocean revealed itself for the first time that day. Once his feet touched the sand, Luke started picking his way through a mass of tightly packed bodies just to get to his station at the lifeguard tower. On the beach and along the cliffs that line Waimea Bay, some 50,000 spectators would soon squeeze together for a chance to see greatness, to witness ineffable bravery, and to take part in the grand human tradition of watching some guys (and a few women) do truly crazy shit. The Eddie forges champions: Kelly Slater, John John Florence, and Bruce Irons have all won in the past. To be invited to ride them means being one of the 40 most-esteemed surfers in the world, as chosen by a committee of your peers. But the waves produced during the Eddie are perhaps the most sacred on earth. Then he hopped out and took off running for Waimea.Įven on an ordinary day, surfing is imbued with the mystical, every wave hinging on chance and elemental collision-a storm in Japan will create a swell thousands of miles away in Hawaii. He kissed Natalia and told her to take the wheel. His family was with him, so Luke made a split-second decision. But no matter how much they hustled, rent always seemed to be due, groceries got pricier, the gas tank needed filling, and the medical bills piled up. His girlfriend, Natalia, was already working three gigs. He was 27 years old, with two small children. ![]() We’re surfing in the spirit of Eddie,’ ” Coleman said.And Luke needed his good, stable job. “They always say at the opening ceremony, where they gather to launch the holding period, ’This is not just a contest. Coast Guard rescued the remaining crew a few hours later after being alerted by a commercial plane that spotted the canoe.Ĭoleman said The Eddie is about the best of big-wave surfing and the best of Hawaiian culture. Aikau volunteered to paddle several miles to nearby Lanai Island on his surfboard to get help for the rest of the crew but was never seen again. Just hours out of port, the giant double-hulled canoe known as the Hokulea took on water and overturned in stormy weather. He is also famous for surfing towering waves that no one else would dare ride.Īikau died in 1978 at the age of 31 during an expedition to sail a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe from Honolulu to Tahiti. “What makes this contest the most unique is that it’s in memory of a particular individual who really has transcended his time and place when he lived,” said Coleman, who wrote “Eddie Would Go,” a biography of Aikau.Įdward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau rose to prominence as the first lifeguard hired by Honolulu to work on Oahu’s North Shore and was revered for saving over 500 people during his career. But author Stuart Coleman says The Eddie is distinguished by how it honors Eddie Aikau, a legendary Native Hawaiian waterman, for his selflessness, courage and sacrifice. Other places around the world have big wave surfing events: Mavericks in California, Nazare in Portugal and Peahi on Hawaii’s Maui Island. “It’s amazing, it’s really cool to see and it’s such a rare and prestigious event, and there’s a lot of energy and a lot of buzz around, for sure,” he said. By local scale, they’ll call those waves 25 feet - and we’ve seen a couple sets like that already,” Kevin Wallis, director of forecasting at, said by phone Sunday morning. “We’ve been looking at 30-foot to 40-foot wave faces for the most part, (and) the biggest waves of the day are going to be in excess of 45 feet. One huge wave swept onto the beach and hit a family, sweeping a baby under a house, but the child was not injured, Hawaii News Now reported. ![]() On Sunday, the sets were already big, with the swell expected to grow as the day went on, and an estimated 60,000 people packed the beaches and surrounding area to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.
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