Eddie Aikau – The Surfer
Eddie Aikau was born on Maui, where his father would take the kids down to Kahului Harbor with his old redwood surfboard. The family later moved to Oahu in 1959, where Eddie and younger brother Clyde made themselves boards from marine ply and began surfing the Waikiki Wall. By the age of 16, Eddie had left school and was working at the Dole pineapple cannery, earning enough money to buy his first real board.
Aikau’s first experience in bigger waves came through John Kelly and Sammy Lee, who took him out to Sunset and then Waimea Bay. All the great big-wave riders of the day were out, but Eddie dominated the lineup from start to finish. Photos from that day appeared in Life magazine, and suddenly Eddie was a star.
Through the ’70s, Aikau cemented his reputation as the undisputed master of big Hawaiian surf, winning the Duke Classic at Sunset Beach in 1977 and scoring many other high placings. Aikau was one of Hawai’i's first professional surfers, ranked No. 12 on the inaugural ASP World Tour in 1976.
Where he really shined was in the big surf. “Eddie was born to ride gigantic waves,” Clyde Aikau said. “Surfing Waimea Bay, I would categorize him as confident, fearless and calculated. He didn’t like surfing the tour at all,” Clyde said. “The waves were small at a lot of places around the world, and big waves was his thing.”
After his death, “The Eddie” a big wave invitational was formed in his honor. The tournament has a precondition that open-ocean swells reach a minimum of 20 feet (this translates to a wave face height of over 30 feet). The contest only invites 24 big-wave riders to participate in two rounds of competition, and does not allow the use of jet skis to tow surfers into the waves. The event started in 1984, and is still considered the most recognized and prestigious big-wave contest in the world.
Some surfers become great, and few become heroes. Eddie Aikau became a hero and a legend.
Eddie Aikau – The Lifeguard
In 1967 Eddie persuaded the City & County of Honolulu to appoint him the first North Shore lifeguard. He was given the task of covering all beaches between Haleiwa and Sunset and saved hundreds of lives over the next three years. The roving patrol was then disbanded and Aikau was assigned to Waimea Bay, where no lives were lost while he was on duty.
The Aikau family was water-oriented; they were surfers, divers, sailors, and paddlers. Eddie had the water knowledge, and that’s what made him such a great lifeguard and surfer. Before and after his work shifts, Aikau would surf at Waimea Bay, especially when the waves were big. At the time, only an elite handful of surfers had the knowledge and courage to ride Waimea Bay when wave-face heights surpassed 40 feet. Aikau was at the top of the pecking order.
Long before Jet Ski and other personal watercraft became in vogue for assisting lifeguards, Aikau was paddling into giant waves and swimming through treacherous conditions to save lives. In 1971, Aikau was named Lifeguard of the Year. He was involved in hundreds of rescues over the next decade, many of them undocumented. He would make a rescue and when it came time to fill out the forms, he would say, “Nah, not important. The guy is alive, that’s the important thing.”
The last person lifeguard Eddie Aikau rescued at Waimea Bay was a young TV producer named John Orland, who had just wrapped up production on a TV pilot called the “Hawaii Experience,” starring Bob Crane from Hogan’s Heroes. He was rescued on February 19, 1978, less than a month before Eddie Aikau was lost at sea. “When people say Eddie is a hero, it makes us feel very proud,” says his younger brother Clyde. “Still, to this day, tears come down as I talk about it. But at the same time, it is very humbling to know that people still recognize the name Eddie Aikau.”
Eddie Aikau Highlights
Massive waves at The Eddie brought out former contest winners Kelly Slater, Bruce Irons, Keone Downing, Ross Clarke-Jones, and Clyde Aikau. But, the award for the most hellacious (and successful) takeoff of the contest, went to Chile’s Ramon Navarro, who finished fifth overall. Navarro’s winning wave was a huge drop, followed by a detonation of whitewater that he emerged from, and stuck with all the way to the beach to earn a perfect 100 points.
Navarro first came to surf Waimea in 2004 from Chile with an invitation from good friend and fellow contestant, Kohl Christensen. He baked empanadas and sold them to pay his rent and learn the ropes. “This is a dream for me. I want to say thank you to Kohl Christensen, Dusty Middleton and all the crew because those are the guys that invited me here and taught me how to surf The Bay. I appreciate everything from these guys.”
So big was the three wave set that encased Navarro, fans on the beach weren’t able to grasp the scope of what had just happened as Navarro literally disappeared behind another wave in the middle of the bay. Interviewed on the beach, Navarro, let out a celebratory scream, then bounced back and forth between his native Spanish and English. Navarro’s speech on the podium in front of thousands of fans was equally as animated. “I’m so happy just to be invited here with all of my friends muchos gracias, viva la Chile!”
