Page 6 - MidWeek West - January 18, 2023

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JANUARY 18, 2023
BY GARY KEWLEY
Only Time Will Tell If, When ‘The Eddie’ Will Go
said for nearly 40 years — waves Eddie once rode. Shore in 1968. From Sunset the bay calls the day, and the Eddie became the first to Hale‘iwa, he saved more standards are as high as the lifeguard ever on the North than 500 swimmers and not
The 2016 winner of the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, John John Florence, takes on Waimea’s big waves.
PHOTO COURTESY SERVAIS
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Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
Wow — 2023 rolled in like a tsunami. There was a 15-foot north- west swell on Jan. 2 and then the grand daddy north- west swell of the winter sea- son on Jan. 11 with 15-to- 25-foot waves. There were even 30-foot waves at select reefs like Pe‘ahi (otherwise known as Jaws) on Maui. Surf rarely fell below 6 feet this year. There’s yet another extra-large possibility com- ing Jan. 22, if model pre- dictions come true. Check snnhawaii.com to know for sure.
I penned this column just as the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was canceled last minute the morning of Jan. 10 because weather and wind forecasts turned sour. This was such a bummer as the green light was given the day prior prompting a media blitz and travel mania just one day earlier. But as we’ve
one person was ever lost under his watch at Waimea. Eddie was named Lifeguard of the Year in ’71, and while doing all of this, he charged the planet’s biggest, best waves with world class skill — including in ’77 when he won the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Cham- pionship.
Makuahanai Aikau was fea- tured in Naomi Hirahara’s anthology We Are Here: 30 Inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Have Shaped the United States that was published by the Smithsonian Institu- tion and Running Press Kids.
Eddie manifested the “greatest love of all” when he gave his life to save the crew on the capsized dou- bled-hulled canoe Hōkūle‘a about 12 miles south of Moloka‘i on March 17, 1978.
Mahalo to Clyde and the rest of the Aikau ‘ohana for keeping Eddie’s legend alive and growing. And ma- halo to all the sponsors past and present, to everyone who makes this amazing event happen and to all of you who come to experi- ence the spirit and energy of The Eddie.
Eddie paddled for help to- ward Lāna‘i on his surfboard and was never seen again. He was just 31. To this day, his legend grows as does the esteemed event bearing his name, The Eddie. The best big wave riders across the globe come to ride life — and career — altering surf and to pay tribute to the man.
We’ll have a much better idea about the Jan. 22 swell by the time you read this, so please join us at Surf News Network for the latest and greatest — and for when the bay calls the day!
In 2022, Edward Ryan
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com
Mahalo for being here. GQ, droppin’ in 4 U!
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