Surfing legend Eddie Aikau
Quicksilver recently honored Eddie Aikau during their Quicksilver Pro tournament.
Eddie Aikau is one of the greatest legends of surfing in the Hawaiian Islands. Aikau surfed some of the most famous breaks in the early days of Big Wave Surfing at Waimea Bay.
Eddie was born on the island of Maui and moved to Oahu in 1959. Shortly after the move, Eddie and his brother Clyde began to make boards from marine ply and was surfing the Waikiki Wall. At 16 Eddie was already working at the Dole Pineapple Cannery. From the earnings of his job he was able to get his first real board designed by Velzy.
As time passed Eddie and his brothers put there dues in at the local surf spots and worked up the Hawaiian Food Chain, and eventually went from surfing the Wall to Ala Moana, and then to the famous Haleiwa, on the North Shore.
In 1967 Eddie was challenging the huge waves of Waimea Bay with Greg Noll, Felipe Pomar and George Downing.
Eddie left the Dole Cannery and became a lifeguard in 1968 and rescued hundreds of lives over the years as a lifeguard. During the 70s Eddie became the undisputed champ of big wave surfing.
Yet he was feeling intrigued as how the Polynesians made the voyage to the Hawaiian Islands from the Tahitian island chain. He wanted to know how they made the 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
When word came the Polynesian Voyaging society was seeking a volunteer to make the journey again, Eddie volunteered at the opportunity to make the voyage in the double-hauled replica.
On the eve of March 16, 1978 Eddie and his crew were on there way, but trouble came in the way of Tradewinds. While traveling the Molokai Channel in the early hours of the morning, a leak formed in the hull and eventually was capsized. The crew stayed with the canoes remains as it was floating away from land; Eddie took the paddle board and headed for the island of Lanai, 12 miles from there location.
Around 8pm the crew’s flares were spotted by an aircraft overhead and on their way back to Oahu by midnight. Yet Eddie was never found. An honorary memorial was held in the Bay in a private ceremony. A memorial was mounted in his honor in the Waimea Bay Beach Park.
In 2004 Quicksilver created the Big Wave Challenge Award in honor of Eddie Aikau. The best big wave surfers battle for the biggest wave to be crowned with the big wave surfer of the year. Each year a remembrance and honorary ceremony is held in the bay. This year the memorial is during the Quicksilver Pro.
