Outdoor adventures come in many shapes and sizes...thursday was definitely an adventure...it was the day in 2011 when the "Eddie" almost went. In case you're not familiar with the "Eddie", it's perhaps the most famous of all big wave surfing contests in the world. Location: Waimea Bay, North Shore, O'ahu. Reason: In memory of Eddie Aikau, local lifeguard, waterman and big wave surfer.
In order for the Eddie to "Go", the waves have to be a minimum of 20ft Hawaiian scale (30 to 40 ft faces). Although Thursday was big, it wasn't quite big enough and the sets that were big enough were too few and far between to hold the contest. So, the Eddie did not go afterall. But we were there in case it did.
To get a better idea of what the Eddie is all about check out this video...
During an event like this one, North Shore traffic is insane. The Kamehameha Hwy is a two lane road that runs along the coast and people park on the shoulders for miles on either side of Waimea Bay. We parked a mile or two away and rode our bikes. Way better than walking.
Our buddy Arjay went too. He picked us up at 4:15am so we could get there and get a good spot on the beach.
We got a spot right under the Quicksilver announcers stand.
We sat on the beach and watched the moon set and the sun rise. Got rained on a little too but it was worth it. Even though the contest didn't run we still got to see some awesome big wave surfing. There must have been like 70 guys in the water charging some giant waves.
Click on the thumbnails on the right side of the page to see the videos we shot.
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