Haole in the Heiau: Witnessing the Greatest Surf Contest Ever at Waimea Bay: the 2023 Eddie
For the second time in two weeks, Uncle Clyde Aikau had called a green light for his dearly departed brother’s memorial surf contest. This would be the greatest gathering of surf gladiators in the world. And little did I know, it would be the greatest contest day in surfing, well, perhaps ever. “The Bay calls the Day” is the ethos, and this time all the stars were aligning. Clean winds and sunshine. A forty foot deep ocean groundswell radiating out from a super cyclone churning up the North Pacific Ocean. And for weekday workers in Honolulu like me, the good fortune that the swell would explode into our sport’s greatest Coliseum - Waimea Bay - on Sunday, January 22nd. In other words, I could attend! When I first moved to Hawaii almost two decades ago, a zealous and surf-crazy 23 year old making my way in the world - I arrived just a week before the Eddie Aikau was convened in 2004. That was the contest when Bruce Irons won the day by riding a massive wave all the wa
