Today, the Eddie Aikau Foundation and a surfing competition in his name carry on the legacy of a Hawaiian hero who would have been 73. When we went back down, we couldn’t find it, or it was gone.” “We pulled up to get our bearings - we didn’t have navigation equipment then like we do now - and lost it beneath us. It’s always haunted me,” said helicopter pilot Tom Hauptmann in a story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1998. “We saw the board, I’m sure of it, and about a hundred yards away from the board, something orange in the sea. Aikau’s body was never found, despite “ the largest air-sea rescue effort in modern Hawaiian history.” Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was rescued by the U.S. The ship sprung a leak shortly into the 2,500-mile journey and Aikau paddled on his surfboard toward the Hawaiian island of Lānaʻi to get help. He was 31 in 1978, and volunteered to recreate the voyage between Hawaii and Tahiti aboard a double-hulled canoe called a Hōkūleʻa. He died tragically in the waters where he spent much of his life. AugStarsWeLost The surfer Eddie Aikau passed away at age 31, this age of death has to be considered too young. For 66-year-old Clyde, this would be his last time competing. The 66-year-old Hawaiian legend made his last Eddie competition a memorable one with his inspiring performance.
Īikau, was, by many accounts, a quiet, introspective man. With that assurance, Clyde, joined by the rest of his family, called the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau competition ON for just the 9th time in 30 years. And I'd follow these turtles." Clyde and the Aikau family greeted thousands of fans at Waimea with warm wishes.Various accounts online, like one at , show how Eddie Would Go has become a philosophy among surfers. And just rip it up, come all the way in, and I'd paddle out, and the turtles would be there again. The event is held in memory of big-wave surfer Eddie Aikau, the first official lifeguard on the North Shore who died after volunteering to seek help when a canoe trip recreating an ancient. And as soon as I got to that point, the biggest wave of the day would just pull right in, and I'd jump right on it. "And this is where everybody sits down, all five guys, and I would follow the turtles past them, and go deeper than all of them, about a hundred feet out. "So I looked at these two turtles, and I followed them." he told Leslie Cox of PBS during a sit down in 2014.
And during the 1986 event, two turtles kept popping up in front of Clyde, guiding him to the perfect takeoff spot after each of his rides. But during his first surf back he noticed a there were suddenly a pair of turtles in the lineup. dynamic life and heroic death served as inspiration to an entire spiritual movement. Angel was one of Waimea's original pioneers, and close friend.Īfter Eddie's 1978 death Clyde was so devastated he didn't surf Waimea for a couple years. This film chronicles the remarkable life and power of Eddie Aikau. Clyde and Eddie joked about it, figuring it for the late Jose Angel, a legendary North Shore surfer and waterman who had died during a free-diving accident in 1976. Eddie, the story goes, appeared as a sea turtle in the lineup.īut around 1977, the year before Eddie was lost at sea, only one turtle routinely showed up on big days at Waimea. In 1986, when Clyde won the first Eddie Memorial event ever held at Waimea Bay, he told others afterward that his brother led him to victory. WSL / tony heffĬlyde's relationship with The Bay runs deep, too. Clyde earned a huge standing ovation from the throng of adoring fans on hand. To put Thursday's conditions in perspective, as Clyde called the contest ON, he described the waves as the best he'd seen in more than 40 years, harkening back to Waimea's golden era. According to Clyde, that was the day Eddie caught the biggest waves ever ridden.
The pair saved hundreds of lives, and while they also shared many memorable sessions his most vivid is Big Wednesday, November 19, 1967, which he considers the heaviest day ever.
He and Eddie began surfing it regularly in the late 60s, and they were both lifeguards there in the 70s, when Waimea Bay was a favorite R&R spot for soldiers on leave from the Vietnam War. The 66-year-old Hawaiian legend made his last Eddie competition a memorable one with his inspiring performance.įor 66-year-old Clyde, this would be his last time competing.Ĭlyde is no stranger to the Bay.
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