Eddie Aikau Big Wave postponed
Jack Linthicum
WAIMEA BAY, Hawaii — The wait goes on for dozens of the world’s best
surfers, who descended on Hawaii’s North Shore on Monday in search of
a once-in-a-generation wave.
The draw is one of the sport’s most prestigious events, the Eddie
Aikau Big Wave Invitational, named for the legendary Hawaiian surfer,
and held only when the waves along this pristine stretch of coastline
are at their most fierce. The event was last held in 2004, and
predictions of 30 foot to 50 foot waves this week drew dozens of wo
<more>
Jack Linthicum
Dennis
wrote:
I'll be taking some pics of the Tuesday session. I think I can leave
my fish in the rack.
turby
wrote:
You post a link to a _New York Times_ article about the Eddy? Don'tcha
think that's a little umm, touristy?
Jack Linthicum
I did it for the pic, which apparently no one looked at. NYT has a
thing for surf and surfers, whether it is one of the staff or
management. The big waves have been on the Weather Channel and all of
the cable news channels. If I posted an article from the Omaha World
about surfing would that be touristy?
Feigel
[Default] On Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:44:42 -0800 (PST), turby
<keen...@hotmail.com> made a point of writing:
An article in the online edition of the New Zealand Herald claimed
that the contest had been postponed because "the waves weren't high
enough."
I don't think the NZH person who basically rewrote the NYT's article
knew much about surfing and that's the problem when mainstream media
cover a story that involves surfing. OTOH I thought the NYT's article
was pretty well written when you consider that it was intended for a
general readership.
--
"One thing I like about surfing, you don't have to win to be a winner." - Terry "Tubesteak" Tracey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in on Surfing's Golden Years: http://www.surfwriter.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack Linthicum
> [Default] On Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:44:42 -0800 (PST), turby
as a sign of that here are recent NYT surfing articles
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/travel/escapes/04alaia.html?scp=12&sq=surf&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/business/energy-environment/19SURF.html?scp=13&sq=surf&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/nyregion/15routine.html?scp=14&sq=surf&st=cse
Note four articles, four different by-lines. Must be management.
Dennis
Got up at 4 Am today to assure a good parking spot - dreamer. Left the
casa at 4:45. There was practically a traffic jam between Haleiwa and
the Bay. People were parking and walking for two miles to the bay at
the time I arrived - around 5:30. I got lucky and got a $10 parking
space at the church by the Bay. Shortly after I arrived, the lot was
full. My vantage point was the east side of the bay. A pre-dawn atomic
bomb of a wave closed-out across the bay just after the first group
made it outside. A few minutes sooner, and the carnage would have been
devastating. But it calmed down a bit during the event. Some folks
complained it wasn't big enough for the Eddie. I could see the take-
offs but the surfers disappeared behind the front waves. I set up my
camera tripod right on the wall by the beach. Next thing I knew, there
was a pack of people, three deep, behind me. Thousands of spectators
came for the big show. (pics to follow). Lot's of great take-offs,
broken boards - Garret McNamara broke two in one heat. Slater got a
killer wave and rode it all the way to the beach for a big cheer.
Clyde Aikau at 60 yo was charging.Greg Long was unbelievable. All-in-
all, a good day at the beach.
RegForte
> Got up at 4 Am today to assure a good parking spot - dreamer. Left the
> casa at 4:45. There was practically a traffic jam between Haleiwa and
> the Bay. People were parking and walking for two miles to the bay at
> the time I arrived - around 5:30. I got lucky and got a $10 parking
> space at the church by the Bay. Shortly after I arrived, the lot was
> full. My vantage point was the east side of the bay. A pre-dawn atomic
> bomb of a wave closed-out across the bay just after the first group
> made it outside. A few minutes sooner, and the carnage would have been
> devastating. But it calmed down a bit during the event. Some folks
> complained it wasn't big enough for the Eddie. I could see the take-
> offs but the surfers disappeared behind the front waves. I set up my
> camera tripod right on the wall by the beach. Next thing I knew, there
> was a pack of people, three deep, behind me. Thousands of spectators
> came for the big show. (pics to follow). Lot's of great take-offs,
> broken boards - Garret McNamara broke two in one heat. Slater got a
> killer wave and rode it all the way to the beach for a big cheer.
> Clyde Aikau at 60 yo was charging.Greg Long was unbelievable. All-in-
> all, a good day at the beach.
Awesome. It must be days like today you're patting yourself
on the back for moving there.
I had my eyes on the webcast the entire day. Couldn't look away.
Along with the action, the commentary was humorous. I don't think
I've ever seen a sports event where the commentators didn't understand
the scoring ("It's two points per basket, right?"). The interviews
were interesting and occasionally enlightening, particularly with
Slater and Mel.
Nothing beats seeing it person, though. What a deal for $10.
--
Reg
turby
I looked at the pic and compared it to Neal's pic of 6 guys riding the
wave instead of paddling over the top.
Since this _is_ a surfing group, I think anything other than a
Hawaiian news report would seem touristy.
I dunno. I'm not much into contests, but from listening to guys who
watched the webcast, I guess it was a pretty amazing day at the Bay.
gpsman
>
> Got up at 4 Am today to assure a good parking spot - dreamer. Left the
> casa at 4:45. There was practically a traffic jam between Haleiwa and
> the Bay. People were parking and walking for two miles to the bay at
> the time I arrived - around 5:30.
G e t t h e f u c k o u t t a h e r e ! ! !
> A pre-dawn atomic
> bomb of a wave closed-out across the bay just after the first group
> made it outside.
> Some folks
> complained it wasn't big enough for the Eddie.
Feet rooted in earth, I presume.
> (pics to follow).
What's the holdup? (I hope the light was good.)
> Lot's of great take-offs,
> broken boards - Garret McNamara broke two in one heat.
Sounds not big enough.
> Clyde Aikau at 60 yo was charging.
Too much Samoan in that family.
> All-in-
> all, a good day at the beach.
On the beach.
The forecast this morning was for shitty wind.
I'd have probably parked and shot from Uppers.
-----
- gpsman
(PeteCresswell)
>I got lucky and got a $10 parking
>space at the church by the Bay.
Is that to say parking is not like this any more?
http://tinyurl.com/yhrlplz
--
PeteCresswell
rodndtube
Hey Jack, sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up last month. There
was too much surf from Ida during week one and visiting with my folks.
Then I got bogged down with the Cocoa Beach Surfing Museum load of
documents and a local paipo board collector. I will be down again in
June :)
rodndtube
I'm with you in not being a big contest person. Nonetheless, I tuned
in off and on during the day - rather gripping - just the wavage if
nothing else. And something about this contest makes it a little less
than the normal contest scene. Kelly Slater has got to be the most
amazing, versatile wave rider around (besides Mike Stewart).
Jack Linthicum
De nada. I seem to remember plywood belly boards for kids at
Huntington in the 50s, even rentals. Adults didn't touch them.
Dennis
On Dec 8, 6:19 pm, RegForte <r...@nospam.com> wrote:
> Awesome. It must be days like today you're patting yourself
> on the back for moving there.
That would be every day. But being at the Eddie made it extra special.
gpsman wrote:
>Feet rooted in earth, I presume.
I was up the beach, behind a wall, wearing a tow-in vest and an
innertube around my waist - like everyone else;-)
PeteCresell wrote:
>Is that to say parking is not like this any more?
>http://tinyurl.com/yhrlplz
I'm sure by 8 Am, cars were parked that far away. BTW, Lani's beach is
now about 5 feet below the road. There's a rock wall along the road
now.