My Day At The Eddie - Eddie Aikau Big Wave Contest 2016

I left Laie at 7am and drove to and parked Big Red, my truck at Sunset Beach.  I rode, Little Red, my bike the remaining 2 miles to Waimea.  Hardly any traffic on the road.  Why?  There was no where to go.  The sides of the streets were packed with cars. You would have been insane to keep driving.  So I rode my bike right down the middle of Kam Hwy.   I saw signs that said $50 Parking.  The grass lot was packed.  I finally made it right below the church at the first vantage point of the bay.  A mob completely lined  the natural amphitheater that we call Waimea Bay.  The bay was buzzing, the energy, the tension was tight.    Jet skis dodging the inside thunder walls as the first heat hit the water.  I was stuck on the side of the road with my bike wondering where I could go.  All the views were taken so I stood there leaning on my bike while more and more people walked around me and down the road.  Lucky I had the height.  I snapped the first 12 or so photos to capture the crowd.  It was still a little dark because of the early morning cloudy skies.

I  suddenly saw a familiar face in the crowd.   Brady Yee, our hanai son, refrigerator raider, good friend to our kids, Kainui neighbor small kid time. " Wassup?" I said.  He replied "Hey, come hang with us, we're stayhing at a beach house on the point with a great up close view of the take off spot."  Shoots", I said and we walked back up to the point and carried my bike into the back yard.  So there was Brady, wife Aulbry, kids and 40 other people all hanging like it was some north shore surf meet.  Yeah baby, it was the EDDIE!!

The deck was crowded so I grabbed me a coconut tree to protect me from the sun and found myself at the ocean's edge with a spectacular view of the line up.  For 8 hours I screamed and yelled along with everybody else when anybody caught a wave or a monster set would come it.  It was chicken skin folks.  In my 64 years, I've never witness anything like it.  The photos don't do it justice.  Finally the sun came out and I got better shots.  I don't have a surf lens so I didn't get close ups but I did capture the essence of the day.  I put the camera away for so many of the waves.  I just wanted to spock the monstors that were rolling in.  I had my PBJ and Banana sandwiches, power bars, camel back and my Laie  binoculars.  I was set for 8 hours of the greatest big wave riding I'd ever witnessed.  Here is my collection of memories from the day. There are two pages