Reef Riders

Waimea : Waiting for Eddie

My boss doesn't want me to go.

My wife didn't want me to go.

My daughters don't want me to go.

There are mortgage papers to sign. Holiday presents to buy. Meetings. Luncheons. Project deadlines. I don't have the time. I don't have the money.

Lots of good reasons not to race off to Hawaii at the last minute for the greatest, rarest big-wave surfing contest in the world. Good excuses. Solid citizen excuses. Then a friend makes a wisecrack.

"Eddie would go."

It's meant as a joke. But really, isn't it all about Eddie? How could I tell the story of Eddie Aikau and the surf contest that honors him if I didn't go? At the heart of the story is the terrible beauty and serendipity of the sea. Now it is calling....

In the name of Pipeline

How the World’s Most Dangerous Wave Got Its Name ?

The first documented ride at Pipeline was in December of 1961 by Californian Phil Edwards and captured on film by legendary filmmaker Bruce Brown.  Californian shaper Mike Diffenderfer called it "Pipeline" after large concrete pipes being laid in nearby Kamehameha Highway. 

Locals called the beach "Banzai" after the small beachside nursery of Bonsai trees.
Pipeline rears up 50 feet from shore and showcases waves of up to five stories high that march shoreward before exploding upon a barely submerged coral reef. 

Hitting with speed and power, these swells launch off the shallow reef, abruptly 'jacking up' from just a few feet in height, to 15 or 20 feet in a matter of seconds.  The effect of this is a hollow, barreling wave that has made the name "Banzai Pipeline" famous around the world.

Probably the best-known surf spot in the world, Pipe is capable of pulling the most incredible disappearing acts. In a slack winter with lots of smaller north swells and bad wind, the casual observer, rolling up to Ehukai Beach Park and gazing west, wouldn't have any idea it was there.