Eddie Aikau

Edward Ryan Makua Hanai Aikau (Kahului, Hawaii, May 4, 1946 – March 17, 1978) was a well-known Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer. The words "Makua Hanai" in Eddie Aikau's full name mean "feeding parent,"cite web |url= http://www.hanahou.com/pages/Magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=607&MagazineID=38 |title= Hanai Tales |author= Paul Wood |work= Hana Hou! Vol. 10, No. 4 |date= August/September 2007 |quote= Funny how it is with hanai. Nearly everybody in Hawai‘i understands the term to some extent. Most everyone knows somebody who was “hanaied.” And yet little has been written about this traditional Hawaiian childrearing option… ] an adoptive, nurturing, fostering parent,Stuart Holmes Coleman. "Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero and Pioneer of Big Wave Surfing". New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004. ISBN 0-31232-718-8.] cite web |url= http://l.editthispage.com/2002/04/09 |title= Excerpt: Definition of "Hānai" |author= Mary Kawena Pukui |work= Nana I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source), 1972 |quote= (transcription posted 9 April 2002 on ‘The Free Radical’ blog.)] in the Hawaiian language.

As the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu, he saved many lives and became famous for surfing the big Hawaiian surf, winning several awards including the 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship.

Life

Born on the island of Maui, Aikau was the third child of Solomon and Henrietta Aikau. Aikau first learned how to surf Kahului Harbor on its shorebreak. He moved to Ookinaahu with his family in 1959, and at the age of 16 left school and started working at the Dole pineapple cannery; The paycheck allowed Aikau to buy his first surfboard. In 1968, he became the first lifeguard hired by the City & County of Honolulu to work on the North Shore. The City & County of Honolulu gave Aikau the task of covering all of the beaches between Sunset and Haleiwa. Not one life was lost while he served as lifeguard of Waimea Bay, as he braved waves that often reached convert|30|ft|m high or more. [Coleman, 2001, pp.90-91] In 1971, Aikau was named Lifeguard of the Year. [cite bookone day he met a boy from sacred hearts school named kapono brown it was amazing that he was as good as surfer as eddie so they went to the north shore of Oahu and kapono and eddie surfed from six am to six pm they surfed 50 foot waves and kapono retired and is now an a average student at sacred hearts school
last = Cisco
first = Dan
title = Hawai'i Sports: History, Facts, and Statistics
publisher = University of Hawaii Press
date = 1999
pages = 278
url =
isbn = 0824821211]

Lost at Sea

In 1978, the Polynesian Voyaging Society was seeking volunteers for a 30-day, convert|2500|mi|km|sing=on journey to follow the ancient route of the Polynesian migration between the Hawaiian and Tahitian island chains. At 31 years of age, Aikau joined the voyage as a crew member. The Hokule'a left the Hawaiian islands on March 16, 1978. The double-hulled voyaging canoe developed a leak in one of the hulls and later capsized about twelve miles (19 km) south of the island of Molokai. In an attempt to get help, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard. [ [http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2004/Bills/HR41_.htm Hawaiian senate] -- Eddie Aikau Honored in Senate.] Although the rest of the crew was later rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, Aikau was never seen again. The ensuing search for Aikau was the largest air-sea search in Hawaii history.cite news| first=Burl| last= Burlingame| url=http://starbulletin.com/98/03/09/features/story1.html| title=Eddie: Riding on the crest of a myth| work= Honolulu Star-Bulletin | date=1998-03-06| accessdate=2006-04-09]

The last person lifeguard Eddie Aikau rescued at Waimea Bay was a young TV producer named John Orland, who had just wrapped up production on a TV pilot called the "Hawaiian Experience," starring Bob Crane from "Hogan's Heroes." He was rescued on February 28, 1978, a little over two weeks before Eddie Aikau was lost at sea.

Memorial surfing invitational

In Aikau's honor, the surfwear company Quiksilver sponsors the “The Eddie”cite web |url= http://www.celebratehiltonhead.com/article/499/it-could-be-worse-eddie-aikua |title= It Could Be Worse: Eddie Aikua |author= Craig Hysell |work= Celebrate Hilton Head website |quote= ] —the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau at Waimea Bay. The idea of the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational was created by Bruce Raymond and Bob McKnight.

Since its inception (Eddie Aikau's brother Clyde Aikau won the first Eddie in 1985), the tournament has only been held seven times, due to a precondition that open-ocean swells reach a minimum of 20 feet (this translates to a wave face height of over 30 feet). [ [http://www.quiksilver.com/frames/bigwaveinvitational0607.aspx Quiksilver - Big Wave Invitational 06/07 ] ] The most recent tournament was in December 2004, when waves in the bay reached 30 to convert|50|ft|m high. The contest only invites 24 big-wave riders to participate in two rounds of competition. The event does not allow the use of jet skis to tow surfers into the waves.

Popular culture

In the 1980s, bumper stickers and T-shirts with the phrase "Eddie Would Go" spread around the Hawaiian Islands and to the rest of the world. According to maritime historian Mac Simpson, "Aikau was a legend on the North Shore, pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to. That's where the saying came from -- Eddie would go, when no else would or could. Only Eddie dared."

Another variation of the aforementioned popular phrase is "Eddie wouldn't tow." This phrase is in reference to the method of big wave surfing in which one surfer must accelerate another surfer (the former on a jet ski, the latter towed on a surfboard) to the speed of a large, fast wave. It is also partially in response to the controversy over the "unnaturalness" of tow-in surfing; many surfers feel that being towed in to a wave, as opposed to paddling, is against the spirit of the sport. [cite news| first=Stuart H.| last= Coleman| url=http://www.spiritofaloha.com/features/0705/brian_k.html| title=Waterman: Brian Keaulana and the Rise of Ocean Safety| work=Spirit of Aloha (Aloha Airlines)| date=2005-07-01| accessdate=2007-02-07]

Other variations of the phrase include "Eddie would throw" (in support of the University of Hawaii's passing attack by Colt Brennan under June Jones), "Eddie wouldn't crow" (in opposition to boastful and egotistical surfers), and "Eddie would hoe" (in support of Native Hawaiian agricultural outreach programs.)

Media

Books

* Coleman, Stuart. (2002). " [http://www.eddiewouldgo.com/ Eddie Would Go] : The story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero". MindRaising Press. ISBN 0-9706213-7-X

Film

* Goes, Sergio. [http://www.indiewire.com/ots/onthescene_040409trib.html "Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero"]

ee also

* Duke Kahanamoku

References

External links

* [http://www.eddieaikaufoundation.org: Eddie Aikau Foundation]
* [http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/aikau_edward.html Charleyproject: Eddie Aikau]
* [http://www.globalsurfing.co.uk/eddie-aikua-surfing-wallpapers/ Globalsurfing: Eddie Surfing Wallpapers]
* [http://surf.quiksilver.com/2007/bigwave/index.php Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Invitational 2007]
* [http://www.surfline.com/surfaz/aikau_eddie.cfm Surfline: Eddie Aikau]