While Waimea Bay was hosting The Eddie, Jaws was doing its thing. Photo: Marcus Rodrigues//Screenshot
As soon as The Eddie got the green light, all eyes were on Waimea Bay. However, now that the “super bowl of surfing” has ended (with Landon McNamara crowned the victor), we can come up for air and see what’s been going on in the rest of the surfing world. It’s a good thing, too, because the same swell that brought down thundering mountains on Waimea also stirred up a day of days at nearby Jaws (Pe’ahi).
“It was one of the biggest days in a long time,” explained Marcus Rodrigues in the caption for his edit of the day, posted to his YouTube channel. “The morning started off slow, with no signs of the new anticipated swell, [but] by 9:00 a.m. the new swell started showing up. Albee Layer started off the day with a massive paddle in wave while a few other hardcore, dedicated big wave surfers attempted to push themselves over the ledge at Jaws.”
However, that was just a harbinger of what was to come, and it was not long before the waves picked up enough for the paddling session to give way to tow-ins. “Around midday, the swell had picked up a lot and it was getting really big,” continued Rodrigues. “The tow-in session started at the perfect time, when some of the biggest waves of the day started coming through. One Jet Ski was unfortunately lost, alongside multiple tow-in surf boards on the extremely dangerous rocky shoreline of Jaws. The swell was 25 feet solid, with bigger sets and no wind. It was all-time barreling top to bottom from the north peak all the way through the west bowl.”
Not only that, but the ongoing event in Waimea actually turned out to be beneficial in more ways than one. According to Rodrigues, “Everyone was on Oahu at Waimea Bay so the lineup was empty with only the local crew out.”
That’s certainly one way to beat the crowds.
