The winter came and went without an Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational. The window just closed for this season, by the way, with just that one close call back in February, when contest organizers took notice of a late winter swell and threw up a yellow alert. That didn’t pan out, of course, with the whole thing being called off in a matter of days and the big wave community hoping something might roll through the Pacific in the eleventh hour.
The Bay is still a place where surfing’s big wave heritage is celebrated with or without the Eddie though. And while surfing itself is often brushed off as a “selfish” sport, canoe surfing in big waves puts that idea to bed real fast while also acknowledging old Hawaiian tradition and history. An old video of Mark Healey, Ikaika Kalama, Mikey Redd, and Kaeo Abbey has been making the rounds on the internet recently and it puts this all into perspective.
“It’s a team sport,” Kalama says. “It’s not just me driving. It’s the person in front of me, it’s the person in front of him. All of our crew members, every time we’re done with a wave, the stoke is a lot bigger than if you had caught it yourself.”
Kalama says that Waimea Bay is a perfect place for getting a canoe into big waves. There’s a wide channel and the wave itself tends to back off after a steep take off, leaving plenty of room for a safe exit on a 400-pound canoe. He has knowledge of both the wave and how to lead a four-man crew that he feels comfortable calling his team in and out of waves.
Mark Healey, who’s obviously one of today’s most accomplished watermen, describes his role as “just taking orders.” He actually ended up on the canoe with Kalama’s crew by chance when he noticed it after a session and was invited aboard.
“I definitely trust Ikaika’s steering. He’s really good at what he does. If it was somebody who was just kind of like half-in, half-out on the steersman game, I would not have done it,” he admits.
