More than a surfer, Aikau was the definition of a waterman–he surfed, paddled, swam, dove, snorkeled and, ultimately, sailed. The water’s warm, sensual embrace was as soft and comforting as a woman’s touch, and it was the beginning of Eddie’s lifelong love affair with the ocean.” “Occasionally, Eddie would see sharks ominously cruising in the distance, but he was taught not to be afraid of them or any other creatures in the sea. “Eddie spent as much time as he could in the ocean, swimming, diving and exploring the silent world below the surface,” Coleman wrote in Eddie Would Go. A great deal of it, as remains true with most kids in Hawaii, was spent in the water. From the accounts I’ve read, his youth was happy, if uneventful. His father Solomon worked at Kahului Harbor as a stevedore, and young Eddie spent his first dozen years in nearby Rawfish Camp (it’s all condominiums now). Possibly because the things he did on Oahu were so big, it’s easy to forget that Edward Ryan Makua Hanai Aikau was born on Maui in 1946. Hawaiian is packed with colorful film footage of life in postwar Hawaii, but it’s gripping largely because the story of Aikau is so extraordinary. Of course, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing compelling about watching Aikau talking with Jim McKay, or surfing skyscraper waves at Waimea (Without a jet ski! Or a leash!), or seeing Thompson, who was with Aikau on that fateful 1978 Hokule‘a voyage, cry when recalling what it was like to watch him paddle away from their capsized canoe. Aimed at Mainland audiences who likely haven’t ever ridden a wave, the film will offer little new insight to anyone who grew up in Hawaii or has at least read Coleman’s book. And who, in Hawaii at least, hasn’t yet heard or seen the words “Eddie would go” (or “Eddie wouldn’t tow” or any of the other countless variations that crop up to advance this or that cause).įor the makers of Hawaiian (directed by Sam George and produced by ESPN Films, Stacy Peralta and Paul Taublieb), their task is easier. Still, how do you tell a story everyone already knows?Įvery surfer who’s ever dipped a toe in the Pacific has at least heard his name because of the immense popularity of the Quiksilver contest. “I’m going to catch the biggest waves ever ridden and make our name famous in the surfing world,” a teenage Aikau told his parents after seeing one film of the Hawaiian surfer Kealoha Kaio, according to Stuart Holmes Coleman’s 2001 biography Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero.Īudiences should always be skeptical when words like “legend” and “hero” get stuck to mortal beings, but the film makes clear that Aikau is more than deserving of such titles. Showing the film under the stars on the Wailea golf course as part of the Maui Film Festival is entirely appropriate, given that Eddie and his brother Clyde first began to idolize big wave riders by watching surf films at the Waikiki Shell when they were growing up. In addition, festival organizers are awarding Aikau and Nainoa Thompson of the Polynesian Voyaging Society their Visionary Award. The film will debut in Hawaii on June 12–the opening night of the Maui Film Festival. It’s a big production, full of all the color and adventure that punctuated Aikau’s scant 31 years. Now, finally, people can see Aikau’s life through the sprawling new documentary Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau. “I wanted to be in that North Shore scene.” “I watched and admired Eddie Aikau out there and decided I wanted to be like him,” Archie Kalepa, the County of Maui’s chief of Ocean Safety a big wave surfer in his own right, said in a Sept. A figure of tremendous stature and respect throughout most of his adult life, Aikau’s influence stretches throughout Hawaii to the present day. Though the famous waterman and lifeguard from Oahu’s North Shore died 35 years ago, framing the question in the present tense works. Go to the official webpage of the annual Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau surf contest and you’ll find three curious but telling words: “WHO IS EDDIE?” Clicking on the question takes you to a page full of words and pictures, dedicated to the man whose name now adorns one of the biggest surf contests in the world.
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