In the 1970s, feature-length articles on big waves all but vanished from the surf press. The mandated Waimea Bay finale, a surf movie showstopper for over a decade, was replaced by the mandated Pipeline sequence. Nat Young, arbiter of all things cool during the early years of the shortboard revolution, said about big-wave surfing: “I’ve only done it once, on one wave, and I don’t wish to ever do it again. If those guys”—big-wave specialists—“can enjoy themselves while their hearts and guts ar...
Chapter 7:
Long Division
- Return of the Longboard /
- Simon Anderson and his Mighty Thruster /
- Surf and Destroy /
- Terror from Below /
- The Unsinkable Tom Carroll /
- An Explosion of Talent /
- Tom Curren's Mile of Style /
- How to Turn a Circus into a Riot /
- I Predict Waves in Your Future /
- Cult of the Surf Photographer /
- Video Killed the Surf Movie /
- Waves for Sale /
- Surf Boom Redux /
- Terminally Hip /
- Super-Sizing the World Tour /
- Somebody Should Do Something /
- Surfers vs Apartheid /
- Make Room at the Top, Obrigado! /
- The Last Big Wave /
- Eddie Aikau's State of Grace /
- A Beloved Rival /
Eddie Aikau's State of Grace
Aikau’s best riding took place in those red-lining moments of descent, just after takeoff. A good big-wave surfer learns to hunker down and ride it out. Eddie was the only one who seemed to actually relax at this critical stage. Freefalling down the face, or half-eaten by whitewater, he looked calm—even serene.