"Big
Wednesday" Takes Big-Wave Surfing to the Next Level
January 29, 1998, Honolulu News: "Big Wednesday: 40-foot surf
hits the North Shore-the biggest swell in 30 years."
On January 28, 1998, a Wednesday deep in the heart of El Nino's
journey from the Gulf of Alaska to California, the storm gave
birth to a 40-foot swell that pounded the North Shore of Oahu.
For big-wave surfers, it was the ultimate wave. The buoy reports
the day before predicted huge surf, which brought on the infamous
Quiksilver Eddie Aikau competition at Waimea Bay-a contest dictated
by 20-foot-plus surf and intended for surfing's elite in honor
of the ultimate big-wave rider, Eddie Aikau, who was lost to
sea years ago in a heavy storm. Ironically, the contest was
called off by North Shore harbor patrol because the surf was
too huge.
"We
watched for an hour and a half at Waimea," reports Jon Long,
director of the IMAX movie, "Extreme," who, with his crew, was
there to capture such historical swells on film. "There were
35-foot close-out sets from shore to shore-it was a total death
cauldron."
Traditional surfing-where one paddles into the wave-was out
of the question that day. The speed of 30-foot-plus walls of
water are too fast to catch for even the most powerful kahuna.
The last time a swell this size hit the North Shore, 30 years
ago, it was impossible to surf such waves. Not that surfers
weren't trying to. Like any sport where man's desire to overcome
nature prompts technological advancement, surfing, too, has
figured out a way to ride the beast of a big swell: Introducing
tow-in surfing. Pioneered five years ago by watermen, Laird
Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Derrick Doerner, and Buzzy Kerbox, this
close-knit group of big-wave surfers have made use of modified
jet skis and surfboards with footstraps to ride the waves of
El Nino-like swells. With a jet ski, surfers are whipped into
heavy surf zones using the speed generated by the centrifugal
force of ski, line, and surfer. Today, tow-in surfing, although
more popular, is still only mastered by the elite echelon of
surfing and is still considered a newbie sport.
"It
takes a lot of time paddling and surfing the outer reefs to
appreciate wanting to surf huge swells," says 45-year-old big-wave
surfer, and long-time North Shore local, Ken Bradshaw. "The
difference between regular surfers and tow-in surfers, besides
most of us being an older, more mature [lot], is that we're
not opposed to the poundings. Tow-in surfing is a whole lot
more than people think. It is the first time surfing has been
considered a team sport. It's you and your driver and you need
to work together, train together all the time. When the two
are not in tune with each other, the inconsistencies add up
to inefficiency, which is something that can be detrimental
in surf this huge."
On "Big Wednesday," just when surfing seemed an impossibility,
Long and the IMAX crew cruised the shore until they came upon
the surfbreak called Backyards, near the only passable channel
that could take tow-in surfers out to sea. To their surprise,
a handful were already in the water, jockeying for position
for what would become an historical surf session. Ross Clark-Jones,
Bradshaw and his partner Dan Moore, were among the posse: "We'd
been training for this-to cross that 40-foot wave barrier-for
years. It's all been a natural progression. We have large surf
every winter, so we've had the opportunity to get out there
in huge surf. [Big Wednesday] wasn't that shocking for us. But
clearly, without a doubt, it was the largest day we've been
out there."
"When
we got there," says Long, there were two helicopters already
out there filming these guys. It was a bit of a circus in terms
of air traffic. But they left shortly, leaving us to film [by
helicopter] Ross Clark-Jones, Ken Bradshaw, Dan Moore, Noah
Johnson, and Aaron Lambert for the next four hours." For the
surfers, getting out was a juggling act as well. The best way
to get past the breakers was to take the deep water channel
called Phantoms, but even this was nearly a close-out on Big
Wednesday. Still, perfect timing would allow a team to break
through in-between sets. Once through Phantoms, it was another
mile to get to where the wave's could be ridden in an area just
outside Log Cabins, also known as Ke Iki. Like the notorious
California surfbreak, Mavericks, Ke Iki breaks on a ledge in
the ocean but only pumps in 20-foot plus surf.
"I
used to think about being dropped by a heli to get out there,
but then, I've always said 'If you can't paddle out there and
back in, you have no business being out there.' Looking back,
I question ourselves-we're so accustomed to the machines. I
don't know if you could have survived swimming in," confesses
Bradshaw.
For Bradshaw and Moore, fortunately, that was something they
didn't have to face that day. "There was a bit of apprehension
for everyone," continues Bradshaw. "Can riding a 40-foot wave
really be done? We had 20 year of experience for this day. We
were on fire and we didn't miss a beat. We picked a swell and
Moore towed me after it. I was like, 'This is it!' and I let
go of the [tow] rope and the thing kept jacking up. There were
no second thoughts in my mind, I had chosen a relatively conservative
line, not too deep, because I wasn't sure if such a wave could
be ridden, if my board could make it. When I dropped down the
face, the whole wave went hollow and I started making an arcing
turn back up-that's when I was like, 'This is a huge wave.'
The face was giant [the size of an eight-story building] and
the barrel spit a cloud of whitewater shooting out like a rocket.
You can't appreciate the magnitude of such a playing field.
You're so focused and you're at the peak of it all that fear
isn't an issue at that point. The ride is for two minutes or
so and what's so mesmerizing is that it looks like you're moving
in slow motion, but it's so massive, you're traveling 500 yards
in less than 15 seconds. "I made one more turn back down the
face and moved onto the shoulder where Dan motioned for me to
pick up the rope. He was screaming when we got out of it, saying,
'This was the biggest thing you've ever ridden!' It was ridiculous,
it was off the spectrum, it was beyond cartoon!' It was a rogue
wave, but it had all been well choreographed."
For others, the water ballet wasn't quite so smooth. Later on
that day, Moore and Noah Johnson both took wipe-outs, but came
out unscathed. What this proves, says Bradshaw, is that such
waves are survivable. "We once thought going beyond the 40-foot
barrier was inconceivable," says Bradshaw. "The envelope's been
pushed-we can survive it. If we can do 40, let's do 50-it's
really just one more step."-Kathleen Gasperini
