As staff, we had parking passes to park in the Waimea Bay parking lot, but we still had to get there early to secure a spot. I left my house at 2 am to drive to the North Shore and arrive by 3 am. We drove by miles and miles of parked cars, many of which had spectators sleeping in them to secure their spot to see history.
Even at 3 am, there were troves of people walking from Laniakea's 2.5 miles away with beach chairs and coolers in tow. You could just feel the excitement, even on these dark, unlit beach roads. You were going to witness history, and everyone just knew it.
When we finally arrived at Waimea Bay, we put on our sweatshirts and got ready for a busy day. It was a cool and crisp morning, which was a good sign that the winds were light and off shore. Surfers and lifeguards were standing in the dark, talking and laughing with each other - steaming coffee mugs in hand. The energy was good, and all we needed was the sun to come up and unveil what the day would hold.
Contest Director Liam McNamara was busy reading forecasts, talking with Clyde Aikau and other surfers and lifeguards who regularly surf Waimea on the rare occasion that it gets large enough to break.
Once the sun peeked over the Waimea Valley mountain, it was clear that the surf was huge enough to run the event. But was it consistent enough? Although the swell was forecast build throughout the day and peak at around 1:30 pm, with 9 surfers in each heat, you needed some consistency in the number of waves during the heat.
Liam initially sought an 8:30 am start time, but after seeing only (1) 30-foot wave in a 30 minute duration, he called the start time at 9 am. As time went on, we watched in awe as monster surf began rolling in. The Bay gave us perfect line-ups with clean, off shore conditions. Everyone just knew, the gift of The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was about to be revealed for the 11th time in it's 40-year history.
