Eddie Aikau is a legend. a man the whole world looks up to. big wave surfer, water man, waimea bay lifeguard, and a true hawaiian. Eddie was on the Hokulea Canoe trying to navigate to tahiti when the Hokulea capsized in the channel between oahu and molokai. he grabbed the surfboard and went for help. the crew on the Hokulea was rescued but Eddie was never seen since. i didn’t really know the whole story in detail until i watched this documentary on ESPN. it was truly inspiring and it was like somebody was sending a message to me. yes, the day before i watched this documentary, i actually planned to get dropped off at molokai and paddle back alone. then after finding out that it was this very same channel that took Eddie’s life, i thought about it again. maybe i shouldn’t rush it and better prepare myself a little more. then last night talking to John Shimooka telling me about the competition last week made me think again. John and 2 other australian waterman made a 3 man team and completed the race in 7.5 hours. they each paddled 15 minutes each and took turns. then i told him that i was going to paddle it alone and he looked at me kind of funny. like i was stupid or something. he told me that a lot of guys quit in the first hour, some guys were throwing up, some guys got hurt, some guys never completed the race, and an escort boat got attacked by a huge shark. so here i am thinking about it deeply again. my paddle board in hanging in my garage and i see it everyday. 90% of me telling me go for it. 10% telling me not to. John asked me to team up with him next year. but deep down inside, this is something i want to do alone. something i dream of. something i must complete in my lifetime. one day i will wake up and just go. only time will tell as my dream is now fading into the deep blue and i can’t live like this. forget ahi fever, all i’m thinking about now is the molokai challenge!
anyway, watch this documentary and get inspired by the legend waterman Eddie Aikau!
stop the video at 22:53. take a look at that wave at waimea bay and i will get to that story later. another waterman, another legend, and another respected man that went missing.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD9I0EObWHk[/youtube]
