January 25th, 2011 Got back to Sisters Oregon 2:30 AM. Boy sure liked the Hawaiian flight that left at 1:30 instead of this new 3:40 stuff. Was beyond disappointed with the early morning footage from the east side of Waimea Bay. Just way to much mist in the morning combined with a little rain made it difficult to get the clear HDDVCPRO shots I crave. Met a nice guy named Ashley who had flown over from L.A. to film we agreed the first guy that got there would try to save a spot for the other. It was helpful to have someone to watch the stuff. I gota love other deranged folks like myself. Here is a quick take of some of the action. About 2:00 PM I headed back to the vacation rental to download some data and charge the batteries. I looked at the Buoy close to Kauai and knew that there would be some bombs coming in around 5:00. I headed to the West side of Waimea Bay that I had shot the Eddie last year and took some footage. Lisa a free lancer that just moved to Ohau said it was clearer on the other side. A few good sets came in and I think you will love that angle. The guys at the Eddie made the correct call 1000 percent it was not quit The Eddie well not even close really. The best filming of the swell was huge pipe the next day. the outer reef was going off and guys were making it inside to Pipe for a few huge barrels. The bodyboarders were insane. Hope you enjoy and will be back with more. Leave the 30th to film the wind tribe on Maui. I have been spending the last day trying to get the flash working on my macs. let me know if you are having any issues. e-mail the staff at the Inn of the Beachcomber. January 20th, 2011 Got down to set up the video gear at 4:00am. It was high tide and the waves looked good in the moonlight. Guys hit the water just after six in the dark. When the dawn cracked it looked like a go. With all the water did not pull out the computer to check the Buoys. They said they would call the contest at 8:30 AM. The wave were as big as I had seen across the bay. The call was that not enough swell would last the day. Eddie would have gone in the morning but after that he would have gone back to the guard tower. After 2:00 PM the sets were pretty sparse. No Eddie but a great day non the less. I will get some footage up tomorrow. Ted January 19th 2011 EDDIE WOULD GO 4 inches of snow at 5:00 AM when I left Sisters Oregon this morning. Got to PDX and checked the wave models all on tract. TSA delayed the flight to search the plane and a 85 year old lady took a header on the jet way. What a bummer 2 hours late out of Portland but the crew burned the fuel and we got to HNL only 20 minutes late. First good sign heading up to the country was the portable state highway signs saying that there would be extra city buses to The Eddie and not to drive your car. No traffic no waves yet but it's all set up. Judges stands cameras and the new barricades along Kam Hwy ,new since the Pipe Masters. Shot some footage and talked with some of the boys. They plan to get out at 6:20 until they get kicked out. Ya Eddie would go tomorrow if he was here. On a day like this you have to pay homage to such a man that would give his life for others. That's the kind of man that made this country great. Stay tuned for more updates and video. Unreal. 2 years in a row. January 18th, 2011 The stars seem aligned, The official Eddie site is saying get ready, (guys are at the airport) and expect the judges stands and camera crew to be at the bay tomorrow. Pat Caldwell at NWS is up with 1/3 Heights at 34 and 1/10th Heights at 42 foot faces Thursday morning. Last year same time period he was calling out 44 and 54 for The Eddie. With a word of caution he seems a little concerned that the models have over estimated the winds at the dateline and the satellite Monday indicated that the models were just a bit high. Look to buoy 51101 Wednesday night late and we will get our first look at what's coming. Surfline has a great section on the mechanics of Waimea Bay. With all that said the models have been tracking the same numbers the last three days and the winds are coming down. The next run shows the eye giving up the last of the gray and turning to purple. With a little luck the engine will keep running 6 more hours and give us all a good push for Thursday. Aloha Ted Eady January 17th, 2011 Looking back at the screen shots from last week the wave models are holding pretty good. Not sure if we will get the needed swell but we will all know in 24 hours. I can't believe that big 18,000 miles of storm is just going to sit there at the date line and fall apart. Caldwell at NWS will weigh -in tomorrow with the collaborative forecast. Surfline and Stormsurf have been all over this. 8 times in 25 years with five years in between last two Eddies makes the odds seem pretty slim for back to back years going. I can't wait to shoot Waimea with the big lens. to end on a positive thought the last run of the model seems a little stronger. January 13th, 2011 The models have been going off the last 13 days. Huge, then nothing at the 180 hour image. About the 12th the models started to think something was going on. I've been back to the mainland since the end of the pipe masters and had a trip planned for Hookipa to film the wind tribe in Maui. Even if the swell does melt a bit it looks like a great four days in a season that "The Bay has not called" . The Inn of the Beachcomber is booked for this huge swell (per the models) +(I pray) . Any way I'm heading out the 19th and will be back the 24th. Stay tuned the official site is on hold but it could be cool the 20th. (Disclosure) This page is for the guest of the Inn of the Beachcomber and those of you that love epic waves. We are not affiliated with the official Quicksilver site so if you are looking for the official Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau site click the logo above. For our live surf cam in Gold Beach Oregon and the south coast forecast go to the source GoldBeachWeather.com.
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