GETTING STARTED Head to the beach on a sunny day and you will see surfers hitting the waves In many places the waves are only knee high That is perfect for some watery fun on a hot afternoon but it’s not enough for big wave surfers These athletes want bigger waves much bigger They look for waves that are 25 to 30 feet 7 6 to 9 1 meters tall Sometimes surfers catch waves that are even taller These waves mean more than a longer faster ride Ocean waves are incredibly powerful More height means more danger and requires more skill 6 Eddie Would Go Eddie Aikau 1946 1978 was a big wave surfer from Hawaii who won many surfing competitions He died in a boating accident in 1978 Afterward a surfing contest called The Eddie was named for him Modern surfers challenge each other to tackle big waves They say Eddie would go
Big wave surfers conquer waves that can be a big as buildings 7
Surfing has been around for thousands of years It started on islands in the South Pacific Ocean Kings from ancient Hawaii surfed to show their skill and power In the early 1900s a famous American writer named Jack London Surfers on average-size waves slice across the surface of the water 8
visited Hawaii He wrote an article about the surfing culture A lot of people read his article They started to become interested in the sport too By the 1930s surfers began to explore new beaches in Hawaii where the waves got higher One of these was the beach of Makaha on the island of Oahu Another was on the island’s North Shore The North Shore was dangerous Some surfers died when trapped in the waves Only the bravest surfers dared to try it Duke Kahanamoku 1890 1968 9 Duke’s Wild Ride Duke Kahanamoku was a famous Hawaiian swimmer and surfer In 1917 he paddled into some waves that were about 30 feet 9 1 meters high He rode one for almost two miles 3 2 kilometers
