Over the last couple of days, a huge swell pounded Oahu's North Shore, giving surfers hope that the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational would go.
But alas, the waves were too windy, too messy, and just not right.
Still, a handful of surfers paddled out at Waimea Bay and last year's Eddie winner Luke Shepardson was one of them. In the video below, he talks about the session and why the waves weren't Eddie quality.
KHON2 posted the report above and captioned it:
"Luke Shepardson says canceled 2024 'Eddie' was the right call Hawaii News, Hawaii Weather, Hawaii Sports."
Reporter Chris Latronic opens the video by introducing Shepardson and says:
"I think it was a good call that they called it off, what do you think?"
"Yeah, they made the right call," Shepardson says. "It's not huge right now, it's still big but last night was a lot bigger. I surfed right before dark yesterday and it was quite a bit bigger than it is now. And then the buoys peaked out overnight."
Latronic asks if any of the waves he got were "Eddie size."
Shepardson says there were, and elaborates:
"It was hard to tell yesterday because of the onshore wind. It was making some waves break farther out that weren't the biggest. It was really hard to read it yesterday with how the wind was, there was so many lumps and bumps."
At one point, he says, a bomb broke outside and it "was definitely an Eddie size wave."
What's more, he says, is that with just a few people out, it felt like a heat.
"Right now, there's about forty people out bumping rails and stuff. Last night was nice, there weren't much people out. It was unruly but it was a lot of fun," he says.
What's next for Shepardson?
"Just keep doing what I do, working and surfing, and hopefully something pops up on the horizon," Shepardson says. "We'll just keep watching the forecast and crossing the fingers. And hopefully, all the magic comes together."
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