Sam George interviewed Clyde Aikau in October 1985 for a "Conversations" Q&A article that ran in the February 1986 issue of Surfing. Just a few weeks after the interview, Aikau won the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau contest at Waimea Bay. This version has been slightly edited. 

I began surfing in Waikiki in 1965 and then from Waikiki we graduated to the North Shore. We started off at Haleiwa and then in a couple of years moved up the coast to Chun’s Reef. Then we moved up the line to Sunset and eventually ended up at the Bay. Waimea Bay. 

Who were you doing your early surfing with?

It was basically me and Eddie. I was in high school and he was working and we’d count the days until the weekend and then we’d head to the North Shore and stay for the whole weekend. We were just totally hooked on surfing, we surfed whenever we could, we dreamed surfing. It was surf, surf, surf and in those days it was great ’cause there was nobody around and we could go anywhere and it wouldn’t be crowded.

Who were the hot guys you looked up to back then?

Our inspirations were guys like Kealoha Kaio, Fred Van Dyke and people like that. They were big time already. Fred Hemmings, too. He was still in high school, but he was just smokin’ big waves on the North Shore already. He was a big name and a great surfer. Greg Noll, plus Jose Angel, another great surfer we really enjoyed riding with.

When you were young and coming up, did you surf in contests at all?

Every contest I could get into, yes. I was surfing against Gerry Lopez and Reno Abellira and guys like that. In 1965 we had the first All-Hawaii meet at Ala Moana. We joined the HSA when I was 18 and did all of those contests too. I liked it a lot, just in terms of gaining experience by surfing against all the really hot surfers. It was a great way to improve my surfing.

Were you also working at this time, or was it all-day surfing?

I was working for the City and County of Honolulu as a lifeguard on the North Shore and also going to school at the University. I needed to work to help feed the family. But I always worked part-time so I could surf a lot. 

Where were you and your family living at the time?

We had a house right across the street from Haleiwa Beach Park for about ten years where the family would go and spend the weekend. The whole family enjoys the water, the sun and sand and the waves and diving for fish.

The Aikaus always seemed to represent that timeless Hawaiian style of extended family living. 

Yeah, exactly. We have always been a very close-knit family. We came over from Maui in 1959 because work was hard to find at that time. It was working in the cane fields or something like that. So we came over to Honolulu to find jobs and we’ve always done everything as a family together, especially if it’s around the ocean.

People who’ve met your family have always wondered if your Dad, Pops, used to surf.

In fact my dad used to surf on Maui when I was a baby and in those days he rode a sixteen-foot board with no fin. All five of us kids had to help him carry it down to the surf. And he used to take me on the board, paddle out and catch waves on it. It was a real thrill, and from then on I was hooked.

When did you start surfing Waimea? Eddie was already a standout there, wasn't he?

Eddie started to make his name in 1963, after he went out at Makaha when it was about 20'. At that time there was no way I’d even go out in waves like that, but Eddie just had a great time. Then in 1967, he had been surfing the Bay for a couple years and I thought I was ready to start surfing it alongside of him. So I said, “Hey Eddie, can you take me out there and show me how to surf the Bay?” And he said, “Yeah, Clyde, sure.” So he showed me exactly where to go and where not to go and what to watch for. In fact, since ’66, I’ve been surfing at the side of Eddie Aikau. I can honestly say that if not for him, I wouldn’t be surfing out there [Waimea] at all. Even right now, today, when I paddle out at the Bay I get chicken skin, because I know he’s out there somewhere. Every time at the Bay I always surf with these turtles. Two of them, and this has been for eight years now, since Eddie was lost at sea. Every time I go out and surf the Bay I see the two turtles right outside of where we all take off and I firmly believe that one of the turtles is Eddie and the other is Jose Angel, who died in a diving accident. So I feel great every time I go out at the Bay. In the last few years I’ve surfed the Bay pretty big, thirty foot, and when it gets that big and I paddle out and see the turtles, it feels good. If you talk to guys like James Jones and Bradshaw, they will tell you it feels good for them too.

Was it ever hard for you, living in Eddie's shadow?

Look, I’ll admit today that Eddie Aikau was the greatest big wave rider of all time and that he’s taught me everything I know about riding big waves. If I was number two in the eyes of the public or the surfing world, it was no problem. He was definitely a man in his own class. I surfed with him on days at the Bay when nobody else was around. Rainy, no cameras, and he and I would paddle out there, it would be 30 feet and he’d be taking off on these incredible waves, monstrous waves that nobody else would even dream of riding, and he’d go again and again and again. Totally vertical, with just his fin hanging in and you’d look at his face and he’d be smiling. You’d be scared out of your shorts and he would still be smiling.

What motivated you to go out there and excel and become an expert in your own right?

I wanted to experience the same feeling Eddie was having. It was a challenge, doing things that no one else does. I wanted the rush, and the excitement of taking off on a gigantic wave, of being alone with nature, in the arms of the wave, feeling helpless and then somehow having the spirit to pull yourself out.  

Is it as good for you today as it was in the earlier years?

It still feels great, yes. I still get the same rush and that’s why I continue to surf the Bay year after year. 

Have your boards changed much over the years?

Actually, I’ve surfed the same board for the last six years. For big waves, the designs don’t change that much. In fact, James Jones and Ken Bradshaw, they all ride pretty much the same boards. I started out on a 12' balsa gun that was so heavy. Eddie and I rode on the Hobie Team for a few years back then and that worked pretty good, but after that, throughout my career, I never really rode for any surf shops ’cause it was difficult to get the boards I needed. I ended up either shaping them myself or having a friend do it. So here I am years later, and you know, the board I’m riding now is still 12' long.

Can you handle wipeouts like you used to?

I’ll tell you something. I’m 35 years old and I am in the best physical condition of my life. The reason for that is because in the earlier years I used to party a lot. I was a lifeguard and surfing in all the big contests, you know, all the ladies, staying up all night, then surfing all day. Eating too many Big Macs. That's all changed. For the past eight I years I’ve stopped all booze; I don’t drink anymore. I eat well, I don’t eat meat. Haven’t for two years. I’m in top shape, not only in body but in mind.

Speaking of surfing in all the big contests, it must have been quite a thrill to win the Duke Invitational in '73, which was held at Waimea. 

Oh, man, yeah! The whole family was there on the beach and it was the first time that the Duke or any contest was held at the Bay. I couldn’t dream that I would have won. I went out into the semis and into the finals against guys like Jeff Hakman, who was the world’s greatest, and I was scared. But then I took off on this neat wave and got tubed and the whole beach went wild. So I came in and they told me I won and suddenly there were the cameras, ABC's 

, and I couldn’t even talk and I was crying. Yes, Sam, it was such a thrill. Talking about the Duke, Eddie always wanted to win the Duke Contest because in ’65 he had a chance to meet the Duke personally and from then on he really wanted to win. Finally he won in 1977 and he was really happy. 

So you both got first-place Duke trophies.

Oh boy, they’re still shiny and framed and that’s something the family will cherish forever.

I’ve been married for three years now to Eleni, and she’s a beautiful woman. You know, I never thought I’d get married because of the kind of way I lived; lifeguard, surfer. But when I saw my wife I said, “She’s the one for me!” So I got married and I’d like to let the surfing world know how happily married I am.

You going to give Pops some surfing grandkids?

Absolutely! In fact, we’re trying right now! The surfing world can expect a whole new generation of Aikaus.

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