**O/T** North Shore Oahu surfing pictures **O/T**

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Posted By: DMcD

I don't think I've ever yet cashed in an O/T mulligan. Hope nobody's knickers get in a twist if I stray from vintage baseball. I shot some photos yesterday at Waimea Bay and Banzai Pipeline on Oahu's North Shore and thought I would share them with you. I've posted about three dozen pictures in a larger format - some of them are real keepers - at my ImageEvent site. Have a look.

http://tinyurl.com/6h9gat

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Posted By: rand

how big are the waves? the mavericks in cal are enormous and amazing to see, though i have never seen them in person.

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Posted By: Fred C

Well, it is December... North starts kicking about this time... the waves shown in the pics above are pretty tame... wait til a big day shows up...

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Posted By: Steve F

I heard the NS swells were huge this week. Awesome pics, and thanks for the link too.

Thought I'd share my favorite scene from Billabong Odyssey. Mike Parsons @ Cortez bank;

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Posted By: DMcD

Rand: I asked the lifeguard at Waimea that exact question. He answered "seven to ten feet". It took me a moment to realize he was employing the Hawaiian way of measuring wave height which is the size of the back of the wave. In mainland terms, which reckons wave height at the face, the waves would have been fifteen to twenty feet. There were a couple of monster sets at Pipeline that had to be much bigger yet. I have heard that Mavericks gets bigger than Waimea. There are a few spots on Maui that get huger than is humanly possible to paddle out into and which are surfed exclusively by guys that have been towed by jet-ski.

Fred C: Waves weren't consistently big enough to hold the Eddie Aikau but not what I would call tame.

Steve F: Great YouTube video. Not tame, for sure.

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Posted By: Fred C

Speaking of Mavericks... some environmentalist are trying to ban the tow-in teams... 7-10 sounds about right for the above pics.

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Posted By: Matt

That is a sport for folks more brave then I. Incredible power in those waves.

thanks for sharing!

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

I now live in Kauai and the North shore here is the best for big wave surfing. They have the Eddie Akai big wave classic here every year. There is no set date just when the waves are big enough they make the calls and they all fly in for the event. The waves have to be a minimum of 20 feet Hawaiian style which is 40 feet for you mainlanders.

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Posted By: rand

what a fantastic O/T, those videos are jaw dropping. thx

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Posted By: Craig W

Reminds me of Duvall's quote in Apocalypse Now! "Charlie don't surf!"

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

Nice pix!

I've forwarded this link to my son. He grew up surfing on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. He now lives in Newport Beach and regularly surfs The Wedge and other nearby spots. Several years ago his college graduation present was a new surfboard to replace the one he blew up on one run at The Wedge. Now when he returns to NJ he thinks the Jersey surf is way too tame. I'm sure he'd feel the same about California surf if he hit the Banzai Pipeline.

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Posted By: PC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-MPHrfHpc0&feature=related

There's big and dangerous, and then there's Teahupoo, which is insane.

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Posted By: Anthony N.

Bobby- they are having the Eddie at Hanalei now? when did they switch it from Waimea?
The Pipe Masters waiting period starts Tuesday. Wasn't that long ago it was the spot for thick, barrelling tubes, but Teahupu sets the standard now.
Nice shots David!

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Posted By: Trae R.

Sweet pics DMcD!


Here's the craziest photo of Teahupoo I've ever seen:



On a lighter note, check out my new Quad-Fish :





---
"There ain't much to being a ballplayer, if you're a ballplayer."
-Honus Wagner

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Posted By: Brad Green

David:

Thanks for sharing the pictures! Both times I've been to HI it was summer, so I missed all the action on the North Shore. It looks like fun, although you'd never see me out in that water!

Brad

(Go Redskins, although your favorite HI quarterback isn't getting any playing time.)