SURFERMAG.COM CURRENT ISSUE vol. 44 #3

2002 A mid-December, WNW pulse peaks in the dark of night at 30 feet. Dawn reveals a confusing mix of swell on the water, most of the strip roiling with unruly whitewater and messy sections. Waimea Bay is just breaking on the boil; the outer reefs are awash. Confounded by the surly conditions, Californians Mike Todd and Dan Malloy decide to paddle out and north from Waimea, back toward Sunset Beach, with plans to beach themselves through the surf at Gas Chambers, near Pupukea. Together the duo, both of who distinguished themselves paddle-surfing The Bay during a late-November swell, route-find their way through a labyrinth of booming offshore reefs and cloudbreaks, unknowingly recreating in reverse the desperate journey of Brown and Cross, some 59 years earlier. Todd and Malloy, however, both make it to the beach alive and in time for supper.

1958 Californian transplants Fred Van Dyke, Peter Cole and Rick Grigg and North Shore pacesetters share a house on Ka'Waena Street, Pupukea. Between chasing big winter waves from Avalanche to Outside Velzyland, Cole and Van Dyke find work as teachers--math and science respectively--at Honolulu's prestigious Punahou School. Students include Paul Strauch Jr., Fred Hemmings, Gerry Lopez, Jim Blears, James Jones and Jeff Hakman, all of who would eventually graduate with honors in their teacher's North Shore classroom.

1961 George Downing, Ricky Grigg and Aussie Bob Pike ride epic Laniakea, a north swell reef break located just north of Haleiwa. Unlike the peakier North Shore breaks, properly-breaking Laniakea offers a long wall which Grigg compares to 20-foot Malibu. Downing, schooled in Makaha Point Surf, is especially impressive.

2001 Primary location photography begins along the North Shore for Universal Picture's feature film Blue Crush, the latest in a long line of Hollywood surf and romance epics--this time around from a female surfer's point of view. Appropriately detailed actresses are assembled and posed against suitably dramatic backdrops at power spots like Avalanche, Pipeline and Makaha, while a team of top women pros Taft-Hartley their way into well-paying doubles work. Injured while riding decent-sized Pipe, go-getter Rochelle Ballard, who's doubling for lead actress Kate Bosworth, is relegated to the beach. She is replaced by diminutive, former Quiksilver/Eddie winner Noah Johnson, surfing in a blond wig and bikini, who provides the film with its climatic--and, in fact, its only successfully ridden--Pipeline tube ride.

1962 Having convinced producers of Columbia Picture's Ride The Wild Surf that he is a true big wave legend, Malibu stylist and merry prankster Mickey Dora must now join the film on location on the North Shore and surf, for the first time, Haleiwa, Sunset and Waimea Bay. Dora, his back to the wall, so to speak, performs creditably at every venue, including a big day at the Bay, where his mid-face, turn-and-trim approach, while snickered at by the gun-and-run heroes of the day, closely approximates what will be considered high performance Waimea surfing in the next three decades to come. Stealing the RTWS scene, however, is Dora's ersatz friend Greg Noll, who barges into so many waves that filmmakers later write a character named "Eskimo" into the script, played by almost-famous James Mitchum, resplendent in Noll's trademark 'jailhouse' striped trunks

1965 Fred Van Dyke is approached by Honolulu night club promoter and entrepreneur Kimo Wilder McVay, who pitches him the idea of a "professional" surf contest to be held on the North Shore. McVay calls it "The Duke Kahanamoku Invitational." Not coincidentally, McVay owns Duke Kahanamoku's, a struggling night spot located in Waikiki's International Market Place. While no actual prize money is offered, appearance fees are paid to a select list of 24 elite invitees, the whole group being feted about Waikiki in grand style. With Van Dyke at the helm, the inaugural Duke is run on a single day in perfect 10-to 12 foot Sunset, and won by 16 year-old Jeff Hakman, who shocks the established North Shore riders with his "New School" approach.

2002 Jaime, the 18 year-old son of North Shore fixture Mick O'Brien, competes in his second Pipeline Masters local trials. The year previous, O'Brian, who grew up on the beach at Pipeline, surfed his way to a berth in the main event finals. In this year's trials, the blond regular-foot is a Beserker, charging heedlessly into long barrels and un-makeable sections alike. Despite his electrifying performance, O'Brian places third and is eliminated from further competition, but is described by event commentators as a promising representative of the North Shore's "New School" performers.