Waterman Clyde Aikau had a ‘joyous’ way of life

Clyde Aikau, esteemed waterman, dedicated community member and younger brother of big-wave surfer and voyager Eddie Aikau, died Saturday evening at his Waimanalo home. He was 75.

His death was announced Monday afternoon in a statement from the Aikau family, who said he died peacefully and is survived by wife Eleni Aikau, son Ha‘a Aikau, sister Myra Aikau and nieces and nephews.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blan­giardi said in a statement Monday that he was saddened by the news and that Clyde Aikau “carried Eddie’s legacy with pride, helping to preserve and share Hawaii’s deep connection to the ocean, to each other and to the culture that unites us.”

“Clyde lived a remarkable life, defined by courage, commitment, and aloha,” Blangiardi said. “He touched countless lives with his quiet strength, selflessness, and love for these islands.”

“Pwo” navigator and voyaging canoe Hokule‘a captain Nainoa Thompson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday that despite facing heart disease that hospitalized him in 2023 and, later, pancreatic cancer, “you would have never seen it in him.”

Thompson, who has had close ties with the Aikau family for dec­ades and sailed with both Clyde and Eddie Aikau on the Hokule‘a, said that in March, when the Polynesian Voyaging Society celebrated the voyaging canoe’s 50th birthday, the organization invited Aikau to be honored alongside the Hokule‘a’s previous captains and voyagers.

“We knew he couldn’t come because he was in pain, but I called him out of respect and said, ‘We’re going to recognize you tonight, and we know you can’t come,’ and he just stopped me and says, ‘I’ll be there,’” Thompson said. “Him coming, knowing the hardship of his agony and pain, you couldn’t see it. He addressed the group with such strength and such a goodness and kindness and aloha, as if there was nothing wrong with him. It was the highlight of the night.”

Aikau was born Oct. 24, 1949, in Kahului as the youngest of six children to parents Solomon “Pops” and Henrietta Aikau.

When he was about 10 years old, the family moved to Oahu in Pauoa Valley, where at age 15 he learned to surf under Eddie Aikau in Waikiki.

In 1965, Clyde Aikau won the state junior championship in 12-foot waves at Ala Moana Bowls, and by 1966 he began a decade-­long service as a lifeguard at Wai­mea Bay with Eddie, who was the first lifeguard to serve there.

In a previous interview with the Star-Advertiser, Clyde Aikau said the two of them regularly made “30 to 50 rescues per day.”

The family said in their statement that “Clyde and Eddie were the closest of brothers, sharing a passion and commitment to family, Hawaiian culture and the ocean.” They said the pair were especially famous “for their impromptu slack key guitar sessions that they shared with family and friends around the islands and the world.”

After Eddie Aikau died in 1978 seeking help at sea after the Hokule‘a capsized in the Molokai Channel, the Aikau family said, “Clyde followed through with his lifetime commitment to perpetuate Eddie’s legacy and contributions to big-wave riding and Hawaiian culture.”

Thompson, who was aboard the Hokule‘a when Eddie Aikau was lost at sea, said that even after Aikau’s death, Clyde Aikau was “100% committed to honoring his brother” and would scold Thompson for feelings of guilt years after Eddie Aikau’s death.

“‘He would say, ‘Nainoa, stop. That’s not what Eddie wants,’” Thompson said. Clyde Aikau “was always reflecting on what Eddie would want. Clyde was always the memory for Eddie, to remind us what was Eddie’s vision, what was his purpose, what was his hopes and aspirations for the Hokule‘a and the advancement of the Hawaiian people and pride and dignity.”

In 1985 the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was established in Aikau’s memory. It brings international surfers to Waimea Bay to ride the same monstrous waves both Clyde and Eddie Aikau had growing up.

In 1986, Clyde Aikau won the inaugural Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Contest and continued to compete every year the Eddie was held, placing fifth in 1990, 10th in 2001, eighth in 2002 and 21st in 2016, when he was 66 years old, becoming the oldest competitor in the tournament’s history.

During Clyde Aikau’s last entry at the surf competition in 2016, the Star- Advertiser reported that he injured his right rotator cuff after wiping out on his first wave at the tournament and paddled out for every other wave with his left arm, despite being right-handed.

At the time, he called it “one dirty lickins.”

Before entering the bay for the final round, he addressed the crowd and said, “Uncle Clyde got all bus’ up in that first round, but I’m going to catch one more big wave.”

“The crowd went crazy,” Clyde Aikau said in 2016. “That’s when Eddie came to me.”

Thompson recalled Aikau’s stubbornness fondly and said that he tried to convince him not to participate.

“You can’t talk to him; he’s going to lecture you and tell you why it’s a good idea. Don’t even go there about trying to stop him,” Thompson said. “I got lectured and it was beautiful. It allowed a glimpse into that soul, and this was something Clyde needed to do. It’s rare — he’s connecting with his brother.”

In 1995, Aikau sailed on the Hokule‘a for the first time. According to PVS, Aikau believed that the Hokule‘a has the ability to perpetuate Hawaiian culture for the Hawaiian people.

“While sailing, Clyde most misses ice cold water,” according to the PVS website. “While back on land, he misses watching the stars and skies at sea and the sense of excitement when seas are rough and he hears the call, ‘All hands on deck!’”

Throughout his life, the Aikau family said, that Aikau ran a Waikiki beachboy service for many years and was a lifelong education advocate, having attended the University of Hawaii, where he received a sociology degree.

In recent years Aikau served as one of 17 liaisons for the state Department of Education to ensure that houseless families and children in Hawaii had access to school supplies, transportation and education.

Thompson said Hawaii’s community should remember Aikau for his joyous way of life.

“Clyde, for me, was always the one that was the memory and the statement for what was important, frankly not just to Eddie, but to Eddie’s family,” Thompson said. “Clyde, in many ways, is a teacher to all of us of what courage really is. It’s easy to choose the road of anger and hurt, but he never, ever did that. Never.”