"I cried when I found out about his passing. Even though he did burn me on a really good one at Backdoor with barely anyone out, I still cried."Photo: ASP/Kirstin Scholtz
I wrote this about a week after Andy’s passing:
Upon hearing the shocking news of the passing of Andy Irons, I spent nights laying in bed thinking about him, his wife, his brother, and all the lives he touched. I thought about my own mortality, and the fact that life doesn’t care who you are. When it’s your time, it’s your time, and the only thing left are the effects of your actions while in this life. Constantly my mind wandered back to an encounter I had with Andy in the year that he had defeated Kelly Slater at Pipeline to take the World Championship and cement his legacy as one of the most dominant professional surfers ever. Here is that story.
I was born and raised in Kaimuki on the island of O’ahu. My brother and I have both been surfing since we could walk. All shores, North, West, East, South, we have both surfed almost every single one of the three hundred some surf spots on Oahu. Growing up I did the whole NSSA scene. My age bracket had guys like Ross Williams, Jason Mags, Keone Watson, Pancho Sullivan, Nathan Wilbur, Erik Barton, and Shane Dorian.
I’ve surfed Pipe, Sunset, Waimea, all the standards and then some. Although I’m friends with a lot of the well known surfers, I never was part of the whole North Shore surf industry circus. When I would go for a surf in the winter, I would usually look for the less crowded but just as good spots like Laniakea, Jockos, V-Land, Backyards, or, when I could get it really good and not too many guys out, Pipe and Off the Wall.
The year Andy won the world title where it came down to that one heat at Pipe with Kelly Slater, he was on top of the world…literally. He was living a rock star life, making tons of money, and getting paid to surf the best waves in the world. A lifestyle many of us would be pretty envious of, and although my path in life was starting to look pretty good, part of me was definitely a little jealous.
A couple of days after he had won the title at Pipe, I drove out to North Shore to get a rare surf in before I had to go to work (my wife and I had just had our first child, Kirra). I used to surf pretty much every day, but surfing had become a rare luxury for me as real life was starting to get in the way. It was about 2-4 feet (Hawaiian scale) out of the northwest and blowing really hard trades, so there wasn’t a lot to choose from. I didn’t have much time, so I just parked at Dave Wassell’s house (where I usually stop first) in front of Off The Wall. I didn’t even look at the waves, just grabbed my board and paddled out. I don’t even remember if Dave was home or not.
I surfed OTW for a few waves and saw a couple of barrels over at Backdoor and not many people out. It was really blustery and just not very good, but I paddled over anyway to try and luck into maybe a little racer barrel or two. There were four groms out, two sponger chicks, and…..Andy Irons. He was riding a purple single fin. My cousins grew up on Kauai with Andy and Bruce so I had met them and hung out a few times. I exchanged head nods with him, and after looking at my watch realized I had to catch my next wave in. A set came in, maybe a little bit overhead, but a really good angle. If you’ve ever surfed Backdoor, then you know that even a chest high wave, if it’s got the right angle, a good shoulder, and it’s not going to closeout, you can easily get completely barreled and spit out.
Andy catches the first wave of the set. I think he ended up being too deep and kind of pulled through the back of the barrel down the reef. I was too deep for the second wave. So here comes the third wave. It’s about four feet (again, Hawaiian scale), by far the best wave of the morning, and an absolutely sick Backdoor wave. I’m in perfect position, and there is nobody around except me. I had that giddy feeling that a surfer loves knowing that I was about to get really barreled. Andy is on the shoulder, slowly paddling back out, watching me catch this wave. I catch it and am about to get a really good Backdoor barrel. Then Andy looks me right in the eye, gives a little half smile smirk and just absolutely burns me, causing me to have to straighten out and lay down and go in because I had to go to work. I could see him doing it to some flailing kook from wherever, but no, it’s not like he thought I was going to blow it or something. He knew I know how to get barreled.
I was REALLY pissed. Here’s Andy Irons, he’s just won the Triple Crown, Pipe Masters, and the ASP World title. He’s living an absolute dream life: surfing the best waves in the world and making more money at it than I’ll ever make. Then here’s me just wanting to get a good one before I have to go to work to pay the rent on my shitty duplex in Kalihi.
This experience caused me to hold a grudge against Andy for a long time. I couldn’t think about Andy Irons without thinking about that wave at windy, uncrowded, not-that-good Backdoor. Even though I’m a born and raised Hawaiian surfer, I would secretly root for Kelly over Andy. But the fact is, I was just blown away by Andy’s surfing. He was, by far, my favorite surfer to watch. His sheer command of the board under his feet was just mind-blowing. Andy was, is, and forever will be a legend of the sport of surfing.
I cried when I found out about his passing. Even though he did burn me on a really good one at Backdoor with barely anyone out, I still cried. When I really think about it, if I had paddled back out I’m convinced he would have told me that he was sorry and we would have had a laugh about it, especially if he knew that I was going in on that wave to go to work. Unfortunately I’ll never know.
I’m writing this because I forgive you Andy….I finally forgive you.
Sage Spalding
Haiku, Maui
