Eddie Would Go

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for some time now and it's taken a sunny Irish day and upcoming finals to drive me to it. My mind cannot stay focused on medicine for 8 hours a day, I'm lucky if I get 20 minutes, I just have to attack it from different angles, 20 minutes here 20 minutes there type of studying.

Anyway, last Friday Andrew and I decided to head down to Garretstown and go surfing. I was surprised because I discovered the icy waves of Ireland some time ago but every time I suggested Andrew try it he'd decline, saying that there were no waves in Ireland. But this time he said yes, so we went and got the gear and headed off, it was a perfect day for it. We got there and struggled into the wetsuits which are a must for the frigid temperatures of the Atlantic and headed out into the swell. After a brief lesson on the pop-up, we dove into the ocean. I told him to just try and catch the waves first. So after a few tries of paddling into waves, Andrew caught one and rushed in towards the shore. Needless to say, he loved it, and wants to do it again.

And so my blog begins, and we may not fighting 20 foot waves and saving lives but we should always remember that spirit and when faced with something new or challenging say to ourselves, "Eddie Would Go."

Story behind "Eddie Would Go"

Born May 4, 1946, Edward Ryon Aikau was the third of six children to a Hawaiian family. His life became one rooted deep within the ocean - a pioneering lifeguard, passionate big-wave rider, all around waterman and Hawaiian traditionalist. He was lost at sea during an epic voyage in 1978 when the double-hull voyaging canoe Hokule'a capsized in storm seas in the Molokai Channel, en-route to Tahiti. Aikau paddled away in a rescue attempt March 17, 1978. He was never seen again. His life is now legend.
In the 1980s, bumper stickers and T-shirts with the phrase "Eddie Would Go" spread around the Hawaiian Islands and to the rest of the world. According to maritime historian Mac Simpson, "Aikau was a legend on the North Shore, pulling people out of waves that no one else would dare to. That's where the saying came from -- Eddie would go, when no else would or could. Only Eddie dared."