“Out Of Nowhere, That Wave Came To Me. The Rest Is History”

The Hawaiian winter is gone now, and good luck making sense of it. A historic run of swell gifted by the void, punctuated by much carnage, much absurdity, and many Herculean triumphs.

Landon McNamara won the Eddie, and then found himself in jail a day later. His brother nearly died. A team of Japanese ninjas hijacked Da Hui Backdoor Shootout. Barron Mamiya won Pipe. Again. Lucas Godfrey’s vertebrae exploded. Eimeo Czermack broke his back — again. Albee Layer left Maui. The North Shore was repeatedly bludgeoned by swell after swell. 

Yesterday, tragically, Clyde Aikau passed — a final note of gravity to a turbulent season.

Somewhere in there, between the rubble and glory, Eala Stewart threaded a deep, snarling Pipe tomb. The wave tried to finish him, failed, and spat him out into the channel like something it couldn’t digest.

That wave just earned him Wave of the Winter — no small feat in one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory. 

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A post shared by Eala Stewart (@ealadolla)

“I’ve always dreamt of winning Wave of the Winter. My goals at first were just to get a frickin entry… felt like that was such a mission growing up,” he wrote on Instagram.

“That whole swell I couldn’t get in a barrel, kept going straight on waves, picking the wrong ones, getting a bit discouraged but always kept the belief that any moment the wave of your life can come in. That’s why we go out every time… out of nowhere that wave came to me and rest is history.”

Congrats, Eala — now $10,000 heavier, courtesy of Blak Bear Surf Club.