Andy Irons Day #AIForever

Andy Iron's was an icon for all surfers, hated and loved, ridiculed and idolized.  Whether or not you liked who he was as a person, he will forever be one of the best surfers of all time.  No one, but Kelly (to an extent), could do what he could.  I remember exactly where I was when I heard that he passed away.  I was at school in Hawaii at the time, but on this specific day I went to the North Shore, it was the first well of the season.  The whole stretch of beach was firing.  My friends and I were at Waimea Bay watching the boys drop in on some bombs, it was the first time that I had ever experienced the "North Shore".  What seemed like all at once, everyone suddenly checked their phones and the whole beach became a somber, grey place.  Clouds rolled in, people started to cry and hug each other, the surfers one-by-one came out of the water.  I ran up to the lifeguard to see what was wrong and he said that the radio just announced Andy Irons death.  I felt nauseas; one of my role models, someone who had inspired me to surf, someone who I wanted to be had died.  I went from standing up to sitting down and in disbelief.

It all hit me at once; looking around, I noticed that he had touched so many people, inspired most of the surfers on that little chain of islands in the Pacific and across the globe.  I didn't know him, but I felt as if I had lost someone that I knew.  I knew him through all of the videos, I knew his surfing, I knew the rising sun painting on his board; but at the same time I didn't know him at all.

Looking back on that day at Waimea, it is ironic that on that day, North Shore received its first swell, as if Andy himself was giving us the joy that he felt whenever he stood up on his board - he didn't want us to weep and grieve, he wanted us to surf and carry his legacy through our surfing.  I still feel the same disbelief and somberness that I did on that day when I heard the words "Andy Irons has died" every time I watch his sections in Still Filthy, Fly in the Champagne and every other clip of him surfing.  I sometimes forget that he is gone.

Andy will always be an inspiration to me and my surfing as he will continue to be for everyone.  He will always be missed.  The good thing about always being missed, Andy, is that you will never be forgotten.

RIP A.I.