:18:19
As these surfers rode more and more
of the North Shore's fantastic waves...
:18:23
... the biggest wave of all
still eluded them.
:18:26
The spot, Waimea Bay,
which began to break...
:18:31
... when the rest of the North Shore
was too big to surf.
:18:40
But Waimea Bay was riddled
with taboos and fears...
:18:43
... as surfers of the '50s were haunted
by the memory of Dickie Cross...
:18:47
... a young California surfer
who, in December of 1943...
:18:51
... became trapped
by a fast-rising storm swell...
:18:54
... while surfing Sunset Beach.
:18:57
Unable to reach the shore,
he and fellow-surfer Woody Brown...
:19:01
... elected to paddle three miles
to the safer, deep-water...
:19:04
... Waimea Bay.
:19:06
But 50-foot waves
were closing out the bay...
:19:09
... and while attempting
to reach shore, both were caught...
:19:12
... by mountains of white water
and ripped from their boards.
:19:16
Brown eventually washed up
on shore naked...
:19:19
... while 17-year-old Cross
was never seen again.
:19:23
It spooked everybody.
They were like, "You can't ride there.
:19:26
It's a killer. We're not gonna
go out there. You're gonna die."
:19:30
Along with the death of Dickie Cross,
Waimea's reputation...
:19:33
... was steeped in superstition
and dread...
:19:35
... with tales that ranged
from haunted houses...
:19:38
... to human sacrifices at the heiau...
:19:41
... or Hawaiian burial ground,
overlooking the bay.
:19:44
All of these things
were whizzing around...
:19:48
...like a bunch of ghouls.
:19:50
People really believed
if you paddled out...
:19:52
...there was gonna be
this goddamn vortex.
:19:54
It'd be like flushing a toilet,
and there go the haoles.
:19:58
People thought you couldn't ride
Waimea Bay.