The weather was unsettled and a bit humid as Aaron Pai welcomed guests to the Surfers’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony Thursday evening.
Pai glanced at the statue of the late surf pioneer Duke Kahanamoku at the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach.
“It feels like Hawaii, huh, Duke?” Pai said.
Pai is a native of Hawaii, as was Kahanomoku. So is the Aipa family.
It was appropriate weather, then, for an emotional ceremony born of tragedy.
Kolby Aipa became the youngest member of the Surfers’ Hall of Fame as he was posthumously inducted Thursday. He was 20 when he died in August following an e-bike accident.
Aipa, the grandson of the renowned late Hawaiian shaper Ben Aipa, was honored with a plaque next to his grandfather’s handprints in the cement in front of Huntington Surf & Sport. Ben Aipa was inducted into the prestigious club in 2018.
“Kolby Aipa — Northside Legend,” reads the new plaque, which was laid not far from the statue of Kahanamoku.
Duke Aipa, Kolby’s father, attended the ceremony with Kolby’s mom Val and sister Sky. They spread Kolby’s ashes around the plaque, after which the ashes were covered with cement.
“I’m trying not to take this as a moment of sadness,” said Duke Aipa, who moved his family from Hawaii to Huntington Beach about 10 years ago. “I’m trying to really embrace this as a moment of pride and love. I was working hard in this life, perpetuating my father’s legacy, thinking I had this surf legacy that I needed to pass on to my son and my son would run with it. That didn’t happen, but what did happen is that Kolby found a way to come back full circle to the basic principles of love and aloha brought here by the Duke [Kahanamoku] 100 years ago.”
Kahanamoku is credited with introducing Hawaiian-style surfing to the mainland in Huntington Beach in 1925.
A paddle-out ceremony is planned for Kolby Aipa on Saturday at 9 a.m. on the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier. A celebration of life will follow at Memorial Hall at 1 p.m.
Many of the guests at the induction ceremony wore black T-shirts and hats bearing the hashtag, “#IAmKolby.” Those who are members of the surf community shared how Kolby worked best, on a surfboard and in life, in a team environment. He held jobs at both Huntington Surf & Sport and a popular downtown breakfast spot, The Sugar Shack Cafe.
“He surfed better when he surfed for the team, because he was surfing for others,” said Andy Verdone, Aipa’s surf coach at Huntington Beach High School “He always liked to do stuff for others.”
Chris Moreno of Huntington Beach Boardriders Club remembers taking Kolby Aipa and other young surfers to an event at Snapper Rocks in Australia.
They didn’t advance, which made Kolby furious.
“He knew that the whole city was watching, and that’s all he cared about, the H.B. name,” Moreno said.
Interactions with Kolby were always positive, he added.
“He would always paddle up to you, look you in the eye and not just give you a fist bump but shake your hand,” Moreno said. “He would look you in the eyes and say, ‘How are you, Uncle?’ It’s a rare characteristic.”
Turning to the Aipa family, he added, “Thank you guys so much for raising such a beautiful young man.”
Duke Aipa, who blew the conch shell Thursday as he often does at surf ceremonies, ended it by leading the crowd in a chant of “I Am Kolby.”
“Kolby is a torchbearer for the Duke’s flame of love and aloha, which will burn forever brightly here in the city of Huntington Beach,” he said.