Tributes are pouring in across all media channels for Hawaiian, Pipeline aficionado Tamayo Perry. Perry was pronounced dead after he was attacked by a shark on the east side of Oahu.

Tamayo earned a reputation as one of the best at Pipeline in a late 90s-early 2000s era when surfing at Pipe was taken to a whole new level by a crew of committed specialists.  Although he was pushing 50, Perry maintained a commanding presence in the Pipe hierarchy right up until last season, where he was a stand-out in several sessions.

Veteran Australian photographer, Dean Wilmot, had known and photographed Tamayo for over twenty years and had the following to say about the passing of his friend. “ Tamayo was my brother, he was like the sunshine with a beaming warm smile, handsome, intelligent and a gentleman in every sense of the word, a true Hawaiian with endless Aloha. We were making plans to shoot together in Hawaii this coming January, see you in your next life mate.”

Perry grew up on Oahu’s east side (where he passed away) but gravitated towards the North Shore and its cluster of challenging waves. However, it was at Pipeline that Perry made his name as the good-looking, hard-charging goofy footer with the killer smile.

Looking for somewhere to get barrelled in the North Shore summers, Perry followed his tube-hound instincts to Australia’s northwest and became a regular in the lineup at Gnaraloo. He also married an Australian woman, Emilia. Together they were always a whirlwind of laughs and good times, forever striving to extract the maximum amount of joy from the surfing way of life they’d chosen.

Vale Tamayo. You spent your days doing what most of us wish we could. Riding the tube deep at the most challenging wave in the world.