What became known as 'the Eddie swell' was actually just sideband energy from a storm far to the north of the Hawaiian islands.

The storm's intensity added to the hype of the eleventh running of the Eddie, yet the truth was the bulk of the swell was never going to hit Hawaii; it was aimed a different direction, to the east, towards the American mainland.

On December 22nd and particularly on the 23rd, Mavericks had its largest waves in recent years. So large that many waves were breaking far off the usual reef on long dormant rock shelves that changed the wave shape. Unlike Jaws, which is surrounded by vastly deep water allowing swells to approach unbroken, the extra large waves at Mavs traversed a different peel line - not as hollow, always pinching. Still, it was comically big and the gloom kept the wind at bay.

The first video below is from Kurt Curt at Powerlines - cheers CRG. Filmed from the channel on the first day it gives a measure of the wave size. The following two are drone videos that obscure the size, but in their scope reveal the awesome playing area that is mega Mavericks.