All language subtitles for 100 Foot Wave - 01x03 - Mavericks.WEB.720p-BIGDOC.English.C.orig.Addic7ed.com

My mom's never been to Portugal.

We're really excited to have her here.

Sometimes it's tough
to have my mom around,

but since Nicole's come into my life,

it's been a joyful experience
every time I hang out with her

and it's been wonderful.
So, I think it's gonna be great.

2011, and my mom wanted
to come visit us.

And it was a challenging trip,
a very challenging trip.

Why you come over here to Portugal?

To see Garrett surfing
these awesome waves

and look at the country while I have
that opportunity to be with him.

Mostly, it's mostly to be with him.

Please get out of there.

To be honest, it would really,
really scare me

to know that Garrett
was surfing huge waves

because I know they're deadly.

But because I have my faith in God
and Garrett will be on this planet

as long as he needs to be here,
I'm not worried.

My relationship with my mom
is really good,

but she's a very strict,
born-again Christian.

Tell you, the devil is so smart,

he's got everybody believing
he doesn't exist. And that's tricky.

So try not to get
into those conversations with her.

That's what I never did with my kids.

They would bang themselves up,
but I'd just go ohh.

- Shake it off, right?
- That's why there's no fear.

I mean he doesn't have any fear.

I'm grateful for my mother having such
a relaxed way of raising me

and letting me experience life.

She let me experience everything
on my own.

From a very young age,
we were free.

All I remember is fun.
My childhood was fun all the time.

If you ask him about his childhood,
he'll say it was great.

And if you know anything about
his childhood, it's far from great.

It's disturbing.

Check out these monster
100 foot waves off Portugal.

The biggest wave ever surfed
as high as 100 feet.

To put that into perspective, that
is taller than an eight story building.

Surfers are always looking
for the next great thing.

It often breaks those brave
or crazy board riders.

Severe wipeouts
and waves of mind boggling height...

What happens here happens
nowhere else in the world.

The biggest wave ever surfed.

100 foot wave.

100 FOOT WAVE

Chapter III
Mavericks

My childhood was very unstable
and very unconventional.

I've learned to accept my childhood.

I got a really amazing ability
to forget and disregard information

that comes in my brain.

You know, like a computer,
you got the main screen,

you got all the hard drives.

Probably got a lot of hard drives
back there, full of stuff

that I don't even ever access
and don't even remember.

Garrett was born in Massachusetts.

His father was a Latin professor
at a boarding school.

And his mother was like the house
mother for the boarding home.

And they moved to California

because his mother had received
an inheritance.

So she took the money and she bought
this property up in Northern California

and started a commune
with a bunch of people.

Yeah, we had a weird childhood.

My mom was a little out there.
My dad was a little out there.

The commune in California
was a dream.

Bunch of people, bunch of friends.
We grew our own food.

We did everything together,
lived off the land sustainably.

And then Malia was ready
to just leave.

So she told Lawrence, his dad,

and he's like, well,
I don't want to go anywhere.

So he said, I'm staying.

She left Liam with my father
and took me with her.

We drove a Volkswagen van
from San Francisco

all the way to British Honduras.

My mom was a free spirit.

That's where she wanted to live
and wanted to start a life there.

My mom met this guy.

He was really a jealous, insecure man.

He was really violent.

So then Garrett and his mom escaped
like in this rowboat

with crocodiles and stuff.

Through the mangroves
and the jungle.

They go back to Berkeley, get Liam.

And then Malia decides
to join the Christ family.

They say they are the followers
of Jesus Christ Lightning Amen,

reportedly a former San Diego
building contractor.

And while professing non-violence,
a fierce vegetarianism,

celibacy, and a materialism in love,

to talk to them is to invite
scathing criticism.

You come with an open heart, you're
going to receive nothing but love.

You come with your arrogance, you're
gonna get the hell slapped out of you.

They believe their Messiah,
Jesus Christ Lightning Amen,

has come to smash all material things
and all materialists.

My mother was looking for God
and she brought us along for the ride.

She found the Christ family
up there in Mount Shasta

and for some reason she liked what
they were saying and had to offer.

We were traveling up to watch
the Martians fly out

of the top of Mount Shasta.

We got there and they told us
to burn everything.

And she burnt whatever we had,
all of our clothes,

all of our lively possessions.

It was called the Christ family.

So we walked the earth
the same way Jesus walked.

It was a pretty crazy journey
as a 5-6-7 year old kid.

We were always trying to find
Christ Lightning Amen,

who was this elusive cult leader.

We had no transportation,
so we walked barefoot.

And we would walk
and they would chant no sex,

no killing, no materialism.

And the people would always yell:
"Well, where did the kids come from?"

And my mom would always say:
"Well, that was before!"

And the people would laugh
or they would get disgusted.

It was degrading,
definitely degrading.

They walked for six months
to a year. They had no shoes.

They would sleep wherever
they could sleep.

They ate out of trash cans.

That's how we survived.

Yeah, that's the childhood part
that I think messes with me a lot.

You're never really secure.

But as long as I have Nicole,
I feel secure.

Put this set on that ski.

- And that one?
- This ski.

Hello, CJ!
Where are you, man?

I'm back here in Hawaii. You have
a nice new warehouse, huh?

Yeah, perfect!

Come on right over.

I want you on the movie this year,
you know?

I know, me too. So we gotta have
some Skype dates.

You can keep me on for that.

Our idea for the third year project
was Garrett and friends.

Basically, we need to open
the door to everybody.

I kept sharing with all my friends
that we found this amazing wave

and you got to come visit.
You got to come surf with us.

Nobody came.

Sebastian and Tom Butler
were the first two guys to bring

their own ski
and figure everything out.

I was over in Ireland,
towing in with Sebastian Steudtner.

We were promised swell
in Ireland,

but it didn't really live up
to what the forecast had said.

And we'd seen images of Garrett
and Cotty,

like in nice sunshine and huge Nazar�.

No one out. And we just packed
the van, drove down there, check it out.

- First time in Pria De Norte?
- The first time, yeah.

What are you expecting for?

Well, we went and had
a drive yesterday,

me and Sebastian,
and the beach is crazy.

There's waves coming
from everywhere.

And it's like nothing
I've ever experienced before.

I grew up in a town called Newquay.

It is a surf mecca for the UK.

2010 was when I got
into big wave surfing.

I knew Cotty a little bit.
We would always turn up

at the same swells together.

We hung out in Ireland when I started
sort of getting into big waves.

He's been British champion

and a big name in the competition,
on the surfing scene.

I've been running this morning
and I feel kind of ready.

As ready as I can be, I think.
I'm going to focus on the lefts.

I'm a goofy foot, so...

Ride away from that cliff.

Yeah, please.

When we arrived,
there was Garrett, Cotty,

and that crew. And that was it.

Them early days,
there was hardly anyone around.

The lighthouse wasn't open to
the public my first year I got there.

For a long time,
it was just left uninhabited,

nothing going on with it.

The lighthouse belonged to the Navy.

Nobody went there.
It was always closed.

It was a little bit destroyed
and stuff.

When we arrived in 2010,

we're like, we've gotta be able
to get into this lighthouse

so we can shoot from the roof
and we can do safety.

It was tough. But we got the keys.

When we opened that door
and went in there,

it was eight feet high piled
with fishnets.

The whole entire lighthouse.

Went up to the top and then
we looked around and went,

this place is magnificent.

You can feel the energy from hundreds
of years of the waves beating.

I mean, it's just pure magic there.

We've got to get this open.

But our city hall friends, they're like,
no, it's not possible, not possible.

Garrett's like, anything's possible.

You just got to talk
to the right person.

So we went straight to the Navy

and they've worked with us
to open the lighthouse.

When we opened it to the public,

we took all the kids from the school
and just shared the beauty.

It was a really special moment

because these children never imagined
being able to go into the lighthouse.

Maybe you can tell them history
right here.

The people from Nazar� lived and died
without going inside the lighthouse.

They opened it
for the people to come and see.

It felt good to give back
to the people of Nazar�

because they've been really good
to me.

The best experiences of my life
have happened in Nazar�.

And now let's say the big wave
is coming.

That year,
we invited Martin Stepanek.

He's a world record free diver.

He did this whole survival course
with everybody.

And take your peak inhalation
and start your dive.

It was our last full session
where we were going to do

our longest static breath hold
in the pool.

Make sure
every single muscle is relaxed.

I held my breath for three minutes
and 15 seconds.

And breathe.

There's something at the bottom.

In front of all these good friends
of ours and great men,

will you marry me?

It's both of our birthstones.

That afternoon, we had a photo
shoot with Mercedes on the beach.

Later that night, I looked down
and the rings gone.

I mean like he literally gave it to me
five hours ago. I'm like, fuck.

I have the pictures
from the photo shoot.

So I'm looking at like every picture
and I can see like, have the ring,

don't have the ring.

So my dad and I go down there
with like our phone flashlights.

We couldn't find it.
So then I tell Garrett.

He's like, don't even look for it
because Mama Nazar�'s jealous.

And that ring belongs to her.

If you find it,
I'm throwing it back there.

The whole village was
on the beach, looking for this ring.

We had like metal detectors,
everything.

We never found the ring, but the whole
time, Garrett's just sitting there,

like "if you find it,
I'm literally throwing it back".

Just let me know
when you find it, okay?

I grew up like in a very serious
environment.

I am super responsible.

The most irresponsible thing
I've ever done in my entire life

is be with Garrett.

We met in Puerto Rico
at a charity event.

An hour after talking, he was like,
I have to tell you something.

I'm married.

And I said, well, so am I.

I had just gotten married
13 days ago, which isn't cool.

Buit there was nothing
we could do about it.

It was like no one existed to us,
but each other.

We really both truly left our lives.

For the first three years,

we just had our bag of clothes

and we just traveled around the world.

There was just like this energy
of Garrett of anything's possible.

There's no parameters to life.

It was just this beautiful,
just freedom.

Guess what's happening today
at 4:30, boys?

- What's happening?
- I'm getting married.

No way.

At the lighthouse.

This is a busy day for you, Garrett.

His idea was to surf a wave
and like surf into a beach

and then sort of James Bond style,
pull off his wetsuit

and be ready in his suit,
ready for the wedding.

Surfed all day.
It was 20 foot and glassy.

We had an invite to the ceremony,
but the waves were pumping.

So we kind of carried on surfing.

Came in, got ready
and went to the lighthouse,

set everything up perfect.

And then Nicole came down
in this cool little car

and her dad was there to walk her in.

They asked me to conduct
the ceremony.

It was an amazing moment.

The team was all there.

We were all sharing the same
experience. It was kind of magical.

The energy of that team was...
We were a family, for sure.

I think it's going to work
because she's crazy.

I know it's gonna work.

Since Nicole came on the scene,
my brother changed a lot.

He's more connected.

That's how he is now.
That's the new Garrett.

Me and Garrett both love each other
a lot.

And we're very happy
for each other's successes.

But we weren't
the most supportive brothers.

1976, we left the Christ family

and my mom said we're moving
to Hawaii.

Our mom brought us here,
to the north shore of Oahu

and we were in a one bedroom
apartment.

We had carpet, luckily.
That's what we slept on.

We met a kid in the neighborhood.
It was his birthday.

And he asked his mom to go surfing
for his birthday.

His name was Butchy Boy.
Butchy Wong.

And it was right down the road.

Butchy's dad let us take
his knee boards out.

And the first few waves we got,
we weren't going to do it on our knees.

We stood right up.

It was love.

Our first board was a long board

and we cut the middle out of it
and fiberglassed it back together

so we could have a small board.

We were definitely close
when we were young.

In elementary school,
I used to get picked on a lot.

And Garrett actually had to come
and back me up

and fight a few times.

But once Garrett went off
to high school,

he started having new friends.

We were really mean to Liam
when he was young.

He would ditch me and go hang out

and I'd be jealous or pissed because
they didn't invite me

because I was the younger brother.

We got him so mad that he would
just rage to catch us and we'd run.

So he wouldn't catch us.

I made some different friends and
we'd basically live at friends' houses.

I was 15, we were partying
and got arrested.

And I got put in juvenile home.

They called my house
and Garrett answered the phone.

And he was partying at our house
and he just kinda laughed

and hung up the phone
when I was in jail.

As a kid, he didn't do nothing
to help me.

In 1988, I was a finalist in a surfing
competition at Sunset Beach.

And I turned pro.

Back then, if you accept any money,

you're automatically
a professional surfer.

I won 250 at Sunset, 250 at Pipe,
gladly accepted it.

And oh my God, I'm a pro surfer.

We were very competitive
with each other.

We'd be out in the water and me
and Garrett would kind of butt heads

for waves.

I wouldn't go out when he was out.

Just cause he took every wave

and I didn't see any point in being
out there

when the wave was gonna
come to me and he was gonna take it.

For those first five, ten years,
I made a name for myself

and he was kind of in the shadows
for some years there.

I've known Garrett McNamara
since probably the eighties.

I was the editor of Surfing Magazine
back then.

Really, it was his brother who was

the loud mouth, obnoxious,
really good surfer.

Liam was so focused
and so hungry.

He would not back down
to anybody.

The gnarliest, heaviest guy
on the island could be sitting here

and Liam will paddle around him
and take his wave.

Yeah, he wasn't my favorite guy
in the lineup.

You got guys that are aggressive
and they keep paddling.

You're sitting there,
you're waiting.

They get a great wave.
You think I'm next

and then he paddles right behind you
and starts yelling, "I got it".

People kind of looked at me as the
Dennis Rodman or John McEnroe

of the sport of surfing.

He was always coming and yell
at the judges,

trying to break the judges stand.

My reputation got pretty bad.

Liam was very full of himself

and from what I understand,
not a lot of fun to surf with.

But he became very well known.

I did have photos of Liam
on my wall when I was a kid.

Gath helmet, visor down.

Either getting tubed at Pipe

or doing like weird straight airs.
With the full visor down.

Yeah, that was part of his costume.

He suited up and would go into battle.

I was amazed that he could wear
that shield with the tin in it

and still pulling the tube
and come out. But he did it quite well.

He was one of the most photographed
surfers in the world

for about 10 years.

So Liam was the known
McNamara brother.

I won the Pipe Master trials
three years in a row.

It was challenging to see him
do so well and I just got the scraps.

Garrett wasn't that great
of a competitor.

I don't think he enjoyed it
as much as I did.

Nobody really knew of me.

And if they did, it was,
that's Liam's brother.

I think he had a little jealousy
and a little animosity.

Slowly Garrett just started charging
more and a little bit more.

Then we were like, oh my God,
this guy's crazy.

He just quietly surpassed Liam.

You're out there surfing with
your brother.

You see him get barreled.
You want to get a better barrel.

You see him do an off the lip.
You want to do a heavier off the lip.

You see him catch a big wave. You
want to catch an even bigger one.

Just so happens, now my brother's
finally caught bigger ones than I catch.

My brother Liam pretty much focuses
his career on pipeline and Rockies.

Myself, I try to get away
from everybody

and hide out on the outer reefs
and just enjoy giant waves.

Couple of the waves he caught
were life-changing moments.

And he had a few of them all within
a span of 24 months.

Garrett was able to get the cover
of Surfing Magazine twice in a year

and became a worldwide game.

So I brought the name up here

and then as I started to come down,
Garrett brought the name up here.

At one point I was blackballed
by a bunch of the surfing industry.

They wouldn't shoot photos of me,
wouldn't put me in the magazines.

I was causing havoc, but that's
the only thing I knew to do.

And there was a few years there where
Garrett kind of didn't want to be

my brother. He didn't want
to damage his reputation.

Did that bother you at the time?

Yeah, I mean, when your brother
doesn't back you up...

I was in the Pipe Masters one year
and I broke my leash,

lost my board,
and ultimately lost the event.

And I remember specifically
telling my wife,

my brother wasn't there for me.
I wish my brother was there.

We would go a year and maybe talk
two or three times.

It was pretty tough
to be around him sometimes.

They love each other, they're brothers,
but we don't hang out.

We don't have Christmas together.
We don't...

We're not close.

From 40 to 45, I struggled to stay
in shape to stay in the game.

Maybe about five years ago,

I went out and my mind thought
I could do it,

but my body wouldn't allow me
to do it. And I almost died.

So that's kind of when I gave up.

And I decided to put my family first
and realized that I needed to retire.

I don't have any regrets.

In the end. I was able
to make a living as a surfer.

And you look at the numbers
of people who were successful

in surfing careers.
It's very, very rare.

After losing his surf sponsorship,

Cotty decides to return home
to England a month early.

Losing my main sponsor, was tough.

We had like a seven year relationship.

I thought it was like a lifetime,
you know.

It felt like I'd been dumped
by a hot girlfriend.

The way you survive off surfing

is getting sponsors
to pay you a salary.

Hopefully a three-year contract,

usually one year,
but potentially 10 year contracts.

And then every year
you gotta produce something.

Mommy?

Expensive dream, everything.
The jet skis are expensive.

The flights at the last minute
to anywhere are expensive.

If you don't have anyone
to sponsor you or support you,

then who's going to pay for it?

I've got a family and a wife

and it's like,
what should you do, you know?

There's loads of action in the Atlantic,
all looks red.

That means there's
a lot of swell out there.

Someone's already
got to be there, right?

It's frustrating.

It'd be nice if money's not an object

and you can do whatever
you want, whenever you want.

But you can't afford to be
on every swell.

You just need to be
on the right swells.

There's a long interval, so we can
get out. See how you gotta run?

January 2013,
a big swell popped up.

Cotty couldn't be there.

So we decided to bring
Keali'i Mamala,

who was Garrett's tow partner
when I met him.

Look at this!

I wasn't entering the WSL.

So I didn't have to get
the biggest wave or the best wave.

I was just going back to have fun.

If it's already peak, then we've got
to get whatever's there.

If it's still coming, from 9 'til 12
can't be maybe break.

The high tide is gonna be better.
Even to paddle.

We hired a really good
still photographer

and he was working under Jorge Leal.

So Jorge Leal put him up on the school
where you can get the good picture

and he set up his video camera
next to him.

We knew at the time
all the best places.

None come close to that.
Not even close.

You've got a couple of waves
coming on your outside.

They're big, Garrett!

The biggest I've seen
since I've been here.

Good job, Eyes on the Cliff.
Thank you so much.

Did you see that?
Dude, I can't believe this.

I was so proud of that angle
and that wave of Garrett.

The photo was the most beautiful
photo ever.

Surfer wise, it was not worth
even talking about.

The wave didn't really break.

Garrett, being a traditional surfer,
like, "that wave did not break".

"Don't you guys dare put anything
out there. It's not a real wave."

He did not want us to do anything
with that wave,

but pretend it didn't happen.

So I tell them don't do anything
with it.

The photographer sends it
straight to Surfer Europe.

They write this big caption.

"Garrett claims to have surfed
the hundred foot wave."

And I see this
and I'm just like, what the fuck?

Get ready for what seems to be
the biggest wave ever surfed

as high as 100 feet

That tiny dot is Garrett McNamara,

dwarfed by probably
the biggest wave ever surfed.

The media picked it up and they
said it was a hundred feet.

And as Garrett's manager,

if they want to call it a hundred feet,
I'm not going to stop 'em.

A hundred foot wave,
Garrett McNamara. Fear is not...

That wave wasn't a hundred feet.

And the whole world thinks
I rode a hundred foot wave.

Guy's name is Garrett McNamara,
he's 45 years old.

I remember
looking on the news.

I just like blown it.
I should have been there.

I just was pretty gutted.

The photo of you on that wave
is unbelievable.

How did it feel?
What was the ride like?

My feet were popping out
of the straps.

Really, really similar to snowboarding
down a giant mountain.

I was thinking,
"gotta make this".

I didn't realize until the very end
that I was almost on the rocks.

In three years, we build
the North Canyon Project.

Now in the beginning,
it was belonging to a few of us.

With that picture,
it was basically done.

Finally, the people start to understand
the potential of our waves.

Now, Nazar� belongs to the world.
I've done my job.

That was the biggest swell
that we caught here.

And that was like the biggest wave
of the day.

I was with my team in Brazil.
I saw one interview with Garrett,

he told them in that interview Nazar�
is the biggest wave in the world.

Let's go there and see.

At that time Maya Gabeira
was from my team.

And we had Gordo
and Carlos Burle.

It's not a low budget project.

You need jet skis,
you have to spend time there,

especially back in the time
it didn't have much infrastructure.

It felt very exciting to be here
with very few surfers.

It was like a diamond in the world.

I couldn't believe people
weren't all over this place yet.

Nobody had like a base here.

Nobody was really dedicated
to the place.

You know, you had Garrett
with three years of experience

and a lot of respect for the place.

But us coming in, we didn't really
know how to handle the situation.

I was stoked that people came.

But I was really worried.

I surfed with Maya a bunch
all over the world.

She was probably
the hardest charging women around.

And she trained harder than everybody.
So she was ready.

The thing that really worried me was
they didn't come to us for advice.

We were making all the rules
with the city hall and with the Navy.

To go out there, you need
a ski to tow and a safety ski.

And you need communication with
a spotter on the cliff,

but we are not responsible
when they hit the water.

The first time I saw Nazar� really big
was October 28th of 2013.

Saw this one wave,
and I just thought, no.

How could it be?

Like how can a wave be breaking
there, that's the lineup?

I went to Jaws.
I went to Mavericks.

I went to the biggest waves
in the world,

but I never saw nothing like that.

Was like a movie or something,
this terror movie.

We heard a lot about the impact
of the shore break.

We were used to shore breaks
because we come from Brazil.

Brazil, it's a place of shore breaks.

But Nazar� was totally different,
was more powerful.

You have all kinds of directions
coming in

and you have the bank
and you have the cliff.

With those elements, you're never
on the safety zone in Nazar�.

But I knew that was going to be doable.

They had no idea
what they were dealing with.

If they come to me, I would
share everything that I'd learned.

They didn't ask one single question.
Not one.

We just wanted to do it.

Because that's the way
we've been doing it for so long.

You got to go and learn for yourself.
You got to put time in.

As soon as we got out of the harbor,

we went as fast as possible
to the peak and started surfing.

Gordo caught a wave with Carlos.

It was a huge wave
and he did very well.

And then I got back to the lineup

and we met with Maya and Pedro
again and everybody wanted to surf.

I said to Maya: "Go with Carlos.
No problem. And ladies first."

I drove her for one wave
and she didn't let the rope go.

I drove her to another wave
and she didn't let the rope go.

And the third wave, same thing.

And then I look at her and said,
surf, if you want to surf.

A big set came in.
We were driving towards it.

And I said: "Hey Maya, the left,
it's amazing,"

"And it's yours."
And she let the rope go.

I remember kind of falling on my back

and kind of seeing
like the wave covering me.

I popped up and nobody was around
to pick me up.

I was on the lighthouse
doing safety that day.

And it was just, it was a mess.

They didn't have adequate safety at all.

They had nobody on the cliff telling
the driver where to go.

And he went the opposite direction.

I couldn't find her,
so I was going around.

And then I started to listen to people
whistling and screaming.

So I was like in that foam,
then I just took this huge, huge wave

on the head.

I blacked out at the impact

and my lifejacket popped
over my head.

Stayed under for a long, long time.

I regained consciousness underwater.

And when I popped up,
I couldn't really breathe anymore.

And he finally came to me.

He comes to pick her up and pretty
much runs her over with the ski.

The last sense we lose
before dying is hearing.

So I couldn't see,
I wasn't there really anymore,

but I remember
his voice really loudly.

I said: "Just grab the rope
a little bit."

"I'll pull you a little bit closer
to the shore."

My last strength went
into like grabbing that rope.

But he's like dragging her underwater
and then she passes out

and she's just drowning.

Then she vanished.

When she appeared again,
thank God she did,

I jumped from the jet ski toward her
and I grabbed her.

He grabs her. And he brings her
to the beach.

She died down almost here,
and he was reanimating her.

I ran to the beach
and it's the lifeguard and Carlos.

I remember him looking at me
and he's like: "She's dead!"

And then all of a sudden
this huge set comes

and just washes all of us,
including her body up the beach.

Paramedics came at that point.

She started to move her hand
a little bit

and that caught my attention.
And I said, okay, she's moving.

So then they put her
in the ambulance.

Meanwhile, Carlos runs back
to the beach and goes:

"Help me get my ski in!"

I can't get involved with my emotions.

I have to think about my training.

I have to follow my protocol
and I have to deliver my mission.

I got a team, I'm here to surf
the biggest waves of my life

with my team. I'm gonna do that.

So then he gets his jet ski,

runs it back to the harbor
and goes back out.

And he does get one of the waves
of the day.

Was my biggest day I had ever had
a chance to surf at Nazar�.

So it was successful,
but still we had something

that wasn't in our plans.

But that happens
when you are surfing big waves.

It was truly a horrible situation.

I saw her unconscious and...

She's a person I care for a lot,
that I admire.

And I have a responsibility
for her as well.

I thought about her family,
about our surfs together.

These are very dangerous waters,
aren't they?

So why do surfers take
these deadly risks?

Well, as a big wave rider,
our objective is to be safe.

If you get hit by the wave,
after you've been riding it,

we call that wiping out.

That's a failed attempt on the school
that I went to.

And Maya, she doesn't have the skill
to be in these conditions.

And I feel like it's Carlos's
responsibility to take care of her,

and he's just lucky
that she didn't drown.

I mean, he did take care of it.
He saved her and she did survive.

I was very hurt at the time.

I'm an athlete.
I get seriously injured doing my job.

And the first thing that comes out
of one of our icon's mouth is

"you shouldn't be out there".

As a human on intensive care,
I expected to hear,

I wish her the best,
speedy recovery.

But I think emotions
were flying high.

You hate to offend anybody.

But when you see the footage of these
wrecks and you hear these injuries,

that's a warning sign.

You better be prepared and know
what you're getting yourself into

when you go into these conditions.

Somebody literally almost died.
Like she was dead.

They brought her back to life.

At that point, you think it's like,
why are you doing this?

I remember thinking how selfish
they are.

If you want to do this, that's fine.
But you shouldn't have a wife and kids.

But I didn't expect anything less
to happen.

I'm glad you were prepared for it.

- I'm prepared for it.
- Cause nobody else was.

They're going in the wrong spot
and pushing the limit.

It was the third year and that was
the worst accident we had seen.

Maya is stable
and won't need greater care,

but will stay under observation at the
Hospital of Santo Andr�, in Leiria.

The Brazilian surfer was among other
athletes who attempted to break

the record set by McNamara,

who surfed the biggest wave
in the world at Praia do Norte.

I did kind of feel responsible

because I was the one who pretty
much brought everybody to Nazar�.

Big wave surfing's dangerous.

And this wave here is more
challenging than any wave in the world.

That place can tell you
that you're not prepared.

So I think every team start to
understand that and copy our system.

A swell was booming down
to Portugal with no wind.

No wind for the whole day,
which is what I've been waiting for.

I literally just booked the flight

and we'll be in the sea
like before it gets light.

I was on the brink of reapplying
for full-time jobs,

going down that road. And luckily,
Katie, we talked about it.

She sort of said, go with
your heart and your passion

and things work out.

But it was a huge gamble.

With the anticipation,
I just wanna get out there.

As a surfer, the session wasn't great.

But the video footage,
it just looks nuts.

People were tagging it
like "biggest wave ever".

When we're trying to fly home,
Tuesday morning,

I woke up
and it was just like carnage.

And our Instant Index tonight begins
with a man who is a plumber,

but riding into history.
Look at this.

We go live via Skype
to Braunton in Devon.

There he is,
he is Andrew Cotton and son.

The media ran with it,
which was great for his career.

He was able to quit plumbing.

The wave got entered into the biggest
wave category

at the Billabong XXL awards.

The XXL Awards is important
for a surfer.

I was super happy for him.
I couldn't wait to see him win.

The winner of the 2014 Double XL
Biggest Wave award

is Gautier Garanx photo
by Eric Bellande.

The wave was 62 feet.

I kind of had an inkling
that I wouldn't win.

I always had doubt.

This story would have been
too perfect, you know.

He didn't win. It was a bummer.

When we got back in 2015,

we really wanted to create
something on our own.

So we created the Red Chargers.

It's about the surfers that look
for the red blobs on the map

and go charge.

The whole goal of the Red Chargers

is to put a face to these people
on the waves,

which is different than what most
of the big wave sites do.

You know,
the focus is just the wave

and you don't even know
what the person looks like.

And all of these guys and women
have an incredible story.

They've had to overcome a lot
to follow their dreams.

Our goal is for all of you to know
them as people, not just as...

A little dot.

It wasn't a contest,
it was a free surf.

And it was really to showcase
the underdogs.

We filmed all winter.

Try and mark where he is right now.
That's the spot.

Right there, that's the wave.
Pretty big one, Cotty.

The idea was to have a little video
about each surfer,

really tell their stories.

How'd it go out there?

It was fun, yeah.

That's what surfing's about, isn't it?
It was super fun.

At that time,
Garrett was training hard

and just surfing
more than he'd ever surfed.

He was on fire.
He got a lot of good waves.

I was at the peak of my career,
physically, mentally.

With all my partners,
sponsors, friends,

we had everything going so well.

Is that your dada?

Sick barrel, dad.

And I realized for years, I had put
all my energy into Portugal.

And then, once I accomplished

everything I wanted
to accomplish there...

Where's your style?

Where's your style?

I was so ready to surf
the world again.

This thing is so beautiful.
This is the one I'm gonna ride at Mavs.

There was a world tour
of big wave surfing at that time.

Best big wave spots, and there was
going to be a contest at each spot.

How they determine who's invited
is what is up for discussion.

Garrett was not on the list
for the Mavericks contest.

He calls the director.

He's like,
"Hey, I want to be in the contest".

"I've been at Mavericks many times.
I've put my time in there."

He said, "You gotta be at every swell if
you want to be invited to this contest".

He was just on a mission

to be at every swell at Mavericks
and prove himself.

And this swell popped up.

He was just gonna go
for the day.

After being in Nazar� five years,
Mavericks was a cakewalk.

I was in a really good place.
I felt super confident.

The forecast was a little sketchy.

Like there was going to be wind,
no wind.

So I was one of the only guys
that went, so I was so happy.

- Ready, Marco?
- Yeah! Let's go.

I paddled out past everybody
and sat there.

And boom, set came right to me.

I turn around,
I take a couple casual strokes.

Stood up.

And then everything
just kind of went wrong.

Oh my God!