Original subtitles

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[gentle music]

♪ ♪

There is a finite amount of big waves in the world.

There's only, like, four or five big waves

that are truly in a league of their own.

And the wave that changed it all was Jaws.

It's the wave that changed what was possible

and what the human body could endure and even ride.

♪ ♪

Jaws is probably the most perfect big wave.

It's very powerful when it first hits you

and very violent.

And it will take you

for a long period of time underwater.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- When Justine came for the first time,

it was the gnarliest day to paddle ever.

It was for the Jaws contest in 2018.

- Welcome back to the Jaws Challenge

at Pe'ahi and here...

[speaking French]

Justine wanted to catch the best wave of her life.

I think first wave, she paddled on the big one.

She fell.

She broke the board.

Normally, if you fell like that, like, you're fucked.

But she's feeling really confident.

She's like, "Okay, can you get me another board?"

So I give her another board, and she goes back out.

Justine Dupont back on the horse.

This time's gonna go successful on that drop.

Opened up with a horrible wipeout,

got back out there, and now she's...

She surfed that wave

that was a world paddler record contender.

Like, she's for sure in the final, you know?

Like, she made it to the final with that one.

And I'm like, "Okay, sit with me.

in the channel, relax, and wait for the final."

And she's like, "Shut up."

[chuckles] I'm like, "What? Okay.

Do your thing."

I just wanted to catch the wave

that I was dreaming about.

And the swell was getting bigger and bigger.

There's a new set coming. She's paddling back out.

- Got to paddle. - Oh!

- And we have surfer down. - Wow.

It may have been Justine Dupont.

Then I turn my head, and I look.

I'm like, "Fuck."

I see three or four Jet Ski rushing to Justine's wave.

I see one Jet Ski flip.

I see one guy jumping from the ski.

And I know, like, if the lifeguard

is jumping from the ski, it's bad.

I see Justine on the sled,

and they're rushing her to the medicine boat.

- [speaking French] - [whimpers]

♪ ♪

Up, one, two, three.

[dramatic piano music]

♪ ♪

- Lift. - [grunts]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

[person speaking French]

♪ ♪

Man, it's a freaking cold day.

Like, the wind is, like, super cold and super strong.

Like, some waves looking good.

But we know that, like,

it will be, like, almost impossible

to ride with that wind and so much current.

And the waves are not that good,

so it's better wait.

- No, some waves is good. - You see how it is? Like...

But that wind is really strong.

- [person chuckles] - It means it's not that good.

You can see, but you can't ride.

Okay, I'm going back to my car.

It's frickin' cold. [person laughs]

[dramatic choral music]

♪ ♪

We are like, "Okay, so maybe we spend

"the whole winter in Nazaré, and we think

about something else, you know, or just relax."

You know, we've been doing it for five winters in a row

or something like that.

The storms are lining up in the Pacific,

that powerful swell drawing

world-class surfers to Mavericks.

Here we are like,

"Come on, the Pacific is turning on.

"The Atlantic is turning off.

Okay, let's go."

[speaking French]

Hello.

Come on. Let's go.

♪ ♪

- [chuckles] - Yes!

[chuckles]

♪ ♪

[airplane engine whirs]

I had never really spent time in California

and it was great.

- Mexican food. - Mexican. [chuckles]

[chuckles]

[chuckles]

[giggles]

What I really love about her

is she could stop surfing today

and be proud of her career,

but she still, like, have new challenge

which are totally different.

She always have new way to think,

and we have fun doing it together.

[chuckles]

[snapping fingers]

[gentle music]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I understand that being French and European

is gonna be tough for me.

I will need to do way better

to be recognized by the community.

♪ ♪

- Big one. Steve. - Oh, Justine.

♪ ♪

Nice.

- Round two? - Quoi ?

She surfed for 12 days in a row,

and it was 6 hours of surfing every day.

Yes! Whoo.

Yeah, Justine!

[chuckles]

[scattered cheering]

♪ ♪

She surfs really good

in front of all the American guys

that haven't really seen her surfing.

Thank you.

And everybody's like, "She's amazing."

[chuckles]

And you got some good waves on it.

You're stoked.

♪ ♪

- Whoo! - Oh, my God.

♪ ♪

That much surfing...

it's almost too much.

♪ ♪

[yawning]

♪ ♪

Garrett McNamara is up early, always.

He's oftentimes

looking to rally a wingman at 5:00 a.m.

I have been, you know, victim to that a lot of times

of getting the knocks on the door

or just coming in.

[speaking indistinctly] [dog barks]

That is Garrett--

waking people up at 5:00 in the morning,

not knocking.

Doesn't matter what time it is.

Doesn't matter who it is.

[whispering] Conrad.

Well, it's smaller, but it's perfection.

Are you too tired? You just want to sleep or--

- You stayed-- - I don't know.

You stayed up all night?

Not all night.

[grunts]

- [chuckles] - [groans]

[yawns]

I got this on there, so just...

When the waves are happening, we got to be on it early.

And I let everybody know the night before

that I'm coming to get 'em, but...

I just love stoking people out.

I love seeing people smiling, having fun,

accomplishing their goals, their dreams,

doing what they love.

Great, great.

Garrett can definitely convince people to do things

that maybe they don't feel comfortable doing

and sometimes shouldn't even be doing.

- One, two, three, go. - Get it out there.

There's something about the way

he will believe in you.

Ah, come on, come on.

- Come on. Come on. - Ah!

He pushes people, and you don't think you can do it.

His faith in you--

and because he has so much experience in the water,

you believe him,

and you say, "Oh, wow. Yeah, I can do this."

So, yeah, he pushes people to be their best.

It's in his trust and belief in what they can do

that allows people to do that.

It's amazing.

♪ ♪

[chuckles]

We were exhausted.

Like, every day we went in the water at dark.

I surf all day.

We were tired.

Like, we were waking up every morning at 4:30,

like, for 15 days in a row.

The one thing about surfing

is you need to really push yourself to perform.

If you want to succeed,

you need to really push harder.

But sometime it's a really fine line

between pushing too much and get injured.

Two years ago in Jaws, I was on a mission.

I wanted this wave, and Fred wanted to stop me

just before that happened, the injury,

and I didn't listen to him.

I knew Fred, at his back of his head, like,

"Okay, maybe she could have reached

"a really good level,

"but because of this injury, maybe she reached the top,

and she don't got to perform more."

For me, it was painful

to feel that he wasn't confident in me

and he was give up--

he was ready to, like, give up.

She can do amazing things,

but she's also, like, not able to see where the limit is.

And I really think she need to have someone

to stop her, but it's painful for me

to be the guy that be like, "Hey, Justine, stop."

When she got the accident,

I was thinking about the opportunities

she was missing, and I was scared for her.

[sighs]

[sighs]

♪ ♪

[birds chirping]

♪ ♪

[knife thudding]

Sick.

CJ didn't really surf for a long period of time.

But he's such a freak of nature.

Like, he's good at everything and anything he does.

[knife thudding]

So he's always kind of ready,

but he always goes internal,

and he's thinking way more than he's doing.

So it's really challenging being stuck up here

and not here, there, everywhere.

But he's working on his path, his life path.

[both humming]

I was still teaching.

You know, I was teaching this class

of, you know, little six-year-olds,

and, man, that's a journey.

all: ♪ Aloha kakahiaka ♪

You know, just the kids day after day

is solid, super rewarding.

Ha! Whoo!

And it's a special kind of attention, energy

that's needed to be with those kids.

Raise your hand if you...

And it seemed like a bit much for me.

So I've stepped back from teaching that class

for the second half of the year

so that I can focus more on other things

that lighten me up a little bit more.

He expressed interest in wanting to train.

♪ ♪

Because I've, you know, laid myself off from teaching,

I'm focusing on the mission, you know?

Focusing on catching the giant wave

and surfing a lot, training with Garrett.

♪ ♪

I've been really happy.

Once CJ stopped teaching,

there was, like, a spark ignited,

and he was ready to focus on his body

and being ready for when his chance came

to surf again.

So now I'm getting back on it, you know?

- So we can get in there. - Amazing.

Yeah.

I've been working with a couple of personal trainers

and doing a lot of breath work, breath training.

Once you feel the need to breathe,

breathe in slowly...

Just really focusing on surfing, being ready,

'cause you never know what's gonna happen

living with Garrett.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

These days, it's not always clear

what Garrett's up to or his intention is

on any given day.

"Gently guide fortune and help determine the future

"by thinking far ahead.

"Begin with an end in mind.

"Having an end in mind

"is no guarantee that you'll reach it.

"But not having an end in mind is a guarantee you won't.

"Plan all the way to the end.

"When your efforts are not directed

"at a cause or a purpose,

"how will you know when to stop?

"How will you know when you've had enough,

"when you've reached your goal,

"when you've gotten off track,

"if you've never defined what those things are?

"The answer is that you cannot,

"and so you are driven into failure

"or, worse, into madness.

Oblivion of directionlessness."

♪ ♪

So what's your intention for today?

Just be loving.

♪ ♪

Meditating is the key

to a meaningful day.

I really like to just turn this off...

[exhales deeply]

It's really changed my life.

For the first time in my life, I'm patient.

I have a lot of patience.

I don't need to be out there chasing that perfect swell.

[soft tense music]

♪ ♪

- We're talking about a big swell

that is on the rise today.

High-surf warnings have been posted...

Huge surf is here...

The waves are only going to get bigger overnight.

This swell is very dangerous.

The surf keeps coming.

That's right--early next week, we'll have one

of maybe three or four storm systems

that will pass to the north.

And this could potentially be

the strongest we have seen so far...

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

A barrel is one of--

or maybe the best maneuver in surfing.

[laughing] It's like really sending

the coin in the air and...

Eeh!

[person speaking indistinctly] Wow!

♪ ♪

When we were in elementary school,

the talk was, "Oh, I'm gonna surf Jaws one day,

whenever my parents will let me."

It almost became my identity before I even got to ride it.

Like, "I'm gonna be a Jaws surfer."

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Jaws is the birthplace

of tow surfing and big-wave surfing,

and I've never been there.

To never have been there and see it,

knowing that it's the mother

of so many great big-wave surfers, right?

It means so much to Garrett.

He's got so many waves there-- that big barrel.

♪ ♪

I was definitely hoping

that Garrett could tow me in Jaws.

And it could be so sick. I was dreaming about it.

I was on the fence to stay here or go to Jaws,

stay here or go to Jaws.

And I hadn't surfed Jaws in so long,

and my body wasn't that strong,

but Jaws--kind of like my first love.

Jaws restarted my career,

and got my favorite wave I've ever ridden out there.

So I just wanted to go back and say hello.

Like, Garrett's gonna surf?

And, "What the fuck? Why are we asking this?"

- Yeah. - Like, this guy's gonna surf

the craziest wave ever tomorrow.

- Yeah. - Like, "Go for it."

- Like, we found, like-- - Go down from your cloud.

And at the same moment, like, also Michel was there.

And he's like, "Yeah, sure I'll tow you."

Like, Michel, Garrett, they're both legend,

and we see what happen.

It's been just amazing having Michel Larronde.

[chuckles]

In France, he's a big legend.

He's in the dance with ocean, you know,

and connected.

He's the guy.

He was one of the first surfers to surf Jaws,

so he's got a ton of experience.

- [chuckles] - [speaking French]

Ah!

To be able to have his confidence with me--

he trusts me--

it's just, like, amazing.

I was going through my old stuff,

and I found this picture that I drew

when I was maybe six.

This big blue wave--

me surfing it, tiny, little guy.

It was giant, sun shining.

And I write this little poem,

and it's like, "The waves are huge, and I'm going out.

"All the film crew and everyone's there,

and, like, I go catch the wave of my life, and it's epic."

The thing looked like Jaws and everything--

this little drawing that I did.

I was like, "Wow. Oh, my God.

I just, like, called this, painted this picture."

I'm like, "Well, I got to go see

if I can, like, make it a reality."

So that was the sign that said, "Okay, yeah, I'm going."

♪ ♪

[exhales deeply]

[grunts]

Nicole?

I'm gonna go cut some flowers and some tea leaves and stuff.

It's a offering to the goddess of the ocean,

Yemanjá,

for safe passage

If I don't offer something,

I just offer myself

and my love and gratitude.

Always giving gratitude.

That's beautiful.

This is only my second session out here.

It's gonna be crazy.

Guys are gonna be doing crazy stuff.

Hopefully I can throw myself in that mix, too.

[both chuckle]

You don't have a pull-out for that yet?

- Yeah. - Or you do?

Landon's my nephew, and I've been towing him here,

like, 40-foot waves, since he was 12 years old.

And he was going to Jaws, so I took him under my wing.

Here.

I got my little baby with me, so he was waking up a bunch.

And every time he woke up, I woke up, and...

every hour I kept hearing

the waves getting a little bit bigger,

and I was like, "Oh, okay. It's coming."

Bye, guys. Good luck.

Everybody ready?

- [engine turns over] - Yep.

[indistinct chatter]

[hums] Oh, yeah.

[chuckles]

Little bit.

[grunts]

It was hard to go to Jaws

because I knew that I already injure myself at this wave.

[siren wailing]

You still have some memory in your mind

that I had to fight and to go through.

[grunts] [person speaking French]

But at the same time, if you don't go,

you never know.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Whoo-hoo.

- Hey. - Homeboy, homeboy.

Garrett.

Good to see you.

There was a lot going on.

There was cars everywhere, boats.

There was a bunch of windsurfers.

I wasn't in a rush. I was patient.

The swell was gonna peak

during the second half of the day,

so I just wanted to be in the water then.

It seemed pretty clear

that he definitely wanted me to get a wave.

And as far as his surfing goes,

he's always looking for the barrel.

Most surfers, that's the ultimate, right?

♪ ♪

[engine revving]

There was a lot of hype. Everybody went.

The hype was real.

It came in. It appeared.

It arrived in full force, and it came up all day,

and it finale'd at the end of the day.

♪ ♪

- Oh. - Work.

Oh, man.

♪ ♪

You know, I'm seeing guys charging these waves.

It looks like the videos. It's just, like, surreal.

♪ ♪

Well, we're out there. We're on the boat.

Day's started, it's under way.

People are catching waves. We're in the channel.

I'm feeling very intimidated.

And as I'm calming myself down,

I'm also realizing, "Oh, I'm gonna surf today.

I'm gonna surf."

And just wait my turn--

stay calm, keep breathing, keep centering, be prepared.

I took Landon out first,

'cause CJ wanted to check it out.

I don't know what happened with Landon's board.

Couldn't find it.

It was supposed to be on another boat or something.

So he used CJ's board, his brand-new board.

♪ ♪

I put Landon on a few waves.

He was feeling really good.

Oh, there's Landon!

Yeah. That's Landon...

- [chuckles] - On a bomb.

- [speaks indistinctly] - Yeah.

Go, Landon, yeah!

Oof. Oh. Rider down. Rider down.

Do you see him?

- I don't--There he is. - There he is. Wow.

Most important thing is that he was okay, obviously.

- They got him. - Got him.

Whoo.

And then we got the bad news.

- Oh, for real? - Not around.

Nah, you're messing with me.

Okay.

- Maybe somebody grabbed it. - No.

I was like, "Oh, wow, my board really did get wrecked."

So I was just thinking,

"Oh, okay. So maybe I'm not surfing."

It was like the decision's been made for me.

And then Garrett comes up. He's like, "Yeah, it's gone."

He's like, "But you want to go?"

He's like, "I can get you a board.

You want to see if I can find you a board?"

And I'm like, "Yeah, sure--

Like, what kind of board?"

Now I'm gonna try to ride a new board

at this spot I've never surfed before?

[exhales sharply]

CJ looks at things as signs

and reasons that things happen--

"Well, okay, maybe I'm not supposed to surf."

But I wanted to get him a wave.

So then I went and found a board for him.

You don't have to go. You don't have to go.

You don't.

Yeah.

♪ ♪

And there in that moment,

I was just doing my best to get out of my head,

feel the situation-- am I meant to go out?

The danger's out there. It's safe here.

I'm being called out and...

[sighs]

I just went for it. It was what I had to do.

♪ ♪

Now, I wouldn't have pushed him

if he was on the fence.

If he said maybe,

then I would have said, "Okay, you stay on the boat."

But he said, "Yeah. I want it."

"Okay. Let's go."

And he killed it!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

CJ did amazing.

He did really well on all waves.

After I got him one, he wanted another one.

And after I got him another one, he wanted another one.

He was super fired up.

♪ ♪

Yeah, it was just incredible

for that dream to come true, right,

that I drew as a little child.

And now it just happens.

It comes into fruition.

And then it was done. It's like... [sighs]

This moment of reflection, right?

Like, I don't know what it means--

all of it or anything like that--

but just to recognize, like, life

and how it brings us full circle like that.

I draw this little picture, and little would I ever know

that my sister is gonna end up marrying Garrett,

and it plugs me in in this way, and then I'm surfing Jaws.

♪ ♪

The morning of Super Swell Saturday,

everything was just going wrong.

Like, no matter what I did,

I felt like I just couldn't do anything right.

I end up going straight into a wave,

and the Jet Ski goes over the falls

and just gets annihilated on the rocks.

People were laughing at me on the cliff.

Like, I could hear verbal laughing.

And in that moment, I'm like, "I'm not supposed to be here.

I'm supposed to be out there."

My brother was like,

"Kai, get on the Jet Ski with me.

"I'm gonna tow you into the best waves

you've ever gotten out here."

♪ ♪

I got towed onto this wave,

and I remember being just so inflated

with adrenaline, just so intense.

I'm 5'7" but I felt 6'6".

I pulled up underneath the hood,

and I was waiting for it to just clamp and destroy me,

but it held open, and I took a really high line,

and I came out with a ton of speed--

so much speed I didn't even know what to do with it.

I squared up off the bottom, like,

"I'm just gonna punt a huge air.

I don't even care what happens."

After I got that wave,

it was like all the pressure was lifted off my shoulders.

So I go back out,

and sure enough, immediately, a bigger wave comes in.

♪ ♪

And I was like, "Wow, that was worth

all the anxiety and the intensity of the day."

And in that moment, I was like, "I'm good."

And I'm never good.

Normally I always want one more.

I'm like, "That was it. For today, that was it."

And those two waves will live in my head

clearer than just about any other rides I've had.

I think that's Kai.

- Huh? - Kai Lenny.

- Kai! - They can't hear you. Wave.

- They can't hear you. - You got to wave.

Give 'em some love.

I think Garrett really wanted to give Landon and myself

an experience at Jaws.

And once that was accomplished,

he felt free and was ready and excited to surf.

Got to move forward.

Do your thing.

So he went to get his couple warm-up waves,

and then Keali'i was like,

"Oh, there's a set coming. Let's go."

[laughter]

- Feeling good. - Whoo.

- Oh, yeah. Outside. - Nice one.

- That's Garrett. Yeah! - Yeah.

- Oh! - No! Oh.

[both groan]

- Why did he-- - What happened?

- What happened, Mom? - It was the wind.

Let's just know that Keali'i is there to grab him.

- Right there. - Mama, what happened?

Uncle Chester's got him. It must have been the wind.

We don't know, baby.

- Mama, what happened? - Hold on!

Let's just wait one second, baby.

Did you?

- Yeah. - Is he going under this one?

Come on, Garrett, where are you?

♪ ♪

[Jet Ski engines revving]

♪ ♪

Did he go onto the rocks?

We don't know yet.

Don't worry. Uncle Keali'i will get him.

I see the skis coming back, so maybe they got him.

[indistinct chatter]

I told him I didn't want another one.

[laughter] I'm good.

He's like, "Maybe one more."

- You all right? - I'm like, "Okay."

- You all good? - [grunts]

- You all right? - Yeah.

[coughs]

[chuckles]

[indistinct chatter]

[coughing, spits]

Garrett--Oh.

- Fuck. - Is that yours?

- Yeah. - What?

He's got the other half.

- [indistinct chatter] - [coughs]

We all got out of there

alive and safe and not injured.

When I went, I went for my first wave,

tried to get barreled, didn't.

Then the second wave was a huge one.

And it came down... [imitates whooshing]

Lot of chatter, kicked out, kind of fell off.

And then we're driving back out,

and I'm like, "I think I'm good, Keali'i."

And he's like, "There's one right here.

Go for it." And I'm like... [groans]

And I was not focused on this wave,

and my head was not in it.

I don't know what happened, but I just fell.

So I just fell over, and then I got sucked over.

Got hit really hard,

and then I got dragged-- I don't know--

a couple football fields underwater.

[Jet Ski engines revving]

I was under for a little bit, huh?

all: Yeah.

Oof.

How are you?

Huh?

I knew you were gonna be okay.

Did you see me duck over the lip?

Yeah. [laughter]

You got wipeout of the day for sure.

Were you scared, or were you okay?

- No. - All right. That's good.

I was almost glad that Barrel was there

for that experience

so that he can understand

that it's not just all fun and games.

Like, it's a serious thing that his dad does,

and it can be scary.

- Yeah, we saw. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- We saw-- - And we saw him fall

on that one, the last one.

- It was like, "Oh." - Crazy big.

And when I saw him, Garrett McNamara,

falling on a wave...

Maybe... [chuckles] I'm not "undestructible."

[both chuckle]

It was a big swell,

so a lot of people came to surf the swell.

So you've got big legend, big names in the water

that all want the biggest wave, for sure.

♪ ♪

So, in the lineup, it can be tough sometimes,

but having, like, the legend Michel Larronde

knowing the place...

I said to Michel

it could be good to start

on a first wave, kind of a "middle one"...

[chuckles] Because it was a crazy day.

So it was good. I surfed the wave nice.

And then we were waiting for a long time.

We couldn't go on the wave

because some other surfer were on the wave.

I said to Michel,

"It's okay. It's just about one wave.

"And we will have it, and it will take time.

It's okay. The wave will come."

It's karma-- if you do good thing in life,

good thing will come to you.

I was like, "Hey, Justine, we go there,

you have to get barrel, huh?"

And Tyler was like, "Hey, Justine, Jaws--

You gonna get barrel."

And Michel was like, "Hey, I'm gonna put you

on a barrel for sure."

♪ ♪

Fred told me something before.

He was like, "Just trust yourself.

"You can't control it.

"So just trust your skills, and it will be fine.

You will do the great choice on the wave."

♪ ♪

Justine's wave was amazing.

That was the wave of the day.

Justine got the wave of the day.

♪ ♪

That looks like Justine.

Oh, my.

Oh, yeah. [people cheering]

Oh, yeah.

- That was Justine. - That was Justine, wasn't it?

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

- Yeah. - Wow.

- Show 'em how to do it! - Sick.

Show 'em how to do it, yeah.

- Showing the men how to do it. - Yeah, she did.

She just straight up showed us.

I remember looking out and just seeing

this 60-foot-tall wave, and I was like,

"Oh, my God. She's too deep. She's too deep.

She's too deep."

Everyone thought she was gone, and she comes flying out.

And it was redemption.

Oh, my God.

Oh, that was insane.

She got one of the best wave ever ridden,

period, in Jaws with everybody around--

like, all the best big-wave surfer in the world.

Like, it's amazing.

She's stoked. Everybody's stoked.

And, man, I'm just so proud of her.

As soon as I was on the wave,

nothing was existing anymore.

You know, I was just focused on what I was doing

right here, right now.

When I was in the barrel, really deep,

I was like... [gasps] "I want to jump from the board.

I want to escape this."

But in same time, I just thought about Fred--

"No. Believe in yourself. Do it."

♪ ♪

[people cheering]

And then there is a little part of magic

and of luck.

♪ ♪

- When you surf what some people call

one of the best wave ever ridden

in the history of big-wave surfing,

you can think about money, sponsors,

fame, media, awards, or records,

whatever you want.

But did we travel for that? No.

Are we doing big-wave surfing for that? No.

Were we expecting that?

No.

Like, we went to Jaws because she wanted

to catch a crazy wave after her injury.

That's what she did.

[bright tone]