Surf Film Tour (2024) Movie Script
1
[funky surf music playing]
[mellow music playing]
[Frank] Surfing, to some...
Some humans on this planet,
is absolutely necessary,
vital, important,
an analogy for everything else.
Now, there's some people
who don't need it,
who are never gonna see it.
It's never going
to exist for them.
And I feel kind of
sorry for them.
But for those of us
who found it, uh, we need it.
[surf music playing]
Who is Frank Paine?
- Frank's not dead, is he?
- [woman] No, no, no.
- Frank's just a vibe.
- Amazing.
One of my idols.
The mayor of South Bay.
The social butterfly.
Father to some,
a mentor to many.
The myth, the legend,
and just the kindest,
sweetest man I think I know.
Frank and I surf
together every day.
He's one of my best friends.
Like, I just feel like
I want to get out
on the water with him.
He was the first guy
to welcome me and say,
"Hey, I'm glad to surf with you,
and I'm glad you're here."
One of my favorite humans.
- Tan, mustachioed.
- Just a heater of love.
The glue that holds
everyone together.
The person that everybody
wants to grow up to be.
I am Frank Paine,
and I have the soul of a clown
and the feet of a woman
twice my size.
Frank Paine cracks me up.
[Frank] I'm Frank Paine.
I'm a surfer.
A lot of people know me
as the Professor.
I surf Hermosa Beach
almost every day.
And my friends
are better than yours.
I've been surfing for 58 years.
When I first started,
we didn't have wet suits.
And I don't think my nipples
have ever fully recovered.
I remember my first wave.
I had this nice left,
Topaz Street.
I ran home to tell my dad
that I had just caught a wave,
and to come down and watch me.
Of course, he came down,
and I didn't catch a wave
for the rest of the time.
To say it's a habit
would be much too simple.
I am certain in my own life
that, you know, touching
that ocean every day,
touching the water,
touching the sand, the earth,
is really important to life.
Stuff in your body changes.
Your aura, not that I...
I'm not sure I have an aura.
I think I burned my aura out
in 1973, but...
It almost insists
that you be in the moment,
that you be present,
that you're aware
of what's going on.
Ah! Voil.
That's Nemo.
Would you like a PBR?
Tiki Bar started out
being a gardening shed,
and it was all full
of the dullest tools
in the South Bay.
And I got rid of all those tools
and I told my wife,
"I'm gonna make this
into an artist studio
so I can draw and paint
and do what I wanna do."
And that lasted about two years.
Oh, the first time I saw
The Endless Summer
was in like '63 or '64,
whenever it came out.
The soundtrack
was a reel-to-reel...
uh, recorder, tape recorder.
Bruce Brown would turn it on,
it would play over
the speaker system,
and then he narrated it live.
It was magic, you know?
It was really magical
the way he strung that
all together.
Let's see.
This is my brief stint
as a cowboy.
It was me and Sam Elliott.
And Sam Elliott
outdrew me and killed me.
Early hippie year, 1969.
"'People always ask me
how long I'm gonna keep
doing this, ' Paine says.
'I say, I don't know.
I'm going out Saturday.
I'm not thinking much
beyond that.'"
Boy, that was
a few Saturdays ago.
If you look at all
of the photographs
in the old surfer magazines,
everybody had a smile.
That's what it's about.
I don't think it's about
shredding, lacerating,
you know, air...
Well, you know, airs can be fun.
All that stuff can be fun.
But I think it's about
having a good time,
finding your inner child
and saying,
"Okay, buddy, run loose.
Come on, Frankie,
just run loose.
Have a good time.
Enjoy yourself."
And when I see
all that other stuff,
it really makes me sad
because I don't think
people are getting
the whole thing of it.
You know, I don't think
they're understanding
what it can be.
I think the best thing
about surfing is the people,
and it always has been.
I had really bad agoraphobia
for about ten years.
I had trouble leaving the house.
It was hard for me to go surfing
'cause I'd be afraid
to be out there.
And people said,
"Hey, let me hang with you.
Let's do this. Let's do that."
And it was like,
"Whoa, I'm not alone.
I... I've got people
who care about me."
That was really poignant
for me, you know,
that, yeah, I'm not alone.
The Surf Familia is a family
who care about each other,
who can't wait
to see each other.
We laugh so much.
The Surf Familia are
the luckiest people
on the planet.
We not only have surfing,
but we have each other.
Okay, so I'm gonna do
the "Surf Report" this morning.
Surf and culture...
report.
Started with about 15 people,
and then now it's 93. So...
Today's calendar gets
a red hibiscus flower
because we went surfing.
And I keep track
of the surfing days that I do.
We usually average
about 200 days a year.
It's really a...
It's really kind of a blessing.
It's really a beautiful thing,
I think.
I have as much fun...
almost as much fun,
watching other people surf
as I do surfing myself.
We've taken a lot of people out.
You know, there are
a lot of people
who just kind of suffer
from not being the best
at something or not being
capable at something,
but we need
to encourage them too.
We need to, you know,
to make them feel like,
"Okay, let me get out here
and do this."
It's fun to share it with them.
It's fun to see the stoke
on their face.
Oh, that's hot.
- [Frank] Sole Surfer.
- [woman] Sole Surfer?
- With pinto and...
- Burrito?
- Yeah, burrito.
- With pinto beans...
And, uh... It's got avocado.
Yeah, just the pinto.
[Frank] You keep the threads
of your community together
by being as authentic
as you can be.
We have a little kid
who's surfing with us now.
Joking around, I said to her,
"Millie, why are you
hanging around
with all these old people?"
And she says,
"You guys are inspirational,
and I can learn stuff
from you guys."
Part of the Familia
is raising our children,
raising each other,
to learn the ways
of good surfers, of good people,
to be conscious of something
bigger than themselves.
I think we have to realize
that once we start to behave
like there's something important
about what we do,
we create our own traditions.
We're surfing for Halloween.
It can be very powerful.
You know, there's a little bit
of magic in it.
These people have come together
for a reason I can't understand.
I don't know why
this is like it is,
but I am so thankful
every day that it is.
Am I lucky man, or what?
[inspiring music playing]
My surf community
means to me... identity.
When somebody asks me
who I am, that's who I am.
I get up because, like,
I'm afraid that it's gonna
go on without me, and I...
You know, I wanna be part of it.
[surf music playing]
[surf music playing]
[waves crashing]
[man in Portuguese]
[Cho] Mozambique as
a surfing culture is growing,
but there's a lot
that Mozambique had to do
to build up to where it is now.
There's so much more potential
in Mozambique,
and so now that the Mozambicans
are leading the charge,
I think a lot of the world
will start to see
what we have to offer.
[upbeat music playing]
[narrator] In 1992, one of
Africa's longest conflicts
came to an abrupt end
in Mozambique.
Soon after, small bands
of surfers started to explore
the tropical frontier
that had been off-limits
for decades.
But finding paradise
never comes easy.
When I came here in '88,
you couldn't travel
out of Maputo.
There was only one road
in and out,
and there were, like,
fucking trucks burning
on those roads in those days.
And you had no idea
who's a soldier, and everybody
was under the same oppression.
Soldiers, bandits...
You got no idea who's who.
It was a destabilization
of the country.
People had no money,
but they looked after us,
where they shared
the best food that they had
with total strangers.
That's the thing that blew me
away about Mozambique
more than anything.
End of '92, I was on Inhaca,
they declared peace.
So, bang, like that, in one day,
suddenly there's peace.
Now you can drive anywhere
you wanted to. You can
do anything you want now.
So, okay, let's go and explore.
[upbeat music playing]
I don't think any of the waves
that I surfed had ever
been surfed before.
Frankie would have come
while I was there on Inhaca,
but I never surfed that wave,
because I had no access to it.
We just heard there's waves
in Mozambique,
so went for a look.
That's what we used to do
on the search.
You just go over, and we
were just looking for surf,
and we hit our luck.
We ended up getting a yacht
from Richards Bay.
But the night we wanted
to leave, there was
a big cyclone, giant surf.
So we left at 1 in the morning.
And then, uh, I woke up.
There was waves coming
through my cabin like this:
[whistles]
Out... [whistles]
I look that side.
I just check waves going
through their cabin.
Everyone is puking.
I was holding on to railings.
I thought we were gonna die.
I thought, "That's it, boys.
We're going down."
[mimics crash]
Everyone's hanging
on to the railings.
We're just dying. Agh!
We got through the night,
some miracle.
Next day, same thing.
It's just, ach, up and down.
No one said one word.
We were still in the same spot.
'Cause there's a cyclone eastly,
so we couldn't get past.
And then eventually,
a westie came, shoo,
turned, and then
we started going forward.
Then we were sailing down,
big swells. And then that's
how we found Inhaca.
We were just cruising
to the first bay that went in.
It looked like a long reef,
so we thought, "Hey,
that looks like a good wave."
So we just went into the bay
there, slept for the night,
and then the wind turned around
offshore the next day.
And then we came
around the corner
the next day, like, cooking.
Best waves ever seen.
Like, solid six-to eight-foot
double-up, blowout...
It's brilliant. Cooking.
Yeah, so, yeah,
we didn't... I didn't...
We didn't expect anything.
We just went for a look.
[narrator] A few years later,
a specialty surf contest
was held at Ponta do Ouro,
just beyond
the South African border,
and proved beyond a doubt
that Mozambique was
holding world-class waves.
[high-energy music playing]
[narrator] Yet despite these
early glimpses of perfection,
the flow of surfers
to post-war Mozambique
remained a slow trickle.
The whole of Mozambique was
just land mines everywhere, bro.
So they had to clear
that whole area first.
Ponta was land mines
full up, bro.
Like, if you went
off the path a little bit...
you'd be blown up, bro.
But now it's like
another world now.
But the thing is,
it's very fickle, eh?
A lot of east wind howling,
like, days and days,
and it's flat,
and it's windy and hot.
But when you hear
this Madagascan cyclone,
then you know
you're gonna get it.
Bink's the man for that. He's
pretty sharp. He's always on
it when it's up there.
[mellow music playing]
[Ribbink] The first I started
hearing about waves
in Mozambique was,
you know, with that first
Gotcha Experiencia.
A little bit before that,
I did a trip up to a place
called Xai-Xai.
And then from there,
it was like,
"All right, what's next?"
The roads were ridiculous.
Just mud tracks
through the biggest pothole
you can ever imagine.
And you'd never drive
straight on a road.
You were always...
You were doing this.
You were zigzagging
the whole way to Mozam
on one fricking road.
That was an absolute nightmare.
But, yeah, skunked
a couple of times,
hey, but, hey,
I had it as well. Proper.
From there on,
it'd become an addiction,
where it can be awesome,
and it can be the most
fickle place ever.
I think that's what captured me,
eh, just the potential of
that really, really good day.
[mellow music continues]
It's trial and error.
That's where
the hard work comes in.
Hold your breath, boys.
It's not about the surf.
That's just hot.
Mozambique has grown.
Surfing has grown.
There was, like,
a small surfing culture,
but in the last seven
or eight years,
it's really taken off.
My name is Sung Min Cho,
but I'm locally known
as Mini Cho,
and I'm from Tofo, Mozambique.
[jazzy music playing]
I am the first and currently
the only Mozambican
professional surfer
that's representing Mozambique.
I only started surfing
when I was 14.
I used to hang on the beach
with my brothers, play football.
I always used
to watch the surfers
and always wanted to surf,
but my parents couldn't afford
for us to learn how to surf,
to get the equipment.
And then one day
somebody gave me a surfboard,
and that's how it started.
I had no coaching, no guidance.
I kind of learned for myself.
I was surfing the bay.
It's a very soft, mushy wave,
and then one day there was
a really good shore break,
and I took off, and it was
a closeout shore break,
probably like half a second,
but I got that first vision
of a barrel,
and that's what
pushed me to surf.
I was so consumed by it.
I just did it every day,
every hour, whenever I could.
[jazzy music continues]
At the time when
I was learning how to surf,
they were the first core group
of Mozambican surfers,
but they were a very small
group, and the level of surfing
was still pretty low.
You know, they weren't pushing
to be professional or anything,
so it was hard to look within
the surf community for
inspiration and to be pushed,
and so I always
had to look outside.
Jordy comes here a lot,
and I drew inspiration
from Jordy's surfing
'cause he's so powerful.
He makes surfing
just look beautiful.
The first time I went
to Mozambique was
around 2006 or 2007.
I did a trip with Surfer mag,
um, and myself,
Travis Logie, Royden Bryson
and Ricky Basnett.
Drove across the border,
we went to Ponta, and, yeah,
we scored some really fun waves.
And then around 2011 or '12,
I started venturing
a little further.
And basically how
it came about was my wife.
My wife, Lyndall,
her and her family, growing up,
were really, really big campers
and really into going
to the bush and kind of
discovering new places.
And she would always
say to me, "Oh, babe, you
know, I think there's
these waves down there.
You know, we should
take a trip there sometime
and go check it out,
and you can surf."
And I was always like,
"Yeah. You know,
I'm sure there's waves.
It's probably like some pussy
little longboard thing."
And I'd heard of guys
kind of going there
and trying to get waves
but never really
scoring great stuff.
But one year we decided,
"Okay, let's go for a trip.
Let's go down there."
Ryan Ribbink had actually driven
up from Durban to help us.
And sure enough, showed up
to some of these waves,
and it was just, like,
this out-of-body experience.
[energetic music playing]
I remember coming over the dune.
We drove over the dune,
and I just started
absolutely freaking out.
[whooping] Okay, we gotta go,
we gotta go.
- Which way do we go?
- [man] That way.
Come on, get these boards off.
That was the first time
I'd ever seen African Kirra.
When I first started
going to Mozam,
there weren't too many
Mozambican surfers,
and, um, they haven't had
the best facilities,
and it wasn't exactly
on a silver platter for them
to be able to perform
and really get better.
And so in the short space
of time that they've had,
they've really excelled.
[upbeat music playing]
Oh, local boy just got
such a nice nug.
As far as the local scene goes,
it's really grown,
especially throughout
the last ten years,
and, um, especially in Tofinho.
There's a lot of talent
starting to kind of come
out of that area.
[in Portuguese]
Mini is now the guy that a lot
of the young kids look up to.
He's got a really positive
outlook on life,
a definite
hardworking mentality.
And there's no better
breeding ground, I don't think.
For me, I didn't want
to be the first and only.
I wanted to be
the first of many.
And so that's why I started
the Tofo Surf Club,
to grow surfing.
I want to see Mozambique
on the world stage, you know,
representing in
the ISA World Games,
the Olympics.
And I want to see many more
Mozambican kids surfing.
I don't want to be the only one.
[mellow music playing]
This is the Tofo Surf Club.
The club basically
is a diversion program,
and what we're really,
really trying to do
is it's a way to keep kids
engaged in the ocean life
but also keep kids in school.
You don't have to pay anything.
Basically, all they have to do
is just go to school.
And if kids can't do that,
we try and help them.
The club will try and pay
for the kids' school fees,
bags, uniforms.
So we want to keep kids
in school, educate them,
teach them about more
of their own self-worth,
self-value,
and for them to realize
their full potential.
So the club, surfing,
and keeping them in school
all works together here.
On a day-to-day basis,
what we do is, the kids
come in around 2:00,
and then at around 2:30,
we start our
nutritional program.
So we have a nutritional
program where we feed
the kids a nice fresh
fruit smoothie every day,
just to kind of give them
that energy. It's very hot
here in Mozambique.
And then we get the kids all
ready to go down to the beach.
So you can see
they get all their boards,
and then we line up
in the front, and we go
down to the beach.
[mellow music continues]
[man]
Yeah!
[Cho] It's amazing to see kids
from all different types
of backgrounds,
different religions
and different ethnicities,
and also lots of female surfing.
We have surfers like Julia.
Julia is the first
female surfer,
and she's a big inspiration
to a lot of kids.
[smooth music playing]
[Cho] Sometimes Julia
will catch a wave,
and she'll ask
if we saw the wave.
And we'll be like,
"No, but we heard it,"
because she always goes down
the wave hooting and screaming,
going way down the point.
So that's our joke.
We're always like, "No, we
didn't see a wave, but
we heard it." [laughs]
[in Portuguese]
[Cho] Here in Tofo, you can see
the communities rising up,
realizing their self-worth
and their place in Mozambique.
But there's a lot that
Mozambique had to do
to build up to where it is now.
Whenever you surf the point,
you can actually
see the monument.
It was put there to represent
the fight for independence,
and it's such an iconic sign
of power and strength.
There's so much more potential
in Mozambique,
and so now that the Mozambicans
are leading the charge,
I think a lot of the world
will start to see
what we have to offer.
[Gysen] Hm.
Got some swell.
And we've got a neap tide.
Which is actually good
because if it was springs,
we wouldn't be able to cross.
But, uh, yeah, but
definitely the swell pushing
the water in, eh, more
than actually the tide.
Which is a great sign.
Definitely.
A few years after surfing
Namibia at Skeleton Bay,
we started to hear
about a right-hand version
on the east coast of Africa.
But it would only work on very,
very specific cyclones,
specific directions.
And guys would go there
often in the early years
and not get anything.
And, um, it became
this kind of unicorn.
Everyone thought it was just,
you know, an empty flat sandbar.
Eventually, Jordy and the crew
got it on a couple
of really good swells,
and they named it
the African Kirra.
And it kind of set the benchmark
for what's still out there
in Mozambique.
But even if a cyclone
comes into the channel,
you never know what
you're gonna get there until
you actually get to the beach.
Wow.
[in English]
[mellow music playing]
Wow, that was a crazy one.
I pulled into that one,
and it just kept going
and going and going. Damn!
Your gut wants you
to stall for the barrel,
but you kind of just gotta pump.
It's actually what I was
telling Mikey and Saxton.
When you take off
on a wave, just pump it,
and then it'll start giving.
Local knowledge. [laughs]
[high-energy music playing]
[man] Go, go, go.
Punch through. Punch through.
Punch through!
No!
It's really fast
and really thick and all out.
It's like, you know,
next-level heavy.
As soon as you're pretty much
in the barrel, you're just,
like, doing these pumps.
'Cause you just... It just goes,
[whistles] As soon
as it hits that bank,
the bottom bank
especially just goes.
[music continues]
Paddling into it, you just can't
get in 'cause it's so steep,
and then trying to pull out
and getting sucked over.
Once you're in, then you're...
Heh. Then you're good to go.
It's a different concept
when you're out there to when
you're watching it on the beach.
It's so fast that it's actually
over quite quickly.
Plus, the distance you've
traveled is super amazing.
It changes a lot
through the day.
But there's always gonna be
someone that gets that gem.
It just depends on who gets it.
[intense music playing]
[music]
[man] On your last wave,
everyone was clapping, bro.
You are stoked, eh?
I was waiting for one
of those last ones.
What's the wave like?
It's amazing. It's insane.
It's super fast, but,
I don't know,
every now and again,
like, a bigger one comes
and really, like,
I don't know, runs along
the bank really nicely.
But it's an incredible wave.
It's nice to surf a right
like this. Yeah.
[Cho] This place, this little
tiny bit of peninsula,
is magical.
But I think there's so much more
potential in Mozambique.
And so I think now that
the Mozambicans are leading
the charge for surf tourism,
surf exploration, the future
of Mozambican surfing
is looking great.
[Nick] I think I wanted
to share the waves.
Big mistake.
We all think
we're doing the right thing.
And the end of the day,
you're gonna regret it.
I don't think we've seen it
at its full potential yet.
And hopefully, one day,
we'll get it as good
as it can be.
This country's got
a lot to offer.
The people are amazing.
And there are more waves there.
The rest of Mozambique
is just huge question marks
on what else is out there.
[mellow music playing]
[man] Oh, my barrel-boys rolls.
Oh, my barrel-boys rolls.
That was the one, bro.
As he bottom-turned,
the thing already spat, oof.
Pulled in for about
five seconds, six seconds.
Thing spat.
Then he came out slowly.
Then he vied in again,
another five, six seconds.
[mimics explosion] Again.
Came out just his nose, like a...
It was like a... Like a TV game.
It was four or five barrels
he got in a row,
but they were all ten-pointers.
He got like
a 50-point wave, bro.
[laughs]
[upbeat music playing]
[mellow music playing]
[Izzy] The thing that binds
Surfers Healing is the surfing.
That's kind of the connection.
That's what we're doing,
is this water therapy.
To do something
that is so unique with autism,
you know, the water.
The water is where it's at.
And these children,
once they get in the water,
something magic,
something profound, happens.
You know, as divers call it,
that mammalian reflex.
You know, you feel calm,
and your heart rate goes down.
[sighs]
You know,
you breathe through it,
breathe through that anxiety.
You know, once being
a professional surfer,
I could write on paper
who I wish would be
a part of Surfers Healing.
And I got those guys,
and I didn't have to beg them.
When I asked them,
the response is
"Thank you for picking me."
And all these surfers who, uh,
create this Ministry of Surf,
that's us, that's who we are.
But it's the water
that is really something
that is physiologic change,
that is therapeutic,
but that water,
it's that same effect.
It's healing, it helps,
you know, calms the nerves.
I mean, it's so hard
to take 100,000 children out,
but it's a must.
You know, it's sensory.
It's these little sensory beings
that feel...
I don't know,
maybe whole in the water.
[mellow music continues]
[Rob] As their tagline says,
it's just one perfect day.
It was such a safe space for us
early in Harry's diagnosis,
at a time where we were really
getting used to being a family
in the autistic community.
And we came out here,
and for once,
our kids were the star
of the show.
Um, nobody looked at them funny.
It was... They rolled out
a lunch for us.
They welcomed
his grandparents, the family,
and we had an incredibly,
uh, you know, perfect day.
Here comes Harry now.
Harry, come on in.
[Harry] Dad, time to go surfing.
Is it time to go surfing, bud?
Sit on your lap.
- Are you ready to do it?
- Yeah.
Then surfing will be over.
We'll go surfing and maybe
catch a ride on our own.
You think you'll stand up
on your own today?
Yeah.
- Do you like doing the surfing?
- Yeah.
What's it like
when you're out there?
Ooh.
[Izzy] I don't want to rest
on our laurels.
You know, it's all
what we're going to do.
If I can just slip in
another 25 years and maybe
another 100,000 children...
And it's just so amazing
to be out here today,
seeing the kids in the water
and how much it, you know,
really affects these parents
and changes their lives.
And seeing the looks
on the parents' faces
is almost just as rewarding
as seeing how stoked
the kids are to be out there.
[upbeat music playing]
[Ashton]
My name's Ashton Pignat.
I'm from Sunshine Coast,
Australia.
I share the same path with Izzy
'cause I have
an autistic brother, as well.
I can relate to that in a way
and see how special
those moments are
with other people, as well.
To see the kids have
that "I did it," as well,
and then watching, like,
the stoke come out of them
'cause they did it.
As soon as we get them out there
and get them in a wave,
I, like, really am really stoked
to see how happy they are
after getting the wave and
enjoying that time on the wave.
The ocean, I think,
has a lot to do with that.
Like, I feel like
it heals a lot of people.
[Izzy] This surf therapy,
this unique,
incredibly difficult charity,
this mission,
this mission from God,
having my son,
and having him for that reason.
And it took me a long time
to figure it out, you know,
but I figured it out.
I figured it out.
That's... That's who he is,
and I love him for who he is.
I wish I could talk to him,
but talking's overrated.
But then it's more
than just that, you know.
It's more than just that.
Once somebody rides
and the first wave is ridden,
you know, it's just,
it's a zone of just excitement,
you know, and everyone
just starts to kind of ramp up,
and the surfers
catch waves and...
I don't know, I always said
it was kind of like
extreme special ed
'cause it's something pretty,
pretty radical.
This is me, and this me
and this is my life,
and this is my destiny.
And, uh, all I gotta do
is take out as many
autistic children as I can,
you know, until I can't anymore.
[inspiring music playing]
[all singing]
I had a great day.
And I went ten miles per hour.
[speaking in Hawaiian]
[waves crashing]
[surf music playing]
[Eddie in Indonesian]
[children laughing]
[water rumbling]
[in English]
[in Indonesian]
[in English]
[in Indonesian]
[Ruzi in Indonesian]
[Eddie in Indonesian]
[Ruzi]
[upbeat music playing]
[Varun in English]
[Rizal in Indonesian]
[Eddie]
My name is Varun Tandjung.
I'm 19 years old.
I'm from Bali, Indonesia.
And we're here in Sumatra
on the Bono River,
looking for the longest wave
you could possibly find here.
The first time I came here,
I was 11 years old.
Now this time, with my dad.
- Eight years ago, huh?
- Yeah, eight years ago.
- It's changed, for sure.
- Changed a lot.
[Varun] When I came here
eight years ago,
none of the locals
really knew what surfing was.
And now seeing all these kids
surfing, it's incredible,
'cause you never know,
you might see the next
world champ of surfing
here in Indonesia.
[in English]
[man in Indonesian]
Eddie!
Having Eddie, the local guide,
here, local knowledge.
He knows this river very well,
and feel much safer
with him for sure.
[Rizal in English]
[Varun] The first time
I saw the waves coming
from super far out, I
just couldn't believe it.
Everyone doesn't
believe it at first.
That's why
they call it the Bono.
"Bono" means "it's true."
And, yeah, it's true. [laughs]
[mellow music playing]
[Eddie in Indonesian]
[Ruzi]
[Varun] Yeah, it was epic times
here with my dad.
And all of a sudden, I see,
like, all these little kids
waiting with their boards,
waiting for the wave to come.
And we all ended up
party-waving the same wave.
[Rizal in English]
Bono! Bono! Bono!
Yeah, a lot of the locals say
they used to run away
from the Bono,
but now they're chasing it.
The more people care
about a place, the more
they're gonna try to protect it,
so I hope this wave
will be here forever
and people will take care of it.
[Rizal]
[Ruzi in Indonesian]
[Eddie]
[inspiring music playing]
[surf music playing]
[helicopter whirring]
- Oh, my God, look at all that.
- My God.
It's horrible.
Oh, my God.
[melancholy music playing]
- [child] Problem.
- [Bully] Problem.
- Ocean.
- Ocean.
- Coral.
- Coral.
- Plastic.
- Plastic.
- Rubbish.
- Yup.
All right.
- "Horizon"?
- Yeah.
- You know what a horizon is?
- Oh, "horizon."
Anybody know what horizon is?
- Nope.
- Okay.
Do you see where
the ocean meets the sky?
- Yeah.
- That is the horizon.
Ahh.
[Bully]
And all of your balance...
When you look at the horizon,
you have good balance.
And if you look down or you
look up, you lose balance.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Try this one.
- Place.
- Place.
- Sunset.
- Sunset.
- Beach.
- Beach.
[Bully] I don't wanna hear them
tell me that they don't have
their pencil or paper,
'cause, you know,
that's part of the program.
You know, the surf
is the reward part of it.
[Bully]
There you go. That's good.
[Bully] Being around other kids
and getting to surf,
and a lot of it
is just getting out
of their whole little situation.
People don't come to Maui
and expect to see homeless.
[Bully] Let's go here.
[Bully] But these kids, they're
hidden right in plain sight.
Try to sound it out.
[Bully] And somebody needs
to step up, especially now.
Okay. All right.
Before we go, let's do
a little bit of exercise.
[Bully] You know,
you get to see this freedom.
When they go down to the beach,
they just get to be kids.
Ten more. Eleven, 12...
[Bully] Everyone is equal
when they go down to the beach.
16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
Bring it in. Bring it in.
This is the best part
of my day, you know?
I mean, to see their faces
and when they come running up
and, "Uncle Bully!"
Oh, man.
Just fills my heart
with so much joy.
All right. Yeah, good morning.
What's up, boys?
Yes, yes, yes.
All right, you guys sleep good?
Nice, nice. Let's go.
We've got a big day.
The surf's awesome.
Okay, you got your board,
got your pack.
Hi, good morning, you guys. Aw.
Check it out.
What's your name, dog? Jack?
They call me Bull.
How you doing, bro?
It's gonna be rad waves
out here, man.
Hey, what's up, little man?
What's your name?
- Grayson.
- Grayson. My name's Uncle Bully.
Give me some. Yeah, love it.
Shoots. There it is, bro.
[mellow music playing]
Aloha. Good morning.
Get a lot of good wax
on that board.
Make it all sticky.
[Bully] A surf instructor,
when I first started,
it was a job.
It was a way of making money,
and I actually did
pretty darn good.
But, yeah, COVID,
it hit everybody.
Thank you, guys.
We're gonna have
another row back here too.
Thank you, guys.
[Bully] Well, it was ironic
because all the tourism died,
but for me, I looked at this
as an opportunity to grow,
to cultivate, to build something
out of nothing.
Come on over, guys.
Let's all kind of round up
to our boards.
All right, this is
the perfect wave setup.
And when you guys catch waves,
you should be catching
the wave here at the peak,
and you wanna be looking
all the way across
this area here
and this area here.
That is your targeted surf area
for going across the wave.
So I'm trying to implement
an old school, an old way,
of bringing back community.
And the Number 1 is this guy,
'cause he's closest to the peak.
Number 2, 3, and 4, 5,
stay over here and wait.
It's very focused on Earth
and conscientious, sustainable
practices in the water.
You know, humility and respect
and consideration.
If Number 1
doesn't want the wave,
Number 2, 3, 4 and 5
can take it.
People in the lineup
will respect that.
And then they'll start
respecting you in the lineup.
You know,
supporting other people.
If you need to help
another person who's struggling.
You know, you'll see kids
picking up trash.
And you'll see kids supporting
one another, you know,
and showing love and aloha,
which is something that we
could really use in these times,
especially, yeah?
We're gonna do a quick
little warm-up, you guys.
Right here on the line.
We're gonna wanna
warm up our body
just like every morning.
I can see some of us are tired.
And that's okay,
'cause I get it.
We've been working hard
out here and surfing a lot.
Water's gonna rejuvenate us.
Shoulder rolls.
Wake up the shoulders.
Yup. 'Cause we're gonna do
a lot of paddling.
Okay, now one arm forward,
one arm backwards.
It's trippy, right?
Excellent.
This is how surfboards
are steered, by swinging
the body side to side.
It didn't matter your status.
It didn't matter how much money
you have or didn't have.
You know, COVID was
an opportunity for kids
to get put on the wrong path.
They could be influenced
by the wrong people,
stuck indoors.
You know, kids need to move.
They need to be outdoors.
They need to be
around other kids.
Eight. Two more. Nine.
Excellent job.
Shake that out a little bit.
Chest all the way off the sand.
We're gonna fly, superheroes.
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Pop up. Count of three.
One, two, three.
Let's all go to our surfboards,
get our leashes on,
and we're gonna
paddle down together.
Please, let's all go down
together, okay?
Yeah. Excellent job.
[clapping]
All right.
All right, let's do it.
You can hold your own, right?
- Yeah.
- Cool.
I'm ready.
All right, we're almost at
our little surf spot, Dorothy.
See it? Let's try it.
Breathing
and relaxing your mind.
Looking back
at the wave to catch it.
Once the wave gets close,
arch up your chest.
Away we go.
All the way up. Yes.
All right, bump it for speed
and stand upright.
Oh, there it is.
Scooch back
on the tail for control.
Finishing down on the board.
Excellent job right there.
Very nice.
Come on back for another.
Okay.
And let's take a ride, son.
Lift up.
Come on, you wave.
You got that.
Lean back on your fin.
That's right, son.
Well done.
Down on the board to finish.
Now, as we paddle out here,
you guys can see
some shallower coral.
That's where the wave
is gonna lift up and give us
energy to catch it.
Corals are so important
for us too.
They give us 70 percent
of the air we breathe.
I always thought
the trees did it.
All right, come on
to the side a bit.
And let's go ahead and sit up
and get ready for waves.
When I first met Violet,
she was very introverted
and quiet.
She wouldn't look me in the eye.
When I first met her,
she said maybe
a handful of words.
You know, it was like...
I know she was scared.
You know, and I...
And that's understandable,
because surfing can be
a scary place, in the ocean.
See, the wave is starting
to approach.
Let's get ready.
If you wanna paddle through it,
you can paddle through it.
You don't have to go.
I wanna go.
Okay, you almost
had that one, Violet.
If you feel like the nose
is coming into the water,
grab behind your ribcage here,
and then lift really high up
so that you guys don't spear
that board in the water.
Here comes the wave. See it?
Wait for it before you go.
Breathe and relax your mind.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's go ahead and time it.
Go.
Lift up.
Stand up. All the way up.
Yes.
Lean back on your fin
when it gets steeper.
Here comes the steeper.
Well done. Excellent job.
And two hands
on the board to finish.
Well done. Excellent job.
Outstanding.
Becoming one with the ocean,
letting yourself feel
what you need to feel
and then working through it.
She came out of her shell.
It was a whole different person.
And it was fun to see
the light come on within her,
to see this transformation.
Because it starts off
as just a surf lesson,
but it ends up a life lesson.
[Bully] I came here when I was
8 years old in 1973,
and as soon as I was introduced
to the ocean, I was hooked.
And, man, surf every day.
And the water was so blue,
and the sand felt
like this powdered sugar.
And the barreling waves,
every day,
these barreling waves, man.
It connected with me right away.
I mean, I found my...
My happy place.
Yeah, it's epic here.
But it can be tough too.
Yeah, this last year,
everything changed.
This has been a trial period
for many people.
Not everybody made it through.
There's still people
that are struggling to get up
and get on with it, you know?
Maybe the struggles
that I went through
had prepared me for this.
Maybe I've been training
my whole life for this.
There's a reason why
they call me what they call me.
It's a warrior nation.
You know,
Hawaii is built on that.
So yeah, growing up here,
as blond-haired, blue-eyed,
I was fighting a lot.
Every school I went to,
I got into fights.
I can remember every bully's
name that I ever had
to be confronted with.
Taking care of myself a lot,
I had a lot of freedom
to do what I want,
or not a lot
of parental supervision.
So I could go and hang out.
And trying to be "cool,"
you know, I partied a lot.
I got into drinking
and harder illicit drugs too.
And there wasn't a lot
of guidance, you know?
There was a lot of freedom.
And that freedom
put me on Front Street
and took me down
some darker paths, you know,
that I'm not very proud of,
but they were all
learning lessons.
It was an evolution
that I'm still working on,
still today, to,
you know, keep focused
and be on the right path.
But I've come a long way
from where I used to be.
There was... scars
from upbringing
that carried over
into grown-up life
but I didn't have
the coping skills to deal with.
And the pain was so powerful
that I just wanted
to get away from it,
but I didn't know how.
So I turned to drugs and alcohol
to alleviate the pain.
You know, I was married
with three children at the time,
so I wanted to be
a better person, better father.
I was just tired of being tired.
You know, waking up hungover,
in a strange place, you know?
It was...
I just had enough, you know?
But after I started
helping people,
and the feeling I get that...
when I'm changing
someone's life, it was...
It was a high
like I've never felt.
You know, the alcohol
didn't do that.
Neither did the other drugs.
This feeling was pure.
For me to bring people
into a better light
and to expose them
to a positive energy
that just reinforces confidence
and instills, like,
ambition and enthusiasm,
these energies
are very addicting.
And the gift of giving?
I've never felt so much love
when I give.
Look at that wave
right there, bro.
Spin. Spin on it.
I'm coming with you.
Come on, just paddle.
I got you.
Stand up and surf.
All right, let's go.
That's right, pump it.
Go right through.
That's it, drive it through.
Yeah!
Whoo! Bro, that was sick.
Excellent first try.
[inspiring music playing]
It was exciting,
and people were listening to me.
You know, they were listening
to my every word.
And people was opening up
their hearts to me.
You know, no other job
I've ever done
where people give themselves
completely to you.
So that feeling, I'm hooked.
I'm hooked. It's...
It's a lifelong project for me.
That's all I think about.
That's all I think about,
is the children and
"How can I help?"
You know, the need is here.
Maui is a very unique place,
you know?
For some folks
who have money and resources,
yeah, it is paradise.
But for others who don't,
it's a struggle.
You don't see a lot
of the darker side of it.
The kids who are in need,
where they don't have resources,
especially now
that COVID had hit.
You know, there's a new influx
of homelessness.
You know,
kids out on the street,
living in their cars.
You know, where are they
gonna get their next meal?
To some of these kids,
every day is a struggle.
So first I met Isaiah,
and Isaiah lived in the park
where I teach surf lessons.
When I surfed over there
and I saw this encampment,
he would be sitting there
all day by himself,
eight, ten, 12 hours.
No parental supervision.
He was probably 7 at the time.
I just asked him,
you know, if he surfed
and if he would wanna come
and join in with the camps
that we were doing.
That's how I met
some of the other boys,
Tyten, Josiah.
You know, he was best friends
with those kids.
All right, bro.
All of them,
really shining stars.
You know,
considering their backgrounds
and where they've grown up
and their influences,
it's amazing to see how kind
and wonderful and loving
these kids really are.
Yeah, boys.
All right, good morning,
good morning.
Whoa. Fumble. Come on in here.
What's up?
Good job. All right,
you guys ready for surf?
- Yeah.
- Let's get after it, man.
We got a busy day out there,
lots of kids coming down.
All right, all right.
Come on, we gotta rally up.
And you know, what really got me
is that Isaiah didn't...
At 9 years old,
he couldn't really read.
You know, when we'd go to lunch,
the door would say "push,"
and he would try to pull it.
And I'd say, "Can't you see
what it says there?"
Every day,
he kept trying to pull it.
And then he told me,
"Uncle, I couldn't read."
And that's where
it kind of evolved.
[Bully] Now, can you
write your name?
- Yup.
- All right.
Yeah, me too.
[Bully] It's important to be
able to spell your name.
[boy]
What's up, Isaiah?
- How's it going, dog?
- Good.
Bang.
[in English]
[Bully] Given their situation,
they're like these diamonds
in the rough, you know?
And I believe, with a little bit
of help, man, and direction,
they can go places.
They can go far.
And they can get themselves
out of the situation
that they're in.
And by coming to the water
and using Hawaiian culture
and bringing Hawaiiana back to
these young generational kids,
it's gonna be something that's
gonna be a lifelong effect
in putting them in
a positive direction, you know?
I grew up on the streets
out here too.
And it's really easy
to get caught up in the street.
Front Street is
real easy to get...
When there's not
other things going on.
So keeping these kids
entertained and stuff
is gonna keep them
off the street here too,
as well, you know?
- Now M, who knows M?
- I do.
- A big M.
- Okay.
- Can you do big M too?
- Yup.
Write it in the sand. Show me.
It looks like mountains.
There you go.
Very good.
You guys excited
about surfing today?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Okay.
I didn't know
those come in and out.
[Bully] And what really is
cool about this whole thing
is the diversity.
And we want you guys
to understand that
so you can teach
the next generation too,
you know?
[speaks in Hawaiian]
[Bully] And there's no judgment,
you know?
The kids all accept one another.
They don't look at each other
as, "Oh, this kid's rich.
He's got the best board."
You know, "Oh, this kid's
got no board at all."
You know,
everybody here is equal.
And look at how we make
friends with our kaiaulu,
in our community, you know?
All new friends, new surfing,
sharing all of this together,
you know?
It's a very precious thing
that we have going here, yeah?
Cool?
So let's get ourselves
on our boards and let's start
getting ourselves ready.
And I feel like if a lot
of grown-ups could see
how these kids act
towards one another,
it would be a much better place,
you know?
Being kind and not judgmental
and respecting one another.
It just really lit me up.
[mellow surf music playing]
Please don't break.
Please don't break.
This is where
the action comes in.
Oh, a turtle right behind us.
A turtle.
That's our family, our friend.
And every time
you see a turtle, there's waves.
Whoa! He scores.
He makes it. Oh, my God,
right inside. Let's go.
Keep your eyes up now.
Look where you wanna ride, bro.
Yeah, dude, we went sideways.
Yeah, Isaiah.
Whoo!
Let's go manifest some waves.
Breathing and believing.
God, I just love it.
[music fades]
[Bully] I've been thinking
a lot about Isaiah.
So he hasn't showed up
in the water
for a couple weeks now.
And it's got me worried.
And we had a couple of times
we were supposed
to go surfing and skating,
and for him not to show up,
that's just not like him.
The people that are in his
family circle are struggling.
And how is that affecting him?
He's only 11.
And my heart is wondering.
He's a gift.
And he needs to know that.
It's all tucked away
in the trees.
There's literally
structures, homes.
This is people's homes.
So I haven't heard from him
in about ten days,
maybe two weeks now.
And I tried to call him today,
but his phone is shut off again.
My hope for Isaiah...
You know, I wanna
see him go to school.
I wanna see him
have an education.
I wanna see him read
and write and learn.
He loves math.
He has all this talent,
and he really does.
Do you know that
he's the most giving kid
I've ever seen?
He has nothing, and he gives.
We were walking down the street
with me and Grayson.
It was raining and cold.
Isaiah gave him the shirt
off his back to keep
little Grayson warm.
And when Grayson is around
Isaiah, he's a better kid.
He's more polite.
He has a positive influence
on other children.
This is another place
he'll hang out.
So it's a hit and miss
sometimes here.
We'll go up this way.
The park is usually packed in
on Fridays, and this is
where I'll find the boys.
Yeah.
Sometimes they're here,
sometimes they're not.
I didn't find them this time.
But I'll keep searching.
I'm always gonna keep
searching for the boys.
I've had such an
influence on them already,
and they've had an
influence on me, you know?
It's amazing that kids
can teach you a lot
if you're really listening.
Oh! [laughs]
[mellow music playing]
[Bully] We were so close
to burning in our car.
You know, we made it out
with maybe a minute
or two to spare.
[woman] This is where we live.
There's our street.
[Bully] I went back to the beach
at Breakwall,
where I got married,
where I met my wife.
That's where I taught those
first surf camps during COVID
with all those kids.
It was hard.
And we looked out to the waves,
and the waves were
just blue and perfect
and, I mean, incredible.
It was firing.
It's like you never see
Breakwall with nobody out.
Behind me was
all the rubble of our lives.
And in front of me, another set
of waves come firing through.
And in that moment, I realized:
Keep looking forward.
The horizon,
balance,
and this positive energy
is right in front of you.
[inspiring music playing]
[Bully] Kids are very resilient,
so it may not seem
like it's affecting them,
but deep down inside,
their body is storing
these emotions.
Yeah.
Look how good the waves are.
Come on, Felix.
Let's go. Come on.
Bringing them to the ocean
is a part of therapy.
It's a healing process.
When things get hard
and there are struggles,
the ocean is a moment
of being present.
And you're not thinking
about the fire.
You're not thinking
about what you've lost.
You're only in the moment,
and this is the place
we need to go back to.
[people cheering]
[horn blowing]
[Bully] When I looked around,
I realized the power
of this energy
that was coming
together collectively.
This is what love
and aloha looks like.
Amidst all of this tragedy,
there was this feeling of hope.
And I felt this powerful
connection to Maui
and the people in it
that I've never felt anywhere,
in any experience
I've ever had before.
You know, when I look around,
I wonder if people
see what I see.
You know,
if we can harness this energy,
aim this and focus this
towards our Hawaiian kids,
it's amazing that this is what
comes out of the ashes.
Tragedy has to happen
to bring people together.
It, like, wakes people up
out of this coma.
And then they realize
we need each other.
Yeah, I thought local kids
were living it tough before.
Now...
you know,
it's not hidden anymore.
The little they had
was those opportunities
to go to the beach,
to walk through the park,
to hang out together.
All that's gone.
You know, they need role models.
They need us to be present.
And that's where
the change happens.
Just by showing up
is how you make a difference.
And that's where I'm going.
Hold tight hold on
Stand up or fall
So many changes
We can't explain
Might be afraid
And that's okay
Hold tight hold on
Okay. Let's stand up.
So uncertain
But I'm learning
Every dark day was worth it
To be standing here
Right now
Here right now
Here right now
I'm here right now
Got everything we need
And more
Can take a broken soul
To make a heart of gold
So many ways we can't change
Face the pain, oh
Got everything you need
And more
So uncertain
But I'm learning
Every dark day was worth it
To be standing here
Right now
Here right now
Here right now
I'm here right now
I'm here right now
[funky surf music playing]
[mellow music playing]
[Frank] Surfing, to some...
Some humans on this planet,
is absolutely necessary,
vital, important,
an analogy for everything else.
Now, there's some people
who don't need it,
who are never gonna see it.
It's never going
to exist for them.
And I feel kind of
sorry for them.
But for those of us
who found it, uh, we need it.
[surf music playing]
Who is Frank Paine?
- Frank's not dead, is he?
- [woman] No, no, no.
- Frank's just a vibe.
- Amazing.
One of my idols.
The mayor of South Bay.
The social butterfly.
Father to some,
a mentor to many.
The myth, the legend,
and just the kindest,
sweetest man I think I know.
Frank and I surf
together every day.
He's one of my best friends.
Like, I just feel like
I want to get out
on the water with him.
He was the first guy
to welcome me and say,
"Hey, I'm glad to surf with you,
and I'm glad you're here."
One of my favorite humans.
- Tan, mustachioed.
- Just a heater of love.
The glue that holds
everyone together.
The person that everybody
wants to grow up to be.
I am Frank Paine,
and I have the soul of a clown
and the feet of a woman
twice my size.
Frank Paine cracks me up.
[Frank] I'm Frank Paine.
I'm a surfer.
A lot of people know me
as the Professor.
I surf Hermosa Beach
almost every day.
And my friends
are better than yours.
I've been surfing for 58 years.
When I first started,
we didn't have wet suits.
And I don't think my nipples
have ever fully recovered.
I remember my first wave.
I had this nice left,
Topaz Street.
I ran home to tell my dad
that I had just caught a wave,
and to come down and watch me.
Of course, he came down,
and I didn't catch a wave
for the rest of the time.
To say it's a habit
would be much too simple.
I am certain in my own life
that, you know, touching
that ocean every day,
touching the water,
touching the sand, the earth,
is really important to life.
Stuff in your body changes.
Your aura, not that I...
I'm not sure I have an aura.
I think I burned my aura out
in 1973, but...
It almost insists
that you be in the moment,
that you be present,
that you're aware
of what's going on.
Ah! Voil.
That's Nemo.
Would you like a PBR?
Tiki Bar started out
being a gardening shed,
and it was all full
of the dullest tools
in the South Bay.
And I got rid of all those tools
and I told my wife,
"I'm gonna make this
into an artist studio
so I can draw and paint
and do what I wanna do."
And that lasted about two years.
Oh, the first time I saw
The Endless Summer
was in like '63 or '64,
whenever it came out.
The soundtrack
was a reel-to-reel...
uh, recorder, tape recorder.
Bruce Brown would turn it on,
it would play over
the speaker system,
and then he narrated it live.
It was magic, you know?
It was really magical
the way he strung that
all together.
Let's see.
This is my brief stint
as a cowboy.
It was me and Sam Elliott.
And Sam Elliott
outdrew me and killed me.
Early hippie year, 1969.
"'People always ask me
how long I'm gonna keep
doing this, ' Paine says.
'I say, I don't know.
I'm going out Saturday.
I'm not thinking much
beyond that.'"
Boy, that was
a few Saturdays ago.
If you look at all
of the photographs
in the old surfer magazines,
everybody had a smile.
That's what it's about.
I don't think it's about
shredding, lacerating,
you know, air...
Well, you know, airs can be fun.
All that stuff can be fun.
But I think it's about
having a good time,
finding your inner child
and saying,
"Okay, buddy, run loose.
Come on, Frankie,
just run loose.
Have a good time.
Enjoy yourself."
And when I see
all that other stuff,
it really makes me sad
because I don't think
people are getting
the whole thing of it.
You know, I don't think
they're understanding
what it can be.
I think the best thing
about surfing is the people,
and it always has been.
I had really bad agoraphobia
for about ten years.
I had trouble leaving the house.
It was hard for me to go surfing
'cause I'd be afraid
to be out there.
And people said,
"Hey, let me hang with you.
Let's do this. Let's do that."
And it was like,
"Whoa, I'm not alone.
I... I've got people
who care about me."
That was really poignant
for me, you know,
that, yeah, I'm not alone.
The Surf Familia is a family
who care about each other,
who can't wait
to see each other.
We laugh so much.
The Surf Familia are
the luckiest people
on the planet.
We not only have surfing,
but we have each other.
Okay, so I'm gonna do
the "Surf Report" this morning.
Surf and culture...
report.
Started with about 15 people,
and then now it's 93. So...
Today's calendar gets
a red hibiscus flower
because we went surfing.
And I keep track
of the surfing days that I do.
We usually average
about 200 days a year.
It's really a...
It's really kind of a blessing.
It's really a beautiful thing,
I think.
I have as much fun...
almost as much fun,
watching other people surf
as I do surfing myself.
We've taken a lot of people out.
You know, there are
a lot of people
who just kind of suffer
from not being the best
at something or not being
capable at something,
but we need
to encourage them too.
We need to, you know,
to make them feel like,
"Okay, let me get out here
and do this."
It's fun to share it with them.
It's fun to see the stoke
on their face.
Oh, that's hot.
- [Frank] Sole Surfer.
- [woman] Sole Surfer?
- With pinto and...
- Burrito?
- Yeah, burrito.
- With pinto beans...
And, uh... It's got avocado.
Yeah, just the pinto.
[Frank] You keep the threads
of your community together
by being as authentic
as you can be.
We have a little kid
who's surfing with us now.
Joking around, I said to her,
"Millie, why are you
hanging around
with all these old people?"
And she says,
"You guys are inspirational,
and I can learn stuff
from you guys."
Part of the Familia
is raising our children,
raising each other,
to learn the ways
of good surfers, of good people,
to be conscious of something
bigger than themselves.
I think we have to realize
that once we start to behave
like there's something important
about what we do,
we create our own traditions.
We're surfing for Halloween.
It can be very powerful.
You know, there's a little bit
of magic in it.
These people have come together
for a reason I can't understand.
I don't know why
this is like it is,
but I am so thankful
every day that it is.
Am I lucky man, or what?
[inspiring music playing]
My surf community
means to me... identity.
When somebody asks me
who I am, that's who I am.
I get up because, like,
I'm afraid that it's gonna
go on without me, and I...
You know, I wanna be part of it.
[surf music playing]
[surf music playing]
[waves crashing]
[man in Portuguese]
[Cho] Mozambique as
a surfing culture is growing,
but there's a lot
that Mozambique had to do
to build up to where it is now.
There's so much more potential
in Mozambique,
and so now that the Mozambicans
are leading the charge,
I think a lot of the world
will start to see
what we have to offer.
[upbeat music playing]
[narrator] In 1992, one of
Africa's longest conflicts
came to an abrupt end
in Mozambique.
Soon after, small bands
of surfers started to explore
the tropical frontier
that had been off-limits
for decades.
But finding paradise
never comes easy.
When I came here in '88,
you couldn't travel
out of Maputo.
There was only one road
in and out,
and there were, like,
fucking trucks burning
on those roads in those days.
And you had no idea
who's a soldier, and everybody
was under the same oppression.
Soldiers, bandits...
You got no idea who's who.
It was a destabilization
of the country.
People had no money,
but they looked after us,
where they shared
the best food that they had
with total strangers.
That's the thing that blew me
away about Mozambique
more than anything.
End of '92, I was on Inhaca,
they declared peace.
So, bang, like that, in one day,
suddenly there's peace.
Now you can drive anywhere
you wanted to. You can
do anything you want now.
So, okay, let's go and explore.
[upbeat music playing]
I don't think any of the waves
that I surfed had ever
been surfed before.
Frankie would have come
while I was there on Inhaca,
but I never surfed that wave,
because I had no access to it.
We just heard there's waves
in Mozambique,
so went for a look.
That's what we used to do
on the search.
You just go over, and we
were just looking for surf,
and we hit our luck.
We ended up getting a yacht
from Richards Bay.
But the night we wanted
to leave, there was
a big cyclone, giant surf.
So we left at 1 in the morning.
And then, uh, I woke up.
There was waves coming
through my cabin like this:
[whistles]
Out... [whistles]
I look that side.
I just check waves going
through their cabin.
Everyone is puking.
I was holding on to railings.
I thought we were gonna die.
I thought, "That's it, boys.
We're going down."
[mimics crash]
Everyone's hanging
on to the railings.
We're just dying. Agh!
We got through the night,
some miracle.
Next day, same thing.
It's just, ach, up and down.
No one said one word.
We were still in the same spot.
'Cause there's a cyclone eastly,
so we couldn't get past.
And then eventually,
a westie came, shoo,
turned, and then
we started going forward.
Then we were sailing down,
big swells. And then that's
how we found Inhaca.
We were just cruising
to the first bay that went in.
It looked like a long reef,
so we thought, "Hey,
that looks like a good wave."
So we just went into the bay
there, slept for the night,
and then the wind turned around
offshore the next day.
And then we came
around the corner
the next day, like, cooking.
Best waves ever seen.
Like, solid six-to eight-foot
double-up, blowout...
It's brilliant. Cooking.
Yeah, so, yeah,
we didn't... I didn't...
We didn't expect anything.
We just went for a look.
[narrator] A few years later,
a specialty surf contest
was held at Ponta do Ouro,
just beyond
the South African border,
and proved beyond a doubt
that Mozambique was
holding world-class waves.
[high-energy music playing]
[narrator] Yet despite these
early glimpses of perfection,
the flow of surfers
to post-war Mozambique
remained a slow trickle.
The whole of Mozambique was
just land mines everywhere, bro.
So they had to clear
that whole area first.
Ponta was land mines
full up, bro.
Like, if you went
off the path a little bit...
you'd be blown up, bro.
But now it's like
another world now.
But the thing is,
it's very fickle, eh?
A lot of east wind howling,
like, days and days,
and it's flat,
and it's windy and hot.
But when you hear
this Madagascan cyclone,
then you know
you're gonna get it.
Bink's the man for that. He's
pretty sharp. He's always on
it when it's up there.
[mellow music playing]
[Ribbink] The first I started
hearing about waves
in Mozambique was,
you know, with that first
Gotcha Experiencia.
A little bit before that,
I did a trip up to a place
called Xai-Xai.
And then from there,
it was like,
"All right, what's next?"
The roads were ridiculous.
Just mud tracks
through the biggest pothole
you can ever imagine.
And you'd never drive
straight on a road.
You were always...
You were doing this.
You were zigzagging
the whole way to Mozam
on one fricking road.
That was an absolute nightmare.
But, yeah, skunked
a couple of times,
hey, but, hey,
I had it as well. Proper.
From there on,
it'd become an addiction,
where it can be awesome,
and it can be the most
fickle place ever.
I think that's what captured me,
eh, just the potential of
that really, really good day.
[mellow music continues]
It's trial and error.
That's where
the hard work comes in.
Hold your breath, boys.
It's not about the surf.
That's just hot.
Mozambique has grown.
Surfing has grown.
There was, like,
a small surfing culture,
but in the last seven
or eight years,
it's really taken off.
My name is Sung Min Cho,
but I'm locally known
as Mini Cho,
and I'm from Tofo, Mozambique.
[jazzy music playing]
I am the first and currently
the only Mozambican
professional surfer
that's representing Mozambique.
I only started surfing
when I was 14.
I used to hang on the beach
with my brothers, play football.
I always used
to watch the surfers
and always wanted to surf,
but my parents couldn't afford
for us to learn how to surf,
to get the equipment.
And then one day
somebody gave me a surfboard,
and that's how it started.
I had no coaching, no guidance.
I kind of learned for myself.
I was surfing the bay.
It's a very soft, mushy wave,
and then one day there was
a really good shore break,
and I took off, and it was
a closeout shore break,
probably like half a second,
but I got that first vision
of a barrel,
and that's what
pushed me to surf.
I was so consumed by it.
I just did it every day,
every hour, whenever I could.
[jazzy music continues]
At the time when
I was learning how to surf,
they were the first core group
of Mozambican surfers,
but they were a very small
group, and the level of surfing
was still pretty low.
You know, they weren't pushing
to be professional or anything,
so it was hard to look within
the surf community for
inspiration and to be pushed,
and so I always
had to look outside.
Jordy comes here a lot,
and I drew inspiration
from Jordy's surfing
'cause he's so powerful.
He makes surfing
just look beautiful.
The first time I went
to Mozambique was
around 2006 or 2007.
I did a trip with Surfer mag,
um, and myself,
Travis Logie, Royden Bryson
and Ricky Basnett.
Drove across the border,
we went to Ponta, and, yeah,
we scored some really fun waves.
And then around 2011 or '12,
I started venturing
a little further.
And basically how
it came about was my wife.
My wife, Lyndall,
her and her family, growing up,
were really, really big campers
and really into going
to the bush and kind of
discovering new places.
And she would always
say to me, "Oh, babe, you
know, I think there's
these waves down there.
You know, we should
take a trip there sometime
and go check it out,
and you can surf."
And I was always like,
"Yeah. You know,
I'm sure there's waves.
It's probably like some pussy
little longboard thing."
And I'd heard of guys
kind of going there
and trying to get waves
but never really
scoring great stuff.
But one year we decided,
"Okay, let's go for a trip.
Let's go down there."
Ryan Ribbink had actually driven
up from Durban to help us.
And sure enough, showed up
to some of these waves,
and it was just, like,
this out-of-body experience.
[energetic music playing]
I remember coming over the dune.
We drove over the dune,
and I just started
absolutely freaking out.
[whooping] Okay, we gotta go,
we gotta go.
- Which way do we go?
- [man] That way.
Come on, get these boards off.
That was the first time
I'd ever seen African Kirra.
When I first started
going to Mozam,
there weren't too many
Mozambican surfers,
and, um, they haven't had
the best facilities,
and it wasn't exactly
on a silver platter for them
to be able to perform
and really get better.
And so in the short space
of time that they've had,
they've really excelled.
[upbeat music playing]
Oh, local boy just got
such a nice nug.
As far as the local scene goes,
it's really grown,
especially throughout
the last ten years,
and, um, especially in Tofinho.
There's a lot of talent
starting to kind of come
out of that area.
[in Portuguese]
Mini is now the guy that a lot
of the young kids look up to.
He's got a really positive
outlook on life,
a definite
hardworking mentality.
And there's no better
breeding ground, I don't think.
For me, I didn't want
to be the first and only.
I wanted to be
the first of many.
And so that's why I started
the Tofo Surf Club,
to grow surfing.
I want to see Mozambique
on the world stage, you know,
representing in
the ISA World Games,
the Olympics.
And I want to see many more
Mozambican kids surfing.
I don't want to be the only one.
[mellow music playing]
This is the Tofo Surf Club.
The club basically
is a diversion program,
and what we're really,
really trying to do
is it's a way to keep kids
engaged in the ocean life
but also keep kids in school.
You don't have to pay anything.
Basically, all they have to do
is just go to school.
And if kids can't do that,
we try and help them.
The club will try and pay
for the kids' school fees,
bags, uniforms.
So we want to keep kids
in school, educate them,
teach them about more
of their own self-worth,
self-value,
and for them to realize
their full potential.
So the club, surfing,
and keeping them in school
all works together here.
On a day-to-day basis,
what we do is, the kids
come in around 2:00,
and then at around 2:30,
we start our
nutritional program.
So we have a nutritional
program where we feed
the kids a nice fresh
fruit smoothie every day,
just to kind of give them
that energy. It's very hot
here in Mozambique.
And then we get the kids all
ready to go down to the beach.
So you can see
they get all their boards,
and then we line up
in the front, and we go
down to the beach.
[mellow music continues]
[man]
Yeah!
[Cho] It's amazing to see kids
from all different types
of backgrounds,
different religions
and different ethnicities,
and also lots of female surfing.
We have surfers like Julia.
Julia is the first
female surfer,
and she's a big inspiration
to a lot of kids.
[smooth music playing]
[Cho] Sometimes Julia
will catch a wave,
and she'll ask
if we saw the wave.
And we'll be like,
"No, but we heard it,"
because she always goes down
the wave hooting and screaming,
going way down the point.
So that's our joke.
We're always like, "No, we
didn't see a wave, but
we heard it." [laughs]
[in Portuguese]
[Cho] Here in Tofo, you can see
the communities rising up,
realizing their self-worth
and their place in Mozambique.
But there's a lot that
Mozambique had to do
to build up to where it is now.
Whenever you surf the point,
you can actually
see the monument.
It was put there to represent
the fight for independence,
and it's such an iconic sign
of power and strength.
There's so much more potential
in Mozambique,
and so now that the Mozambicans
are leading the charge,
I think a lot of the world
will start to see
what we have to offer.
[Gysen] Hm.
Got some swell.
And we've got a neap tide.
Which is actually good
because if it was springs,
we wouldn't be able to cross.
But, uh, yeah, but
definitely the swell pushing
the water in, eh, more
than actually the tide.
Which is a great sign.
Definitely.
A few years after surfing
Namibia at Skeleton Bay,
we started to hear
about a right-hand version
on the east coast of Africa.
But it would only work on very,
very specific cyclones,
specific directions.
And guys would go there
often in the early years
and not get anything.
And, um, it became
this kind of unicorn.
Everyone thought it was just,
you know, an empty flat sandbar.
Eventually, Jordy and the crew
got it on a couple
of really good swells,
and they named it
the African Kirra.
And it kind of set the benchmark
for what's still out there
in Mozambique.
But even if a cyclone
comes into the channel,
you never know what
you're gonna get there until
you actually get to the beach.
Wow.
[in English]
[mellow music playing]
Wow, that was a crazy one.
I pulled into that one,
and it just kept going
and going and going. Damn!
Your gut wants you
to stall for the barrel,
but you kind of just gotta pump.
It's actually what I was
telling Mikey and Saxton.
When you take off
on a wave, just pump it,
and then it'll start giving.
Local knowledge. [laughs]
[high-energy music playing]
[man] Go, go, go.
Punch through. Punch through.
Punch through!
No!
It's really fast
and really thick and all out.
It's like, you know,
next-level heavy.
As soon as you're pretty much
in the barrel, you're just,
like, doing these pumps.
'Cause you just... It just goes,
[whistles] As soon
as it hits that bank,
the bottom bank
especially just goes.
[music continues]
Paddling into it, you just can't
get in 'cause it's so steep,
and then trying to pull out
and getting sucked over.
Once you're in, then you're...
Heh. Then you're good to go.
It's a different concept
when you're out there to when
you're watching it on the beach.
It's so fast that it's actually
over quite quickly.
Plus, the distance you've
traveled is super amazing.
It changes a lot
through the day.
But there's always gonna be
someone that gets that gem.
It just depends on who gets it.
[intense music playing]
[music]
[man] On your last wave,
everyone was clapping, bro.
You are stoked, eh?
I was waiting for one
of those last ones.
What's the wave like?
It's amazing. It's insane.
It's super fast, but,
I don't know,
every now and again,
like, a bigger one comes
and really, like,
I don't know, runs along
the bank really nicely.
But it's an incredible wave.
It's nice to surf a right
like this. Yeah.
[Cho] This place, this little
tiny bit of peninsula,
is magical.
But I think there's so much more
potential in Mozambique.
And so I think now that
the Mozambicans are leading
the charge for surf tourism,
surf exploration, the future
of Mozambican surfing
is looking great.
[Nick] I think I wanted
to share the waves.
Big mistake.
We all think
we're doing the right thing.
And the end of the day,
you're gonna regret it.
I don't think we've seen it
at its full potential yet.
And hopefully, one day,
we'll get it as good
as it can be.
This country's got
a lot to offer.
The people are amazing.
And there are more waves there.
The rest of Mozambique
is just huge question marks
on what else is out there.
[mellow music playing]
[man] Oh, my barrel-boys rolls.
Oh, my barrel-boys rolls.
That was the one, bro.
As he bottom-turned,
the thing already spat, oof.
Pulled in for about
five seconds, six seconds.
Thing spat.
Then he came out slowly.
Then he vied in again,
another five, six seconds.
[mimics explosion] Again.
Came out just his nose, like a...
It was like a... Like a TV game.
It was four or five barrels
he got in a row,
but they were all ten-pointers.
He got like
a 50-point wave, bro.
[laughs]
[upbeat music playing]
[mellow music playing]
[Izzy] The thing that binds
Surfers Healing is the surfing.
That's kind of the connection.
That's what we're doing,
is this water therapy.
To do something
that is so unique with autism,
you know, the water.
The water is where it's at.
And these children,
once they get in the water,
something magic,
something profound, happens.
You know, as divers call it,
that mammalian reflex.
You know, you feel calm,
and your heart rate goes down.
[sighs]
You know,
you breathe through it,
breathe through that anxiety.
You know, once being
a professional surfer,
I could write on paper
who I wish would be
a part of Surfers Healing.
And I got those guys,
and I didn't have to beg them.
When I asked them,
the response is
"Thank you for picking me."
And all these surfers who, uh,
create this Ministry of Surf,
that's us, that's who we are.
But it's the water
that is really something
that is physiologic change,
that is therapeutic,
but that water,
it's that same effect.
It's healing, it helps,
you know, calms the nerves.
I mean, it's so hard
to take 100,000 children out,
but it's a must.
You know, it's sensory.
It's these little sensory beings
that feel...
I don't know,
maybe whole in the water.
[mellow music continues]
[Rob] As their tagline says,
it's just one perfect day.
It was such a safe space for us
early in Harry's diagnosis,
at a time where we were really
getting used to being a family
in the autistic community.
And we came out here,
and for once,
our kids were the star
of the show.
Um, nobody looked at them funny.
It was... They rolled out
a lunch for us.
They welcomed
his grandparents, the family,
and we had an incredibly,
uh, you know, perfect day.
Here comes Harry now.
Harry, come on in.
[Harry] Dad, time to go surfing.
Is it time to go surfing, bud?
Sit on your lap.
- Are you ready to do it?
- Yeah.
Then surfing will be over.
We'll go surfing and maybe
catch a ride on our own.
You think you'll stand up
on your own today?
Yeah.
- Do you like doing the surfing?
- Yeah.
What's it like
when you're out there?
Ooh.
[Izzy] I don't want to rest
on our laurels.
You know, it's all
what we're going to do.
If I can just slip in
another 25 years and maybe
another 100,000 children...
And it's just so amazing
to be out here today,
seeing the kids in the water
and how much it, you know,
really affects these parents
and changes their lives.
And seeing the looks
on the parents' faces
is almost just as rewarding
as seeing how stoked
the kids are to be out there.
[upbeat music playing]
[Ashton]
My name's Ashton Pignat.
I'm from Sunshine Coast,
Australia.
I share the same path with Izzy
'cause I have
an autistic brother, as well.
I can relate to that in a way
and see how special
those moments are
with other people, as well.
To see the kids have
that "I did it," as well,
and then watching, like,
the stoke come out of them
'cause they did it.
As soon as we get them out there
and get them in a wave,
I, like, really am really stoked
to see how happy they are
after getting the wave and
enjoying that time on the wave.
The ocean, I think,
has a lot to do with that.
Like, I feel like
it heals a lot of people.
[Izzy] This surf therapy,
this unique,
incredibly difficult charity,
this mission,
this mission from God,
having my son,
and having him for that reason.
And it took me a long time
to figure it out, you know,
but I figured it out.
I figured it out.
That's... That's who he is,
and I love him for who he is.
I wish I could talk to him,
but talking's overrated.
But then it's more
than just that, you know.
It's more than just that.
Once somebody rides
and the first wave is ridden,
you know, it's just,
it's a zone of just excitement,
you know, and everyone
just starts to kind of ramp up,
and the surfers
catch waves and...
I don't know, I always said
it was kind of like
extreme special ed
'cause it's something pretty,
pretty radical.
This is me, and this me
and this is my life,
and this is my destiny.
And, uh, all I gotta do
is take out as many
autistic children as I can,
you know, until I can't anymore.
[inspiring music playing]
[all singing]
I had a great day.
And I went ten miles per hour.
[speaking in Hawaiian]
[waves crashing]
[surf music playing]
[Eddie in Indonesian]
[children laughing]
[water rumbling]
[in English]
[in Indonesian]
[in English]
[in Indonesian]
[Ruzi in Indonesian]
[Eddie in Indonesian]
[Ruzi]
[upbeat music playing]
[Varun in English]
[Rizal in Indonesian]
[Eddie]
My name is Varun Tandjung.
I'm 19 years old.
I'm from Bali, Indonesia.
And we're here in Sumatra
on the Bono River,
looking for the longest wave
you could possibly find here.
The first time I came here,
I was 11 years old.
Now this time, with my dad.
- Eight years ago, huh?
- Yeah, eight years ago.
- It's changed, for sure.
- Changed a lot.
[Varun] When I came here
eight years ago,
none of the locals
really knew what surfing was.
And now seeing all these kids
surfing, it's incredible,
'cause you never know,
you might see the next
world champ of surfing
here in Indonesia.
[in English]
[man in Indonesian]
Eddie!
Having Eddie, the local guide,
here, local knowledge.
He knows this river very well,
and feel much safer
with him for sure.
[Rizal in English]
[Varun] The first time
I saw the waves coming
from super far out, I
just couldn't believe it.
Everyone doesn't
believe it at first.
That's why
they call it the Bono.
"Bono" means "it's true."
And, yeah, it's true. [laughs]
[mellow music playing]
[Eddie in Indonesian]
[Ruzi]
[Varun] Yeah, it was epic times
here with my dad.
And all of a sudden, I see,
like, all these little kids
waiting with their boards,
waiting for the wave to come.
And we all ended up
party-waving the same wave.
[Rizal in English]
Bono! Bono! Bono!
Yeah, a lot of the locals say
they used to run away
from the Bono,
but now they're chasing it.
The more people care
about a place, the more
they're gonna try to protect it,
so I hope this wave
will be here forever
and people will take care of it.
[Rizal]
[Ruzi in Indonesian]
[Eddie]
[inspiring music playing]
[surf music playing]
[helicopter whirring]
- Oh, my God, look at all that.
- My God.
It's horrible.
Oh, my God.
[melancholy music playing]
- [child] Problem.
- [Bully] Problem.
- Ocean.
- Ocean.
- Coral.
- Coral.
- Plastic.
- Plastic.
- Rubbish.
- Yup.
All right.
- "Horizon"?
- Yeah.
- You know what a horizon is?
- Oh, "horizon."
Anybody know what horizon is?
- Nope.
- Okay.
Do you see where
the ocean meets the sky?
- Yeah.
- That is the horizon.
Ahh.
[Bully]
And all of your balance...
When you look at the horizon,
you have good balance.
And if you look down or you
look up, you lose balance.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Try this one.
- Place.
- Place.
- Sunset.
- Sunset.
- Beach.
- Beach.
[Bully] I don't wanna hear them
tell me that they don't have
their pencil or paper,
'cause, you know,
that's part of the program.
You know, the surf
is the reward part of it.
[Bully]
There you go. That's good.
[Bully] Being around other kids
and getting to surf,
and a lot of it
is just getting out
of their whole little situation.
People don't come to Maui
and expect to see homeless.
[Bully] Let's go here.
[Bully] But these kids, they're
hidden right in plain sight.
Try to sound it out.
[Bully] And somebody needs
to step up, especially now.
Okay. All right.
Before we go, let's do
a little bit of exercise.
[Bully] You know,
you get to see this freedom.
When they go down to the beach,
they just get to be kids.
Ten more. Eleven, 12...
[Bully] Everyone is equal
when they go down to the beach.
16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
Bring it in. Bring it in.
This is the best part
of my day, you know?
I mean, to see their faces
and when they come running up
and, "Uncle Bully!"
Oh, man.
Just fills my heart
with so much joy.
All right. Yeah, good morning.
What's up, boys?
Yes, yes, yes.
All right, you guys sleep good?
Nice, nice. Let's go.
We've got a big day.
The surf's awesome.
Okay, you got your board,
got your pack.
Hi, good morning, you guys. Aw.
Check it out.
What's your name, dog? Jack?
They call me Bull.
How you doing, bro?
It's gonna be rad waves
out here, man.
Hey, what's up, little man?
What's your name?
- Grayson.
- Grayson. My name's Uncle Bully.
Give me some. Yeah, love it.
Shoots. There it is, bro.
[mellow music playing]
Aloha. Good morning.
Get a lot of good wax
on that board.
Make it all sticky.
[Bully] A surf instructor,
when I first started,
it was a job.
It was a way of making money,
and I actually did
pretty darn good.
But, yeah, COVID,
it hit everybody.
Thank you, guys.
We're gonna have
another row back here too.
Thank you, guys.
[Bully] Well, it was ironic
because all the tourism died,
but for me, I looked at this
as an opportunity to grow,
to cultivate, to build something
out of nothing.
Come on over, guys.
Let's all kind of round up
to our boards.
All right, this is
the perfect wave setup.
And when you guys catch waves,
you should be catching
the wave here at the peak,
and you wanna be looking
all the way across
this area here
and this area here.
That is your targeted surf area
for going across the wave.
So I'm trying to implement
an old school, an old way,
of bringing back community.
And the Number 1 is this guy,
'cause he's closest to the peak.
Number 2, 3, and 4, 5,
stay over here and wait.
It's very focused on Earth
and conscientious, sustainable
practices in the water.
You know, humility and respect
and consideration.
If Number 1
doesn't want the wave,
Number 2, 3, 4 and 5
can take it.
People in the lineup
will respect that.
And then they'll start
respecting you in the lineup.
You know,
supporting other people.
If you need to help
another person who's struggling.
You know, you'll see kids
picking up trash.
And you'll see kids supporting
one another, you know,
and showing love and aloha,
which is something that we
could really use in these times,
especially, yeah?
We're gonna do a quick
little warm-up, you guys.
Right here on the line.
We're gonna wanna
warm up our body
just like every morning.
I can see some of us are tired.
And that's okay,
'cause I get it.
We've been working hard
out here and surfing a lot.
Water's gonna rejuvenate us.
Shoulder rolls.
Wake up the shoulders.
Yup. 'Cause we're gonna do
a lot of paddling.
Okay, now one arm forward,
one arm backwards.
It's trippy, right?
Excellent.
This is how surfboards
are steered, by swinging
the body side to side.
It didn't matter your status.
It didn't matter how much money
you have or didn't have.
You know, COVID was
an opportunity for kids
to get put on the wrong path.
They could be influenced
by the wrong people,
stuck indoors.
You know, kids need to move.
They need to be outdoors.
They need to be
around other kids.
Eight. Two more. Nine.
Excellent job.
Shake that out a little bit.
Chest all the way off the sand.
We're gonna fly, superheroes.
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Pop up. Count of three.
One, two, three.
Let's all go to our surfboards,
get our leashes on,
and we're gonna
paddle down together.
Please, let's all go down
together, okay?
Yeah. Excellent job.
[clapping]
All right.
All right, let's do it.
You can hold your own, right?
- Yeah.
- Cool.
I'm ready.
All right, we're almost at
our little surf spot, Dorothy.
See it? Let's try it.
Breathing
and relaxing your mind.
Looking back
at the wave to catch it.
Once the wave gets close,
arch up your chest.
Away we go.
All the way up. Yes.
All right, bump it for speed
and stand upright.
Oh, there it is.
Scooch back
on the tail for control.
Finishing down on the board.
Excellent job right there.
Very nice.
Come on back for another.
Okay.
And let's take a ride, son.
Lift up.
Come on, you wave.
You got that.
Lean back on your fin.
That's right, son.
Well done.
Down on the board to finish.
Now, as we paddle out here,
you guys can see
some shallower coral.
That's where the wave
is gonna lift up and give us
energy to catch it.
Corals are so important
for us too.
They give us 70 percent
of the air we breathe.
I always thought
the trees did it.
All right, come on
to the side a bit.
And let's go ahead and sit up
and get ready for waves.
When I first met Violet,
she was very introverted
and quiet.
She wouldn't look me in the eye.
When I first met her,
she said maybe
a handful of words.
You know, it was like...
I know she was scared.
You know, and I...
And that's understandable,
because surfing can be
a scary place, in the ocean.
See, the wave is starting
to approach.
Let's get ready.
If you wanna paddle through it,
you can paddle through it.
You don't have to go.
I wanna go.
Okay, you almost
had that one, Violet.
If you feel like the nose
is coming into the water,
grab behind your ribcage here,
and then lift really high up
so that you guys don't spear
that board in the water.
Here comes the wave. See it?
Wait for it before you go.
Breathe and relax your mind.
Yeah.
All right.
Let's go ahead and time it.
Go.
Lift up.
Stand up. All the way up.
Yes.
Lean back on your fin
when it gets steeper.
Here comes the steeper.
Well done. Excellent job.
And two hands
on the board to finish.
Well done. Excellent job.
Outstanding.
Becoming one with the ocean,
letting yourself feel
what you need to feel
and then working through it.
She came out of her shell.
It was a whole different person.
And it was fun to see
the light come on within her,
to see this transformation.
Because it starts off
as just a surf lesson,
but it ends up a life lesson.
[Bully] I came here when I was
8 years old in 1973,
and as soon as I was introduced
to the ocean, I was hooked.
And, man, surf every day.
And the water was so blue,
and the sand felt
like this powdered sugar.
And the barreling waves,
every day,
these barreling waves, man.
It connected with me right away.
I mean, I found my...
My happy place.
Yeah, it's epic here.
But it can be tough too.
Yeah, this last year,
everything changed.
This has been a trial period
for many people.
Not everybody made it through.
There's still people
that are struggling to get up
and get on with it, you know?
Maybe the struggles
that I went through
had prepared me for this.
Maybe I've been training
my whole life for this.
There's a reason why
they call me what they call me.
It's a warrior nation.
You know,
Hawaii is built on that.
So yeah, growing up here,
as blond-haired, blue-eyed,
I was fighting a lot.
Every school I went to,
I got into fights.
I can remember every bully's
name that I ever had
to be confronted with.
Taking care of myself a lot,
I had a lot of freedom
to do what I want,
or not a lot
of parental supervision.
So I could go and hang out.
And trying to be "cool,"
you know, I partied a lot.
I got into drinking
and harder illicit drugs too.
And there wasn't a lot
of guidance, you know?
There was a lot of freedom.
And that freedom
put me on Front Street
and took me down
some darker paths, you know,
that I'm not very proud of,
but they were all
learning lessons.
It was an evolution
that I'm still working on,
still today, to,
you know, keep focused
and be on the right path.
But I've come a long way
from where I used to be.
There was... scars
from upbringing
that carried over
into grown-up life
but I didn't have
the coping skills to deal with.
And the pain was so powerful
that I just wanted
to get away from it,
but I didn't know how.
So I turned to drugs and alcohol
to alleviate the pain.
You know, I was married
with three children at the time,
so I wanted to be
a better person, better father.
I was just tired of being tired.
You know, waking up hungover,
in a strange place, you know?
It was...
I just had enough, you know?
But after I started
helping people,
and the feeling I get that...
when I'm changing
someone's life, it was...
It was a high
like I've never felt.
You know, the alcohol
didn't do that.
Neither did the other drugs.
This feeling was pure.
For me to bring people
into a better light
and to expose them
to a positive energy
that just reinforces confidence
and instills, like,
ambition and enthusiasm,
these energies
are very addicting.
And the gift of giving?
I've never felt so much love
when I give.
Look at that wave
right there, bro.
Spin. Spin on it.
I'm coming with you.
Come on, just paddle.
I got you.
Stand up and surf.
All right, let's go.
That's right, pump it.
Go right through.
That's it, drive it through.
Yeah!
Whoo! Bro, that was sick.
Excellent first try.
[inspiring music playing]
It was exciting,
and people were listening to me.
You know, they were listening
to my every word.
And people was opening up
their hearts to me.
You know, no other job
I've ever done
where people give themselves
completely to you.
So that feeling, I'm hooked.
I'm hooked. It's...
It's a lifelong project for me.
That's all I think about.
That's all I think about,
is the children and
"How can I help?"
You know, the need is here.
Maui is a very unique place,
you know?
For some folks
who have money and resources,
yeah, it is paradise.
But for others who don't,
it's a struggle.
You don't see a lot
of the darker side of it.
The kids who are in need,
where they don't have resources,
especially now
that COVID had hit.
You know, there's a new influx
of homelessness.
You know,
kids out on the street,
living in their cars.
You know, where are they
gonna get their next meal?
To some of these kids,
every day is a struggle.
So first I met Isaiah,
and Isaiah lived in the park
where I teach surf lessons.
When I surfed over there
and I saw this encampment,
he would be sitting there
all day by himself,
eight, ten, 12 hours.
No parental supervision.
He was probably 7 at the time.
I just asked him,
you know, if he surfed
and if he would wanna come
and join in with the camps
that we were doing.
That's how I met
some of the other boys,
Tyten, Josiah.
You know, he was best friends
with those kids.
All right, bro.
All of them,
really shining stars.
You know,
considering their backgrounds
and where they've grown up
and their influences,
it's amazing to see how kind
and wonderful and loving
these kids really are.
Yeah, boys.
All right, good morning,
good morning.
Whoa. Fumble. Come on in here.
What's up?
Good job. All right,
you guys ready for surf?
- Yeah.
- Let's get after it, man.
We got a busy day out there,
lots of kids coming down.
All right, all right.
Come on, we gotta rally up.
And you know, what really got me
is that Isaiah didn't...
At 9 years old,
he couldn't really read.
You know, when we'd go to lunch,
the door would say "push,"
and he would try to pull it.
And I'd say, "Can't you see
what it says there?"
Every day,
he kept trying to pull it.
And then he told me,
"Uncle, I couldn't read."
And that's where
it kind of evolved.
[Bully] Now, can you
write your name?
- Yup.
- All right.
Yeah, me too.
[Bully] It's important to be
able to spell your name.
[boy]
What's up, Isaiah?
- How's it going, dog?
- Good.
Bang.
[in English]
[Bully] Given their situation,
they're like these diamonds
in the rough, you know?
And I believe, with a little bit
of help, man, and direction,
they can go places.
They can go far.
And they can get themselves
out of the situation
that they're in.
And by coming to the water
and using Hawaiian culture
and bringing Hawaiiana back to
these young generational kids,
it's gonna be something that's
gonna be a lifelong effect
in putting them in
a positive direction, you know?
I grew up on the streets
out here too.
And it's really easy
to get caught up in the street.
Front Street is
real easy to get...
When there's not
other things going on.
So keeping these kids
entertained and stuff
is gonna keep them
off the street here too,
as well, you know?
- Now M, who knows M?
- I do.
- A big M.
- Okay.
- Can you do big M too?
- Yup.
Write it in the sand. Show me.
It looks like mountains.
There you go.
Very good.
You guys excited
about surfing today?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Okay.
I didn't know
those come in and out.
[Bully] And what really is
cool about this whole thing
is the diversity.
And we want you guys
to understand that
so you can teach
the next generation too,
you know?
[speaks in Hawaiian]
[Bully] And there's no judgment,
you know?
The kids all accept one another.
They don't look at each other
as, "Oh, this kid's rich.
He's got the best board."
You know, "Oh, this kid's
got no board at all."
You know,
everybody here is equal.
And look at how we make
friends with our kaiaulu,
in our community, you know?
All new friends, new surfing,
sharing all of this together,
you know?
It's a very precious thing
that we have going here, yeah?
Cool?
So let's get ourselves
on our boards and let's start
getting ourselves ready.
And I feel like if a lot
of grown-ups could see
how these kids act
towards one another,
it would be a much better place,
you know?
Being kind and not judgmental
and respecting one another.
It just really lit me up.
[mellow surf music playing]
Please don't break.
Please don't break.
This is where
the action comes in.
Oh, a turtle right behind us.
A turtle.
That's our family, our friend.
And every time
you see a turtle, there's waves.
Whoa! He scores.
He makes it. Oh, my God,
right inside. Let's go.
Keep your eyes up now.
Look where you wanna ride, bro.
Yeah, dude, we went sideways.
Yeah, Isaiah.
Whoo!
Let's go manifest some waves.
Breathing and believing.
God, I just love it.
[music fades]
[Bully] I've been thinking
a lot about Isaiah.
So he hasn't showed up
in the water
for a couple weeks now.
And it's got me worried.
And we had a couple of times
we were supposed
to go surfing and skating,
and for him not to show up,
that's just not like him.
The people that are in his
family circle are struggling.
And how is that affecting him?
He's only 11.
And my heart is wondering.
He's a gift.
And he needs to know that.
It's all tucked away
in the trees.
There's literally
structures, homes.
This is people's homes.
So I haven't heard from him
in about ten days,
maybe two weeks now.
And I tried to call him today,
but his phone is shut off again.
My hope for Isaiah...
You know, I wanna
see him go to school.
I wanna see him
have an education.
I wanna see him read
and write and learn.
He loves math.
He has all this talent,
and he really does.
Do you know that
he's the most giving kid
I've ever seen?
He has nothing, and he gives.
We were walking down the street
with me and Grayson.
It was raining and cold.
Isaiah gave him the shirt
off his back to keep
little Grayson warm.
And when Grayson is around
Isaiah, he's a better kid.
He's more polite.
He has a positive influence
on other children.
This is another place
he'll hang out.
So it's a hit and miss
sometimes here.
We'll go up this way.
The park is usually packed in
on Fridays, and this is
where I'll find the boys.
Yeah.
Sometimes they're here,
sometimes they're not.
I didn't find them this time.
But I'll keep searching.
I'm always gonna keep
searching for the boys.
I've had such an
influence on them already,
and they've had an
influence on me, you know?
It's amazing that kids
can teach you a lot
if you're really listening.
Oh! [laughs]
[mellow music playing]
[Bully] We were so close
to burning in our car.
You know, we made it out
with maybe a minute
or two to spare.
[woman] This is where we live.
There's our street.
[Bully] I went back to the beach
at Breakwall,
where I got married,
where I met my wife.
That's where I taught those
first surf camps during COVID
with all those kids.
It was hard.
And we looked out to the waves,
and the waves were
just blue and perfect
and, I mean, incredible.
It was firing.
It's like you never see
Breakwall with nobody out.
Behind me was
all the rubble of our lives.
And in front of me, another set
of waves come firing through.
And in that moment, I realized:
Keep looking forward.
The horizon,
balance,
and this positive energy
is right in front of you.
[inspiring music playing]
[Bully] Kids are very resilient,
so it may not seem
like it's affecting them,
but deep down inside,
their body is storing
these emotions.
Yeah.
Look how good the waves are.
Come on, Felix.
Let's go. Come on.
Bringing them to the ocean
is a part of therapy.
It's a healing process.
When things get hard
and there are struggles,
the ocean is a moment
of being present.
And you're not thinking
about the fire.
You're not thinking
about what you've lost.
You're only in the moment,
and this is the place
we need to go back to.
[people cheering]
[horn blowing]
[Bully] When I looked around,
I realized the power
of this energy
that was coming
together collectively.
This is what love
and aloha looks like.
Amidst all of this tragedy,
there was this feeling of hope.
And I felt this powerful
connection to Maui
and the people in it
that I've never felt anywhere,
in any experience
I've ever had before.
You know, when I look around,
I wonder if people
see what I see.
You know,
if we can harness this energy,
aim this and focus this
towards our Hawaiian kids,
it's amazing that this is what
comes out of the ashes.
Tragedy has to happen
to bring people together.
It, like, wakes people up
out of this coma.
And then they realize
we need each other.
Yeah, I thought local kids
were living it tough before.
Now...
you know,
it's not hidden anymore.
The little they had
was those opportunities
to go to the beach,
to walk through the park,
to hang out together.
All that's gone.
You know, they need role models.
They need us to be present.
And that's where
the change happens.
Just by showing up
is how you make a difference.
And that's where I'm going.
Hold tight hold on
Stand up or fall
So many changes
We can't explain
Might be afraid
And that's okay
Hold tight hold on
Okay. Let's stand up.
So uncertain
But I'm learning
Every dark day was worth it
To be standing here
Right now
Here right now
Here right now
I'm here right now
Got everything we need
And more
Can take a broken soul
To make a heart of gold
So many ways we can't change
Face the pain, oh
Got everything you need
And more
So uncertain
But I'm learning
Every dark day was worth it
To be standing here
Right now
Here right now
Here right now
I'm here right now
I'm here right now