The Swim (2021) Movie Script
The idea of swimming
across the Pacific Ocean
is very crazy.
But if the mind is strong,
I mean, you can
take the body anywhere.
My attraction for the ocean
is due to the fact that
at the surface, it seems like
it's the same.
But it's... No, it's not.
There's so many layers to it
and the more
I'm in contact with it,
the more I discover myself
through it.
I think this swim for him
is linked to a much deeper
and secret side of him
where he would transport to
almost another universe.
This is something
deep inside him
that even he struggles
to understand.
The swim is not
a goal by itself.
It's not just swimming
from point A to point B.
It is a way to test myself,
and to... to find myself.
So, Trinh, did you think
he was a little crazy?
I... That's what I used to think
- at the beginning, but...
- Yeah.
...it's just a part of him
that's wonderful, and
um, not many people can do it.
- Nope.
Seventy-three days
after swimming with sharks,
being stung daily by jellyfish,
and battling 20-foot waves,
Ben arrived in France.
When I did the Atlantic,
I thought it was
that one-time thing
and that was it.
It was very difficult.
All your senses are deprived.
So, day after day,
all that becomes much
more difficult to deal with.
Now I hear you plan
to do the Pacific?
That's correct.
When I arrived,
my first words were,
"Never again."
And few months after,
"No, I need to go back."
It's something that I need.
- I added a tablespoon of flour.
- Do you wanna rinse that out?
Um, today is my dad's birthday.
- He's turning 51.
- We're making a cake.
Are you guys gonna
start it with him?
Yes. That's the theory.
For however long Max can swim.
Are you excited
for it to be done?
Yes, I can't wait.
Yeah, it hasn't been easy.
Yes. We haven't had any
vacations for...
the last seven years.
Every year it was, like, "Oh,
it's gonna happen this year."
And the next year,
and the next year.
So, yeah.
So, I'm ready.
I'm ready for him to just
find out what it is,
to find himself
and maybe...
if it works, it's great.
If it doesn't work,
he knows his limits.
Yeah, yeah. That's a long,
long way, right?
It's really far.
Yeah, it has been
very difficult.
I look at it, what I'm
doing is very selfish,
but I think I stumbled
on to the ocean
as a way to unlock my mind.
A door to part of me that I
cannot find anywhere else.
In some ways, I am fortunate
to have found that,
but it creates a lot of,
uh, difficulty
and challenges for people
that are living around me.
He's mentioned that, "I wish
that this is not a part of me."
I think it's an addiction.
A, um... an obsession.
I'm scared
and I'm worried for him.
Yeah.
If I could remove that from me,
maybe I would be better off.
But at the same time, it
could be losing a part of me.
In some ways, it's a curse.
It's the last stage
of the preparation. Finally.
Seven years of the boat.
It was very complex
to put in place
because no boat is designed
to last in the ocean,
six to eight months
without any stop.
It only takes two
to three weeks
to cross an ocean, usually.
We're gonna be out at sea
for months.
Okay.
We had to design
all the system
to try and be self-sufficient
because once we leave, there
is no one to help us out there.
We're letting one person
be in the water all the time,
which on other boats,
you refer to as an emergency.
Always a man overboard.
It's not something
you do lightly.
It's a risk.
My main responsibility
will be taking care of my uncle.
And, naturally, like,
all my energy goes to it.
Thank you. You guys
look out for each other, okay?
All our lives are in danger
and Ben knows it.
- Be safe, okay?
- Yeah. Thank you very much.
- Okay?
- Yeah.
It's Mother Nature
out there.
Anything can happen.
So, I guess, that's the risk
we have to take.
It's also the adventure, so...
I have many fears
and worries about this trip.
But I want my family
to understand that sometimes
you have risk in life,
but you have to not let
the fear and worries
stop you from
what makes you happy.
When I became a father,
it was very clear
in my mind that
what I could provide to them was
not materialistic things, but
something deeper and something
that is much more important.
You know, finding a passion,
going after your dreams.
I would hope that's what
my kids will get out of it.
- Go ahead.
- Uh...
You go. Go on. Yeah.
Bye, guys.
- All right. Let's go.
- Let's go.
I have been dreaming,
eating, sleeping
the Pacific swim
for so long that
now it comes, now it's reality,
I'm like a tiger in a cage.
And please open the cage
for me to leave.
I'm not scared about Ben.
Even if he gets eaten
by a shark,
or if we lose him in a storm,
deep inside him, he has this
dream of crossing an ocean.
It would be worse for him
leaving without doing the Pacific
than dying trying.
Amazing progress.
Fifteen in only five hours.
This is the first day
of many to come.
I'm really happy.
It should be good. Yes! f
We're about to start.
You just have to adjust the
speed so that Ben follows you.
Speed up, speed down.
It's like a video game.
One, two, one.
Holy shit. 21 miles already.
That's awesome.
I'm 100% convinced
that Ben will make it.
Ben, dolphins!
Oh, it can really move.
Yeah. That's, like, seven.
If we just had dolphins
the whole way across the Pacific,
we'd be there in, like, a month.
Ben, Ben, Ben.
- Feel all right?
- Yeah.
Wow. I think that...
Fuck me.
- There's a shark.
- I think it's there, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. The shark, uh...
it's following them.
Seagull to Disco,
Seagull to Disco. Over.
Yeah, that's good.
We just, uh, spotted a shark.
Uh, we think there is a shark
around you. Over.
Seagull to Disco.
Do you receive me?
All right. You ready?
Perfect time to lose connection.
Hey! There is a shark!
There is a shark!
Fuck me.
Ben, Ben, Ben.
There was a massive
big fin just over there.
- Just right there. See it?
- Oh, sh...
What do you wanna do?
Wow. This is crazy.
Wow.
This is so amazing.
Does he want to swim
with the shark or what?
If a shark decided
to attack us right now,
we wouldn't have much hope.
I'd just ask very politely
for it not to.
I think it saw the dingy
and me as one part.
But it was amazing
to have that big beast
coming around like that,
the eyes following.
And then, after it went away,
went back into swimming.
So, day 35 on the swim.
Yesterday was day 34.
Two little knobs
that you bite on.
So, I've got eight hours
biting the same thing.
Your teeth are sore
and also you start, uh,
developing some blisters
inside your lip.
For me, I need to be
able to move it.
So, I cut one off
and so that I can
use different teeth
on the one that is left.
This one is out.
So now, I can have it
on the left, and then
I can rotate it.
And I'm going to bite
on the side,
and then after,
I cannot move it.
Good luck, Ben! Bye-bye.
I cannot wrap my mind
around being in the water
for 5,500 miles. No, I cannot.
What you have to do
is to use your mind
to try to escape
in that environment.
For example, the first hour,
I'm going to start
about reliving the birthday.
Remember who was there
and if I hugged them
or kissed them,
what type of perfume
they were wearing.
Try to remember the feel of
the heat of the sun on my arm
and then, what I hear,
you know, was it loud?
So, as soon as I engage
all my senses,
boom, my mind's going to
disconnect from my body.
I cannot control people.
I cannot control
the environment.
I cannot control the weather.
The only thing that
I can control is my mind
and how I'm going to react
to a problem.
Today's biggest challenge is
not to melt in the sun.
It's way too hot.
It's almost time for a break.
You wanna have a drink?
Fix your goggles?
He's right here now.
Not afraid.
Just chilling.
It's kind of scary.
Don't peck me.
Don't be shy.
Oh, that's awesome.
- Oh, that's so awesome.
I think the albatross,
it's, like,
come along to give him
a little fist bump, to say,
"Keep going.
We appreciate
all of your hard work."
It's there.
Disco, Disco, this is
Seagull, Seagull.
I saw a lot of debris
floating around the boat.
There is a lot.
Thank you.
Oh, yes.
Sorry, Ben. Little thing...
This is the bag
that will collect the sample.
The water passes through here.
We collect the micro plastic
and keep it here.
Again, let's do it.
With this net, we collect
the micro plastic
that is in the ocean.
For micro plastic research.
The net again.
Houston, it's swimming!
To cross the Pacific,
that was my dream.
But also, this is
some great opportunity
to understand plastic
floating all around the Pacific.
When we deploy the net, we
need to take the time to half an hour.
- Very important.
- It's too full.
- Ugh!
Now we'll see
what is inside it.
- You see this?
- Oh, yeah.
Yeah, there is
micro plastic.
This is just one sample
from many, many, many
that we will take on this trip.
Now we have 26 pieces.
But we see also a lot of big pieces
of plastic floating around here.
Yeah.
Today we found... We passed
heaps of trash in the water.
Oh, yeah.
Donuts?
So heaps of trash in the water.
Always going past.
All right.
I've never seen so much plastic
since we started the trip.
It was everywhere.
Under a few big pieces,
usually you have a colony
or a school of little fish.
Apparently it's a way for them
to have some type of shelter.
But once we remove
the piece from the ocean,
then they will
come and go under me
and stay round me
for a little bit.
And it was mind boggling to
see how much plastic it was.
A lot.
How do you feel?
Okay.
- Yeah.
- You want to have any tea or something?
You want some food
or something else?
Yeah.
Okay.
Good luck, man.
Let's roll.
My father
taught me how to swim.
I was about five years old,
in the south of France.
I remember him pushing me up
on my belly to make sure
I was going to rise,
over the wave.
And when he passed away,
it was very difficult for me.
Now I'm the father,
I realize I'm not
going to be here forever,
and how I'm going
to live my life.
I have a passion
about the ocean,
and looking at it as an old man
sitting in the chair
and back at his life,
"saying, "So what have
you done in your life?
How did you use your talent
or your passion?
"Did you change anything?"
And I don't want
to miss that. Yeah.
Wouldn't be a better life.
But he knows that
he is doing good, though.
Welcome to one of the most
amazing places of the boat,
the jungle, the cabin
I share with Ben.
Why is it called the jungle?
It's humid
and it smells like a jungle.
I've got this bunk,
it's a bit too short,
I used to fall out of my bed.
That's why
I make this rope here.
Most of the time when
it's dark, you can't see.
I put one foot next to Maria.
Actually, it's always, like, um,
"It doesn't matter
if she's sleeping."
And that's how I sleep.
Pretty comfortable, I guess.
It's probably the best room
on the boat, let's be honest.
Except that Maks
is really smelly,
and Maria snores.
- Shut up!
- You do.
No.
I have pictures of my family,
so when I need to go back home,
I open this box, that brings
me back the nice memories.
Yeah, Ben took care of me,
when I was a child.
He was a godfather.
I really don't feel like
I'm an individual.
I feel like I'm just...
I'm just an energy pushing Ben.
And I have no doubt
that I'm meant to be here.
Get up.
Time to wake up, mate.
The weather system,
it's gotten worse.
So we had a pretty rough night.
Thirty, thirty-five knot winds
and we didn't sleep that much.
Then we were caught by...
...waves suddenly everywhere.
I think Ben
didn't have a good sleep
last night
because of the weather.
Plus you were
seasick yesterday.
Yes, he gave all
his protein back to the fish.
We just received a report
from the weather company.
They are saying there is
a big system coming at us.
Sucks.
The gods of the ocean are
not with us for now.
The storm that
they were tracking
stretches all the way south,
and all the way
pretty much up to Russia.
Eighteen knots of wind,
and that's us just next to it.
That's the kind of storm
that throw boats in the air.
Scary.
We have the position of where
Ben stopped yesterday.
So we know where to come back.
Hopefully in no more
than three to five days
we can head back out.
I hate being on land.
I really do.
The time of the year is now
that there's just,
like, a conveyor belt
of typhoons coming up for us.
Having to wait now
back on land,
means that it will be
later in the season.
And later in the season
means water being colder
and also having more storms
and stronger storms as
we get closer to the US.
Now we have three
new guys on The Swim.
So, hello, I'm Paul.
Um, first,
updates on the weather.
The idea is to wait and see
what this system look like.
And you can see
that Ben is very happy
with this situation.
That's my happy face.
Hello and thank you for calling
Weather Routing Incorporated.
Please press...
Departure is scheduled
tomorrow afternoon
and I just received
an email from WRI
saying, "Don't go tomorrow."
Weather Routing.
How can I help you today?
Uh, so, we would like
to talk about the forecast
that we received from you.
Okay. Uh, they do have a concern
it could reach potentially a tropical
storm or potentially typhoon status
round around the time the
vessel would be in that vicinity.
At this point,
I would not recommend
heading out
or even trying to get east.
What if we get out tomorrow
and keep monitoring the system?
Some other systems
will stay off to the south.
We are very inclined
to go out and try our luck.
Okay, um, I'm very hesitant
at this point to definitely
say to depart.
Really not much time to be
able to get out of way
if the system
does accelerate too much.
But to be quite honest,
this is very routine.
Awesome.
Ready for a swim?
The animal was not happy
out of the water.
All right.
Ooh, yay!
- There it is.
Back in the water.
- Oh, yeah.
Back where he belongs.
That's so good. So happy.
It's like we are all plugged
to Ben's swim,
and we need Ben to swim
to feed our own energy.
Once Ben is in the water
and starts swimming,
it's like a magic
happening on the boat.
Everyone is happy.
There it is, there it is.
Hey!
And the new people
James, Bryan and Gonzalo,
getting used to the boat.
New cameraman not just here
- to, uh, film.
- Yeah.
Gotta sail the boat sometimes.
Reef one, reef two.
- I got those terms.
- He knows it.
Yeah.
Ooh!
Normally you don't have
a chance like right now
to jump in the water.
Too nice, man. Too nice.
No sharks, right?
- I told you about the time we did see a shark, though.
- That's nice.
Yeah?
Had a massive shark come
around us and the boat.
Don't say that.
I don't wanna know that.
We're gonna need a bigger boat.
Sunset is here.
And Ben just stopped swimming.
Oh! Oh!
Oh!
Whoa.
- So awesome.
I did, uh, five hours
and about 15 miles.
So it's just a slow restart.
I think it's better that he
does it slowly and sustainable.
We must preserve
his body as much as we can.
'Cause it will be tested.
Good day. Very good day.
I just hope tomorrow,
when we wake up,
we won't find an email
saying, "Typhoon!
Go back to Japan."
Please, no.
Today's
a very good day, I'm thinking,
with the trash we collected.
Big variety of trash.
We've got some ketchup,
some Styrofoam,
a straw, and the remains
of a plastic cup.
Hi.
- Look at that.
- It's crazy.
- To see a beautiful bird.
- So cool.
You know what type
of a bird is that?
It's a gannet or a booby.
He's the captain, you know.
He looks like the captain
of this garbage boat.
Phosphoric acid solution.
More than 900 miles offshore
and we still find this
sort of stuff in the ocean.
That's scary.
- Look at that.
- Oh!
- Wow.
I was in the water just
cooling down in a break,
And then I heard...
Like, behind us.
As soon as Maks heard,
"Oh, it wasn't a shark,"
he was, like, "Okay." Boing!
- Wow.
- That's amazing, guys.
It's a big ocean
and suddenly you have
massive creatures
playing with you
and looking and, like, trying
to see what we're doing.
They're trying
to talk to you.
Ben dived down under the water,
and they were just
swimming together, like,
They just were
cruising past,
had a look, "Oh, yeah,
you guys are boring."
And then left.
Yes!
Yes!
Fuck, yeah.
Totally cool.
Yeah, man.
That was magic.
Wow!
We woke up with a beautiful
sight, double rainbow.
It's there because conditions
are a little bit rough.
Big waves.
We're gonna make
1,000 miles today.
I'm painting
the sign for 1,000 miles.
Jesus, man.
This is the worst conditions
that I've been on here.
Look at this swell. Wow.
Hello.
So you are getting
very close to the mines.
All right, big fella.
See you on the other side.
There he is,
1,000 miles offshore.
Finally, we did it.
- Come on!
Do you feel like a changed man?
Yeah, I have
more gray hair, though.
I'm conflicted to feel like this
is a huge milestone right now,
because we worked
so hard to get here,
so it is important,
but we want to make more.
Okay, okay,
1,000 miles is a good effort.
All right. We love you, ocean.
Ladies and gentlemen!
I give you a one,
I give you a zero,
I give you another zero,
and another zero!
Can I have running of drums?
A plastic crown
for the 1,000 miles.
- Made with plastic trash.
- Disgusting.
But you swam in that, so...
Wherever that was,
you swam in that, so...
So you are the king.
That's interesting.
- We just found...
- This piece of trash.
...a shoe in the water.
He doesn't wanna go.
Oh.
What?
- He's out there.
- There you go.
So we lost the ability
to start our generator
or the main engine because
of the fire suppression system.
Anything with electricals...
Not something
to mess with.
It's impossible 'cause I don't
know how this was installed.
It's emergency,
it's safety and...
I really don't think it's good
to not have an engine out here.
That's a huge problem.
The coastguard helicopter
range is 600 nautical miles.
We are currently in a dead zone.
We cannot get
a helicopter out here.
Today we started the swim
with limited wind.
Yes, we did. We started
the swim with limited wind
and inability
to chase after the dinghy.
The dinghy midday was
a decent distance away.
If the wind changes,
the dinghy breaks down,
we have just lost three people
in the middle of the ocean.
Firstly, if the wind drops,
then we must all agree
we're gonna stop the swim.
- And that's what we will do.
- Yeah. That's agreed.
We can't sail this boat
with 6 knots of wind.
- Yeah.
- Just trying to not get us
into of the category
of incidental, basically.
- Yeah.
- 'Cause we're on that track right now.
Try 147.
- No.
- Fuck!
Nothing.
Fuck me.
I can't see where it is.
I can feel it.
Okay. Terminal 12.
I don't know what else to do.
Honestly, I'm running out
of options real quick.
We had to go to get
to the swim point
by a certain time
and the only way we could
get it is by being parachuted.
So I jumped out of a plane
and then I realized, "Oh, crap,
I don't have a parachute on."
And then boom and slam.
And then I woke up.
So we're gonna
make the connection
a bit stronger
and better and firmer
and I'm just gonna
hot wire it to it.
Cautiously optimistically.
Come on.
- Do it again.
- No.
Holy crap!
Yes! Yes!
Okay.
My heart is pounding
so hard right now.
- That sound...
- So good.
Oho!
Every day I'm, like, "It's
on you, man, it's on you.
Figure it out,
figure it out, figure it out."
Gotcha! Love it.
Victory. Victory, both.
- Good work.
- Let's face the future.
So now we have no excuse
to provide Ben
with the best swimming
support in the world.
Thank you so much.
Anytime. It's a very good day.
I'm making a new frame
for my glasses.
These ones are broken.
I think that will be nice.
Fucking hate that song.
Bryan has the worst taste in
music, it has to be said.
And now he's gonna play
a song randomly over the VHF.
Let's see how bad it is.
Okay. Ready
to receive the music.
Don't disappoint me, bro.
- Fuck me!
And I would walk 500 more
A very fitting choice.
When I wake up
Well, I know I'm gonna be...
Hey, mate. Mahi-mahi.
Three fish in 15 minutes,
Four fish.
- Look at that!
Happy birthday to you
When I'm lonely...
I know I'm gonna be
I'm making a guitar.
This will be the only
instrument on board.
When I'm dreamin'
Well, I know I'm gonna dream
I'm gonna dream
About the time...
Amazing.
When I go out When I go out
Well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man
Who goes along with you
Whoa!
Wow.
Whoa!
- Whoa!
- Wow.
The whales are saying,
"Happy birthday, Maria."
Yeah. Amazing.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk...
Da-da da da Da-da da da
Da-da da da Da-da da da
Da-da dum diddy dum
Diddy dum diddy da da da
Just to be the man
who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door
Thank you for that, Bryan.
You're welcome.
What does
it look like to you?
Whatever it is, it's big.
Well, it's either
just a big log,
or a life raft.
It looks like a boat.
How's this
for your birthday?
Freaking wild.
Not everybody gets this.
We're out in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean.
On a capsized boat.
Happy birthday, Bryan!
It's cold.
His body is changing
and he lost three percent
of his body fat.
Yeah.
It's amazing how fragile
material becomes
after being in the sun
for so long.
It happens after a while
of a lot of stress to the sails.
So this is holding
a very important part.
One hour.
Just keep swimming.
Just keep swimming.
I don't think I can even
comprehend.
He's been thinking
about this for 20 years.
I've never had an idea
that lasts more than one year
and he's been having this
in mind, this dream,
for 20 years.
But his mind,
I think it's unbreakable
and that's never gonna break.
He's gonna keep going
until his body breaks,
the boat breaks
or the weather stops him.
Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben!
- Maks. Ben is here.
- Yeah.
Yeah. Hey, man. Sit down, man.
You hit the propeller?
Yeah.
Let's get you in, get you warm.
Can you open your eyes?
- You see me good?
- Yeah.
Can you feel my finger?
No. It's okay.
We couldn't see anything.
So I was picturing
behind his cap,
an open wound with the brain.
No stitching for now.
It's okay, Maria. Thank you.
I didn't control it well.
That's okay. Ben didn't
lose conscious or anything?
No. No.
- Fuck.
- Yeah.
Can be worse, you know,
if the reaction
puts the hand right in the face.
- A lucky man.
- Very lucky man.
Tomorrow, Ben, what do
you think about the day off?
Day off?
Ben, you know you can have rest.
I know the weather will come
and I will have my days.
Really insane, man.
More trash, unfortunately.
Hello, from the middle
of the Pacific.
- With Gonzo.
- Hello.
Yo-yo-yo. What is that?
Oh. It's foam.
Every five minutes finding
a piece of plastic debris.
Wow.
There is a lot in this area.
I already found 117
and there is still more to find.
Oh, what's that over there?
That's not food.
No, no, you can't have that.
Just found this little box
here of something
and that'll end up being food.
And they'll take it
back to their nest
and then their hatchlings
will probably die
because of all the plastic
they've eaten.
- Pieces of twine.
- Yeah.
Plastic bag.
How
it's, like, degrading.
It's gonna get eaten away,
creating little tiny,
tiny microbes.
Two hundred and fifty pieces.
What was the last record?
84? 85?
- Yeah.
- Almost tripled.
Down here it's wild.
Wow, man. It's so nasty.
The worst place
I think in the whole trip.
I think I have
plastic everywhere.
I have plastic in my pants.
It's full of plastic. Just full.
Yeah. It's fucking horrible.
You don't even have
to look for it.
You just put your hand
in the water and you have
dozens of trash
just in your hand.
Crazy. I saw a lot
of particles in the water.
High concentration
of plastic and all that
and then on the surface,
there we saw, like, a bucket,
nails and big plastic items.
Very strange.
It was more than what
I could understand
and we had to stop
because if we were
to collect the plastic,
we would have spent all night.
We don't have time,
we have to go to the boat
and we have to let
this soup float around
and just go away.
I don't know what to do
with this feeling.
I just feel powerless.
I'm probably angry at myself
because I'm like everyone.
We use plastic.
We throw away plastic.
But no one sees that.
It reminds me
how huge the problem is
and how hard it
will be to fix that.
So I cannot look at that
and just do nothing.
Yeah.
Real big swell.
We've seen it coming
but then it was just...
It's moving quick.
Got 35 knots already.
Okay, so the base
of the discussion
is our ability to support Ben.
Even if it means
three weeks of rough weather
and one day of swim days,
as long as Ben is here to swim,
we are here for him.
And so support Ben
as much as we can,
every day we can.
If something serious
happened to the main sail,
we should maybe decide to leave,
to not fall back
on something else.
This is, like,
the opposite of my instinct.
Is to say, "All right,
we're just gonna sit here
until something goes wrong."
It's, like, you leave
before that situation happens.
I know I'm a very closed person.
I don't show too much of my...
enthusiasm
or too much of my sadness,
or if I'm gonna... you know.
Obviously the weather
it's an issue.
But the way
I look at it, it's, uh,
more than just an expedition
from one point to another.
For me, it's a way
to... to gauge the limits.
When you are faced with
something that is
a big challenge,
how do we all react to it?
The expedition,
on a bigger picture,
it's what it is.
If we look, one, two, three,
four-and-a-half days ahead,
- look at this.
- Oh-ho-ho-ho.
This is the first time I see
100 knots wind.
- It's something we need to go away from.
- Yeah.
It's just dangerous.
Pretty nervous.
We cannot get a coastguard
helicopter out here.
This was only around
the high 40s, I think,
and the typhoon
that's coming towards us
is apparently 100 knots.
So we don't want to be here.
That's, like,
no more solar panels,
no more wind generators,
no more people,
no more boat.
And no more Swim.
- Whoa!
Whoa! Down!
- It's very bad.
- It's very bad, yeah.
Reef two just gave up.
It snapped.
On a sailboat,
you have a main sail
and it's very big.
According to the amount
of wind you get,
you can make it smaller.
Reefs make the sail smaller.
You just don't want to have
too much sail
when there's a lot of wind.
We lost our second reef.
All the stitches just...
Ripped apart.
So it's not good.
This is reef 2.
This tore off completely.
There's a line pulling down
the edge of the sail
attaching it to the boom.
So this is
a very important part.
Yeah, this is probably
the wrong, emotional thing
but I would like to see
Ben in the water again, and...
But, really, I think
we need to go, okay?
We're already beyond
the safe zone.
- I think it makes sense.
- Yeah.
Ben?
Ben?
I look at the same thing as them,
and I come to the same conclusions.
You know, what I noticed
about the reef,
is that they're all
being pulled from the bottom.
So my thinking is that
putting less tension on the sail,
making sure that when we
pull the reef,
it is in the same direction
as whatever holds it.
The way it's being pulled right
now, it's the wrong configuration.
Reef 2 is already gone.
We can't... It's the best one,
we need to get home,
and it's gone.
They all break at the bottom,
meaning that the tension
is too much in that direction.
To try a new way now
could mean that we break
the last thing that we...
Yeah, it's not trying
a new thing,
it's just putting less tension.
So by putting less tension,
you have less likelihood
to break it.
Ben, finding an innovative way
to do it doesn't change
- the current state of the reef.
- Yeah.
We seriously damaged
our main sail
which is our main sail.
Any solution we now have
is not enough.
I think we need to go when we still
have some control on our situation.
Any day longer that we
stay here in these conditions,
it worries the shit out of me.
I'm kind of
against nine people.
I'm not in the position
right now
where I want to throw the towel
and say, "Okay, let's go home."
It's not different...
I see the risk.
The risk, is it worth taking?
Yeah, for me, I'm willing
to push the limits.
These are limits of sailing and these
are not the limits we came to test.
For me, uh,
it will never be enough.
That's not about you, that's
not about your limits here,
it's about survival.
I'm not talking about
my personal limit,
but I'm talking about
the limits in general
of what that boat will take.
I'm willing to push further
than anybody else.
That's why I have
a different mindset.
I'm trying to explain for me
why it is a failure
and that will never change.
That's all.
Yeah.
- Please keep that.
Please.
That's so good.
Yeah, it's crazy.
It's freaking awesome.
Yeah, I have
a mustache envy right now.
Like, big time.
- Hello?
- Hello! How are you?
Hey, happy Thanksgiving.
Yeah. I'm calling to wish you
happy Thanksgiving too.
- Hi, Dad.
- How are you, Ana?
- Good.
Hey, Dad.
- Max, is that you?
- Yeah.
I will be there for Christmas.
What do you want me
to bring you from the ocean?
I have a lot of plastic.
- Uh, okay.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, okay?
- Okay.
- Bye-bye, love you.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Yeah, I've been thinking
about the trip
and what we have accomplished.
A lot of good things happened
and also a lot of
disappointing moments.
The moment also that to find out
that the equipment broke
and we won't be able
to pursue the world record.
That was very disappointing
for me, very sad moment.
Being in the water
with all those sea creature,
it is very unique
because that's the only place
you can really enjoy
that type of experience.
Every time I see something
living in the ocean
it reinforces the reason why
we are doing this expedition.
A hundred years ago,
exploring the ocean was about
looking for treasure.
For us,
it's re-exploring the ocean
and we are looking for trash
and for debris.
And strangely enough,
when we find the debris,
we are somewhat happy
and sad at the same time.
We are happy because it's
something that is tangible.
We can really put our finger
on what the problem is,
but it's sad because
it shouldn't be there.
For 160 days, we
were focused on the same goal.
Put Ben in the water every day.
I don't know,
it's like losing a big beacon
that you have on
every day in mind,
and losing one of the main
reasons why you wake up.
But it was very great
for everyone
to kind of shift
and allocate all our energy
to what is the expedition now
which is heading to Hawaii.
And on the way, collecting trash
as many as we can.
The fact that we've only been making
plastic for a certain amount of time
and already, we have already
put plastic
absolutely everywhere...
I didn't expect it to be
so widespread.
Whoa!
This is the worst stuff 'cause
it breaks up so easy.
We had these amazing days
where the animals came to us
and I felt this
awe and appreciation
of the sheer beauty of them.
And then the trash came to us.
It's like you are
working in the forest
and under the leaves,
there is a layer of plastic.
Plastic is our signature
in the ocean.
Sample.
All of this, this is of plastic,
hundreds and hundreds,
like, four, every five minutes
around the boat.
This big debris are only
the tip of the iceberg.
It is everywhere
under the surface.
The ocean is plastic.
We are there!
Guys, there is
a very weird albatross.
So cool!
City. There's a city here.
It's the magic gate to Hawaii.
It's wonderful to see
the color green again.
I'm so excited for how we will
arrive in Hawaii.
Taste different food,
go for beers.
Just meet people.
Look at this.
We are putting all the garbage
that we found on the deck.
We are approaching one mile.
That's very rare,
that's a Ben smile.
Everything has an end.
Ty is going in.
Bye-bye, Ty, see you inland.
- See you inland.
Yeah!
Wow, that's so cool, you've
come out just to meet Ben?
- Yeah.
- Nice!
- Yes!
- Yeah!
Yes!
Seeker, Seeker, Seeker,
this is land!
Ben arrived at the beach.
- Amazing.
- Bien, bien, bien.
When I was little, in France,
I remember being at the beach
with my parents.
I never remember
finding plastic in the sand.
Now, everywhere you step on the
beach, you are going to find plastic.
So just in my lifetime, it's
like...
Exploded.
Being in the ocean
is very liberating.
Some of the time, it's like
reaching levels of happiness,
joy, you cannot
even describe it.
Now I see the ocean
and it's in peril right now.
If I love it, I better do
anything I can to try to protect it.
Welcome to Hawaii!
Ah.
I wanna run, I wanna run.
I didn't win!
across the Pacific Ocean
is very crazy.
But if the mind is strong,
I mean, you can
take the body anywhere.
My attraction for the ocean
is due to the fact that
at the surface, it seems like
it's the same.
But it's... No, it's not.
There's so many layers to it
and the more
I'm in contact with it,
the more I discover myself
through it.
I think this swim for him
is linked to a much deeper
and secret side of him
where he would transport to
almost another universe.
This is something
deep inside him
that even he struggles
to understand.
The swim is not
a goal by itself.
It's not just swimming
from point A to point B.
It is a way to test myself,
and to... to find myself.
So, Trinh, did you think
he was a little crazy?
I... That's what I used to think
- at the beginning, but...
- Yeah.
...it's just a part of him
that's wonderful, and
um, not many people can do it.
- Nope.
Seventy-three days
after swimming with sharks,
being stung daily by jellyfish,
and battling 20-foot waves,
Ben arrived in France.
When I did the Atlantic,
I thought it was
that one-time thing
and that was it.
It was very difficult.
All your senses are deprived.
So, day after day,
all that becomes much
more difficult to deal with.
Now I hear you plan
to do the Pacific?
That's correct.
When I arrived,
my first words were,
"Never again."
And few months after,
"No, I need to go back."
It's something that I need.
- I added a tablespoon of flour.
- Do you wanna rinse that out?
Um, today is my dad's birthday.
- He's turning 51.
- We're making a cake.
Are you guys gonna
start it with him?
Yes. That's the theory.
For however long Max can swim.
Are you excited
for it to be done?
Yes, I can't wait.
Yeah, it hasn't been easy.
Yes. We haven't had any
vacations for...
the last seven years.
Every year it was, like, "Oh,
it's gonna happen this year."
And the next year,
and the next year.
So, yeah.
So, I'm ready.
I'm ready for him to just
find out what it is,
to find himself
and maybe...
if it works, it's great.
If it doesn't work,
he knows his limits.
Yeah, yeah. That's a long,
long way, right?
It's really far.
Yeah, it has been
very difficult.
I look at it, what I'm
doing is very selfish,
but I think I stumbled
on to the ocean
as a way to unlock my mind.
A door to part of me that I
cannot find anywhere else.
In some ways, I am fortunate
to have found that,
but it creates a lot of,
uh, difficulty
and challenges for people
that are living around me.
He's mentioned that, "I wish
that this is not a part of me."
I think it's an addiction.
A, um... an obsession.
I'm scared
and I'm worried for him.
Yeah.
If I could remove that from me,
maybe I would be better off.
But at the same time, it
could be losing a part of me.
In some ways, it's a curse.
It's the last stage
of the preparation. Finally.
Seven years of the boat.
It was very complex
to put in place
because no boat is designed
to last in the ocean,
six to eight months
without any stop.
It only takes two
to three weeks
to cross an ocean, usually.
We're gonna be out at sea
for months.
Okay.
We had to design
all the system
to try and be self-sufficient
because once we leave, there
is no one to help us out there.
We're letting one person
be in the water all the time,
which on other boats,
you refer to as an emergency.
Always a man overboard.
It's not something
you do lightly.
It's a risk.
My main responsibility
will be taking care of my uncle.
And, naturally, like,
all my energy goes to it.
Thank you. You guys
look out for each other, okay?
All our lives are in danger
and Ben knows it.
- Be safe, okay?
- Yeah. Thank you very much.
- Okay?
- Yeah.
It's Mother Nature
out there.
Anything can happen.
So, I guess, that's the risk
we have to take.
It's also the adventure, so...
I have many fears
and worries about this trip.
But I want my family
to understand that sometimes
you have risk in life,
but you have to not let
the fear and worries
stop you from
what makes you happy.
When I became a father,
it was very clear
in my mind that
what I could provide to them was
not materialistic things, but
something deeper and something
that is much more important.
You know, finding a passion,
going after your dreams.
I would hope that's what
my kids will get out of it.
- Go ahead.
- Uh...
You go. Go on. Yeah.
Bye, guys.
- All right. Let's go.
- Let's go.
I have been dreaming,
eating, sleeping
the Pacific swim
for so long that
now it comes, now it's reality,
I'm like a tiger in a cage.
And please open the cage
for me to leave.
I'm not scared about Ben.
Even if he gets eaten
by a shark,
or if we lose him in a storm,
deep inside him, he has this
dream of crossing an ocean.
It would be worse for him
leaving without doing the Pacific
than dying trying.
Amazing progress.
Fifteen in only five hours.
This is the first day
of many to come.
I'm really happy.
It should be good. Yes! f
We're about to start.
You just have to adjust the
speed so that Ben follows you.
Speed up, speed down.
It's like a video game.
One, two, one.
Holy shit. 21 miles already.
That's awesome.
I'm 100% convinced
that Ben will make it.
Ben, dolphins!
Oh, it can really move.
Yeah. That's, like, seven.
If we just had dolphins
the whole way across the Pacific,
we'd be there in, like, a month.
Ben, Ben, Ben.
- Feel all right?
- Yeah.
Wow. I think that...
Fuck me.
- There's a shark.
- I think it's there, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. The shark, uh...
it's following them.
Seagull to Disco,
Seagull to Disco. Over.
Yeah, that's good.
We just, uh, spotted a shark.
Uh, we think there is a shark
around you. Over.
Seagull to Disco.
Do you receive me?
All right. You ready?
Perfect time to lose connection.
Hey! There is a shark!
There is a shark!
Fuck me.
Ben, Ben, Ben.
There was a massive
big fin just over there.
- Just right there. See it?
- Oh, sh...
What do you wanna do?
Wow. This is crazy.
Wow.
This is so amazing.
Does he want to swim
with the shark or what?
If a shark decided
to attack us right now,
we wouldn't have much hope.
I'd just ask very politely
for it not to.
I think it saw the dingy
and me as one part.
But it was amazing
to have that big beast
coming around like that,
the eyes following.
And then, after it went away,
went back into swimming.
So, day 35 on the swim.
Yesterday was day 34.
Two little knobs
that you bite on.
So, I've got eight hours
biting the same thing.
Your teeth are sore
and also you start, uh,
developing some blisters
inside your lip.
For me, I need to be
able to move it.
So, I cut one off
and so that I can
use different teeth
on the one that is left.
This one is out.
So now, I can have it
on the left, and then
I can rotate it.
And I'm going to bite
on the side,
and then after,
I cannot move it.
Good luck, Ben! Bye-bye.
I cannot wrap my mind
around being in the water
for 5,500 miles. No, I cannot.
What you have to do
is to use your mind
to try to escape
in that environment.
For example, the first hour,
I'm going to start
about reliving the birthday.
Remember who was there
and if I hugged them
or kissed them,
what type of perfume
they were wearing.
Try to remember the feel of
the heat of the sun on my arm
and then, what I hear,
you know, was it loud?
So, as soon as I engage
all my senses,
boom, my mind's going to
disconnect from my body.
I cannot control people.
I cannot control
the environment.
I cannot control the weather.
The only thing that
I can control is my mind
and how I'm going to react
to a problem.
Today's biggest challenge is
not to melt in the sun.
It's way too hot.
It's almost time for a break.
You wanna have a drink?
Fix your goggles?
He's right here now.
Not afraid.
Just chilling.
It's kind of scary.
Don't peck me.
Don't be shy.
Oh, that's awesome.
- Oh, that's so awesome.
I think the albatross,
it's, like,
come along to give him
a little fist bump, to say,
"Keep going.
We appreciate
all of your hard work."
It's there.
Disco, Disco, this is
Seagull, Seagull.
I saw a lot of debris
floating around the boat.
There is a lot.
Thank you.
Oh, yes.
Sorry, Ben. Little thing...
This is the bag
that will collect the sample.
The water passes through here.
We collect the micro plastic
and keep it here.
Again, let's do it.
With this net, we collect
the micro plastic
that is in the ocean.
For micro plastic research.
The net again.
Houston, it's swimming!
To cross the Pacific,
that was my dream.
But also, this is
some great opportunity
to understand plastic
floating all around the Pacific.
When we deploy the net, we
need to take the time to half an hour.
- Very important.
- It's too full.
- Ugh!
Now we'll see
what is inside it.
- You see this?
- Oh, yeah.
Yeah, there is
micro plastic.
This is just one sample
from many, many, many
that we will take on this trip.
Now we have 26 pieces.
But we see also a lot of big pieces
of plastic floating around here.
Yeah.
Today we found... We passed
heaps of trash in the water.
Oh, yeah.
Donuts?
So heaps of trash in the water.
Always going past.
All right.
I've never seen so much plastic
since we started the trip.
It was everywhere.
Under a few big pieces,
usually you have a colony
or a school of little fish.
Apparently it's a way for them
to have some type of shelter.
But once we remove
the piece from the ocean,
then they will
come and go under me
and stay round me
for a little bit.
And it was mind boggling to
see how much plastic it was.
A lot.
How do you feel?
Okay.
- Yeah.
- You want to have any tea or something?
You want some food
or something else?
Yeah.
Okay.
Good luck, man.
Let's roll.
My father
taught me how to swim.
I was about five years old,
in the south of France.
I remember him pushing me up
on my belly to make sure
I was going to rise,
over the wave.
And when he passed away,
it was very difficult for me.
Now I'm the father,
I realize I'm not
going to be here forever,
and how I'm going
to live my life.
I have a passion
about the ocean,
and looking at it as an old man
sitting in the chair
and back at his life,
"saying, "So what have
you done in your life?
How did you use your talent
or your passion?
"Did you change anything?"
And I don't want
to miss that. Yeah.
Wouldn't be a better life.
But he knows that
he is doing good, though.
Welcome to one of the most
amazing places of the boat,
the jungle, the cabin
I share with Ben.
Why is it called the jungle?
It's humid
and it smells like a jungle.
I've got this bunk,
it's a bit too short,
I used to fall out of my bed.
That's why
I make this rope here.
Most of the time when
it's dark, you can't see.
I put one foot next to Maria.
Actually, it's always, like, um,
"It doesn't matter
if she's sleeping."
And that's how I sleep.
Pretty comfortable, I guess.
It's probably the best room
on the boat, let's be honest.
Except that Maks
is really smelly,
and Maria snores.
- Shut up!
- You do.
No.
I have pictures of my family,
so when I need to go back home,
I open this box, that brings
me back the nice memories.
Yeah, Ben took care of me,
when I was a child.
He was a godfather.
I really don't feel like
I'm an individual.
I feel like I'm just...
I'm just an energy pushing Ben.
And I have no doubt
that I'm meant to be here.
Get up.
Time to wake up, mate.
The weather system,
it's gotten worse.
So we had a pretty rough night.
Thirty, thirty-five knot winds
and we didn't sleep that much.
Then we were caught by...
...waves suddenly everywhere.
I think Ben
didn't have a good sleep
last night
because of the weather.
Plus you were
seasick yesterday.
Yes, he gave all
his protein back to the fish.
We just received a report
from the weather company.
They are saying there is
a big system coming at us.
Sucks.
The gods of the ocean are
not with us for now.
The storm that
they were tracking
stretches all the way south,
and all the way
pretty much up to Russia.
Eighteen knots of wind,
and that's us just next to it.
That's the kind of storm
that throw boats in the air.
Scary.
We have the position of where
Ben stopped yesterday.
So we know where to come back.
Hopefully in no more
than three to five days
we can head back out.
I hate being on land.
I really do.
The time of the year is now
that there's just,
like, a conveyor belt
of typhoons coming up for us.
Having to wait now
back on land,
means that it will be
later in the season.
And later in the season
means water being colder
and also having more storms
and stronger storms as
we get closer to the US.
Now we have three
new guys on The Swim.
So, hello, I'm Paul.
Um, first,
updates on the weather.
The idea is to wait and see
what this system look like.
And you can see
that Ben is very happy
with this situation.
That's my happy face.
Hello and thank you for calling
Weather Routing Incorporated.
Please press...
Departure is scheduled
tomorrow afternoon
and I just received
an email from WRI
saying, "Don't go tomorrow."
Weather Routing.
How can I help you today?
Uh, so, we would like
to talk about the forecast
that we received from you.
Okay. Uh, they do have a concern
it could reach potentially a tropical
storm or potentially typhoon status
round around the time the
vessel would be in that vicinity.
At this point,
I would not recommend
heading out
or even trying to get east.
What if we get out tomorrow
and keep monitoring the system?
Some other systems
will stay off to the south.
We are very inclined
to go out and try our luck.
Okay, um, I'm very hesitant
at this point to definitely
say to depart.
Really not much time to be
able to get out of way
if the system
does accelerate too much.
But to be quite honest,
this is very routine.
Awesome.
Ready for a swim?
The animal was not happy
out of the water.
All right.
Ooh, yay!
- There it is.
Back in the water.
- Oh, yeah.
Back where he belongs.
That's so good. So happy.
It's like we are all plugged
to Ben's swim,
and we need Ben to swim
to feed our own energy.
Once Ben is in the water
and starts swimming,
it's like a magic
happening on the boat.
Everyone is happy.
There it is, there it is.
Hey!
And the new people
James, Bryan and Gonzalo,
getting used to the boat.
New cameraman not just here
- to, uh, film.
- Yeah.
Gotta sail the boat sometimes.
Reef one, reef two.
- I got those terms.
- He knows it.
Yeah.
Ooh!
Normally you don't have
a chance like right now
to jump in the water.
Too nice, man. Too nice.
No sharks, right?
- I told you about the time we did see a shark, though.
- That's nice.
Yeah?
Had a massive shark come
around us and the boat.
Don't say that.
I don't wanna know that.
We're gonna need a bigger boat.
Sunset is here.
And Ben just stopped swimming.
Oh! Oh!
Oh!
Whoa.
- So awesome.
I did, uh, five hours
and about 15 miles.
So it's just a slow restart.
I think it's better that he
does it slowly and sustainable.
We must preserve
his body as much as we can.
'Cause it will be tested.
Good day. Very good day.
I just hope tomorrow,
when we wake up,
we won't find an email
saying, "Typhoon!
Go back to Japan."
Please, no.
Today's
a very good day, I'm thinking,
with the trash we collected.
Big variety of trash.
We've got some ketchup,
some Styrofoam,
a straw, and the remains
of a plastic cup.
Hi.
- Look at that.
- It's crazy.
- To see a beautiful bird.
- So cool.
You know what type
of a bird is that?
It's a gannet or a booby.
He's the captain, you know.
He looks like the captain
of this garbage boat.
Phosphoric acid solution.
More than 900 miles offshore
and we still find this
sort of stuff in the ocean.
That's scary.
- Look at that.
- Oh!
- Wow.
I was in the water just
cooling down in a break,
And then I heard...
Like, behind us.
As soon as Maks heard,
"Oh, it wasn't a shark,"
he was, like, "Okay." Boing!
- Wow.
- That's amazing, guys.
It's a big ocean
and suddenly you have
massive creatures
playing with you
and looking and, like, trying
to see what we're doing.
They're trying
to talk to you.
Ben dived down under the water,
and they were just
swimming together, like,
They just were
cruising past,
had a look, "Oh, yeah,
you guys are boring."
And then left.
Yes!
Yes!
Fuck, yeah.
Totally cool.
Yeah, man.
That was magic.
Wow!
We woke up with a beautiful
sight, double rainbow.
It's there because conditions
are a little bit rough.
Big waves.
We're gonna make
1,000 miles today.
I'm painting
the sign for 1,000 miles.
Jesus, man.
This is the worst conditions
that I've been on here.
Look at this swell. Wow.
Hello.
So you are getting
very close to the mines.
All right, big fella.
See you on the other side.
There he is,
1,000 miles offshore.
Finally, we did it.
- Come on!
Do you feel like a changed man?
Yeah, I have
more gray hair, though.
I'm conflicted to feel like this
is a huge milestone right now,
because we worked
so hard to get here,
so it is important,
but we want to make more.
Okay, okay,
1,000 miles is a good effort.
All right. We love you, ocean.
Ladies and gentlemen!
I give you a one,
I give you a zero,
I give you another zero,
and another zero!
Can I have running of drums?
A plastic crown
for the 1,000 miles.
- Made with plastic trash.
- Disgusting.
But you swam in that, so...
Wherever that was,
you swam in that, so...
So you are the king.
That's interesting.
- We just found...
- This piece of trash.
...a shoe in the water.
He doesn't wanna go.
Oh.
What?
- He's out there.
- There you go.
So we lost the ability
to start our generator
or the main engine because
of the fire suppression system.
Anything with electricals...
Not something
to mess with.
It's impossible 'cause I don't
know how this was installed.
It's emergency,
it's safety and...
I really don't think it's good
to not have an engine out here.
That's a huge problem.
The coastguard helicopter
range is 600 nautical miles.
We are currently in a dead zone.
We cannot get
a helicopter out here.
Today we started the swim
with limited wind.
Yes, we did. We started
the swim with limited wind
and inability
to chase after the dinghy.
The dinghy midday was
a decent distance away.
If the wind changes,
the dinghy breaks down,
we have just lost three people
in the middle of the ocean.
Firstly, if the wind drops,
then we must all agree
we're gonna stop the swim.
- And that's what we will do.
- Yeah. That's agreed.
We can't sail this boat
with 6 knots of wind.
- Yeah.
- Just trying to not get us
into of the category
of incidental, basically.
- Yeah.
- 'Cause we're on that track right now.
Try 147.
- No.
- Fuck!
Nothing.
Fuck me.
I can't see where it is.
I can feel it.
Okay. Terminal 12.
I don't know what else to do.
Honestly, I'm running out
of options real quick.
We had to go to get
to the swim point
by a certain time
and the only way we could
get it is by being parachuted.
So I jumped out of a plane
and then I realized, "Oh, crap,
I don't have a parachute on."
And then boom and slam.
And then I woke up.
So we're gonna
make the connection
a bit stronger
and better and firmer
and I'm just gonna
hot wire it to it.
Cautiously optimistically.
Come on.
- Do it again.
- No.
Holy crap!
Yes! Yes!
Okay.
My heart is pounding
so hard right now.
- That sound...
- So good.
Oho!
Every day I'm, like, "It's
on you, man, it's on you.
Figure it out,
figure it out, figure it out."
Gotcha! Love it.
Victory. Victory, both.
- Good work.
- Let's face the future.
So now we have no excuse
to provide Ben
with the best swimming
support in the world.
Thank you so much.
Anytime. It's a very good day.
I'm making a new frame
for my glasses.
These ones are broken.
I think that will be nice.
Fucking hate that song.
Bryan has the worst taste in
music, it has to be said.
And now he's gonna play
a song randomly over the VHF.
Let's see how bad it is.
Okay. Ready
to receive the music.
Don't disappoint me, bro.
- Fuck me!
And I would walk 500 more
A very fitting choice.
When I wake up
Well, I know I'm gonna be...
Hey, mate. Mahi-mahi.
Three fish in 15 minutes,
Four fish.
- Look at that!
Happy birthday to you
When I'm lonely...
I know I'm gonna be
I'm making a guitar.
This will be the only
instrument on board.
When I'm dreamin'
Well, I know I'm gonna dream
I'm gonna dream
About the time...
Amazing.
When I go out When I go out
Well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man
Who goes along with you
Whoa!
Wow.
Whoa!
- Whoa!
- Wow.
The whales are saying,
"Happy birthday, Maria."
Yeah. Amazing.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk...
Da-da da da Da-da da da
Da-da da da Da-da da da
Da-da dum diddy dum
Diddy dum diddy da da da
Just to be the man
who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door
Thank you for that, Bryan.
You're welcome.
What does
it look like to you?
Whatever it is, it's big.
Well, it's either
just a big log,
or a life raft.
It looks like a boat.
How's this
for your birthday?
Freaking wild.
Not everybody gets this.
We're out in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean.
On a capsized boat.
Happy birthday, Bryan!
It's cold.
His body is changing
and he lost three percent
of his body fat.
Yeah.
It's amazing how fragile
material becomes
after being in the sun
for so long.
It happens after a while
of a lot of stress to the sails.
So this is holding
a very important part.
One hour.
Just keep swimming.
Just keep swimming.
I don't think I can even
comprehend.
He's been thinking
about this for 20 years.
I've never had an idea
that lasts more than one year
and he's been having this
in mind, this dream,
for 20 years.
But his mind,
I think it's unbreakable
and that's never gonna break.
He's gonna keep going
until his body breaks,
the boat breaks
or the weather stops him.
Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben!
- Maks. Ben is here.
- Yeah.
Yeah. Hey, man. Sit down, man.
You hit the propeller?
Yeah.
Let's get you in, get you warm.
Can you open your eyes?
- You see me good?
- Yeah.
Can you feel my finger?
No. It's okay.
We couldn't see anything.
So I was picturing
behind his cap,
an open wound with the brain.
No stitching for now.
It's okay, Maria. Thank you.
I didn't control it well.
That's okay. Ben didn't
lose conscious or anything?
No. No.
- Fuck.
- Yeah.
Can be worse, you know,
if the reaction
puts the hand right in the face.
- A lucky man.
- Very lucky man.
Tomorrow, Ben, what do
you think about the day off?
Day off?
Ben, you know you can have rest.
I know the weather will come
and I will have my days.
Really insane, man.
More trash, unfortunately.
Hello, from the middle
of the Pacific.
- With Gonzo.
- Hello.
Yo-yo-yo. What is that?
Oh. It's foam.
Every five minutes finding
a piece of plastic debris.
Wow.
There is a lot in this area.
I already found 117
and there is still more to find.
Oh, what's that over there?
That's not food.
No, no, you can't have that.
Just found this little box
here of something
and that'll end up being food.
And they'll take it
back to their nest
and then their hatchlings
will probably die
because of all the plastic
they've eaten.
- Pieces of twine.
- Yeah.
Plastic bag.
How
it's, like, degrading.
It's gonna get eaten away,
creating little tiny,
tiny microbes.
Two hundred and fifty pieces.
What was the last record?
84? 85?
- Yeah.
- Almost tripled.
Down here it's wild.
Wow, man. It's so nasty.
The worst place
I think in the whole trip.
I think I have
plastic everywhere.
I have plastic in my pants.
It's full of plastic. Just full.
Yeah. It's fucking horrible.
You don't even have
to look for it.
You just put your hand
in the water and you have
dozens of trash
just in your hand.
Crazy. I saw a lot
of particles in the water.
High concentration
of plastic and all that
and then on the surface,
there we saw, like, a bucket,
nails and big plastic items.
Very strange.
It was more than what
I could understand
and we had to stop
because if we were
to collect the plastic,
we would have spent all night.
We don't have time,
we have to go to the boat
and we have to let
this soup float around
and just go away.
I don't know what to do
with this feeling.
I just feel powerless.
I'm probably angry at myself
because I'm like everyone.
We use plastic.
We throw away plastic.
But no one sees that.
It reminds me
how huge the problem is
and how hard it
will be to fix that.
So I cannot look at that
and just do nothing.
Yeah.
Real big swell.
We've seen it coming
but then it was just...
It's moving quick.
Got 35 knots already.
Okay, so the base
of the discussion
is our ability to support Ben.
Even if it means
three weeks of rough weather
and one day of swim days,
as long as Ben is here to swim,
we are here for him.
And so support Ben
as much as we can,
every day we can.
If something serious
happened to the main sail,
we should maybe decide to leave,
to not fall back
on something else.
This is, like,
the opposite of my instinct.
Is to say, "All right,
we're just gonna sit here
until something goes wrong."
It's, like, you leave
before that situation happens.
I know I'm a very closed person.
I don't show too much of my...
enthusiasm
or too much of my sadness,
or if I'm gonna... you know.
Obviously the weather
it's an issue.
But the way
I look at it, it's, uh,
more than just an expedition
from one point to another.
For me, it's a way
to... to gauge the limits.
When you are faced with
something that is
a big challenge,
how do we all react to it?
The expedition,
on a bigger picture,
it's what it is.
If we look, one, two, three,
four-and-a-half days ahead,
- look at this.
- Oh-ho-ho-ho.
This is the first time I see
100 knots wind.
- It's something we need to go away from.
- Yeah.
It's just dangerous.
Pretty nervous.
We cannot get a coastguard
helicopter out here.
This was only around
the high 40s, I think,
and the typhoon
that's coming towards us
is apparently 100 knots.
So we don't want to be here.
That's, like,
no more solar panels,
no more wind generators,
no more people,
no more boat.
And no more Swim.
- Whoa!
Whoa! Down!
- It's very bad.
- It's very bad, yeah.
Reef two just gave up.
It snapped.
On a sailboat,
you have a main sail
and it's very big.
According to the amount
of wind you get,
you can make it smaller.
Reefs make the sail smaller.
You just don't want to have
too much sail
when there's a lot of wind.
We lost our second reef.
All the stitches just...
Ripped apart.
So it's not good.
This is reef 2.
This tore off completely.
There's a line pulling down
the edge of the sail
attaching it to the boom.
So this is
a very important part.
Yeah, this is probably
the wrong, emotional thing
but I would like to see
Ben in the water again, and...
But, really, I think
we need to go, okay?
We're already beyond
the safe zone.
- I think it makes sense.
- Yeah.
Ben?
Ben?
I look at the same thing as them,
and I come to the same conclusions.
You know, what I noticed
about the reef,
is that they're all
being pulled from the bottom.
So my thinking is that
putting less tension on the sail,
making sure that when we
pull the reef,
it is in the same direction
as whatever holds it.
The way it's being pulled right
now, it's the wrong configuration.
Reef 2 is already gone.
We can't... It's the best one,
we need to get home,
and it's gone.
They all break at the bottom,
meaning that the tension
is too much in that direction.
To try a new way now
could mean that we break
the last thing that we...
Yeah, it's not trying
a new thing,
it's just putting less tension.
So by putting less tension,
you have less likelihood
to break it.
Ben, finding an innovative way
to do it doesn't change
- the current state of the reef.
- Yeah.
We seriously damaged
our main sail
which is our main sail.
Any solution we now have
is not enough.
I think we need to go when we still
have some control on our situation.
Any day longer that we
stay here in these conditions,
it worries the shit out of me.
I'm kind of
against nine people.
I'm not in the position
right now
where I want to throw the towel
and say, "Okay, let's go home."
It's not different...
I see the risk.
The risk, is it worth taking?
Yeah, for me, I'm willing
to push the limits.
These are limits of sailing and these
are not the limits we came to test.
For me, uh,
it will never be enough.
That's not about you, that's
not about your limits here,
it's about survival.
I'm not talking about
my personal limit,
but I'm talking about
the limits in general
of what that boat will take.
I'm willing to push further
than anybody else.
That's why I have
a different mindset.
I'm trying to explain for me
why it is a failure
and that will never change.
That's all.
Yeah.
- Please keep that.
Please.
That's so good.
Yeah, it's crazy.
It's freaking awesome.
Yeah, I have
a mustache envy right now.
Like, big time.
- Hello?
- Hello! How are you?
Hey, happy Thanksgiving.
Yeah. I'm calling to wish you
happy Thanksgiving too.
- Hi, Dad.
- How are you, Ana?
- Good.
Hey, Dad.
- Max, is that you?
- Yeah.
I will be there for Christmas.
What do you want me
to bring you from the ocean?
I have a lot of plastic.
- Uh, okay.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, okay?
- Okay.
- Bye-bye, love you.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Yeah, I've been thinking
about the trip
and what we have accomplished.
A lot of good things happened
and also a lot of
disappointing moments.
The moment also that to find out
that the equipment broke
and we won't be able
to pursue the world record.
That was very disappointing
for me, very sad moment.
Being in the water
with all those sea creature,
it is very unique
because that's the only place
you can really enjoy
that type of experience.
Every time I see something
living in the ocean
it reinforces the reason why
we are doing this expedition.
A hundred years ago,
exploring the ocean was about
looking for treasure.
For us,
it's re-exploring the ocean
and we are looking for trash
and for debris.
And strangely enough,
when we find the debris,
we are somewhat happy
and sad at the same time.
We are happy because it's
something that is tangible.
We can really put our finger
on what the problem is,
but it's sad because
it shouldn't be there.
For 160 days, we
were focused on the same goal.
Put Ben in the water every day.
I don't know,
it's like losing a big beacon
that you have on
every day in mind,
and losing one of the main
reasons why you wake up.
But it was very great
for everyone
to kind of shift
and allocate all our energy
to what is the expedition now
which is heading to Hawaii.
And on the way, collecting trash
as many as we can.
The fact that we've only been making
plastic for a certain amount of time
and already, we have already
put plastic
absolutely everywhere...
I didn't expect it to be
so widespread.
Whoa!
This is the worst stuff 'cause
it breaks up so easy.
We had these amazing days
where the animals came to us
and I felt this
awe and appreciation
of the sheer beauty of them.
And then the trash came to us.
It's like you are
working in the forest
and under the leaves,
there is a layer of plastic.
Plastic is our signature
in the ocean.
Sample.
All of this, this is of plastic,
hundreds and hundreds,
like, four, every five minutes
around the boat.
This big debris are only
the tip of the iceberg.
It is everywhere
under the surface.
The ocean is plastic.
We are there!
Guys, there is
a very weird albatross.
So cool!
City. There's a city here.
It's the magic gate to Hawaii.
It's wonderful to see
the color green again.
I'm so excited for how we will
arrive in Hawaii.
Taste different food,
go for beers.
Just meet people.
Look at this.
We are putting all the garbage
that we found on the deck.
We are approaching one mile.
That's very rare,
that's a Ben smile.
Everything has an end.
Ty is going in.
Bye-bye, Ty, see you inland.
- See you inland.
Yeah!
Wow, that's so cool, you've
come out just to meet Ben?
- Yeah.
- Nice!
- Yes!
- Yeah!
Yes!
Seeker, Seeker, Seeker,
this is land!
Ben arrived at the beach.
- Amazing.
- Bien, bien, bien.
When I was little, in France,
I remember being at the beach
with my parents.
I never remember
finding plastic in the sand.
Now, everywhere you step on the
beach, you are going to find plastic.
So just in my lifetime, it's
like...
Exploded.
Being in the ocean
is very liberating.
Some of the time, it's like
reaching levels of happiness,
joy, you cannot
even describe it.
Now I see the ocean
and it's in peril right now.
If I love it, I better do
anything I can to try to protect it.
Welcome to Hawaii!
Ah.
I wanna run, I wanna run.
I didn't win!