Original subtitles

[TV static drones]

[bright tone]

[indistinct shouting]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[wave crashes]

We're back to Nazaré.

The moment we've been waiting for,

it's finally here-- first swell of the season.

I grew up here in Portugal.

And I remember when I was, like, four years old,

I was listening to a cassette of the Beach Boys, you know?

And there was this talk about surfing, surfing.

And I was like--

I remember instantly, like, I had this warm feeling.

Like, "Man, what-what is this? Surfing, this sounds so cool."

[engine drones]

For me, big wave surfing

is all about riding as extreme as you can.

Riding the wave in the most extreme way.

Being right on that line of, you know, success

and failure, you know?

That's been my goal.

And I've put in my time in Hawaii.

I've put in my time in Portugal.

I've worked my way up as a big wave surfer.

You know, I've been putting in so much time into Nazaré,

and I hadn't had my breakthrough performance.

Look, look.

First swell of the season.

Look at this bomb.

Ahh! [chuckles]

Oh, my God.

Back to the grind.

Cold water, huge waves, massive wipeouts,

and adrenaline running through the veins.

Let's fucking get some waves.

Look at that one.

Well, that October swell was, like, really big,

really clean.

Doesn't happen very often.

I felt like a boxer going

into the boxing ring, you know?

Like, "This my swell.

"This is what I've been waiting for.

I wanna make it happen," you know?

But people don't realize, we put everything on the line

for those days.

Big wave surfing, you sometimes only get

one opportunity, you know?

There's certain places that only break

every ten years.

We know that sometimes we only get one shot.

♪ ♪

We were the first ones in the water. 7:00 a.m.

And we waited. We waited.

We waited and we waited.

The waves I was trying to go on,

like, they didn't even break.

And then there was, you know, couple guys,

like, tryna go around me in the peak.

And that, obviously, like, pisses me off.

And that's when I get turned into a different person.

[chuckles]

I finally saw a wave, and I was like,

"We're goin', dude.

"I don't care who's on the wave.

"I've been waiting for three hours for one wave.

The next one is ours."

♪ ♪

All of a sudden, I can feel something on my leg.

And I can hear the lineup going, like,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa."

- Oh. - Oh, one of them came up.

And I'm like, "What was that?

"Was that, you know, a Jet Ski? Was it a surfboard?

Is the guy fine? What happened? Who was it?"

♪ ♪

I'm not on those competition

for the biggest wave--I'm not.

I was only there for have fun.

So when you see yourself involved

in one of those situations--

"Really?"

- Obviously, it was a dangerous situation

for me and for him.

I'm 100% sure he did not want to be in that situation.

He definitely--he was trying to cut out of the wave.

You know, like-- but when he was cutting,

he was also accelerating.

Like, he went straight into me.

I mean, those boards are heavy.

That thing hits you, man? That kills you.

Nazaré is a shit show these days.

I mean, there's more hype, there's more money,

there's more ego, there's more fame.

And that all leads up to one breaking point.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[Jet Skis droning]

♪ ♪

[Jet Ski drones]

[crowd cheering]

I think I was still underwater.

[chuckles] I was still underwater getting destroyed

when those guys collided.

The funniest thing is when there are fights,

it takes teams out of the equation.

You know? Like, "All right, two guys went out on this wave.

"That's one less wave that they can take.

All right, this is a window."

Like-like, "We can get a good wave

"in between this. All right, Gabby,

"pass me the board.

"While they're distracted,

might be able to get a big wave."

♪ ♪

- I was like, "This is the best day

"of the year.

"The waves are absolutely firing.

"So we really need to calm down here,

"regain our powers, focus,

and get a couple sick waves."

That was it.

Some of the best waves I've ever ridden

and one of the shittiest days of my life. [chuckles]

I honestly am so confused

about what actually happened out there,

because I know there was multiple fights

happening at once.

I feel like there's a lack of appreciation

for the wave itself,

just for being able to be out there.

Where is the actual love of what you're doing?

It was chaos.

♪ ♪

There's just a lot of very hungry surfers

fighting for waves.

There's so much power,

so much energy from the waves,

energy from the surfers,

energy from the crowd on the cliff.

[cheering]

There's definitely moments

when it's a little chaotic, a little too much.

[speaking Portuguese]

But I think it was just the anticipation.

And, kind of, during COVID,

we as big wave surfers didn't know

if we could even have a job

after being stuck at home not being able to do anything.

People were so hungry to prove themselves,

to retain sponsorships,

to prove that they still were relevant

in this new world we were embarking into.

♪ ♪

[waves crash]

I was there to support

and give, like, an extra push if she need it.

I said, "Do it, baby. You're gonna like it."

[elated music]

♪ ♪

[cheers and applause]

Yeah, I think we just witnessed

Michelle des Bouillons.

She had to really make it

otherwise she would fall

right, right in front of the cliff.

It was nice to see.

But I was getting scared

because I thought she was gonna fall.

Do you remember any wipeouts during the October swell?

Alessandro Marciano,

he's been very lucky.

All the swells, he never really got caught

by anything big until this swell.

Alessandro was Joao Macedo's second rescue.

Joao went down.

He went into the corner by the rocks.

And it's the last place you wanna be.

Alessandro went in to get him,

got him, decided to go back out.

But then you see this big, out-of-control side wave

just take him out.

[dramatic choral music]

And then they're both stuck in there.

Right there in that spot,

it's foam, big foam.

You've mainly gotta stay super calm

and try to get air out of the foam

before the next one gets you.

Two inside, two inside. There are no rescues inside.

Two guys are holding out.

Luckily I didn't knew that it was him

from the beginning, because I was like...

Luckily with all of our flotation these days,

once you get over to the right,

then you can get pushed in.

But without the flotation, Joao and Alessandro

would not have made it to the beach.

[laughs]

- [cheers and applause] - It's okay. It's okay.

[groans]

Towards the end of that session,

I had a kind of a bad experience.

Put him into a wave, and I went to rescue him.

And then we ended up getting caught inside.

[foreboding music]

And the ski just wasn't wanting to, like, pick up

'cause there was so much foam in the water.

And then I hit a wave. It rolled.

And as it flipped, I had a board in the gunnel,

and it clocked me in the face.

Ah.

I didn't let go of the handlebars

and it was still running.

And then it just rolled back around.

[applause]

- You all right? - All good?

Yeah.

- [sighs] - Are you okay?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's fuckin' really gnarly.

Needs a stitch or glue, or what do you think?

After that, I was kind of, like, just a bit spooked.

And then I just was like...

[exhales] "Maybe that's it."

It's super funky.

Garrett stay on another level now, you know?

He don't have nothing to prove to nobody, okay?

It's done.

If he make a wave, he make.

He don't have that kind of pressure now.

[soft music]

♪ ♪

When I was leaving the lighthouse,

the police were there

because there was just so many people.

And they were, like, trying to stop people

from coming at a barricade.

And there was just astronomical amount of people.

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

I mean...

You know?

♪ ♪

[phone rings]

What's up, dog?

'Sup, dude?

Yeah. It looks good out there right now.

Were you wanting to be here

or you're happy not being here?

I was wanting to be there

and I still do,

but it's, like, uh-- it's more like a FOMO,

not like that's where I'm supposed to be right now.

From here, I was doing my best

to tune in live, right?

And I'm checkin' Instagram for whatever gets posted.

And I'm just seeing these bombs.

Justine, Lucas Chumbo, Tony...

seein' all these waves like, "I could be on one," and,

brought up all these things, right?

This, like, fear of just, like, missin' out

on the whole scene of Nazaré, which is amazing.

But I had gotten so into the teaching rhythm.

And whatever I was going through in life,

I really hadn't been taking the best care of myself.

And especially as a professional athlete,

I wasn't training hard and everything.

So I didn't feel worthy to go out there

in a giant Nazaré swell.

[all chattering]

You never know with CJ.

[seagulls cawing]

He has expressed interest

in riding the biggest wave ever.

He wants it, but doesn't want it.

He's, like, one foot in, one foot out.

[maracas rattle]

You gotta close it with that little stitches.

[chuckles]

They, uh--I--

they stitched-- they Steri-Stripped it so bad.

Obviously spent way too much time last night

on social media lookin' at photos and videos.

And, you know, every-- everyone got--

got just crazy waves, you know?

But I'm just tryna be stoked

on just gettin' one wave, you know?

[dramatic music]

What I have to remember is how I felt after the wave.

It's definitely one of the best feelings

I've had in a long time.

Looking back, then I sort of think

if I could be deeper, or several ways there,

or, you know, quite critical.

I was kind of kicking myself,

you know, that I'd only got one wave that day.

Like, I was kind of, like, devastated.

And you're like, "Aw, shit, I shoulda got, like,

a load of waves that day and, you know..."

But just trying to know when to push it

and then when to stop. [Velcro rasps]

Cotty really goes deep.

And everything in life weighs on him,

so when he's going through something challenging,

he doesn't want to be in his head.

He wants to be in the water, in the gym.

Stuff back at home just wasn't great.

Like, it was a pretty low, shit time.

I can remember thinkin' the only thing

that I could sort of really cling onto at that time

was the surfing thing.

And I liked to sort of motivate me

to get me through that period.

You know, he's got his wife and his children

and his career,

and he's always trying to balance it.

- Go on, then. - [chuckles]

Aw, nice.

Got poor connection, Ace.

I love you.

Give me a call later on.

- Well, bye. - Love you.

Um, do you know what? Like, if he was old--

like, if he was strong enough and fit enough

and capable, yeah. It'd be the best thing ever.

You know?

Sharing your passion with your kids,

you know, that's, like, it's epic.

[engine rumbles]

[speaking Portuguese]

[radio beeps]

Yeah. What are your thoughts?

- [both chuckle] - Oh, yeah.

[chuckles]

Tony is very lucky.

He's had--his dad was one of the only tow surfers

in Portugal when we first got there.

Ramon is a badass sander.

So he designs, glasses,

and sands the boards for Tony.

My dad, at the same time that he works with surfboards,

he have, um, school to teach

how to do tow-in and to do

rescues with Jet Skis.

So it's just, like, the perfect job

for a big wave surfer.

[engines rumbling]

♪ ♪

Back in the day,

I was not impressed, to be honest.

Not impressed with Ramon's driving

and not impressed with António's surfing

until this year.

This year, he was surfing really well,

and his dad was driving really well.

And they looked like a well-oiled machine.

Tony was surfing so good

that I went straight to the harbor

to check out his boards. [chuckles]

And I woke up at 6:00 a.m. with a text from Garrett.

"You up?

I wanna check now the waves. You wanna meet?"

I was like, "It's 6:00 a.m." [chuckles]

Good morning.

- Cold, huh? - Yeah.

How are you?

Yeah, I'm good.

When I saw him, I was like,

"Oh, it's Garrett McNamara."

I was, like, really nervous to meet him.

And I was like, "Hi."

The best advice for here is drive.

Tow people.

Yeah, but, uh--

Otherwise, you're not really an asset.

You're more of just going out there for a ride,

getting towed in, and you can't contribute.

[chuckles]

Right now, I'm on the level that

I can't be dependent off my father

because I'm not gonna surf big waves

into the rest of my life with him.

So, yeah...

♪ ♪

[speaking Portuguese]

After the October swell,

it was a big hit in the news.

Not only in Portugal, it went all over Europe.

- You know, we were middle of COVID,

and there's, 30,000, 50,000 people on the cliff.

I mean, that's--that's crime. [chuckles]

You know, football--you can't have football matches.

There's no crowds.

And then you got 30,000 people on the cliff,

you know, watching the people surf, and it's...

[chuckles] I think that was--

and so then the city hall had to juggle that.

[speaking Portuguese]

[laughs]

So what happened?

They shut down surfing. [chuckles]

They started kicking people out of the water

because they thought that people were gonna

come and gather and watch.

Wow.

It's craziness, huh? Look at that.

I've never seen like this. Hey.

Ah, another one.

Another cop.

[reporter speaking Portuguese]

[anchor speaking Portuguese]

Now, the cliff looks

exactly like it was before Garrett...

Empty.

Those first few days without surfing in Nazaré,

we had some really good waves.

And we were just watching the waves like...

[sighs] "We can't surf."

[speaking Portuguese]

- Oh, my gosh. - Look at how big it is.

It's beautiful.

[speaking French]

[sighs]

[tool buzzing]

Um...

♪ ♪

[chuckles]

Flying from the giant wave from trough to crest,

Maya Gabeira set a world record

for the largest wave ever surfed by a woman.

♪ ♪

If it's on there.

Oh, fuck, it is what it is.

Cheers, Pisco.

Right.

[seagulls cawing]

Okay, so they closed the beach.

So what happens if you surf?

'Cause I kind of want to go out tomorrow.

Do you know what happens?

Of course. [chuckles]

Shit.

[speaking Portuguese]

It's, like, totally our fault.

He's just doing his job, and everything's okay.

It was just a warning right now.

He got, like, our documents, our names and everything.

If we do that again...

we're gonna be... [imitates chopping]

But, like, that was the first warning.

I feel that it's gonna be fine.

It's a shame you had to came out of the water.

The waves are still there

and nobody out there enjoying these, but...

You know, that's when Garrett and I started talking.

It's like, well, if they shut down surfing,

what's the point of being here?

Theia, you wanna stay in Portugal

or you wanna go home?

You wanna go home to the cottage?

Yeah.

Nicole was gonna go home.

And I was potentially gonna stay.

What's wrong?

[grunts]

♪ ♪

Clear.

Clear!

So I left.

Okay.

I always don't like leaving Cotty there alone.

I'd rather be there with him whenever he's there.

I had a sense that he was going through something heavy,

but I wasn't sure the extent.

It would have been nice

if we stayed a few more months.

But it was really nice to come home.

♪ ♪

You know, with the COVID rules

and the variants in the UK,

it means I couldn't go home.

Or if I could, I ran the risk of being stuck at home.

So I decided to stay in Portugal

and sort of just sit it out, really.

[grunts]

[exhales]

Would have been nice to go home to the kids

and do some more normal things.

[call chimes] Ace?

How's it goin', man?

Yeah?

This is the longest I've ever been away from them.

All right, then. Well, I love you.

And, um... wish I was there.

[line beeps]

Last year, they came out just after Boxing Day.

And we hung out for about ten days.

Or a week, ten days, I can't remember.

And it's just-- I suppose, this year,

it's just, like,

I haven't seen them for a while, you know?

So I just feel like...

Mm.

I suppose. You know?

[chuckling]

[soft music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

[all speaking Portuguese]

Good morning.

During the surf ban,

um, I started to spend way more time with Justine.

[both chuckle]

She was, like, a person

that I was kind of shy to speak with her,

you know, because she's, like,

the best female surfer in the world.

So I was kind of like, you know,

"Okay, she's really important so I need to be careful

with what I say with her."

And, like, really, really shy to speak with her.

- Better from here. - Like, ten minutes ago,

there were some good lefts here.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

I'm surprising with the wind, no?

Yeah, we just started to connect more.

And we started to hang out...

And then just the...

And it was amazing.

Oh, yeah? [both laugh]

To me, Tony Laureano, yeah.

- It's very easy for me. - Okay, okay.

Okay.

I just need to go to the warehouse

because my father is coming.

Like--ah, he's here.

[indistinct chatter]

Yeah, like this?

I went to her house.

And we had all-day afternoon training

and trying the 360s.

- And, honestly, just... - Yeah!

Just having fun.

♪ ♪

[skateboard clatters]

After every try, we say, "Almost."

[chuckles]

Hey, you don't want to try backside?

Tony and Justine, they have the same goal.

And they push each other, and if they have fun,

it's good.

- Ugh! - [laughs]

Yeah! [yipping]

[grunts]

[chuckles]

[seagulls calling]

♪ ♪

Um, I know Michelle already long time.

We used to live in the same town.

But nothing ever happened.

We just start dating in Indonesia.

It's a long story, but it's a good one as well.

Okay.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

I was already living in Indonesia,

and then she shows up and said,

"Oh, there's a good swell for Desert Point.

Are you gonna be there?"

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I started to teach her, like, how to drop-in,

like, how to stay on the perfect spot

to get the barrel.

She started to improve and getting, being better,

so it was kind of fast.

Oh, Michelle!

- Oh! - Whoo!

♪ ♪

After we started to get

more serious in our relationship,

I told her, I said, "Hey, I'm gonna spend

a season in Nazaré if you wanna come."

♪ ♪

Every day, I try to push her a little bit more.

And the results are coming, you know?

[chuckles]

[soft music]

Don't know.

♪ ♪

[bike scrapes]

[chuckles]

Okay.

♪ ♪

Nazaré has been, you know, quieter,

so sometimes it's good.

It's been really good.

Uh, just a haircut.

[indistinct]. Thank you.

- I'm from England. - England?

Yeah, yeah.

[laughs]

Yeah, I love it. Yeah. It's cool.

It is cool. I've spent a lot of time here over the years.

Actually probably about for the last ten years, actually, right?

- It's good like that? - Yeah.

[chuckles]

Great.

It's Boris Johnson. Yeah, yeah.

[both laugh]

[announcer speaking in Portuguese]

What?

A couple clips of the wave in-- um, back in October.

This is the first time I've seen some of the clips.

I was lookin' at, like, angles from the northeast,

and thinkin', "Ah, maybe it's not

as big as I was thinkin' or hopin'."

But then if you look at this footage,

like, from this angle, it looks bigger.

Do you know what I mean? Like, from two angles,

it's completely changed, like...

You know, like...

There's a huge part of me that says it doesn't matter.

But there's a huge part of me

that doesn't want it just to stay on a hard drive.

And no one else is gonna do it for me, you know, like...

♪ ♪

[call chimes]

You all right?

All right. All right.

All right. Thank you.

- All right. - Bye, Mum.

- Speak to you in a minute. - Bye.

This is, um, Andrew Cotton.

Used to work as a plumber.

And now he's a professional surfer from Devon.

Was there ever a moment in your career

where you thought, "Nah, I'm gonna give it all up now"?

Yeah, there's been lots. [both laugh]

No, I'd be lyin'--

I'd be lyin' if I'd said,

"No, it's always been positive and it's always been good."

And like, yeah, there has been days, weeks,

where I thought I'd never, you know,

get back to full fitness.

Just workin' hard at it, never givin' up,

it's a blessing and a curse at the same time.

But, yeah, never givin' up.

Incredible stuff.

It is time for the weather forecast now.

And, David, has there ever been a point--

[sighs] I'm such a legend, aren't I?

[laughs]

That was all right, wasn't it?

- Yeah. Was a good piece, right? - It was.

Cool, man.

I think that wave was more meaningful

in different ways.

You know, like,

it's been a funny few years, you know?

Crazy injuries,

I was goin' through a divorce,

and sort of thinking here like,

"What the fuck's it all about?" You know?

And then--

and then you sort of really kind of get a moment like that

which was like--

it sort of answers a lot of questions, you know?

But, also, I got a load of coverage

out of that wave, you know?

Like, I get to go surfin'

for another year, you know? [chuckles]

And there'll be, hopefully,

more waves that this will earn.

Maybe some big ones.

That month, there was a really big, big swell

that came in, and the boat captain

was in one side, and the police is on the other.

And they didn't see us, and we got to go out.

[dramatic music]

We were by ourselves

and it was, like, the most beautiful,

huge waves just comin' through.

♪ ♪

Birds all over the place,

which we never see, I guess,

because there's probably all the skis

out there all the time.

It was really mystical, really nice.

♪ ♪

We stayed out for, like, two, three hours

and got some rad shots of, like, just empty waves.

♪ ♪

We came in and we got a slap on the wrist.

The police was waiting for us. And, yeah, we got fined.

But it was worth it.

[speaking Portuguese]

[speaking Portuguese]

[notifications chiming]

[anchor speaking Portuguese]

No, pause, pause, pause, pause.

Pause, pause.

They are saying that you can do exercise.

[grunts]

You can do exercise alone in the street.

If I--if I go--

It's better than the streets.

Or if I have the Jet Ski,

it's only me on the Jet Ski and the guy on the rope.

And we have the social distance, so it's okay.

I'm on the ski, he's on the rope.

Then I'm on the rope, he's on the ski.

It's perfect. [chuckles]

After that, the police,

they found a way to everyone be happy.

It was like, "You can surf until 1:00 p.m.

"Um, try to don't, like, post nothing,

to don't bring public."

And after that, it was okay.

[soft wondrous music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct].

Merci.

[excited squeals]

♪ ♪

[Jet Ski whirring]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[soft music]

♪ ♪

And I told Lucas, I said, "Hey,

"keep, like, a couple meters away.

I'm gonna stop on the lighthouse."

♪ ♪

Ian gave me a ring today.

[chuckles]

And I said yes. [giggles]

- This is it, eh? - So beautiful.

Now she's my fiancée.

She's not just my girlfriend.

- [chuckles] - Beautiful. Whee-oo.

- [chuckles] - Yeah.

For us, like,

when surfing was banned in Nazaré,

it was really good.

♪ ♪

We had, like, a bunch of time

to do whatever we wanna do.

And now we know how important it is

to have, like, our time.

It was a good lesson, you know?

So save time--

save time for yourself,

save time to see the persons that you love.

[chuckles]

Save time to do what you wanna do.

Because, like, in the end,

it's all what matters.

♪ ♪

[thunder booms]

[bright tone]