Original subtitles

[elevator whirring]

[elevator dings]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[wind howling]

[humming]

[♪♪♪]

[humming continues]

[♪♪♪]

FACING MONSTERS

KERBY: The ocean is where I go to find peace

and a place where I belong.

[wind howling]

KERBY: It's where I feel free.

Without that connection,

I don't feel like I'm the person I'm supposed to be.

I lose that balance.

[waves crashing]

KERBY: It's where I feel most alive.

I've spent my life building up knowledge of the ocean

and what I think is rideable in terms of heavy waves.

Maybe I'm searching for something

that's not even there. I'm not sure.

The thing that keeps me going is the thought

of what is out there

and are we going to stumble across the biggest,

heaviest, thickest wave we've ever seen,

and am I gonna be able to ride it?

GABAGABA MID-WEST COAST WESTERN AUSTRALIA

KERBY: I've got a real connection to this place

and it's where everything changed for me.

It really opened up my mind and showed me possibilities.

Yeah, ever since I was a kid I've been looking at this wave.

It's always intrigued me.

It's always kind of drawn me out onto the point here

and I've spent a lot of time over the years just watching it.

The ledge goes down into deep water

so you get these swells, they come...

travel such a long distance

and they'll just come marching into this point

and because it's more jagged set up,

it'll throw these swells, and they'll grinding down

in front of this barnacle shelf here.

And still to this day

I haven't seen another wave like it.

[waves crashing]

CORTNEY: You look at it and you think,

how you-- how do you even surf that?

There's just too much water moving. It's too shallow.

[waves crashing]

We looked at it a lot growing up

and it just... it was just never an option.

We never thought it was surfable.

I hate the place.

I-- I only come here in the boat to watch him surf it.

Watch the boys and I don't like it.

You know I don't-- but you know, that's what they do.

It's just deep water onto a ledge.

It's too fat then it's too steep.

If you went down--

if you went down under that ledge

with the impact of those lips hitting ya...

it's like getting me to come to their funeral, you know?

[♪♪♪]

CORTNEY: I still remember the day.

The water was real dark and we thought,

oh, let's just go and have a look. We'll just...

You know, we don't have to surf it,

just go check it and Kerby being Kerby,

as soon as we got there, he just jumped in

and grabbed the rope and he goes, "Tow me into one."

[♪♪♪]

[jetski whirring]

CORTNEY: As soon as he got his first wave

we were you know, screaming and so excited.

And that was it. Well I was, you know,

I was just like, ah this place is insane.

Just like that a wave that we never thought

was rideable becomes surfable

and yeah, ever since that day we never looked back.

KERBY: It was the first really scary wave

we took on together and you know,

he'd seen me get a few and he was like,

"Yeah! I want to get one too."

Whoo!

Of course, we're screaming and hooting.

You know, that was-- that was the start.

[laughs]

[♪♪♪]

[Kerby gasping, coughing]

[coughing]

You all right?

Oh, just lucky I had this on.

I feel like I got my foot stuck in like a crack or something.

CORTNEY: Fuck, that was heavy!

Just deep in that thing on the rock.

[speaks indistinctly]

I looked down and you weren't there

and I was like, "No!"

KERBY: Clarry is the best little brother

I could have ever asked for.

And since the day he was born, we were inseparable.

We have been through a lot together.

The bond that we've built up over time

is a special one.

He's my wingman. He's my partner in crime.

We really can read each other very well.

He knows exactly where I want to be

and I have complete faith he's going to be there for me.

[♪♪♪]

Yes! That was a good one. That was the best one. So far.

[jetski whirring]

[angelic vocalizing]

[Kerby gasping, grunting]

Come on, Kerb.

[gurgling, choking]

Fuck! What happened?

KERBY: I hit my head on the reef that's all.

[groans]

Fuck!

When we're out there, if I'm on the rope

and he's driving I'm probably going to be

slightly more calculated

to which waves I choose to let go on

and actually try to ride whereas he's more...

He'll just have a go anyway and he doesn't care.

GLENN: You could get killed doin' that and his words were...

I say, "be careful, mate" and he goes

"well what's the use in doing it then?"

If I'm going to be careful. It won't work.

[dog barks]

GLENN: I was that damn busy, ah fishing,

I missed sadly, the development of his passion.

I missed it. I didn't see it.

Nola saw it.

His mum took him everywhere

and it probably took me,

oh, a few years to realize that I'm missing out.

I'm missing out on this.

You can't get that back,

no matter how much money they give you. That's gone.

And I... I regret it badly, what I did.

- KERBY: Ready to roll, mate? - PHOENIX: Yup.

I can remember clearly the feeling I got as a young kid

just starting to paddle around beach breaks

and I remember the day that I first caught

a little white water and it reformed

into like a little wave with a face on it

and yeah, just that feeling of just stoked.

Like just...

I was instantly just thinking, "Oh this is the best."

[♪♪♪]

♪ Know my world

♪ My world been changed

KERBY: All these years later,

I'm still chasing an unknown and that newness.

And push myself to places that evokes that feeling

that I once had as a kid for the first time.

That thrill and excitement.

CORTNEY: Did you get some good ones, Phoenix?

PHOENIX: Yeah.

The last one was the best one.

KERBY: Phoenix, when me and Kit were little tackers

we used to walk down here for earlies.

Don't you reckon it seemed like the hugest bay

when you were out there?

When you were out the back,

it felt like you were way out to sea.

CORTNEY: When he started going to Gnarloo

and then you started seeing these crazy waves of him,

it's like, "Whoo, he's kind of like stepped up

and started charging a lot harder

than the rest of us."

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: Oh, you're fucking joking.

You've gotta be-- Oh!

[Kerby laughing]

KERBY: And then, yeah, after that when all the jetskis came

and he just started going bonkers doing that.

Heaps of people can learn to surf

but not a lot of people can do it really good.

I think that's what he does.

He's just got a really relaxed style

and he's relaxed when it's big.

So many of those waves that he surfs is onto dry rock.

So, if you fall off you're going to get hurt

and he gets hurt all the time.

Kerbs will always get the best wave of the day

and he'll also get the biggest wipeout of the day

because he's catching the most gnarliest waves.

There's times when you just think

he should have died on that one, and pops back up

but he's got a perforated ear drum

and he's got blood coming out of his ears

and you know, it's heavy stuff.

And yeah, he's had so many bad injuries

where you just think,

"God that's going to be the last.

"He's going to give it up now, can't come back from that one"

and then soon as he's almost healed up,

he gets back out there again

because he obviously needs the fix.

I guess it's an addiction really,

surfing those kind of waves.

[waves crashes]

I wanted Kerby--

Kerby had the potential to be a great comp surfer

and that was reflected in his results

'cause then he didn't want it.

And that was what frustrated everybody.

The bugger, if he'd have wanted to,

we knew he could do it. We felt like strangling him.

It was about surfing terrible waves,

hassling, crazy, competitive nature.

All the rules and all that bullshit

that came with that.

I was just going, "What am I doing here?"

A few times I remember getting on the phone to Dad

and I was just like, "I'm hating this.

Like I just want to come home."

The more he pushed the more I kind of pushed back

and by the end of the trip,

I was just so done with surfing the contests

and grovelling and dealing with all that.

Most of my stuff was given away.

I left it all behind. I was done.

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: Coming home and feeling the energy of the ocean.

It felt so good to be back.

CORTNEY: There's nothing like you know,

having a brother to go surfing with.

KERBY: You got any waves?

Told you.

How far do we have to drive now?

[laughs] Three hours.

KERBY: Then what?

CORTNEY: We spent our whole 20s together, travelling,

looking for these psychotic waves.

It was... it was the best thing ever.

KERBY: I wanted to explore more untouched areas

of the ocean and push my own limits.

Not competing against anyone else.

It's a bit of a mental game with myself really.

And that led me down to the bottom of Australia

where the ocean is more raw, it's more alive

and it gets those deep Southern Ocean swells.

WADANDI BOODJA THE GREAT SOUTHERN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

KERBY: It's like the edge of the Earth

off the bottom of Australia there.

[waves crashes]

CORTNEY: Yeah, there's nothing like seeing a new wave

for the first time

and just watching it explode onto the reef.

It's gotta be one of the most exciting things in the world.

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: Oh, my God!

CORTNEY: How thick are those things?

To sit there and mentally mind-surf it and think,

"Is this wave rideable or is it not?"

It's insane.

[waves crashes]

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: The granite rocks around here are crazy.

It's kind of what I'd imagine would be

under some of the slab waves.

Imagine a rock like this below the sea level surface.

The whole ocean's coming out of this deep section

and then just unloading around

this kind of top of this rock shelf.

And that's what makes them so different.

That's also what makes them so heavy.

KERBY: It's not about the size of the wave or the height.

It's more about the thickness of the wave

and the amount of water behind it.

[waves crashes]

KERBY: There's a lot of chunks of ocean that fold onto rocks

that are just not quite there,

so you just gotta find those ones

that just have the right reef structure

to make them surfable.

[waves crashes]

KERBY: These kind of waves are so unpredictable.

That's the scary part.

One wrong move and it could be all over.

[waves crashes]

[♪♪♪]

CORTNEY: You know all these waves that I saw for the first time,

Kerbs was the first person I'd ever seen ride them.

It's fucking crazy.

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: And the feeling you get is like nothing else.

Time slows down for those few seconds

and your senses are really heightened.

You're feeling your board in the water,

little subtle movements

and then you feel the energy take over you

and it's just such a powerful force.

CORTNEY: They reckon that old mate Kenny, that died last year,

reckoned there was a sick wave off here

on the big South swell.

I don't know if it's true or not.

- Really? - Yeah.

- Off here? - Off these rocks.

SHANZY: First time I came down

I just stayed with my mate Kale Grigson,

got introduced into the circle and then they're all best mates

and so it didn't take long before I met Shanzy

and have been hanging with him ever since.

Probably hug him more than I hug my chick.

[laughs]

[pullet squeaking]

KERBY: Shanzy is such an underground legend.

He welcomed Clarry and I into his world with open arms.

SHANZY: When they used to come down

like they would make light work of the waves.

We were kind of you know, going,

"Wow, you know can you surf these waves,"

so other than-- yeah, you know, they were charging.

[♪♪♪]

Definitely gave us the kickstart we needed to--

- See. - We...

We just though Shanzy was the Lord from day dot.

[laughs]

KERBY: He's had some of the craziest waves ever ridden down here.

[♪♪♪]

SHANZY: What motivates him is just that thrill of surfing waves

that probably could potentially kill you, I guess

and yeah, that's just what he lives for.

When everyone else is panicking and he seems

to be able to make a heavy situation seem easy.

Every swell's different too.

This-- not every wave is the same so you have to try

and have that ability to be able to try

and slow it all down enough to be able to process it,

like in a split moment really.

And that's the ability that Kerbs has over most people

that he can decipher the code.

He's definitely in a league of his own.

Yeah, for sure.

He's amazing. Yeah.

He's probably, maybe got a few screws loose but...

[laughs]

[waves crashing]

You know when we first come down here

and surfed a couple of the waves,

I thought, you know that was it.

You can't do, you can't do anything more insane than that.

It was fuckin'... [laughs] it was crazy.

But it turns out you can.

[♪♪♪]

[vocalizing]

[♪♪♪]

[humming]

KERBY: I always remember the old bloke playing music.

It was like all my baby photos and stuff

surrounded by guitars

and now I look at them and I'm like, "What happened?

I wish I played!"

[indistinct chatter]

- NOLA: Now, Nicole... - NICOLE: Yes.

NOLA: You've got to figure out if you are going to take

all these home with you?

We'll take them home definitely.

It's not that I don't want them

but I think they'd be really nice...

Well you've destined them to the shed.

NOLA: This one was his very first one.

Yeah, that's Kerby's. That was his very first one.

And I was pretty excited when that one came out.

- NICOLE: [speaks indistinctly] - Wasn't I? Wow.

Because you know, it was a big thing then,

- wasn't it? To get a cover. - Bloody hell yeah.

There was this awesome early morning shot.

NOLA: First trip to Bali.

GLENN: Mum and Dad had been out the night before

and that was what we brought them home.

NOLA: What, the cocktails from the bar?

- Yeah, but we drank 'em. - [Nola laughing]

GLENN: We gave them the coconuts.

NICOLE: So that's where the problem started? [laughing]

NOLA: This is one of my favourites. Both of them.

Kerby on the ski,

which he's obviously just towed him in. Haven't you?

KERBY: Yeah, that was early days when we used to go down.

Kerby and Cortney.

We would have just gone down and had that surf

and drove home. 24 hour drive.

One surf. Spend all our money on fuel.

[laughs]

NOLA: You'd had a huge night out before that wave, yeah?

Or maybe multiple.

CORTNEY: Probably huge nights out before all of them.

GLENN: That wave there, that was just unbelievable.

Look at it. Holy Christ! It's got two lips.

If he makes it it's good but if you get nailed

they like it more, you know? Don't they?

They'd rather see somebody get killed on that wave

than actually make it.

I thought Kerby was going to get killed.

- I towed him into it. - GLENN: Hmm.

NOLA: Were you scared?

Yeah, that was the-- the--

safe to say that was the biggest one out there at that time eh?

Or like the... thick... just the...

- NOLA: The meanest. - Yeah.

It was just low tide and no water on the reef.

FEMALE NEWSREADER 1: It's the Holy Grail for any surfer.

The perfect wave.

And one surfer, Kerby Brown,

found his literally at the ends of the Earth.

A 40-foot giant at the bottom of Australia.

FEMALE NEWSREADER 2: It was pro-surfer Kerby Brown's dream

to ride a monster like that.

The wave nearly killed him. Kerby Brown joins us...

KERBY: I think everyone that surfs there

has got their own horror story.

Oh, mate!

Holy shit!

[♪♪♪]

[wave crashes]

KERBY: When you go through one of those wipeouts,

you really get to know yourself in that short amount of time.

[muffled panic]

KERBY: You go really deep really fast.

It feels like your skull is in a vice.

[high-pitched beeping]

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: You have to slow your mind.

Can't black out.

[jetski whirring]

[♪♪♪]

NICOLE: It's been quite a journey for us.

We had a lot of time apart in our 20s.

Um, he was always travelling.

It was really hard for both of us.

We would sort of pull apart

and we just would always pull back together.

KERBY: We figured if we are going to try this again,

let's do this properly.

I moved to Perth to be with Nicole.

I moved there because I loved her.

It was fun at first

and it was great to be back with her

but it wasn't long before things started to spiral.

I've always had my own personal demons

that I've battled with and I've used the ocean

to help me through a lot of those times

and when I don't have the ocean and I'm not surfing,

I tend to turn to alcohol and drugs

to-- to get me through it.

[humming]

KERBY: Yeah, I found myself getting down... felt depressed

and I felt so out of place.

NICOLE: I could see it in his eyes.

It was like a determination to self-destruct.

KERBY: Getting a few charges here and there

and I'd get in all sorts of trouble,

started getting injuries through drinking.

NICOLE: I would be really worried that he was going to overdose,

have a car accident.

There was like a million different things

that could've gone wrong.

That was hard to watch.

KERBY: When I'd come out of that haze

and realize I'd been on a rampage to the city

and I hadn't been home for four days,

I would come to the realization and go, "Whoa."

Like I felt really guilty and really bad

that I've put Nicole through that again.

And I wasn't liking, you know, the person that I was.

NICOLE: One time he went surfing the heavier waves

and he was leaving and I remember saying to him,

you know, "Please be safe, you know, and come back safe."

And he just said to me,

"I couldn't give a fuck if I die."

There were a couple of times where I said I just can't.

I gotta... I gotta step away from this.

It was breaking my heart.

But at the end of the day, I'm you know,

I'm not his mother, I'm his partner

and I wasn't there to babysit the guy.

He needed to make better choices for himself.

[wind howling]

It was my birthday and I walked out

to the lounge room

and Kerby's laying there watching TV

and I remember saying to him, "Please don't freak out.

You are not allowed to freak out 'cause I'm really freaking out,

so you're not allowed to freak out.

So, please promise me you're not going to freak out."

And he was just looking at me like, "What do you mean?"

And I said, "I'm pregnant" and he just looked to me

and he just went, "Fuck!"

[wave crashes]

[♪♪♪]

I was feeling overwhelmed and anxious and kind of yeah,

afraid of what was about to happen

or what was about to come, you know?

I was definitely thinking about you know...

where I was in my life at that point in time

and what I would need to do to better myself

and... I had a lot of doubt that I could be a good father

and change my life so quickly.

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: As soon as you hold your child in your arms,

everything just changes.

To realize it's not about you any more.

You've got this life, this new life, and you've...

You've got to do the best you can

to give them the best life.

[kids humming]

Seen Uncle Clarry get a wave yet?

- [speaks indistinctly] - That wind's fully gone round.

This is what we surf over.

This is what we hit when we fall off.

This?

See, how spiky that is?

Have you seen Uncle Clarry out there, Sahara?

- There he goes. - SAHARA: There.

NICOLE: [laughs] Pretty decent.

KERBY: Ohh!

Kit helped me out immensely at that stage of my life

when I was kind of a bit lost and you know,

time to step up and get a proper job.

My Dad went and worked in the oil and gas industry

so he got me into that

and Kerby would, you know he'd always ask us,

"How do you get into it?"

And I would always say, "Nah, don't do it.

Don't do it for as long as you can."

You know I'm doing it and it's good money

but yeah, you're out away for five weeks

and then you come back for five weeks.

KERBY: If I didn't have a kid on the way,

I probably would never have gone into that industry

but it's worked out the way it is.

[♪♪♪]

[refinery rumbling]

KERBY: I feel like we're all just forced

to be part of this machine.

They try and mould you into this structured society

and you're kind of not really taught

to look at the bigger picture, and the beauty and life.

You're put into this mould from an early age

and that's what I've always struggled with.

I feel like... that's the monster--

that's the monster I've been trying to get away

from my whole life.

There's got to be a way to feel and to live completely.

CORTNEY: Kerby's looking for new waves.

He's looking for something bigger and thicker and...

I don't know if you can get shallower

than what's already been surfed.

But yeah, I don't think it will end until...

Yeah, until we can't do it any more. [chuckles]

That's the whole reason he moved down south.

He left here to be closer to those waves

and that's... that's a 100% the bottom line.

That's why they live there.

They packed up everything to go live next to all the monsters.

[laughs]

It's like-- it's like kindergarten up here

compared to down there.

[♪♪♪]

[waves crashing]

KERBY: It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make,

moving this far from my brother.

WADANDA BOODJA THE GREAT SOUTHERN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

KERBY: I really want to make the most of my time here.

I'm pushing myself as far as I can...

but that comes at a heavy cost.

[birds calling in distance]

Clarry said it's pretty much 100% certain he can surf.

- Yep. - Tow you in. Okay.

He said "lock it in" so that's pretty firm from him.

Yeah, he never says, "lock it in."

[both laughs]

He's always like, "Um, yeah, maybe."

NICOLE: Yeah, maybe.

I know what he does is really dangerous

and it's really risky.

I see so much chaos in this world

and there's so many people

that choose to go down paths of self-destruction

that is so unhealthy, that are so dangerous

and hurt so many people around them.

And Kerby's found something in his life

that is dangerous, but it's also so uplifting

and so inspiring and it's a healthy sport.

It's a healthy activity. It's a healthy form of art.

It's a beautiful thing to see that connection

he has with the ocean

and all that that brings to him and to our lives.

- How are you, brother? - [laughs]

- Hello, mate. - Hey, mate. How are ya?

- Great. Where shall we park? - Just pull up just behind me

and then you can get your stuff out easy

and just kind of go through the other gate.

Sweet.

[birds calling]

The ski's been like randomly not starting, eh?

No. That's not what you want out there.

[laughs]

Yeah, I don't know what's going wrong with it.

It's time for an upgrade. It's been through a bit, eh?

CORTNEY: It's been through so much.

[laughs]

KERBY: So Phoenix, I'm going to be gone

by the time you come back from school.

- See ya, mate. - See ya.

Love you.

[sobbing]

NICOLE: He'll be home again soon though.

[Sahara babbling]

So, looks like we're heading right down

to the bottom of Australia.

Um, we've been there before

and to be honest, I didn't think I'd ever go back.

Without a doubt I think

it's the heaviest zone in the world.

You've got the rawest ocean swells

just exploding onto dry ledges.

It's isolated, you know,

you're hours from medical attention

if something happens... and I mean...

Yeah it's just scary.

It's so unpredictable.

Like one wave

might be the most insane thing you've ever seen

and the next one will just completely explode

into itself, and there's just no, no way out.

Kerbs has had his eye on these other few waves

down in that area that are just, you know,

next level again.

[birds calling]

- KERBY: Put it through here. - SAHARA: Mm-hmm.

KERBY: You push it through. That's it. That's the one.

And then pull this. Pull this one back.

Beautiful.

I want to go up there.

You want to go up there. Well you can.

Just make sure you don't fall off.

- SAHARA: Ooh. - [Nicole grunts]

- [groans] - [Nicole laughs]

NICOLE: She was saying she wants to go with you earlier.

- Do you want to come with me? - Mm-hmm.

KERBY: I don't think it will be very safe for you

- to come on this trip. - NICOLE: Maybe another one.

KERBY: You might be safer staying home with Mum this time.

- No. No. - [chuckles]

We'll do lots of fun things when I get back. Okay?

[Nicole growls]

NICOLE: Good girl.

- Sahara. - NICOLE: Hey.

Daddy's gotta go, baby.

NICOLE: He'll be back soon.

I'll go out of reception as of tomorrow arvo probably.

NICOLE: Yeah.

So, if I'm off the grid, you know why?

NICOLE: Yeah.

I'll contact you as soon as I can.

NICOLE: Sure. Yeah.

Hope you get some good waves, Dad! Wohoo!

Go get all the good waves, Dad!

[both grunts]

Alright I'd better get going.

- NICOLE: He's gotta go, bubs... - Bye.

NICOLE: ...or you'll be driving in the dark.

Go to Mummy.

All right, I love you.

- [smooches] - SAHARA: Mummy.

NICOLE: I love you. I love you. I love you.

All right, Bub. Love you.

- SAHARA: Mummy. - KERBY: Love you.

Come back safe please. In one piece would be nice.

I'll do my best. Bye sweetie.

NICOLE: Bye. Bye, Dad. Bye. Bye, Dad.

- Bye, Dad. - NICOLE: Bye, Dad.

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: There's a huge fear in not coming home to my family,

and not being there for my kids.

I really don't want to have those thoughts

going through my head

while I'm trying to do what I do.

I don't see what I'm doing as a reckless thing any more.

I'm trying to be calculated with it.

[jeeps whirring]

WAUDAARN SOUTHERN COAST WESTERN AUSTRALIA

[wind howling]

Just done a 15 and a half hour drive to get here ...

and it looks pretty promising.

Good work.

The winds just coming up and it's pretty chilly so...

The things we do.

[wind howling]

Oh, that was a brutal night. The wind started howling.

- The side of the swag was... - [mimics vibration]

- [chuckles] - ...fully vibrating.

I looked outside and chairs were blown over.

[laughs]

Why do we do this again?

Not to mention it's three degrees right now.

Let's get out into the abyss.

Fuck!

[♪♪♪]

[jetski whirring]

- CORTNEY: Fuck! - KERBY: Oh!

- Oh look at that! - Pretty dry.

[both laughs]

[waves crashing]

KERBY: How's that, thick and perfect that was!

CORTNEY: The left's pretty psycho.

What side do you want to go down?

KERBY: Just come in right behind it.

[jetski whirring]

[♪♪♪]

It gets pretty bouncy.

CORTNEY: Yeah, you don't know what the fuck's going on

coming into them.

♪ Dreamers

♪ They never

♪ They never learn

♪ Beyond the point

♪ Of no return

Oh, that's shallow.

CORTNEY: Is this something you reckon?

KERBY: Yeah.

♪ The damage is done

♪ The damage is done

[♪♪♪]

CORTNEY: What was that like?

KERBY: You know, they're pretty dry.

[jetski whirring]

♪ This goes

♪ Beyond me

♪ Beyond you

[jetski whirring]

CORTNEY: Fuck, I thought you were going to be on that rock

when you popped up then!

♪ A white room

♪ By a window

♪ Where the sun comes

♪ Through

♪ We are

♪ Just happy to serve

♪ Just happy to serve

♪ You

[♪♪♪]

CORTNEY: Oh, the rock is just hanging completely out now.

[waves crashing]

[jetski whirring]

KERBY: Fuck, it would have been good to have been deeper

and not to have to drag that.

[waves crashing]

CORTNEY: You want to try one more?

[♪♪♪]

[angelic vocalization]

CORTNEY: Fuck. You all right?

I thought you just died.

I looked down...

I looked down and I was holding this

and you let go and there was just no water,

there was just rock.

My fins were whistling,

that's how fast it was on the reef.

Whoo!

CORTNEY: Oh, that looked terrifying.

Fuck. Where's your board?

KERBY: Don't know where it went. My favourite board.

[Clarry laughing]

CORTNEY: Can't believe it. My board.

[♪♪♪]

You almost forget how evil it is,

don't you, Clarry?

Just everywhere.

- CORTNEY: I haven't forgotten. - [chuckles]

KERBY: Just need that swell to be there.

[wind howling]

[angelic vocalization]

[♪♪♪]

[jetski whirring]

KERBY: I've been sussing out this one particular spot

on Google Earth for years, and it's so far out

that you know that the next landmass out from here

would be Antarctica.

Holy shit! Look at that thing.

[waves crashing]

KERBY: Yeah, that rock is fairly sticking out.

Fuck, the reef shape is so good.

[angelic vocalization]

KERBY: This is sick.

I reckon we could almost surf it, eh?

It's got such a shoulder, like a channel on it.

CORTNEY: Yeah.

Yeah, this is the wave I've kind of had my eye on

for a few years.

I haven't been here long

but it looks like it's got legit potential, eh?

- [angelic vocalization] - [waves crashing]

KERBY: Look at that thing!

That's the most twisted wave I've seen.

Oh. [laughs]

It's going to be so hard to pick them, I reckon.

[waves exploding]

KERBY: Whoa!

CORTNEY: Are you kidding me?

[angelic vocalization]

KERBY: Look at this one! What the fuck fuck!

[chuckles]

Gonna go feel it out. Is there wax?

- More different wax? - No.

[speaks indistinctly]

What are those explosions, eh?

[waves exploding]

You want a bit of wall, eh?

I'll do a loop.

[jetski roaring]

- CORTNEY: This one? - KERBY: Yeah, mate.

[muffled panic]

[high-pitched beep]

[jetski whirring]

CORTNEY: Fuck, man! Are you all right?

You got to get up more.

[Kerby groans]

Careful. [mumbles]

- I've hurt my back. My back. - CORTNEY: I got you. I got you.

Lay down. I've got you. Lay down.

We're gonna get you back to the boat.

Lay down mate.

[speaks indistinctly]

I've got ya. Straight to the boat.

Keep hold of that, mate. I got ya. Grab my hands.

In the middle of my back. [speaks indistinctly]

Corts! Hold up.

The middle of my back is real sore.

If you lay down...

I think I'm going to sit.

[groans]

[indistinct chatter]

[♪♪♪]

How the fuck are we going to do this?

I know it's really getting mighty fucked up.

He's got a gnarly cut on his head

and his back's like fucked.

Mate, his head is really fucking bad.

I'm just gonna fuckin' drive.

You reckon you'd be able to stand?

Hang on it.

[indistinct chatter]

CHRIS: You're on the deck, mate.

SEMARK: Okay sit down. That's it.

Turn around a bit. [speaks indistinctly]

- How's that? You right? - [groans]

The pain is in between my shoulders.

CHRIS: Can you put some pressure on that, Semark?

SEMARK: Yeah, I've got that.

CHRIS: It's going to hurt a bit Kerby. I'll keep it on nice and tight.

- [groans] - You're right. Big breaths.

Keep that pressure on, Semark. Get more bandages.

Hey Ric, we're gonna wrap this up real tight.

[Kerby groans]

- You're alright, mate. - I know. I know.

I'm not worried about my head.

I'm worried about my fucking back.

IMOGEN: Just keep it tight.

Yeah, just don't put pressure on it

'cause it's hurting his shoulders. Just keep...

- IMOGEN: Keep it straight? - CHRIS: Yeah.

CHRIS: Yeah that's it. I'll hold that there.

KERBY: My neck's okay.

We need to get you laid down on the deck.

He wants to try and stand up.

- IMOGEN: Is that okay? - Yep.

Come on, lay that out on the deck.

[speaks indistinctly]

Nice and slow. Nice and slow. We got you.

Let's go. Nice and gentle. There we go.

Head back.

[indistinct chatter]

CHRIS: Can we get something under his head? Some towels.

- Fuck! - IMOGEN: He can't breathe.

Slow and steady breaths.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[humming]

[indistinct chatter]

NICOLE: Yeah.

NOLA: You're very, very, very lucky. Very lucky.

Where the disc came out with the vertebraes in the neck,

if it came out the other side,

it would have severed the spinal cord.

So, it's just luck of the angle there.

Cortney was very traumatized.

He was... I think he was you know, near tears.

He reckons he was done. He goes, "I'm done."

[Sahara babbles]

KERBY: Just the little moments

that maybe I had taken for granted in the past,

I'm really soaking them in now.

[♪♪♪]

KERBY: You know you could do everything right

and it doesn't matter in some of these waves.

They're just going to put you in your place

and make you feel so insignificant.

GLENN: Hello. [laughs]

Ah g'day, mate.

How am I going to get on?

GLENN: You've got to get on over here.

- [groans] - Hey, Dad.

- Nice to see you, mate. - I'll grab that ladder.

KERBY: I don't have much strength at the moment.

- GLENN: You alright? - KERBY: Oh, yeah.

Did you get the hook? The hook got him.

- How's it going? - How you goin', mate?

[laughs]

You got your beard back already.

CORTNEY: How you doing?

KERBY: How'd you go?

GLENN: We didn't get that many crays today.

17 baskets, which is not that good

- but that's okay. - CORTNEY: How's your trip?

Pretty long. Yeah, so...

CORTNEY: How did you go in the car for that long?

Yeah, I'm pretty stiff as you can imagine.

GLENN: What about where your head was?

Right here.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

See? I actually just went...

GLENN: Yeah, I can see it.

I was only just at the doctor yesterday

'cause he swabbed it 'cause it had staph.

So that's... four months and it's still giving me grief.

Um, but... I don't know,

originally we thought there was only four breaks

but there was four in my neck and then two below.

- That was pretty lucky. - GLENN: Yeah.

KERBY: Pretty happy I'm just moving around to be honest.

Yeah.

Well, he already said to do a spinal head injury again

and with this all being fused,

it's going to be significantly worse

than what it was, which is pretty bloody bad.

It just escalates the situation so much more.

It was already so heavy and now if you hit your head,

there's a pretty good chance you're not coming up this time.

I feel like I dodged that bullet

and I've been given another chance

and is that another chance to keep doing

what I'm doing or is that my chance...

GLENN: Or another chance to live.

...to-- yeah.

I know Nicole would love me to stop doing it.

GLENN: You've got to go, "If I do this, Phoenix isn't going to be

able to get to school in the mornings.'

Yeah, well, that's-- that's right. It's not just me.

It's a huge factor and before they came along,

it wouldn't even be a question.

I'd just be back out there as soon as I was able.

The thought of not doing it,

I can't even fathom it right now.

Yeah.

KERBY: I don't know if I can do that.

I don't know if I can be happy, content,

sitting on the sidelines wondering.

Yeah...

it's all up in the air. What do you reckon, Clarry?

How would you feel about towing me

- into those waves again? - Oh, man, I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know how I felt

towing you into those waves to begin with.

- GLENN: Yeah. - KERBY: I know.

CORTNEY: Yeah.

As much as I'd love to be able to say, "Oh, no. I can't do it."

Well, then I'd be afraid

that you were just going to go do it anyway

and in that case I'd obviously rather be the one

that was there with you to put you in...

KERBY: Harm's way.

Yeah, to put you on those waves

and... [chuckles]

...try to do it as successfully as possible I guess.

GLENN: At the time I didn't know

that you weren't going to be able...

I didn't know if you were going to be able to walk again.

You know... I didn't know.

That's how it was that night.

I was thinking, you know, fucking great.

Took a beer into the music room and I was just sitting in there

and I started playing this song.

I was just putting words to it as I went

and I didn't know what was going to happen to you.

[♪♪♪]

♪ Know my world

♪ My world been changed

♪ Hey my world

♪ My world just changed

♪ Hear my signal calls

♪ Take on that lonely road

♪ To one day be that destiny

♪ And let destiny be their soul ♪

♪ He might ask them why

♪ They don't answer, babe

♪ You come back again

♪ They don't want you to stay

♪ Hey my world

♪ My world been changed

♪ Know my world

♪ My world just changed

♪ The passion runs so deep

♪ Most too deep to find

♪ Like a newborn's hearty cry

♪ They're here in time

♪ You say that the ghost

♪ By the grace of your Lord

♪ And he ain't got no shame

♪ The way to live by the soul

♪ Know my world

♪ My world been changed

♪ Hey my world

♪ My world just changed

[♪♪♪]