02x02 - The Circus is Burning

[bunniefuu]

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."

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 b*mb.

Ahh!

Oh, my God.

Back to the grind.

Cold water, huge waves,
massive wipeouts,

and adrenaline running
through the veins.

Let's f*cking 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.

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 sh*t
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.

I think I was still underwater.

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.

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.

There's definitely moments

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

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.

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."

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.

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.

It's okay. It's okay.

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.

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.

- You all right?
- All good?

Yeah.

Are you okay?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's f*ck'
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...

"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.

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.

I mean...

You know?

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.

You never know with CJ.

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.

You gotta close it with
that little stitches.

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?

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,
sh*t, 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.

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, sh*t 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.

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.

Yeah. What are your thoughts?

Oh, yeah.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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...

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.

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...

I think that was...

And so then the city
hall had to juggle that.

So what happened?

They shut down
surfing.

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.

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...

"We can't surf."

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

It's beautiful.

Um...

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, f*ck, it is what it is.

Cheers, Pisco.

Right.

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.

sh*t.

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...

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?

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.

Would have been nice
to go home to the kids

and do some more normal things.

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.

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?

Good morning.

During the surf ban,

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

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?

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.

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.

After every try,
we say, "Almost."

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!

Yeah!

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.

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?

Don't know.

Okay.

Nazaré has been,
you know, quieter,

so sometimes it's good.

It's been really good.

Uh, just a haircut.

. Thank you.

- I'm from England.
- England?

Yeah, yeah.

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.

Great.

It's Boris Johnson.
Yeah, yeah.

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...

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.

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...

I'm such a
legend, aren't I?

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 f*ck'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?

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.

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.

No, pause, pause, pause, pause.

Pause, pause.

They are saying that
you can do exercise.

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.

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.

Merci.

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.

And I said yes.

- This is it, eh?
- So beautiful.

Now she's my fiancée.

She's not just my girlfriend.

Beautiful. Whee-oo.

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.

Save time to do
what you wanna do.

Because, like, in the end,

it's all what matters.