:22:02
I'm thinking,
"I don't wanna get wiped out"...
:22:04
...because I know
there's sharks here...
:22:06
...and I'm not into swimming
with sharks, exactly.
:22:10
We got out there,
it was a big surprise.
:22:12
It's, you know... It's not
an easy takeoff.
:22:29
I took off on a wave
and went down the side...
:22:32
...and popped out
the other end and went:
:22:35
"Shit, I'm still alive.
Nothing's happened."
:22:37
After we got
a couple waves...
:22:41
...we go, "Hey we can do this,"
you know.
:22:43
They broke the taboo.
They went and did it.
:22:46
And once it was done, opened up
the floodgates and it's like, "Okay...
:22:50
...now how far do we take it?"
:22:54
The following year of 1958...
:22:56
... Waimea Bay blew big-wave surfing
wide open as another migration...
:23:01
... of surfers came charging
onto Hawaii's North Shore...
:23:04
... to campaign the huge surf.
:23:10
They were out to ride
the biggest swells...
:23:12
... nature could produce. So they built
what came to be known as "guns":
:23:16
Long, narrow surfboards
designed exclusively...
:23:19
... for catching the fast-moving,
25-foot waves of Waimea.
:23:25
I rode an 11-6.
:23:27
It was first and foremost
a wave-catching machine...
:23:31
...because if you can't catch
a wave, nothing else matters.
:23:35
Unlike the somewhat easy
takeoff of Makaha...
:23:38
... Waimea was a fear-inducing,
25-foot elevator drop...
:23:42
... sometimes requiring
more faith than skill.
:23:53
It almost doesn't help to know
what you're doing out there.
:23:56
If you know too much,
it intimidates you.