Squid Force

This is ian exerpt from Surfer magazine volume 8 number 6, the Legend of George Greenough by Bill Clearey:

On a big wave you can pull it down to a 60 degree angle, all the way over till you start dragging your shoulder. That’s two Gs and you’ll hardly notice it if you’re concentrating on the wave. I don’t know how far I’ve gone beyond that but It’s gotten t the point where it started to hurt and things started to break. I had one board start to collapse on me one time, I let off power when I felt it start to go, and I came out of the turn aright…

Then, with out a pause, George launched into a description of one well remembered ride close to the very limit. “It’s a 10-foot wave, a thick heavy powerful wave. And you’ve driven 20 feet ahead of the curl…then you come around left again and put it right on the floor. You’re going as fast as you can, head-on straight into that tube! You’re right at the top and at the last possible second, you peel of and drop like an airplane, diving. You get railed in tight, you get everything setup…get the suspension loaded: everything’s twisted and bent to the maximum like a spring…and then you bring on the forces. Slowly. You come into the turn: brushing the whitewater-going to the bottom-banking harder and harder-still dropping. Then you hit the turn and start climbing., and you begin setting up your target. The target is high, you’ve got to tighten that turn. Now you’re really flying because you began accelerating from the time when you were 20 feet out in front of the curl, and you’ve come all that way back left, and you’ve driven all the way to the bottom. Your speed is tremendous! And now when you pull it down, you are very aware of the forces. Your shoulder is only 3 or four inches from the face, and in your mind you say, “Take it more. There’s more power. You can’t kill this wave!” And you pull it down harder and , and suddenly your foot feels like it’s going to break, and your head is pushed so far down you’re straining to see over the board at the target…and you know there is a lot of something pushing down on you.”

Thanks to “Yatervision” for the text.

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In these days of increasing crowds, rules, badges and blackball, I can commiserate with GG on his want to escape the grind and seek solitary wave riding. And the sailboat is one hell of an escape pod. Cheap to run, seaworthy, quiet, ahhh, I can actually hear my thoughts.

Here’s the plan: Rent the house, boat school the kids, drop out, tune in, turn ON and leave all the tourists and headaches behind. There will be perfect, uncrowded waves around every corner, massive fish on the troll and on every dive. Read the classics, chat, play cards and SAIL…just perusing the used sailboats in the Salty Dog stirs my wanderlust something fierce.

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Chances are, there’s a decent possibility you older squids might be hip to the trippiest, most cerebral surf cinematography ever produced by a human being: George Greenough’s Crystal Voyager. For those of you who aren’t quite that, um, experienced (or don’t have older relatives with the original filck), here’s a bit from the New York Times about this epic piece of work:

Shot on location in California and Australia, Crystal Voyager follows American surfer, filmmaker, and inventor George Greenough on his search for the perfect wave. This documentary focuses specifically on Greenough’s attempts to build a camera that would capture the majesty of surfing. The film follows Greenough’s several abortive attempts to build a camera light enough to sit on a surfboard. The film also discusses Greenough’s other innovations, such as the flexible fin which made surfing “in the tube” possible. The film builds to the final, famous 23-minute “Echoes” sequence comprised of footage shot by Greenough from his board. Stunningly majestic, the footage allows the viewer to experience the ocean as never before and occupies the middle ground between early Lumiere films and today’s IMAX, all to the music of Pink Floyd. A major critical, popular, and experimental success, Crystal Voyager was lauded at Cannes and by American critics.

For some reason, true art/surf films have been few and far between in the 35 years since Crystal Voyager was thrust upon our consciousness. Luckily, with FIRE we may not have to wait much longer…

Channeling Greenough’s vision, Mike Stewart (perhaps the greatest rider of waves in the world) and Scotty Carter (the pioneer of bodyboarding cinematography) have taken a decade of exclusive footage and created something that is much more than just a surf/art film.

With little commentary, the film relies almost exclusively on incredible, mind-bending imagery to tell the story of a true life aquatic. US release dates to come. Check out mikestewart.com for more…

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