:20:00
They watched it, and they said,
"Can't be done."
:20:03
You'd look at Waimea and wonder...
:20:05
...can the human body
survive the wipeout?
:20:13
But the lure of riding Waimea
was unrelenting...
:20:16
... as during each swell,
surfers would find themselves...
:20:19
... standing spellbound on the shore,
transfixed by the sight of the huge...
:20:24
... perfectly shaped waves
exploding off the point.
:20:31
We'd go by there when it
was breaking, and you're going:
:20:34
"That looks like a ridable wave."
:20:36
You could see that this had all the
potential of being a great surf spot.
:20:40
And at some point you just had to go,
"To hell with it, we can do this thing."
:20:46
On a fall day in October of 1957...
:20:49
... a handful of surfers
converged on Waimea...
:20:52
... as a 20-foot swell
began lighting up the bay.
:21:02
Sitting on the point,
watching the huge, empty waves...
:21:05
... with his buddy Mike Stang,
19-year-old Greg Noll...
:21:08
... had finally seen enough.
:21:10
He unstrapped his board,
and with Mike Stang in tow...
:21:13
... walked down
to the water's edge.
:21:16
Moments later, they were joined
by fellow-surfers Pat Curren...
:21:20
... Mickey Munoz, Del Cannon,
Fred Van Dyke, Harry Church...
:21:24
... Bing Copeland and Bob Bermel...
:21:29
... who with Noll and Stang...
:21:31
... paddled out
to attempt the impossible.
:21:41
It was obvious
where the waves were breaking...
:21:44
...and we'd all had enough
experience so that...
:21:47
...you know, you knew pretty much
where to paddle to.
:21:50
I remember paddling
into the lineup...
:21:52
...and your balls were
in your stomach, you know...
:21:55
...thinking the bottom
was gonna fall out...
:21:57
...and something was gonna
eat you alive.