:40:04
Mavericks wasn't supposed to exist,
it wasn't supposed to be there.
:40:15
It was a mystery that it was just
suddenly found in this area...
:40:18
...that's 20-something miles
away from San Francisco.
:40:27
In Half Moon Bay, who's formerly
famous for its annual pumpkin festival.
:40:32
It's as if they discovered
Mount Everest behind Mount Whitney.
:40:44
Teenage surfer Jeff Clark grew up...
:40:46
... along Half Moon Bay's
secluded coast...
:40:48
... riding homemade boards in the
region's powerful, rugged waves...
:40:52
... where he carved out
a frontier existence...
:40:54
... far removed
from surfing's mainstream.
:40:58
I was a freshman in high school.
:41:00
You could see this place exploding
from out behind the building...
:41:04
...where we'd all congregate.
:41:05
I was with my childhood friend,
and I'd go:
:41:08
"Brian, we've gotta go
check that out."
:41:14
We'd sit up on a cliff and watch
this place go, and one day it was like:
:41:18
"Brian, today's the day."
:41:21
I go, "Bring your board."
He's like:
:41:23
"There's no way I'm paddling
a half a mile offshore...
:41:26
...to a place I've never been."
:41:28
And so he sat here at the end
of the cliff and said:
:41:31
"I'll call the Coast Guard,
tell them where I last saw you."
:41:37
The year was 1975, and the wave
Clark intended to ride...
:41:41
... broke a half a mile offshore into
a veritable graveyard of jagged rocks.
:41:48
The wave was considered more a
navigational hazard than a surf spot.
:41:54
I just remember a wave jacking up,
I'm in the vein, and total commitment.