Chris Miyashiro: Homecomings

A captain wakes in the night certain he’s wrecked in mangroves—only he’s on his own porch. That jarring reentry from a month under sail becomes our portal into a deeper story about attention, tradition, and becoming a different kind of person at sea with artist-sailor-filmmaker Chris Miyashiro.

Chris takes us from his grandfather’s walls—painted with visions of Hōkūleʻa —to a 2,700‑mile, unsupported crossing on a double-hulled canoe that reshaped his senses and his sense of home (more on that voyage in the Ethnomads episode, forthcoming),

 Chris shares how homeschool freedom and skate culture trained him to see the world as material for making, a mindset he has carried into surf/films that inspire a sense of playful wonderment. For Chris, film school offered rules and he's  learned how to break them well. 

We talk about “nai'a brain,” the half-sleeping state where awareness sharpens, the importance of values-grounded voyaging, and his time as a guest professor at Laguna College of Art and Design. 

If you’re craving an episode that blends voyaging wisdom, creative practice, and some encouragement to get out amongst the living world, then this one's for you. 

Send us a text

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Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
To me, the fear aspect is when I'm responsible
for other people's lives and I'mthe captain.
You hear little ticks or littleslaps or little like maybe a
rope is like moving the wrongway or something is just not
right.
What is that?
And you just wake up and you'reimmediately like awake, and you
could have been in the deepesttrenches of your sleep.

SPEAKER_03 (00:20):
Welcome to Water People, a podcast about the
aquatic experiences that shapewho we become back on land.
I'm your host, Lauren Hill,joined by my partner Dave
Rastovich.
Here we get to talk a story withsome of the most interesting and
adept water folk on the planet.
We acknowledge the BunjalangNation, the traditional
custodians of the land andwaters where we work and play,

(00:44):
who have cared for this seacountry for tens of thousands of
years.
Respect and gratitude to allFirst Nations people, including
elders, past, present, andemerging.
This season is supported byPatagonia, whose purpose-driven
mission is to use business tosave our home planet.

(01:05):
Today we're in conversation withChris Miyoshiro.
He's an artist across manymediums, a surfer, sailor, and
visual artist.
Chris is the creator of severalfilms, most recently A-A, a
whimsical dance through thepersonal ancestral significance
of the 26-day, 2700 nauticalmile unsupported journey across

(01:25):
the Pacific in a double-hauledcanoe he recently completed with
two of his best friends.
Alright, Davey, tell me aboutbeing land sick.

SPEAKER_05 (01:37):
What would you like to know, Lauren?

SPEAKER_03 (01:40):
I would love for you to recount the story of what
happened when I arrived home theother evening.

SPEAKER_05 (01:45):
Oh.
Well, you're wearing that lovelylong blue dress.

SPEAKER_03 (01:50):
And that is not the story.

SPEAKER_05 (01:52):
Oh, okay.
Well, basically, after returningfrom a month-long adventure on
the Warham double-hulled sailingcanoe of my dreams, and I had
just the most incredible timewith friends in their 20s and
lots of friends along the wayalong a stretch of coast that
I've known my whole life, butnot in such an intricate way as

(02:16):
doing that by sea and undersail.

SPEAKER_03 (02:18):
And we'll have forthcoming episodes from that
adventure.
100%.

SPEAKER_05 (02:22):
And so the return and the land sickness you speak
of really culminated the othernight when you had been out with
some friends having a lovelydinner and returned probably at
like eight o'clock at night, andI was already in bed with Minnow
asleep for an hour.
And when you came in thedriveway, I guess the dogs maybe
barked to announce your arrival.

(02:43):
And I heard just enough sound tostir me.
And I actually sat straight up,got out of bed, lunged out onto
the deck of the house, whichlooks across a little creek into
the forest.
And standing there naked, I waslike, I just shouted, Oh no!

SPEAKER_06 (03:01):
Oh no!

SPEAKER_05 (03:03):
And had a complete meltdown because as I was
looking across the little creekinto the bush, I was convinced
that that was a mangrove riversystem and that I had
shipwrecked our boat and thecrew, and I had let my care and
concentration lapse and evenwhile sleeping and had just

(03:25):
blown it, like literally fullyblown it, and my heart was
racing.
I ran down the deck like 20yards, pacing, thinking I was on
the deck of the boat, going,what the uh the mangroves, I'm
in the mangroves, and then Iheard you walking up the stairs
and saw you, and you were justpuzzled by what I was doing, and
my heart was racing, and I wasso lost.

(03:47):
I was it was exactly like thatfeeling you get when you travel
overseas, perhaps swiftly byplane, and then you sleep in
some transit hotel and you'reseverely jet lagged and you wake
up in the dark room and you justhave no idea where you are in
the universe.
Yeah, it was just like that.

SPEAKER_04 (04:04):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (04:04):
So I've been navigating that the last 10 days
or so, just in an interestingway, but loving being out of the
elements because of how fierceAustralia's sun and wind is and
everything.
So I've actually I have beenloving that respite, though I've
also been longing for those longstarry nights and those wide,

(04:26):
long sunny days.

SPEAKER_03 (04:28):
Yeah, well, we missed you while you were gone.
We got to visit a couple oftimes and spend some time
adventuring up near the GreatBarrier Reef.
But it's been so wonderful tohave you home, but also to see
your slow adjustment back toterrestrial life, especially in
the exhaustion that you've had,like you know, you were saying
being the capanna.
It's an exploration of night abrain, and that's a conversation

(04:53):
we go into and it's a chat withChris.

SPEAKER_05 (04:56):
Yeah, yeah, so fascinating.
It's one of those things toowhere it's like, you know,
people when they run marathonsor swim long distances, if they
stop, they stop.
You just gotta keep rolling.
And the the adventure was verymuch like that.
We were just rolling, rolling,rolling, rolling, like you know,
really great disrupted sleeppatterns where we'd pinch little

(05:17):
naps in the day, or you wouldjust sleep in a very different
way.
And anyone who's done nightwatches and sailing adventures
knows exactly what we speak of.
But then, yeah, stopping cominghome and getting to show Kaylee
and Ruddakrius our home zone andbe restful and to uh really see
that they also love the dipbetween peaks, the rest, the the

(05:42):
space between notes, yeah, andto all be in that together.
And we got a couple rainy daysand just read books and chatted
and eventually led to thatmoment of you know clicking the
recorder on and prying a littlemore, which is always fun.
How did that go for you beingable to do that?

SPEAKER_03 (06:00):
I just loved having them here.
I love being around as I'mentering my 40s now.
I have an acknowledgement andunderstanding of how much I love
being around younger people andhow differently their brains are
wired.
Our brains are wired when we'reyounger.
Our brains, it feels like mybrain, anyway, it feels like my
brain is clicked into this morekind of like logistical,

(06:22):
patterned juggling of manythings at the same time, sort of
capability that I didn't havewhen I was younger.
But when I was younger, Iremember being able to be so
completely awestruck andwindswept by little moments, a
passage in a book, a poem, afilm, and being able to have all
the time in the world to digestit and talk about it and make

(06:46):
art from it and really pursuecreative impulses in a way that
is different now with a youngchild and different kinds of
work and relationship and ahouse to look after and animals
and gardens.
And yeah, it's just it's achange.
And so it's so refreshing whenyou get to be with people who
are in that other sort of seasonof life and are really committed

(07:08):
to their curiosity and theircreativity, and it's pouring out
of them and all the decisionsthey make throughout their day.
And so that's especially true ofChris.
He from the first time Iencountered his work, we
encountered his work that was 10years ago.
We talk about that in the chat,so we won't go into it too in
depth.
But um I saw something of hisability to emote through film,

(07:30):
like to make us really feelbeauty and magic and wonder.
And those are like that's what Iwant to feel when I'm taking in
a film or a piece of art orsomething, like anything that
can provoke that sort ofemotion.
It feels like a really good artto me.
Of all the people in the worldyou could have invited to jump

(07:50):
on the boat with you or to sailup the coast toward the Great
Barrier Reef and then back homeover the course of a month.
Why did you reach out to Chris?

SPEAKER_05 (07:59):
Chris's just willingness and yesness really
is something I really admire inpeople.
Just not overthinking things insaying that, but also being very
thoughtful.
Yeah.
So I guess from seeing his filmsand hearing of his adventures,
and then also the just theinitial reach out where I

(08:22):
reached out to him saying, Hey,I want to do this adventure, and
the design of the boat thatwe're gonna do this on is one
I'm building.
And when I got my hands on afinished version and mentioned
that to him, he was justlaughing because he just done
the same sort of you know,adventure and exploration in

(08:42):
Warham designs and refurbishinga 26-foot version of the 30,
31-foot version we have.
And so he he just had directexperience with the design of
this vessel, which I thought wassuper interesting timing.
And so when I reached out, hewas just lit up, like, oh, he's
got all this experience, veryrecent experience with that sail

(09:06):
rig, that hull design, all ofthat, and then had put it really
to the test by crossing frommainland America out to the
Hawaiian Islands, and it was theyesness.

SPEAKER_06 (09:16):
He was just like, Yeah, man, let's do it.

SPEAKER_05 (09:18):
Um he was just like falling over himself with
enthusiasm, and so it just feltright straight away.
And uh, and then also it's thatthing of I don't know, maybe
feeling like someone who liveson the periphery of the surfing
organism.
I I love to be on the edge of itand not ra like really, really

(09:39):
social.
I surf alone a lot, I make a lotof choices to be on my own.
And sometimes I just don't wantto do that.
I want to do the opposite.
I want to be with people andfinding you do?
Yeah, and finding people who Ireally click with is maybe I
don't know, I'm a picky personor something, but just that
thing, like I said before, ofbeing thoughtful but not

(10:01):
dominated by thoughts, sharingspace with someone in that way.
I really love.
And when you're on a boat, youknow, everything's really
enhanced in terms of personalitytraits.
You're sharing a very smallspace together, you're sharing
time together, like 24 hours aday time.
You're making decisions togetherthat affect everyone's safety or

(10:21):
adventures and experiences inlife.
You have deep conversations, andit was like, all right, I want
to go get like thrown in thedeep end with someone like
Chris.

SPEAKER_03 (10:31):
And how did he handle that?

SPEAKER_05 (10:33):
And it was just more wonderful than I could have ever
imagined because of just thiswonderful feeling of
brotherliness and connection,even though you know I'm a
generation older than him, comefrom different places,
completely different lifebackgrounds and everything, and
just to be able to connectthrough water is a really

(10:54):
special thing.
So to really, really feel thatand put time and space into that
is what I really appreciated.
And it was obvious after a monthof adventures and incredible
conversations and inspirationfrom him that we had to sit down
and have a chat like this.

SPEAKER_03 (11:11):
And a lot of laughs.

SPEAKER_05 (11:13):
Because that's a big part of this too.

SPEAKER_03 (11:15):
He's got an excellent thing.

SPEAKER_05 (11:16):
Oh, so fun.
Just so just so fun.
And you know, I'm sure everyonecan relate to when you get a
visitor from somewhere elsecoming to where you live.
You just you want to show themthe best of where you live and
the people.
And our whole adventure was likethat.
But they got to meet him and Ithink meet the best of who he is

(11:36):
and where he comes from.
That aloha spirit.
He had a gift for everyone.
He had he just stuffed hisentire bag full of gifts for
people, shirts that he'd screenprinted himself, gifts that he'd
made, art pieces that he's made.
He he had the foresight to knowthat oh, I'm probably gonna meet
a lot of people on this trip andI should have something for
them.
And that is so beautiful.

(11:57):
Like, can you imagine being inyour 20s and being that
forward-thinking in such agenerous way?

SPEAKER_03 (12:02):
It was one of the things that I learned when I
moved to Australia.
I I was not as quick a study asChris obviously is, but never
arrive empty-handed, even ifit's something small, small, a
small gesture, a flower, pieceof fruit.
If you can arrive with anoffering that feels like an
exchange of energy andforethought and care is always
appreciated.

SPEAKER_05 (12:23):
Yeah, a hundred percent.
And yeah, but just seeing thatin action with someone young is
super admirable.
And I realize, wow, hiscommunity is doing something
right.
And his parents, his aunties anduncles, his community in Hawaii
have really grown a wonderfulyoung man.

SPEAKER_03 (12:41):
Anytime we have these conversations, anyone
involved inevitably has thatfeeling of like, oh, I should
have said this or I should havesaid that.
Do you ever have that feelingabout these jobs?
Like, I should have asked,never.
Okay, well, okay.
Most people have that feeling.
Dave apparently doesn't havethat.
But Chris wrote to us afterwardand said, I can't believe that I

(13:02):
kooked it.
I should have mentioned SamWhitmore, Whitemore, Whitmore,
who hosted him during that firstmoment that he mentioned in
response to the first question.
He says that um Sam was thefirst person that picked him up
when he was hitchhiking his wayacross the Pacific, and he was
never the same after that.
So thank you to Sam.

(13:23):
We all send thanks and gratitudeto Sam.
What else?
Housekeeping for this episode.
It's one of two parts.
This episode is with Chris onhis own, and then in part two,
we invite his, as he says,Wahine, Kaili, to chat about the
adventure that they had togetherjumping aboard their

(13:43):
26-foot-six-foot warm hell,uh-uh, yeah.
Of which he made a film thathopefully you'll all get to
watch.
Also, you'll hear Minnowwandering into the conversation
and Kaili toward the end of thechat.
It was early in the evening,feeling sort of later at night,
so the energy is hello.

(14:04):
And we're in our little yellowculture club, huddling over our
mics and stealing the last fewmoments of time with Chris and
Kaili.
Chris, we always begin thepodcast by asking about a time
or experience after which youwere never the same.

(14:28):
Will you share a story like thatwith us today?

SPEAKER_02 (14:33):
Oh, I didn't prepare for that one.
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (14:35):
That's like the one that's the one you knew we were
gonna think about.

SPEAKER_02 (14:45):
Well, it was dark, and there was like 2,000
nautical miles behind me,probably more, 2,700 nautical
miles behind me.
Came up from Kahiki Nui in theSouth Pacific Ocean, and there
was a light fuzz on the horizon,and I knew it was my home.
And that was the first time I'dever crossed an ocean.

(15:06):
And it was a really special timebecause I had just begun begun
my voyaging quest, and it was ahomecoming trip, and I always
heard the stories of when youhear an island rise above the
sea, you're never the same.
And this time it was my homerising above the ocean, and and
I just knew then that like allof my ocean was connected to

(15:28):
everything else, and it was thefirst time I ever went somewhere
and it felt like I never left,kind of a thing, and that was a
really beautiful experience.
And three years later, fouryears later, I ended up having
the same experience but on adouble-hole canoe that was my
own, and I had my best friendKalani and my Wahee Neki with

(15:48):
me, and I knew then that I wasnever the same because that
happened.

SPEAKER_05 (15:54):
What changes?
Like, how do you change when youlive through that?
Is there a way you could look atMisto before that and Mistos
after that and be like, oh yeah,that's one different brother?

SPEAKER_02 (16:08):
Yeah.
Well, I would say I had a littlebit of self-confidence, I guess,
before.
Like, oh, I am people in my areaknow that I've getting into
sailing and I'm doing all thisstuff and I'm really passionate
about it, but I didn't have themiles under my belt.
So when I crossed an ocean, itit felt like everything was a
bit more connected and that theland above the horizon was more

(16:32):
possible.
And just to know that, just toknow that you're able to do
these great feats and go onthese adventures and come back
with new stories to tell and andnew oceans learned definitely
changes you.

SPEAKER_05 (16:47):
And was that something that you had like long
envisioned?
Or was it something that kind ofjust bubbled up relatively
quickly?
Because you're only in your midto late 20s.
How early in your life were suchvoyages in your field of
awareness?

SPEAKER_02 (17:07):
Oh, I feel growing up, like being in my grandpa's
house, he was a big fan of HerbKane, who was a painter, and he
was the original genesis ofHokulea.
He was the one that dreamt it upand was the artist behind the
vision.
And I always grew up seeing hispaintings on the wall, and it
was really inspiring to mebecause they'd be these
elaborate voyaging canoes andthese people who you you don't

(17:29):
really know where they're going,but the way that they're
presented and the way thevoyaging canoe was painted, that
they're on a great expeditionacross an ocean with you would
see their their all their foodand their kids and their wives,
and they're just out to explorenew islands.
And I always thought that wasjust like a really noble,
beautiful thing that was just soarchaic and and in its own time.

(17:51):
And then I remember, I think Iwas a young teenager, Hokulea
had made their way back fromtheir worldwide voyage, and it
was this huge ceremony, likeprobably the biggest ceremony
I've ever seen in my life.
And I remember standing on therocks at Ala Moana Bowls and
like all these running aroundall these spots.
I grew up surfing and seeingthis voyaging canoe come in, and

(18:12):
I didn't know anything about it,but I knew they had just come
around the world because peoplewere like, This is their
homecoming from the worldwide,and the whole island was there.
And I just remember, wow, thisis just like those paintings,
but in the modern day, I want todo that one day, and then fully
forgot about it.
I think my surfing life reallytook off, and I just fell fully
in love with the ocean for thenext 10 years, and then I got

(18:36):
the opportunity to go toHokula's dry dock one day, and I
I started, you know, justhanging out, getting to know
everyone, and eventually wentgot to go on some training
sales, and it was a realprivilege to talk to Uncle
Nainoa and get to be under histeaching.
And and yeah, I ended up goingon my own path from some
serendipitous events, and therest is history.

(18:58):
I started hitchhiking way aroundthe ocean, is what they call it.
Being a little vagabond and gotto explore the ocean from down
as far as Tahiti all the way upto Alaska and got to go explore
the little islands around theequator and eventually coming to
California and finding oursailing vessel uh uh over there.

SPEAKER_03 (19:18):
Before we get to Ah, can you talk to us about your
upbringing, where you grew up,and the cultural heritage in
which you grew?

SPEAKER_02 (19:27):
Sure, yeah.
So I was born and raised inOahu, Hawaii.
Um my grandparents lived on theeast side, and I grew up in
Wannalua Valley, so I would gobetween the two a lot.
And my dad was heavily intosurfing, and he and my mom
homeschooled me, and they raisedme and my sister really simply,
and we grew up playing and doingour homework at home as fast as

(19:50):
we could so we could do otherthings, and I grew up with that
freedom to be able to kind ofmake life what you wanted it to
be.
And I remember that I would bedoodling a lot in my math books
because I didn't like doingmath, and I was always drawing
these canoes, these sailingcanoes.
It just was somehow in my brain,maybe from grandpa's photos on

(20:11):
the wall, but that kind ofplanted the seed, and that was
how I got into the creativelifestyle that I am in now.
And yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (20:19):
Did you have artists around you?
Like handcraft artists ordrawers, anyone who was forging
that kind of living.

SPEAKER_02 (20:27):
My mom was my homeschool teacher, and she, you
know, taught me the basics, mathand writing and history, and
then my dad was into business.
He was a sales rep in the surfindustry, and uh I had some
friends that were ohskateboarding, that's where it
all took off.
Yeah.
So uh so my dad came home oneday with a skateboard from one

(20:48):
of his trade show visits, and Ithink I was about six or seven,
and that fully changed my life.

SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
What kind of a skateboard?

SPEAKER_02 (20:55):
It was a Paul Peralta Bones Bearings
Independent Trucks 7.5skateboard, and I was underneath
my skill.
Oh, you remember it.
Oh well.
And yeah, that board wasunderneath my pillow, and I woke
up and and the rest is history.

(21:15):
I just became a little skaterat.
I would build ramps in thebackyard, and I feel like that
altered my mind and it helped mesee the world in a more creative
way because suddenly a curb thatme and my dad took from the side
of the road became like myplayground for the next month,
and like a street sign that wasjust littered in the street was
a little base plate to your miniramp, and you would just start

(21:36):
making all these things, andthen you know, when you get old
enough and you can travel aroundthe island more, suddenly my
skateboard was like mytransportation and my my little
artist notebook.
And I remember getting into allthe old Powell videos and
watching the Bones Brigade andAnimal Chin, and those videos
really just showed me that theworld is a full playground, and

(21:56):
I I think that's where the artbegan.

SPEAKER_03 (21:59):
A lot of people are coming to homeschool now or came
to homeschool as an alternativeto conventional mainstream
schooling during COVID.
And I think a lot of parents arequestioning educational
direction.
How was homeschool for you?

SPEAKER_02 (22:16):
Well, yeah, I feel like there could be the concern
that your kid might not have themost um social life, but I beg
to differ.
It just depends on theenvironment that we're in.
And for me, growing up inHawaii, there was uncles and
aunties everywhere, and theywould always be either taking
care of you or telling you whenyou blew it, or telling your
parents when you blew it, andthat was a big fear.

(22:37):
So I I grew up with a lot ofolder people around me,
especially as a skateboarder.
I would, you know, my mom woulddrop me off of the skate park,
and the people bringing me homeare my friend's parents or some
uncle and auntie that's like 25years old, they would drive me
home, and I feel like thatreally shaped my worldview
because it kind of gave me theum the sense of community, and

(22:57):
then as far as doing my homeworkat home, I had already developed
these passions, very fortunateto have in my life, and it
became a way for me to get myschoolwork done faster, so that
taught me discipline.
So I feel like it just dependson like who you surround
yourself with, we're all justproducts of our environment, and
I'm so fortunate to be from anisland where everything's small.

(23:19):
So I feel like there shouldn'tbe a concern as long as you know
the kids are in the right areawhere they're meant to be.

SPEAKER_04 (23:25):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (23:25):
Yeah.
I can't help but think like yourability to think laterally and
creatively in every way, like inevery moment of the day since
we've been hanging out.
I feel like you're ready tocreatively look at a moment or a
challenge or a problem to solve,and that would have to stem from

(23:47):
that kind of freedom as a kid.
Do you think of that much andthink of that experience of
yeah, not being in aninstitution for learning and
having that kind of openness?
Or do you just feel like that'sjust you?

SPEAKER_02 (24:00):
I I don't think about it too much, I would say,
because uh I didn't really knowany different.
You know, I would a lot of myfriends were homeschooled too,
and they grew up in thatenvironment where their parents
were surfers and they uhbelieved in having freedom and
artistic skills at a young age.
And then it wasn't until I gotto college where I really
realized how different learningsystems is, and I really

(24:20):
cherished it then.
I was a full-on nerd, would sitin my classroom and I would just
be drawing all my notes and likemaking these beautiful diagrams,
and I would spend all my time inthe library because I lived in a
van and that was like the onlyplace to like take naps and
stuff, so I would just bereading books and hanging out,
and yeah, I feel like I'm reallygrateful for both sides of the

(24:40):
spectrum.

SPEAKER_05 (24:41):
That's cool.
So, how did you get to thatpoint?
How did you get to the collegepoint?
Where was where was that?
And yeah, what's that story?

SPEAKER_02 (24:48):
Hmm.
I remember my parents werealways, you know, really
supportive about me getting ahigher education.
My sister went to college inCalifornia, so I kind of was
watching her, and then I had abunch of friends that were going
to college at the same time, andI just remember sitting in the
east side of Oahu, and I had uhone of these big brothers, he

(25:10):
was kind of a mentor to me atthe time, and uh I was asking
him if it was really thatimportant because you could go
on YouTube and learn anythingthese days, and I remember him
telling me that he was like,Bruh, you gotta make a change in
your life or see what is reallyimportant.
And I really remember him sayingthat he's like, Go, bruh, you

(25:30):
have nothing left to lose.
Home is always gonna be there.
And right as he said that, Iwent home and I checked my email
and I had a scholarship.
So I just thought the two thingswere signs, and off I went.
And so where was went?
Where did you go?
Oh, I went to Azusa inCalifornia, it was a college
that was inland LA, and I methonestly, I met most of my like

(25:52):
super Hawaiian friends at thatschool, and they had a profound
impact on me because I was awayfrom home, and so were they, and
they were really proud of theirculture.
A lot of them were fluent inAlelo Hawaii, and a lot of them
had big families on all theother islands, and I feel like
that community just came to meor it came to us all.
We just stuck together outthere, and one of which was

(26:13):
Kalani Alapay, who is one of mybest prados to this day, and he
was the one that we continue tocross oceans and do adventures
together.
So, yeah, when going away wasreally important for me.

SPEAKER_03 (26:24):
I think for most people, there's something about
leaving the safety of yourfamiliar that helps you
appreciate it so much.
I know that's been true for metoo.
Probably maybe for you too.
Maybe the opposite.

SPEAKER_05 (26:36):
I've pretty much just always been the surf rat.
Micro voyaging micro voyages.
Yeah, but maybe it's differentit's opposite to me because I
was traveling so much as a kid,all I want is home.
Yeah.
All I've ever wanted was just tobe home.
Um so that's well, in a way itwas.

SPEAKER_02 (26:50):
I mean, I feel like you were you to me growing up
were like the example of someonekind of going in a different
direction.
So in a way, that's change.
You're like seeking the changein your life, and yeah.
I feel like if you never got allfree spirited out, then the
younger people wouldn't haveseen that and there would be
less of that in this world.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (27:09):
Chris, you mentioned your dad was a surfer.
Was he the primary influence interms of your watery life, or
who who else was mentoring youngChris into being the incredible
waterman that you are today?

SPEAKER_02 (27:23):
For sure.
Definitely at a young age, youknow, when you're a a Grom, like
you don't really have superclose friends unless you were
born into the whole surfcommunity right away.
But all of his friends were hisage, and I just remember my
lights getting turned on at 4:35in the morning, and he didn't
say anything.

(27:44):
I just knew, oh, I gotta get myboard and we're going in the
car, and I was get in the carand fall asleep, and then we'd
get to the beach and I wouldpaddle out.
And I I was like, you know, notsuper stoked on it at the time,
it was kind of just like theeveryday habit.
But looking back, it definitelygave me the wings to fly to
where I am now.
So yeah, my dad was superinfluential in that world for

(28:06):
sure.
And the first board I ever hadhad Dave Rostovich quad fins,
and there was a John Carper.
Oh, what is it called?
Thug burger.

SPEAKER_00 (28:19):
That's hilarious.
Thugburger.

SPEAKER_02 (28:21):
The thing was a literal pill, as wide in the
front as it was in the back,with four of your psychedelic
pattern quad fins on it.

SPEAKER_04 (28:30):
That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_05 (28:32):
Well, things have only gotten better from there, I
guess.
And it's still writing the samewords, but it's all good.
Okay, so you a few years ago youmade uh a short movie that we
came across and it was our firstencounter of you, Dancing Days
of Dawn.
Can you believe that wasactually almost a that was a
decade ago?

SPEAKER_02 (28:51):
Holy shit.
Yeah.
That is a that was that was morethan a decade ago because I
think late teenager.
Yeah, I was like fit, I was like17 or 18 or 19 or somewhere on
there.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (29:02):
Oh shit.
Yeah.
Okay, so we watched that, and isthere any way people can see
that if they're listening now?
They could go on Interweb andYeah, I think.
Oh, it's so embarrassing.

SPEAKER_02 (29:11):
I think it's on Amazon.
Oh whatever.

SPEAKER_03 (29:14):
And they can flip we can flick you some box.

SPEAKER_02 (29:16):
I think I get like 12 cents per pack.
I was just like a young teenagerand someone wanted to buy it,
and I was like, all right.

SPEAKER_03 (29:25):
In the dancing days of dawn.

SPEAKER_02 (29:26):
In dancing days of dawn.
In dancing days of done.
I think it's two dollars.

SPEAKER_03 (29:29):
Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 (29:30):
So we can definitely worth the two dollars.
And it's done.

SPEAKER_03 (29:32):
We were so, we were so it was Or just email me if
anyone wants to watch films.

SPEAKER_02 (29:37):
I'm happy to send it to them.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (29:39):
I've been uh on the jury of the Florida Surf Film
Festival for a few years now.
Well, more than a few yearsactually, because that was ten
years ago.

SPEAKER_04 (29:46):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (29:47):
Um, and we saw Chris's film and were so moved
and lit up by the beauty and theromance and the deep feeling,
and like it just was theopposite of the other films in
the best way, like emotive andstoried and sensitive and
unjaded and it just made usreally want to go surfing

(30:10):
together.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (30:12):
And um I don't know how how how is it it was exactly
so that was that was such abreath of fresh air for a couple
jaded old surf rats that hadbeen in the surf scene.
Nah nah but it was a it wasyourself.
Well I was anyway I was ready tojust stick my head in my garden
and not do anything in thesurfing world at that time.
But it was such a breath offresh air and and now having the

(30:36):
great opportunity to get to knowyou and understanding that it
was actually just real it waslike just you so you would
capture the sounds of surfingalong a wave and hooting like
you do every day like you didtoday just listening to you
laugh and hoot out in the lineupand I'm like oh yeah no wonder
he put that in his video and hisother videos because that's you

(30:58):
that's you doing your thing andand that was a real refresher
because it was such a scene ofjust putting surfing action with
a soundtrack and not includingthose elements of the surfing
experience and then all nowactually understanding that you
have all of your frying baconand other fancy film studio

(31:20):
soundtrack.
Yeah poly nerd voice novel polynerd yeah so like all knowing
actually that makes it evencooler because it's just like
yeah you just care so much tomake to want to make something
that makes a moment for people.
That's what it seems like fromthe outside for us and for for
me especially is that you justyou you're drawing and then you

(31:43):
want to turn that into somethingthat you can give to people.
You're making something and thenyou want to turn that into a a
piece of fabric that people canwrap around themselves or
something they can wear or watchor experience and it just seems
like that's a pervasive thingthrough all of the mediums
you're interested in the thingsyou create.
So what I'm interested in is youwent to college and then you got

(32:08):
a whole bunch of new tools inyour kit.
What happened after that?
Because those institutions I'm alittle afraid of in terms of
like perhaps you people comingout the other round a bit
formulaic or learning thingsthat everyone else has learnt.

SPEAKER_03 (32:23):
But how were you different after that and what
came after yeah your collegeexperience I feel like Dave's
dancing around the idea ofinstitutions as being like
homogenizing forces and puttingout people who are good workers
but who all think the same andnot creatively but you manage to
avoid that.

SPEAKER_02 (32:41):
I I I would have to say I agree with you.
I think for the most part theyare but I think it just takes
the right mentor maybe the rightperson steering you the other
way and showing you that there'sa box that they teach you in and
if you know the box and you knowhow to break the box but you
know that the box is there thenit's to your benefit and I

(33:01):
remember you know in school youlearn oh I went to film school
surprisingly but I learned abunch of things about
screenwriting and storytellingand even the set things that I
haven't really used.
I've never worked on a set sincebut I remember there was a lot
of times where I just didn'tagree with things because a lot
of the films I loved likeTerrence Malik and the real RT

(33:23):
directors didn't really followthose rules but just knowing how
they were made was reallyinspiring and then it was
actually my sound design classthat I discovered the frying
bacon as rain technique he wasthe one that was telling me that
the real deal is when you learnall of the tools but you know
how to use them to twisteverything and and break all the

(33:44):
rules and that was really cooland I loved I love that and
going back to the sound designthing the idea that you can make
all these beautiful noises andall these things that you don't
really hear in the film becauseit's so real and they're not
what you think they are likeET's legs being jello and bacon
being rain and then you could beuse like twisting metal pans to

(34:06):
create like a like an effectthat doesn't sit well with your
brain.
I feel like those things arereally important to know that
there's ways around things whenmost people would want to record
the l literal thing.
That's so great.
Yeah that's so awesome.

SPEAKER_03 (34:20):
I feel like in so many ways learning the rules of
something like with writing youlearn the rules you learn the
structure and then you know howto break them well.
Yeah like and and that'sindicative of really knowing
your craft.

SPEAKER_05 (34:34):
Yeah so you just use the shape of a box to describe
that experience then we fastforward a bit in time and you're
being invited to be like a guestlecturer at a circular design
school and or location I'm notsure if it's a school whatever
it was but um can you tell usabout that how that happened

(34:56):
what happened and how that sitswith you now looking back on it.

SPEAKER_02 (35:00):
Oh wow yeah that that actually wasn't too long
ago I'd say three or four yearsago shout out to Professor Dan
Mariner is the professor ofcircular design at the Laguna
College of Art and Design whichwas incredible for me to go to
because just going out there andfor one getting to know Dan and
his personality the guy puts aChristmas tree upside down so

(35:22):
that he can have more room forlife below and it's easier to
clean up and the smell isbetter.
Like that's the way that guyoperates on every level and in
his classroom too he's teachingthese students how to take an
idea in the design world andwhich you know is very
materialistic and we're alwayslike working in non-ethical ways
and taking things that alreadyexist into their designs and

(35:45):
making things such as likerubber made out of maybe I
shouldn't say that that was heridea.
Anyway Professor Dan is anexpert teacher to me because he
just gives people the freedomand he he tells them that
there's alternate ways arounddoing things and he invited me
to actually show in Dancing Daysof Dawn for the first time.

(36:07):
Actually it was COVID so it wasZoom unfortunately but I
eventually got to travel out toLaguna and it was my second film
A Whistle of Wilderness that hehad me show at the school and I
remember it was you knowwhatever I showed the film and I
gave this talk and I was alittle nervous because all these
college students were prettysimilar age to me so I was like
oh what am I doing here?
And this one girl was fromHawaii and she was had the

(36:29):
emotional you could see it inher eyes and she was just blown
away like how are you here?
Like I miss home so much andthat to me was like whoa that's
like a way to make people feelthings through my film is the
sense of home and flash forwarda couple years later I had our
sailing canoe ah-a which we'lldive into and she was in Laguna

(36:51):
at the time and Dan and I werereflecting on that how can we
make people get a better senseof home and that was when he had
the wild idea of taking asailing and taking all of the
students in his class out and wewould have these conversations
out way miles outside of Lagunawhere was their new home was
there doing their school andreflect about how circularity is

(37:13):
involved in their work becausethis whole earth is an island
the concept of everything beingan island island earth and and
it was a it was a reallybeautiful experience because for
me I have never really been in aposition of teaching and I
didn't really view myself everto be there until that moment it
really clicked and some of thestudents had a very emotional

(37:33):
replies which I didn't expecthow one canoe could create so
much positive change but Iremember listening to the the
Valedictorian is that what thespeech is Valedictorian
Valedictorian.
Yeah and she was mentioning howthat was like a beautiful part
to end her college and how shewas going out into the world
using those examples ofvoyaging.

SPEAKER_03 (37:55):
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thesunglassfix.com So you gotthe validation from the
valedictorian but what led youto film in the first place like
I think of you as an artist whoworks across so many different
medium but film is I guess whereyou really started putting a lot
of time and energy into makinglonger form projects.

(40:51):
What led you there?

SPEAKER_02 (40:52):
I would say it was my early like one of my best
friends forever Koyakoda is oneof my early bratas and we would
always be surfing he surfed waybetter than me and I would
always remember like wanting tofilm him and I remember one day
we I had my GoPro and I had alittle stick and I would shove
it in my board shorts and wewere doing these follow cams

(41:12):
which were in in Dancing days ofdawn.
He was on the little red fishand we were just we were
laughing so hard we were likechoking on our like we were like
crying out there.
And everyone's like bro what arethese two little idiots doing
out here and we were just in theinside just doing laps around
everyone like everyone was youknow just sitting out there
waiting for our waves and we'dbe squealing and and then we
surfed into the night and we'relike oh that was the best

(41:34):
session ever and then we wenthome we were like looking at our
footage and we're like oh my godwhen we watch this when we're 40
years old we're gonna be cryingthis is like priceless footage
and that was kind of it Iremember oh I could merge like
my fun surfy skate world withall these things in in the film
thing and start making theselonger length pieces and I

(41:55):
didn't really expect people towatch it I kind of wanted it to
be a time capsule.
And then I had a mentor Deweywho owns Kikoa Collective at the
time and he had watched some ofthe videos that we had made and
he just really wanted me toshare it with the world and God
bless him he was he's thegreatest mentor he just prodded

(42:16):
me to share it.
I was in my little bubble and weorganized this event at his
jujitsu yoga place and showedthe film and yeah I just seeing
people get together and hang outand talk stories and knowing
that that was a culprit of justus playing around with a GoPro
was really beautiful to me andthat's kind of where I decided
like okay I should just keepdoing these.

SPEAKER_03 (42:37):
It's amazing what happens when you put yourself
out there huh yeah scarycouldn't have imagined that
people from across the wholeworld would end up seeing the
film and then like hoping thatyou'd come and hang out with us
and then having adventures andgetting to play together in the
water because you were braveenough to and attracting like
minded people because not a lotof people can understand the

(42:59):
language of laughter like youguys.

SPEAKER_02 (43:01):
So it's cool like when you put yourself out there
the people that really find thatattractive and fun to be around
end up being your friends whichwouldn't have happened much the
other way.

SPEAKER_05 (43:12):
So that really what really spoke to me too when we
saw your early stuff was yourriding a laya and doing so with
like quirky designs and bigswallowtail ones and funky
shapes and just having so muchfun and that was so refreshing.

(43:35):
And I just came across this listin a book that was among our
library that just fell out thatI was going to write some notes
in this is like our think bookfor water people stuff.
Whoa we only have written onepage in the whole damn thing.
We didn't get very far but thefirst page is a doozy I'm really
psyched on it and I wanted tohear your thoughts when I say

(43:57):
these lines so after I say oneline you tell me what comes to
your mind when you hear this solike a one word kind of a thing
or yeah sure whatever comes toyour mind so this is like a l a
list here and the top one isthoughts for conversing so
that's like the title.
So this is the list plumbing thedepths anything come to your

(44:17):
mind when you hear plumbing thedepths don't forget to equalize.

SPEAKER_02 (44:22):
Nice lighting the corners I I think of incense and
being warm and staying in in thehappy place I like it extending
a hand ah just being helpfulwhen when aunties and uncles
come over you don't you don'tshy.

SPEAKER_05 (44:43):
I think you do that in probably the most admirable
way I've seen anyone do thatyoung or old actually
considering we've just spent amonth together and being on a
boat and realizing you prettymuch have an extended hand at
all times.

SPEAKER_03 (44:57):
It's very honourable so I see I don't attribute that
to me I was taught well yeah youwere taught well for sure
learning how to be useful samething if you see a puka fill
them that might be a bad termwhat's a puka what definition
for Puka I love it sharingskills wait sorry I feel like

(45:22):
this is related too but a lot ofus did not grow up getting
educated on how to be helpfuland how to be useful.
What advice do you have for usif we want to start being more
helpful more useful how do wehow do we or how do we steer our
kids in that direction?

SPEAKER_02 (45:39):
Maka Hanaka Ike is a term in Hoi learn by doing and I
would say that there's no one tolook at if you're not doing it
and I kind of felt that way youknow when I was hanging out with
little Minnow is it if hedoesn't understand how a va-a
works and how many hands make itmove together and I'm not doing
it he has no one to follow sojust making it known like here

(46:00):
little brother this is what wedo we gotta wash our dishes if
no one's if the dishes aresitting there you wash them or
if you know this needs a wash orthis needs a scrub you get all
the limo off or if someone'stired take over and steer and
take over.

SPEAKER_05 (46:15):
He echoed your voice we were doing some housework
after we'd come back fromvisiting you all on the boat and
we were washing the decks and hewas like decks aren't gonna
clean themselves I feel like itwas a direct echo from Uncle
Uncle's gotta be unclear's boyclean up that people that's
right 100% because we tune ourparents out because we hear our

(46:37):
their voices all the time sohe's already tuning us out but
when he hears you all it'sanother thing.

SPEAKER_03 (46:42):
Sorry it's important like this is such an important
topic because we live in aculture that is so steered
toward the self.
We're so encouraged to propourselves up and make ourselves
different and that's so counterto what you're talking about
which is generosity and noticingand acting on how you can be of

(47:04):
service to the people aroundyou.
Like that is that is the heartof what a real community is and
most of us do not know how to dothat.
We're not encouraged to tobehave in that way toward one
another.
Like it's a fundamental paradigmshift in how we move through the
world how you move through theworld and it's so beautiful to
see.

SPEAKER_02 (47:24):
Oh well then again I attribute it to my home I think
Hawaii has that superpower ofsharing to the world the spirit
of Aloha and it's a place ofmany cultural backgrounds and a
lot of them you know are likeJapanese kind very family and
respect oriented and Hawaiianvalues of taking care of the
land and taking care of eachother because that's our

(47:46):
lifeline and I feel like justgrowing up in that scene
definitely really helps and andyou know people always want
something from Hawaii and I feellike if they could just take
back that value of to malama tocare for each other then that's
like the greatest thing thatHawaii could ever give to the
world and and I see it ineverything now.

SPEAKER_05 (48:06):
Yeah and you live in it it's so great.
There's quite a list here butthe one no this is great the the
one that really jumps out at meas a sentence that could have
been written by you is theinfinite fluctuation of balance.
Whoa I feel like you speak likethat.
That's just your general poeticway what comes to your mind when

(48:26):
you hear it one more time.
Try say one more time theinfinite fluctuation of balance
one word to reply to the picturepicture in your mind what what
do you see in your mind or filmor a song or a color I I see
like you you know that patternthat you love this seed of life

(48:48):
pattern.

SPEAKER_02 (48:48):
I see that like on the on the ocean and it's moving
where everything has like rhythmto it but it it's all in some
way a pattern and you know Idon't never really did any
psychedelic drugs but I heareveryone talk about that that
there's pattern work ineverything but I really believe
that it's true.

SPEAKER_05 (49:05):
Yeah and that just was that makes me think of I
like that that's a poeticresponse my response to that
thing that I see now havingspent time on board uh our
double hulled canoe is youwinding the windows up and down
every time the boat would rockand it was one of the best
things I've ever seen on theboat because you'd your hands

(49:26):
would go this this way and thenthat way but you'd never fall
you'd never fall but it was atheatrical way of staying
balanced that's maximism.

SPEAKER_02 (49:36):
If you feel it you really should body it okay
particles and waves well wavesare made of particles I'm
assuming because is a particlejust anything can it be just any
kind of matter you see it.
Well I see particles is justlike space dust like everything
is made of all these movingorganisms what was the question

(49:58):
just no question just particlesand particles and waves what
comes to your mind uh kind ofthat whole idea that the ocean
is consisting of a thousanddrops and that the moving
sandbank is just a bunch of sandspeckles.

SPEAKER_06 (50:12):
Yeah hey you can come in and listen if you want
me now we're just talkingstories.

SPEAKER_03 (50:17):
Did the movie finish?

SPEAKER_02 (50:18):
Cool come come take a seat we're just rattling
rattling off a list here ofthings of words that can miss
Dangler oh this is a good oneokay boats are safe in harbour
but that's not what they'rebuilt for yeah well being a boat

(50:43):
owner myself now I canunderstand that more than ever
we just had a tsunami alert or atsunami warning it said it was
coming within four hours and Iwas only 15 minutes away but the
whole island was going crazy andthey're all scurrying around and
it took me four hours to getthere so I was getting there

(51:03):
right before this thing wasabout to hit and I just remember
seeing a she was on this littlewood dock that she's on right
now and I was just imagining thetsunami dropping and then her
bow going under and likeclipping the edge and then it
was it was all over she'd justprobably break in half so I
didn't have an engine at thetime so I jumped out with my
dock lines and I was justbreaststroking my way out to see

(51:26):
like into the channel I justgotta get her off of the land
and and I remember as soon as Igot her into the open water it
just felt safer and just becauseyou know you you feel more in
control of your vessel whenyou're far away from land and
you're out in the middle of theocean and I would fully agree
with that.

(51:46):
So anytime that you feel likeyou're preparing for something
too long that's just a signyou've got to get out of there
before the tsunami comes.

SPEAKER_05 (51:54):
Yep.
So the reason you're sitting inthis room in the house and we're
able to do this fantastically inperson is because uh I reached
out a hand and of course you hadan extended hand out already and
asked for you to come and joinus on our Warham double held

(52:15):
sailing vessel and share skillsbecause I am uh inexperienced
sailor when it comes to vesselsof you know 30 foot size sail
rigs different than Hobie sailrigs because I've only ever
really sailed Hobie stuff andthen also just your waterman
experience and joy aroundsurfing and especially surfing

(52:36):
LAE and everything.
And you said yes straight awayyou were just psyched and you
came down and we just spent thelast month going from our
northern rivers region andtravelling up and into the
rivers and surf breaks that gofrom here all the way up to the
Great Barrier Reef which isaround 350 odd plus nautical

(52:59):
miles away.
Um why did you say yes and howwas this last month for you?

SPEAKER_02 (53:07):
Oh loaded question that one well I kind of live
every month as it comes and Idon't really have solid set
plans or a solid work line.
So when you reached out to me Imy month was pretty much like
free I had a couple murals I hadto do and I immediately called
them I gotta I gotta get themdone in the next couple weeks.
I'm going to Australia and Isaid yes obviously because the

(53:30):
path in the community you'vealready paid for yourself is
really evident in your guys'water people podcast and your
surfing career and I just knewthat the values were the same
and to me the values are themost important things when going
on a trip with people.
Especially you know if youhaven't spent too much time with
them if you know you're on asimilar value track then you're

(53:50):
going for the right reasons andto know that you were going to
protect your waterways or toshed awareness of people doing
great things and telling goodstories that was just definitely
something I wanted to be a partof and it was hard to turn that
down because I haven't beendoing things in that world so I
just wanted to learn.
So I came maybe you werethinking you were gonna learn
some stuff from me but I waslike I'm gonna school right now

(54:13):
and yeah packed my bags and leftpacked my foul weather gear and
left.

SPEAKER_03 (54:19):
What do you take away from this last month in
Australia?

SPEAKER_02 (54:23):
Well I think going back to just seeing your land
from far away this is my secondtime here so I don't have too
much history with this place.
But being able to learn aboutthe places we went through from
an oceanic perspective andhearing Josh's stories or all of
the people's stories really theAboriginal auntie that shed her
like country um welcome tocountry talk and the people

(54:47):
protecting the ocean I just cameto realize that all my voyages
were I would reflect on them inlike a self like a
self-contemplative like innerdialogue way but this was the
first ocean voyage I've everbeen on where I really felt the
sense of community and belongingto place in that way of people

(55:07):
caring for where they're fromand just taking away that I
could do more for where I comefrom and to see that little
actions built on top of eachother create a big change and to
know that what you're doing isnot only protecting your river
but all the rivers are going tobe faced with all of these

(55:27):
questions.
And yeah that was reallyinspiring to me.
So just the sailing stuff is thefun adventure part but the
things that really resonate arethe values and I left with the
with the same values we startedoff with.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (55:41):
As we were traveling up and down this coast we did a
lot of night passages and thatwas just for many reasons but I
know for me personally I waswanting to do that so that I
could get as much time with youunder the stars as possible
because we just had a mutual aweand wonderment when we were

(56:05):
sailing under the stars and ableto look at it and for me it was
such a stoker to see you lookingup and making sense of the
southern hemisphere's sky andseeing at the beginning you were
just so kind of lost like youwere like whoa everything's not
where it's supposed to be andthis is so trippy and oh no hang
on there's uh oh oh I canbreathe better or whatever it

(56:28):
was like but then over time youstarted to very quickly I
thought familiarise yourselfwith the indicators in our
southern sky and associated withthose sort of nights is the
thing of intermittent rest youknow getting a little shut eye
so your eyes can have a breakand then coming back to life and
fulfilling roles as a as a teamyou know steering and backing up

(56:51):
whoever's steering withnavigating and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 (56:53):
And we came up with the dolphin brain kind of line
of just silliness aboutdescribing that state we get
into what's your take on that Iwould have to say dolphin brain
for sailors and canoe people is50% fear and 50% understanding.

(57:13):
So to me the fear aspect is whenI'm responsible for other
people's lives and I'm thecaptain on this voyage which you
were you hear little ticks orlittle slaps or little like
maybe a rope is like moving thewrong way or something is just
not right.
What is that?
And you wake up and you'reimmediately like awake and you
could have been the deepesttrenches of your sleep and

(57:34):
you're immediately awake andthen the other side of it comes
from just being so in tune withyour vessel when you spend a lot
of time like Papa Mao who islike the original teacher of all
of us he would be there'sstories of him in the bottom of
the canoe and he would just besleeping and he would feel the
rhythms and the slaps and theholes and be able to tell Uncle

(57:55):
if he was off course or not andto me that's just complete
mastery like that is there's somuch magic in that but in a
little bit of a way that kind ofleeches into you when you become
really involved and responsiblefor your craft and I remember
that you were sleeping and I wassteering and it was in the
middle of the day and we hadjust pulled an all-nighter and

(58:16):
you were getting your night ofbrain your little 15 minute
snooze and the wind had changeda couple degrees and picked up
maybe two knots and it was inthe matter of five seconds that
the cross freeze went over youreyes and I saw your eyes open I
was like yup that's the night ofbrain and we just knew
immediately we should put thejib up.
I think we should cut the enginethis is enough wind to sail and

(58:39):
I think it just yeah it's init's just being in tune with
your vessel.

SPEAKER_05 (58:42):
Yeah I love it.
I love it so much because thosefeelings make us feel like
actually connected to the livingspace around us when you respond
so quickly and I recall the lastnight of the trip when we were
hooking it all day this wasprobably 12 hours into the trip

(59:03):
and burning with speed all dayfull sails out just surfing on
such a great downwind bender andthen when the night came and we
were trucking along south ofBallinna and the wind switched
west and brought with it thatwarm desert wind from the centre
of Australia and Kaile yourselfmyself and Milo were all on deck

(59:25):
I feel like we're all notwanting to miss the last few
hours of what was such a greatadventure and so we're all
probably quite tired because itwas one in the morning but we
were standing there and we eachfelt that warm wind touch our
cheeks on our faces and calledit on each other like you feel
that instantly and and that's atiny thing like it's trivial I

(59:46):
guess to hear but when youexperience it it feels like
intimacy feels like you'reyou're there with your living
world and you're intimatelyconnected.
It didn't take hours for you togo Oh, the wind switched.
Ha, funny that, isn't it?
Because we were busy doingstuff.
It's a wonderful feeling.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:05):
I'm trying to think about it as someone who wasn't
there.
And I'm thinking about how somuch of our lives inside of
walls, in front of screens andmachines are unchangeable in
that way, in spontaneous livingways that call us to adapt with
our bodies and with our craft.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:24):
You know, like that's a I feel like just being
away from land and being awayfrom the comforts of land, you
tap into a different type ofhuman.
I remember when I was sailing tothe Marquesas Islands, I could
smell this beautiful fragranceof the soil.
It was almost like incense.
And I could smell the underlayerof the soil, and I could smell

(01:00:45):
all these little like organismsand mushrooms, and I could just
see it in my mind.
And I I there was just nothingbut ocean around me.
And I remember, well, I'm not aland guy at all.
Like I don't I wish I had agreen thumb.
I'm not I'm not no land guy, butI could I just could smell the
land and I could see thedirection it was coming from in
my mind, and that never existedon on land for me.

(01:01:08):
And I just know that when youput yourself into these
situations, I think the humanbrain just just rem is reminding
you, do you remember this sweetpart of home?
And that's kind of what bringsyou to the island.
And I also remember that when wewere sailing back home to
Hawaii, there was just cloudsstacked on top of the horizon.

(01:01:29):
And I'm not the most like indetail observer.
I definitely see all of theseuncles and aunties that have
that sparkle in their eye thatthey can see things, and I'm
always kind of missing them,partial to my bad eyesight.
But I remember seeing theseclouds just stacked on the
horizon, like a little it waslike kappa, which is Hawaiian
bark cloth that my girlfriend KEly makes, and it looked like

(01:01:50):
Koppa was enshrouding thislittle stone and it they just
weren't moving, and all thetrade wind clouds were moving
past them, and and I justremember seeing this thing on
the horizon.
It was like a little beacon, andI feel like just because I
didn't see that for such a longtime, even though it was a foggy
thing in my poor little eyes, Iwas like, there's a cloud that's
not moving.
And a couple days went by and itwas the Haleyakala mountain and

(01:02:13):
Mauna Kea Mountains, and thosethings really bring you home.
And I feel like just being awayfrom them is pretty important.
It shows you how important itis.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:24):
Time is precious.
Thanks for spending some ofyours listening with us today.
Our editor this season is themulti-talented Ben Jake
Alexander.
The soundtrack was composed byShannon Soul Carroll with
additional tunes by Dave andBen.
We'll be continuing today'sconversation on Instagram, where
we're at Water People Podcast.
And you can subscribe to ourvery infrequent newsletter to

(01:02:45):
get book recommendations,questions we're pondering,
behind-the-scenes glimpses intorecording the podcast, and more
via our websitewaterpeoplepodcast.com.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:59):
How's it everybody?
We stay over here.
This brother right here is Mr.
Sasquatch.
Hey, how's it Mr.
Sasquatch?
What you got for say to thepeople?

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:15):
Oh gosh, I was out there surfing the past and this
one brother and dropping behindme and so short.
And you ain't cut back and youknow the brother was still
there.
And I said, Oh hey, cousin, howdare you drop in on me?
And I said, eh, easy, MissDustas Quatch, go easy on him.

(01:03:36):
The brother's just trying hisbest.
Eh, that guy don't know nothingabout you.
Ain't paddled out here.
And he said, I've been surfinghere since I was one baby.
I remember you when you was inyour parties.
And I said, eh, it's okay, mybrother.
Everybody's got one story.
And it's okay for that just guysdropping on you.

(01:03:59):
I was so shaking up.
I just was seeing red, cousin.
Ah Well, over here, we at theRostovich compound and they
teach us love and equality ofall wave sliding beams on this
earth.
Oh, Uncle can teach me how to dothat.

(01:04:21):
Oh, I was so frustrated.
First thing you gotta do isbreathe, cousin.
You're ready.
Take an inhale like this.
Try him, try him, try him.