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- [00:00]
Duncan Trussell
Hello, friends. It's me again. Your old pal, D. Trussell. I love my job. And I love my job because I get to have conversations like the one you're about to get to listen to. I don't even know how this happened necessarily. Why do I get to spend almost an hour chatting with one of the most legendary surfers of all time, Garrett McNamara? I'll tell you why. He's plugging his show, Hundred foot Wave Season 3. And if you haven't watched this on HBO, Max, just stop the podcast and go watch. You will shit your pants. It's insane. It's the craziest sport out there outside of pickleball. It's amazing. These people are, I don't know what you call them. Superheroes, titans, merfolk. These waves are the kind of waves that for millennia, people have looked at and never once thought, boy, I should get a board and go shooting down the side of that like, I'm the prince of the sea. These people do this as a job. And what's beautiful about 100 foot wave is that it's more than just some kind of, like, sports doc. It's a spiritual exploration of connecting with the earth and what it's like to have one of the wildest jobs of all time. We hit a lot of great points during this conversation. And, yeah, you know what? I think I'm going to become a big wave surfer. In fact, after this episode, I'm headed off to Jaws, which I've heard is a place where there's big waves, a big wave. And, yeah, I'm not even gonna use a jet Ski. I'm just gonna paddle out there and surf that, baby. I'm inspired. So please watch 100 Foot Wave. It's definitely worth your time. It's HBO. Everything they make is awesome. I love you. Was this a clumsy intro? Oh, also, if you want commercial free episodes, don't forget to become a member. And you could also subscribe to my patreon@patreon.com DTFH now, everybody, legend of the sea, Garrett McNamara. Garrett. Oh, my God. Welcome to the DTFH. I can't believe I get to meet you, even in 2D. It's mind blowing. How are you? Where are you right now?
- [02:41]
Garrett McNamara
We're in Hawaii. We're getting ready for our pilgrimage to Nazare for the premiere in May 22nd.
- [02:50]
Duncan Trussell
Whoo. You know. You know how HBO starts, you know, showing shows? Like, I don't know which season of your show I was watching, but I just got lucky. I was laid up In a hotel room, got sick. I don't know if you ever do that when you got a bunch of kids around. Don't infect them. So I'm just in it. The show pops up. I was gonna watch it anyway, but I don't mean to start our lifelong friendship in a vulgar way, but I felt like I was gonna shit my pants watching what you do. It is the most terrifying thing that I'm aware of. The only thing that I can think of that even comes close to it is free climbing. What Alex Honnold does.
- [03:41]
Garrett McNamara
Oh, I think that's way heavier.
- [03:43]
Duncan Trussell
Of course you do. You think that's way heavier, but that's you. Everybody else, it's the same. It's different, obviously. But as far as the most insane job on earth to have. There's free climbing and big wave surfing. And then maybe I don't. I'm sure there's some others I gotta know. It's a weird beginning of the interview. Do you ever find yourself floating out there thinking, what have I done? Why am I about to. Why am I about to do this again?
- [04:25]
Garrett McNamara
I didn't used to. I always just enjoyed it so much. So it was just fun. Since my injury in 2007. Yeah, 2007. No, no, no. 2016. Since my injury in 2016. It's definitely took a toll on my ability to have fun in the giant waves and.
- [04:51]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah. And let me just. So I don't seem like Garrett. So I don't seem like the worst interviewer on Earth. I did know that you weren't doing that anymore. And I guess because of your show, I. When I said you, I meant the collective of maniacs around you that continue.
- [05:05]
Garrett McNamara
I'm still out there.
- [05:06]
Duncan Trussell
Okay.
- [05:06]
Garrett McNamara
I'm still riding waves. Last year or this winter was the most I've surfed since 2016.
- [05:14]
Duncan Trussell
Awesome.
- [05:14]
Garrett McNamara
There wasn't a lot of giant days, but there's a lot of fun days. And then in season three, we go to Cortez Banks. Right. Get a few waves. We go to outside, Outside Pipeline called log cabins. Get a few waves. Yeah. But definitely not as. Not as comfortable as I used to be.
- [05:39]
Duncan Trussell
Right. Well, I mean, the fact that at some point you were comfortable speaks to the personality type of you and your brethren who engage in this activity. Which is beautiful. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I think I failed to mention that. That some. Something about the joining together of humanity and the ocean and life produces this beautiful possibility. It gives you a sense of this visual depiction of harmonizing with the earth in a sense of my God, if we could do that, we could do anything, everything. But the other thought that occurred to me is that people who ride these giant waves are outsiders in the most extreme way. Because I was thinking if I did that, other than my friends who experienced that, who do I relate to? And I was wondering, how do you relate to normies like me? How do you relate to landlocked pussies who haven't done that? Or do you not even try?
- [06:52]
Garrett McNamara
We all have our comfort zones and we all have our strengths and our qualities and a lot of it. Crossover. There's a lot of crossover in normal life and big wave surfing. And I think everybody has their own hundred foot wave. Everybody has their own challenges or their own thing that they love doing more than anything. And it's a balance and it's a dance with your mother nature and with your life and, and if we can do it gracefully and, and in a good way and harmony with mother nature and harmony with our friends and humanity. And that's beautiful.
- [07:29]
Duncan Trussell
It, it's extraordinary. My, you know, I'm a stand up comic, but I don't need a Jet Ski to pull me on stage. But. And you do. And so this is another part of your series that I found fascinating. The whole thing's just riveting. But I realized that there is this entire group of people who don't get the credit it seems like they should get. And I thought it was really cool that y' all give them the credit, which is the Jet Ski operators. You know, before I was watching your series, of course I would watch people riding these massive waves just for the thrill of watching it. But never once did I think about the Jet Ski operators and what an incredibly dangerous job that is. And I was wondering, is that more dangerous, is it more dangerous to operate the Jet Ski than to surf those waves?
- [08:32]
Garrett McNamara
Well, when things go wrong when you're on a Jet Ski, it's much more dangerous because that big machine and you don't know when it's going to happen, it happens without any warning. So something can go wrong with the ski or you just get, you don't time it right and the wave catches you and all of a sudden it's a yard sale. And the Jet Skis flying one way, you're flying another way and hopefully you're not hitting the Jet Ski. The, the pilot is your lifeline and he is your best friend, hopefully. And you work as a team. A well oiled machine like you can just communicate with Your eyes and some small hand signals if everything's running really well and you know what each other's desires are and, and know how each other wants to enter the waves and. But then it can be challenging as well. It's like a. It's like a marriage kind of. You see, there's a lot of challenges with a partner. But yeah, the answer is it's very dangerous if things go wrong. Much more dangerous actually, because you have that big machine and then you have the rope connected to the machine. They can wrap around you.
- [09:35]
Duncan Trussell
Oh, terrifying. You're looking at me and you're probably thinking like, you look like a professional surfer. You have the eye of the ocean and you seem like you probably want to invite me to be a big wave surfer just to save you the embarrassment. I can't right now. I'm too busy podcasting. But.
- [09:56]
Garrett McNamara
Well, we'll take you out. Come to Nazarene. We'll get you on the Jet Ski. You can come, you can, we can tow Cottie in and you can be on the back with me.
- [10:04]
Duncan Trussell
I tell you what, if you can convince my wife to let me do that, I'll be there. But good luck.
- [10:13]
Garrett McNamara
It sounds like you're 100 foot wave, probably back in the day, was going on stage and trying to see if you could. I can make people laugh 100%.
- [10:22]
Duncan Trussell
Well, they of course, like as you're trying to connect to something that is so far away from your life, you do try to. I did try to make that connection. I was thinking like when I go to see my much more successful comedian friends in arenas, that's my 100 foot wave. I look at that as like. But there was a time when 20 people was 100 foot wave and then it began to feel normal and then bigger crowds, et cetera. But yeah, I guess we all have our 100 foot wave wave. And that's sweet and thank you for that. But you have actual waves and that's different. That's different. And I wanted to know, and forgive me if this is woo woo or weird, but I was wondering. Okay, so with stand up, there's things that you see if you've ever seen a standup comic. And then there's things you wouldn't know unless you were a comic. Like there's a feeling up there that is very difficult to explain other than a sense of connection that goes beyond what seems like what's happening. For example, you know you're bombing. Even before you start bombing, you can feel the attention of the audience. Just like a bubble Popping or something. And it's the worst feeling ever. But I was wondering, is there an, is there something that you experience out there that maybe doesn't show up on camera? Is there something magical or maybe paranormal even that doesn't make sense or might not make sense based on the way we understand athleticism or surfing even the bombing aspect.
- [12:00]
Garrett McNamara
There was a contest that I was in at Jaws and It was like 60, 70ft. The biggest waves competed in and had the largest purse up to that to date. And I, I first wave I entered and I was so scared that I kicked out and I thought thousands of people on the cliff. And all I was thinking is I just. You knew that all of these people. It was that bombing that you explained. It was that feeling. The other feeling when you're out just, you know, just getting on my board and paddling out and seeing perfect waves at sunset, I just get this special connection, this feeling, this euphoric feeling. I have so much gratitude. I just feel so blessed and so lucky. And I'm just saying thank you, God, or thank you, whatever's up there. I just give so much gratitude. And the feeling on the wave, it can be, you know, depends on the way some waves can be frustrating and some waves can be really challenging and other waves can be the best experience of your life. I mean, the, the barrel I had at Jaws in 2003 was the best experience I've ever had in surfing still to date. And it was just like I, I'd been focusing on getting barreled for like 10 years on a 20 foot wave and it never, it hadn't happened. And then Uncle Dankilo has towing me into this wave and he lets me go in the perfect spot. It's my first giant perfect wave that I think I could probably pull into and I get to the bottom and instead of running, because when you're towing, you can run to the shoulder and ride it pretty safely, or you can, for lack of a better word, taunt it and go deeper. And so I faded back and then I turned and right as the lip was coming over it, it hit me, but just kind of brushed me, like kind of kissed me. So then I'm in, going into the barrel and now I'm blind and I'm riding through the barrel thinking I'm gonna make it. Even though I couldn't see, I'm just gonna making it, I'm making it. And then all of a sudden started sucking me up and I'm going up the face and it starts sucking back. I can feel this backdraft, sucking back. And then all of a sudden, from right when I feel like I'm about to fall, I. I feel this hurricane force wind, like it's called the spit. Like a fire hose just come from behind. And right as I'm falling, it picks me up. And luckily I had the strap. So I'm strapped to the board, my feet are stuck on the board and I'm in the air and I come flying out of the barrel land. And then I open my eyes and I look up and I'm like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Thank you, God. It was the most spiritual. Endorphin, dopamine, you name it. It was just. I brought me to tears. The most beautiful moment I've ever had in serving most. Most feelings.
- [15:21]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah. This episode of the DTFH is brought to you by Ridge. My friends, I wish you could have seen the wallet I used to have. It looks like something you find on a cadaver that you pulled out of the bottom of a lake. Just this rotten, scuffed up thing. Kind of got the roadkill smushed look to it. Like cars had been running over it. But that wasn't a car. That was my ass on airplanes. Just smashing it, distorting it, breaking it down, heating it up. Whatever leather it was, it didn't look like leather. I don't know what it looked like. Something. Something dark, something that should be at the bottom of the sea. But then Ridge reached out to me. It's like they sensed the horror of my wallet. It was that bad. As though the evil of my wallet was emanating through timespace and reached the Ridge marketing department. And they said, do you want us to sponsor your show? I said, of course. And then they sent me this baby here. A Ridge wallet. This simple thing is so incredible. You got the little strap, put your cash in there, you got your key, hotel key and card area. You want to get one of these things out, you just. I'm not going to show you my card number, you hackers. But you pull it out, zip your card right out. No problem. Easy. That's a Ridge wallet. If stoicism made a wallet, it would be ridge also. It's got a perfect weight. It's a weight that helps you understand. This is a real wallet. This is the condensed, perfect, platonic ideal of wallets. Not too heavy, not too light. Like some kind of brittle leaf floating through the cold winds of late fall. That was my old wallet. Also, they have a special airtag attachment you can use. They don't Just sell wallets. That's the point. Even better, you can get the Ridge airtag attachment so you don't lose this sucker. And Ridge sells more than wallets. They've got everyday essentials, key cases, suitcases. They have suitcases as well, and rings. All built with the same sleek, durable design. No matter what you pick, Ridge has free shipping, a 90 die and day risk free trial and a lifetime warranty. That means I could smash it and I'll send me a new one. But don't do it on purpose. For a limited time, our listeners get 10% off a ridge by using Code Duncan at checkout. Just head to ridge.com, use code DUNCAN and you're all set. After your purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them our show sent you. No other show. The dtfh. Thank you, Ridge. That is so wild. And the descriptions that you have for this experience are referring to these waves as though they're alive. You're taunting it. It's kissing you. It's like, do you get that sense? I just. When my hairy ass goes floating out in the sea, it's not that hard to feel like I'm being held in something that's more than just one water. That there's a kind of sentience there, kind of some awareness of, of, of itself. Not like we are aware of it, but something big and, and more alive. Not just some physical reaction or something like a real sense of.
- [19:44]
Garrett McNamara
They're all like different animals, like monsters. I, I definitely the word I chose, taunting. I would never taunt a wave. I just, you know, use that word for lack of a better one. But my goal on every wave is to complement the wave and dance with mother Nature and not ever conquer.
- [20:05]
Duncan Trussell
Right. Well, you're gonna lose. I mean, if you try to get in a fight with.
- [20:09]
Garrett McNamara
Sooner or later she'll clap me down.
- [20:11]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah.
- [20:12]
Garrett McNamara
Yeah.
- [20:13]
Duncan Trussell
And so as I was watching footage of your incredible life and your incredible work, of course, all of the insane waves that you have, all the insane waves that you've ridden. Of course there's the famous wipeout, which is the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life. You, I guess dislocated your shoulder, you went under the wave and I was. Now that you've given this incredible description of writing one of these beings, what is it like when one of them decides to eat you?
- [20:55]
Garrett McNamara
You know, that's when the underwater ride starts. And for me it was always more fun because you have no control. You don't Know what's gonna happen. You're doing your best to relax. You're doing your best to keep your limbs, your arms in and your legs tucked up and hold onto your life jacket. And you're doing your best to enjoy it. If you're under getting pounded and getting beat and actually enjoying it and relaxing, it's really fun. And it's, it's a, it's a rush every time because you don't know what the outcome is going to be when you're making waves. It's like, okay, I made another wave. If you get a barrel, like the barrel I got, that's a whole nother story. That's super special and rare. But when you're just making waves, it just seemed okay. It made another way, made another. But when you're underwater getting pounded, you have no control and you're at the mercy of the ocean. Like, if you feel like a grain of sand that's in a washing machine on spin cycle, and then you got King Kong grabs the washing machine, starts shaking it up and down, and then you got Tyson punching you.
- [22:06]
Duncan Trussell
So fun, you know, not to brag. I can body surf. And I went to Kauai and just like an asshole tourist went plodding out there into the Hawaiian waves with the hubris of the only, like a true fool can have. You know, I'd body surfed off the coast of Georgia. I can body surface these waves in Kauai. And I had that experience. I got.
- [22:36]
Garrett McNamara
Was it Luma High?
- [22:38]
Duncan Trussell
I don't even know where. That's what. I'm sorry. I was a river mouth. It was, I don't know, it was a great wave. It was. I shouldn't have been in the water. I remember me and my friends being like, we probably shouldn't be out here. And I remember the, you know, immediately getting like spanked by the ocean. Like, what are you doing? And, and that, that was not fun. The way you're describing it is fun. I just remember being rolled and thinking, like, I'm not sure I'm going to come up. Like, does it. Do you necessarily come up every time? Because it doesn't feel like it's going to let me go. And it was. And I'm getting beaten too, you know, smashed onto the, like sand everywhere and every orifice.
- [23:24]
Garrett McNamara
Sand in every orifice.
- [23:26]
Duncan Trussell
Sand in every orifice. That's the name of my autobiography, by the way. So what's it like when you're home? You've just, you haven't just filmed, like, you haven't Just been on like the greatest wave of your life, but it's in 4K. Hundreds of people have filmed this. People have watched. You have an experience that you're describing is incredibly rare for a surfer and obviously incredibly rare even for surfers because there's other people involved in this. You've got to get towed out. So you go home. Is it a comedown? Do you crash? What's it like at the end of the day after having one of the most extraordinary experiences maybe available to a human being on the planet?
- [24:26]
Garrett McNamara
It is definitely a roller coaster. You can be having the best day of your life in the ocean and getting the best ride you've ever had and then in one second somebody cuts you off or does something that makes you mad all of a sudden, all of a sudden you're just down in the depths and want to kill somebody. The highs and lows that we experience are overwhelming. And it's definitely something that we process and we go through and we work on being in the 10 second barrel all day, every day, work on having fun no matter what we're doing. But it is super challenging when you have that experience and then you go back home and, and you're in normal life and, and you're looking for that next swell or that next rush or that next wave. And like Kent Ewing, he's a healer in, in, I think Dana Point, somewhere around San Clemente, he said the goal in life is to be in the 10 second barrel all day, every day. Everything we do, show up happy, show up high vibration, show up having fun and really embody that feeling, feeling of that, that incredible moment that you had in the ocean and, and bring it wherever you go. I'm not saying I'm good at it, but I'm definitely working on it. I'm getting, I'm getting really good at it. And it's all about just having that high vibration, that positive energy whenever you show up. What are you going to bring to the, to the, to the situation? What are you going to bring to the room? What are you going to bring to your children? What are you going to bring to the office? Are you going to bring this amazing, happy, vibrating, just high frequency, high energy that's just contagious that everybody wants a piece of or are you going to bring that, that everybody wants to run away from?
- [26:20]
Duncan Trussell
Right. Okay, so this was something I. Forgive me for not knowing exactly which season I was watching. I'm assuming it's the previous season. But one thing I was super impressed with, man, is in almost every Shot. You got a baby on your arm. And I'm a dad. I got three kids and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever. And I also thought it must be. And some other surfers on the show seem to be contending with this reality, which is when you don't have kids, getting towed out on a big wave that could potentially end your life. It's still probably scary, but the stakes are different when you got kids. It adds a whole new dynamic to this job. And it seems like a lot of people on your team have to deal with the psychology of, of parenting and being a big wave surfer. What are your thoughts on that? Is there a point where you have to give up things like that for the bigger picture for your children?
- [27:44]
Garrett McNamara
You know, everybody has different ways of feeling and processing things and dealing with things. I think for my childhood there was a lot of very unconventional, crazy situations that I was in, for lack of a better word people would call, call it a lot of trauma. Yeah, I think I stuffed a lot of that stuff down and, and I stuff a lot of my feelings down and I just kind of operate on moving forward, kind of, kind of like a robot and without feeling that much. And that might be why I was drawn to big waves so much so I could feel. And with the children, it's. I, before I had kids, I didn't have a problem dying riding big waves because it was what I love doing more than anything. And if I died doing what I loved, I was happy. Once I had children, I told myself I would never die surfing. I would always prepare and always be ready and, and if I'm not prepared and not ready, I won't go out. And so I've been, that's been challenging for me since the injury because I haven't really gotten back to 100% and I don't feel really like I've prepared enough for riding giant waves. And so I'm really, really selective, really patient, really don't have to ride every wave anymore. Don't even have to surf another big wave. Honestly, I feel like I'd never have to surf another wave in my life. I've surfed so many waves, has so much fun, and I just want to be there for my wife and I just want to be there for my children. And then I'll go back in the water and I'll go, how could I ever think that? But on the land, I'm super content, super happy, and I'm riding 100 foot wave. I can go plant some papayas or Go plant some tomatoes. I'm so happy. I can go build a table. I can do all these, play with the kids, cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. So content, so happy. So on. Riding the 10, 10 second barrel all day in all my actions. If I'm living perfect, Garrett showing up, that's what's going on. And yeah, definitely challenging. I think I kind of come to the conclusion that I was drawn to big waves for the feelings to feel more.
- [30:20]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah, yeah, this is something. God, Krakauer has got this incredible book about people who climb Everest. And it's similar, similar description, which is that you really, like, there's no way to feel that. You can't feel that. You. Maybe you would want to trick yourself into thinking you can feel that, but you really can't feel that except in doing these extreme sports, that something opens up. A view of reality opens up that isn't accessible when you are building tables, doing podcasts, planting papayas. What is that view of reality that you're experiencing out there as opposed to the householder life? What is that view? What is this glimpse of something that you're catching.
- [31:19]
Garrett McNamara
Now? You got me stumped there. Oh, you know, I think that the world right now, we're living in such a challenging time because everything is disconnecting us from our feelings.
- [31:34]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah.
- [31:35]
Garrett McNamara
And starts at school. And then we got these computers and these phones and these distractions that. And then we got all this capitalism and all this greed and all this. We're living in this really distorted reality right now. And the only thing that's really important is family. Family and friends and good food and all of these things that help us go faster and do more and they're taking from our lives. It's just really, really challenging time. I think I probably went off topic, but.
- [32:10]
Duncan Trussell
No, it's on topic. It's perfect.
- [32:12]
Garrett McNamara
Okay. Yeah. It's a crazy time we're living in and I really want to disconnect. We're going to move back up to Italy this winter in September. And we're going in the middle of nowhere on this mountain with a few homes and a small school, an outdoor school with organic everything. Free range organic. And we live in a 500 year old biodiverse organic village. There's no WI fi, there's no emf. It's I people. I'm so excited to go back. It's like people are like, why did you go to Italy? You're away from the ocean. I love it up there.
- [32:53]
Duncan Trussell
There.
- [32:53]
Garrett McNamara
It's. It's like kind of my. I think it's my happy place.
- [32:56]
Duncan Trussell
Well, you know, it's.
- [32:59]
Garrett McNamara
So the good thing. The good thing about it is close to Nazare, close to Ireland, close to France, close to Spain, and close to Morocco. The. The five places that I'm keeping my eyes on for good Waves.
- [33:12]
Duncan Trussell
And an American Pope. Don't forget that. Now you got an American Pope. You.
- [33:17]
Garrett McNamara
Yeah, baby.
- [33:33]
Duncan Trussell
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- [37:41]
Garrett McNamara
But it's real. It's so real. It's so weird. If you. You watch the Matrix with. And kind of. It's here, it's now.
- [37:52]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah, for sure.
- [37:54]
Garrett McNamara
All those things are plugged into all the people. That's the phones.
- [37:57]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah. And it's almost annoying that those movies exist because just by saying it's like the Matrix, you under emphasize the reality that it sadly is like that we. We're becoming the Borg we have. You know, and it's ironic that I'm saying this in relation to your show, which is like me sitting in my hotel on my bed eating chips, watching people harmonize with nature. But this is sort of the sad effect of being able to observe so many different people doing cool things in 2D on your phone is. It almost tricks your brain into thinking you're doing that. You're there. That's you too, when you couldn't be further away. But strangely, after watching your show, I started thinking, I got to turn my phone off. And it's funny that you mentioned that. It's almost like that part of you comes through accidentally. It felt like it was inviting me to reconnect with whatever that is and turn down the volume on this Matrix shit.
- [39:14]
Garrett McNamara
I am so proud, grateful, and honored that you're sharing that right now. I'm hoping our dream is that this reaches people and inspires people. And we get inspired by people like you. We are always inspired by amazing people in Amazing situations. And we're hope. The only reason that we did this show was to hopefully inspire people. And we didn't know how it was going to inspire people. We didn't know our life was going to be very interesting. We don't even know how we got a season three. We're like, wait, we got season one. Was this incredible. Because it's 10 years of archive. Season two, we're like, oh, my God, they actually did it. It's just as good as one somehow. And then season three, we're like, what the hell? Our life is not that interesting. What are they going to come up up with? And it's actually feels like season three is better than two. That's like. And then if people like you are sharing that, then we are on the moon and so happy that everything is working.
- [40:13]
Duncan Trussell
Wow. Cool. Yeah. Because that was, you know, one. I think we're all turned off now by correct, if anything on tv. And there wasn't a moment where anybody's like, you should turn off your phone and rejoin the ocean. It wasn't that at all. It's watching. It's. It's watching this like, completely alternate way that people are existing and everyone in your show. I love the way that your show deals with conflict too. It's not the, like, I don't know, garish, you know, reality TV stuff. It's this really heartfelt way these people are working through the episode. I saw famous surfer did not trust her jet ski operator. Maybe you can tune me into where I was.
- [41:03]
Garrett McNamara
Justine. Justine, Justine.
- [41:05]
Duncan Trussell
And also Justine gets cut off right at Jaws, right? They go out to Jaws. I think they flew there, a big swell of Jaws and just gets cut.
- [41:21]
Garrett McNamara
Off and gets kind of a concussion. She. I think she got a concussion.
- [41:24]
Duncan Trussell
Got a concussion.
- [41:25]
Garrett McNamara
She had a helmet on.
- [41:26]
Duncan Trussell
And I'm pissed. Like, you're watching it. You're like, hell, yes, this is. And then some just her life up takes her out and so. So infuriating even. And I know nothing about surfing. I don't know if that person's an asshole. That part person maybe didn't do anything wrong. I don't know. But Justine's reaction to that was not what my reaction would have been, which is just some kind of hot impotent rage. She seemed so sort of honestly sad about it, but more wondering like, why am I having bad luck right now? Not didn't even mention that guy. Was that an egregious move that that person did or was that just an accident?
- [42:14]
Garrett McNamara
She. Yeah, that was. And definitely an Accident. He didn't mean to. But Justine, after you sharing that, I came to realize that she's listening to the signs and she's trying to make sense of what is happening and why, rather than blaming. And she's taking responsibility for where she is and what she's doing and what has just happened, even though maybe it wasn't her fault and she's looking for the signs of why. Why are these things happening? So she can work through it and do things better or in a better way or. I've. I didn't realize that she was that in tune with everything until now that you're sharing this. And thank you for bringing that to light. I really. I'm gonna talk with her more about that because it's really interesting to me.
- [43:02]
Duncan Trussell
Is that a. Is that. Is that. That something that's common in the surfer world is like listening to the signs, not looking at things as disconnected events, but seeing if they're. Like a message is being articulated via.
- [43:18]
Garrett McNamara
Everybody's so different. And if you're really in touch with your feelings and you're in touch with reality and not. And. And. And. And taking responsibility for. For where. Wherever you are and whatever you're doing and whatever is happening, rather than trying to blame. And there are a lot. Lucas seems to listen to the signs. You know, when. When he goes through that with. Yes, Marcio. And then. Yeah, yeah, it seems like, you know, it's tough because you try to put food on the table, you're trying. You're doing what you love, then you have, you know, all the things that you got to deal with on the land. It seems like we're more comfortable in the ocean. We have. Have. We don't have all these things going on that we have on the land. So when we're in the ocean, we're just free and carefree and just loving life. And that's our true self showing up in the ocean.
- [44:12]
Duncan Trussell
There is a. Have you ever heard of the Lojong mind training?
- [44:16]
Garrett McNamara
No, but it sounds amazing.
- [44:18]
Duncan Trussell
It sounds so cool. And it is cool for once. It sounds cool. It is cool. The Lojong mind training, it's this set of Buddhist slogans designed to get you into the moment. And my favorite of them all, and one that I constantly remind myself of, is drive all blames into oneself. So you always the blame. Even. Even, like, no matter what, there's just no way out of that one drive all blames into oneself. And what it does is that it centers you, you know, the moment you're trying to find. Oh, this is the. This person's fault or that person's fault? No, always. Wherever you are, you got yourself there. It sounds dismal, I guess to people out there who want to blame people, but when you're done with that part of your life, it's quite useful to remind yourself of that. And yet sometimes things seem very out of your control sometimes. I mean, is it the dinosaur's fault they got smashed by a meteor? I don't think dinosaurs are Buddhist. But the point is it's a nice antidote to what seems to be fairly common out there right now is blaming other people.
- [45:30]
Garrett McNamara
When I get you, the tycoon.
- [45:32]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah.
- [45:33]
Garrett McNamara
What do you. Thank you very much. Or whatever.
- [45:35]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah.
- [45:36]
Garrett McNamara
No, what is it?
- [45:37]
Duncan Trussell
Thank you very much.
- [45:38]
Garrett McNamara
You sure? Yeah, yeah, there's that in Kabbalah. We've been reading up on that a little bit. And the tycoon. So whenever anything happens, you just say thank you very much and keep going.
- [45:50]
Duncan Trussell
You sound like my dominatrix.
- [45:53]
Garrett McNamara
Instead of blaming. Yes, similar, similar to what you're sharing.
- [45:59]
Duncan Trussell
Absolutely. And, and you know, I imagine that you know, surfing, you don't art. You can't argue with a wave like. Well, what are you going to say? You're, you're doing this wrong. This wave is completely incorrect. Look at this wave. The wave is a failure of a wave. This brings me to a weird question from a complete non surfer. But I realize I use surfing as an analogy way too much for someone who doesn't know how to surf. Theoretically. Are all waves surfable?
- [46:39]
Garrett McNamara
Yes, you can surf them. Yeah, theoretically they're all surfable. Some are gonna be a lot more challenging than others. And once it gets to a certain size, there's pretty much impossible to paddle into them. There's a small, small, small chance you could still paddle into waves of any size if you're just in the existence exact right spot at the right time. But they're moving so much faster when they get so big that the, the bigger boards won't go fast enough to make the wave. You might be able to catch it. You probably wouldn't be able to make it. Yeah, there's. And then you have different types of waves form from different things. Like the glacier waves were formed from water displacement. And then you have river waves that are formed from a little bump in the bottom of the river that causes an eddy. And then we got the, and then you got Waimea river mouth wave which is caused from water coming out so fast and a little water coming in. There's all different types of Waves and. And they're all surfable. You know what? There's probably some that are not surfable because of the. The amount of water that's coming out, the force, and the speed that you couldn't quite ride it, but maybe with the right equipment.
- [48:07]
Duncan Trussell
This episode of the DTFH is brought to you by Better Help. If you're like me, you're a gym rat. You're at the gym all the time, and you look around and you know it's completely acceptable to go to the gym, work on those abs, get your glutes popping, nobody will judge you for it. Everyone will think, wow, congratulations, you're disciplined. But somehow, when it comes to taking care of the old meat potato up in your skull, people are still, like, hesitant to talk about it. They feel like people are going to judge them. 26% of people in a recent poll said that they didn't want to go to therapy because they thought they would be judged for it. Is that wild? It's wild. I could show you, like, my cool arm sleeve tattoo and be like, day five of getting this viper eating a piglet tattooed on my arm. And a lot of people like that is cool. The reality of it is getting therapy doesn't just help you. It helps your family, it helps your friends, it helps your community. When you feel good, people around you feel good. That's just the way it is. You ever smash your finger in a door? Doesn't matter who it is. The Dalai Lama could walk into your apartment, and more than likely you're gonna be like, ah, get away from me. Sorry. How did you get in my apartment, Dalai Lama? But when you're in pain, all the spiritual stuff goes out the window for me when I'm in pain. And sometimes that pain is worth talking about with a pro. BetterHelp has over 10 years of experience matching people with the right therapist from their diverse network of more than 30,000 licensed therapists with a wide range of specialties. It's fully online. It means you don't have to worry about going to some office, sitting in a lobby. Do it from wherever you want to. Do it from your phone. You can switch therapists at any time at no extra cost. We're all better with better help. Visit betterhelp.comduncan to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.comduncan. thank you, BetterHelp. So escape from New York is when he surfs out on the. I'm sorry, I don't know if you saw that, but I do.
- [50:50]
Garrett McNamara
What was It. What was it?
- [50:51]
Duncan Trussell
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everyone listening. I'm sorry. Escape from New York. Did you remember Escape from New York? I think he escapes from New York by surfing tsunami wave out of New York. It's so dumb and I'm sorry.
- [51:06]
Garrett McNamara
Well, tsunami waves are surfable.
- [51:08]
Duncan Trussell
That's what I was afraid to ask you.
- [51:11]
Garrett McNamara
I've surfed one.
- [51:13]
Duncan Trussell
You've surfed a tsunami wave?
- [51:15]
Garrett McNamara
See, I don't know tsunamis for Japan and in the United States it's called a tidal wave.
- [51:22]
Duncan Trussell
You've surfed? Did you know? Did you know it was a tsunami wave?
- [51:27]
Garrett McNamara
We were in Mexico and there's a lot. The side wave alert went off and everybody's freaking out. And I grabbed my board and I. Pal, you were there, right?
- [51:37]
C
Yes, I was there. We're eating lunch on the beach. Like our table is actually on the beach. And all of a sudden the whole ocean sucks out.
- [51:48]
Garrett McNamara
And I passed like just straight like.
- [51:49]
C
From one of those movies where it just goes all the way out. And then you see like the dumb people who are like walking. Oh, this is cool. And the people are like walking out and the whole thing is. Is sucking. And Garrett runs and grabs his stand up paddle board.
- [52:05]
Garrett McNamara
Paddled out as far as I could.
- [52:06]
C
And he's like running down beach with his board.
- [52:10]
Duncan Trussell
And were people warning you? Were people like, no, tsunami. No, don't surf? No.
- [52:20]
C
The tsunami was like this.
- [52:24]
Garrett McNamara
But I'm learning.
- [52:26]
Duncan Trussell
You didn't know what it would be. That's the crate. That's the crate. And also that big is. It's a tsunami. It's. You're. You go up high, everyone's running the other direction. Wow.
- [52:39]
Garrett McNamara
So, yeah, it was in Sayulita, right? Yeah, I think in front of the Four Seasons. Yeah. Yeah.
- [52:46]
Duncan Trussell
Were there any other surfers out there? Did you see anybody else?
- [52:49]
Garrett McNamara
A bunch of fish flopping on the reef?
- [52:51]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah. They're warning you, no, don't do this.
- [52:57]
Garrett McNamara
I was hoping a bigger wave would come, but. Well, that and I actually tried to surf one. We set everything up on the big island of Hawaii. Had all the jet Skis. We're going to put the jet Skis out, out at the buoys and we were gonna go out to the skis and then ride the tide wave that was coming. And I, for some reason didn't. We. I think we were going to the airport already, getting ready to go. And for some reason we pulled the plug and it ended up just being a small little ripple again. So it was good that I didn't go.
- [53:28]
Duncan Trussell
Okay, so this is the other thing that I found fascinating that I learned from watching your show. And I was vaguely aware of this, but what y' all do is futuristic in the sense that impossible, like relative, like what. When did it start? It's, you can't do what you're doing without having the ability to travel all over the world, having the ability to predict where the big waves are, having jet skis and having next level surfboards designed for this insane activity. So weirdly, what you're doing is sort of Blade Runner. It is sort of futuristic. When you're thinking of all the technology involved to get you out there on.
- [54:21]
Garrett McNamara
Those big waves, you know, it's crazy. Mercedes actually came to us in 2012 and said, we want to work with you. And I don't know if you know Garrett, but they actually drove all the way to Nazareth, brought their computer, had their presentation and said, I don't know if you know, Mercedes logo is air, land and sea. And we don't do much in the sea anymore, so we want to go to the sea with you and we don't want to just sit on the cliff in the car. We want to build you the ultimate surfboard so you can survive and come home to your family. And we're still riding a version of that. Most people that are surfing Nazaree are riding a version of that board.
- [55:03]
Duncan Trussell
A Mercedes surfboard.
- [55:05]
Garrett McNamara
Yeah. And they had this fun, craziest campaign on the wall with this futuristic board with engines, with jet packs, with just all this crazy, amazing. It was incredible.
- [55:16]
Duncan Trussell
Well, I did, yeah.
- [55:18]
Garrett McNamara
7 foot tall German guys running around. We're going to build a surfboard. We're going to build a surfboard for.
- [55:23]
Duncan Trussell
What an insane life you have, friend. Insane. These, all of these stories are, are like a fever dream. It's something if I would wake up from, like, what did I eat? The. But the, the. I'm curious about this.
- [55:36]
Garrett McNamara
It was a Blade Blade Runner situation. And, and you're right, the traveling to Tahiti, you have to have everything set up. And so back in the day, I, I would have my, my team, my family basically in each country. I had one in Chile, Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, you name it. Wherever, Japan, wherever we were gonna go, wherever we saw low pressure systems going, we would get everything set up. And. And as soon as we saw the low pressure going towards that location, you get on the plane at the last minute because the storms change. So you want to wait all the last minute, fly in front of the storm, have everything set up, make sure. Our boards are on the plane. Make sure we have extra boards just in case. And it was. Yeah, it was very fun, but very challenging. You have to have. It's very expensive.
- [56:32]
Duncan Trussell
Yeah, it's very expensive. And you can't lean into anything. Like you don't know what you're doing next week. That. That there. The. The life is not. That's another way that you're completely an outsider compared to other people. How do you. How do you plant those papayas? How do you plan your next week if you don't know if you're going to be at your house or if you're going to be riding a monster in some distant shore? That is a. Seems like a mind and you don't.
- [57:01]
Garrett McNamara
Know when it's going to come. And Sometimes it takes 10 years for the sweat of swells to appear. And sometimes that would be on Christmas or a birthday or a holiday. Those all took second to the storms for me for most of my life, most of my surfing career.
- [57:20]
Duncan Trussell
You know about Krishna and the gopis? Yeah, yeah.
- [57:26]
Garrett McNamara
What was it? I don't. Sorry.
- [57:28]
Duncan Trussell
Krishna, the blue skin.
- [57:31]
Garrett McNamara
Yes, yes, yes.
- [57:32]
Duncan Trussell
Goes into the forest and plays his flute. The gopies, they're the mothers. They're householders. They hear the flute. They leave their lanterns burning to go out into the forest to dance with God. There's no thought of anything else other than this. And that to me seems like an anomalous way of existing and the world. And you are so lucky to have this wife, this soulmate situation happening here because I don't know if a lot of people. That must be something you're saying thank God to a lot when you're out there on the water because, you know, maintaining a stable marriage in such a precarious and strange environment seems challenging.
- [58:24]
Garrett McNamara
Well, before kids, we went everywhere together and I was in heaven because I. Everything was set. All the. Made sure I had all the right food. Everything was taken care of, the tickets, the. Everything was. She set up everything.
- [58:41]
C
Still do that?
- [58:43]
Garrett McNamara
Yeah, but you don't come with me everywhere.
- [58:46]
Duncan Trussell
My wife does that for everything too. I'm so lucky.
- [58:51]
Garrett McNamara
Oh, I'm so lucky. In the beginning we got, you know, where. Where our relationship. She started taking over everything and doing everything. And I was like, wow, this is so nice. And then I thought to myself, oh, my God, if this goes sideways, what I'm. I'm gonna be lost.
- [59:07]
Duncan Trussell
Same. We're doomed. Do. You're not doomed. I hope you get a million seasons of this show. I can't wait. I've got to go back to season one and start from the beginning. But I. It is not a mystery to me why you got season three. It's one of the most beautiful, riveting series I've ever seen. And thank you so much for, for making it like, we're so lucky to even get to witness you, you maniacs surf, Surf saints out there doing this. It's a beautiful thing to watch. And is there, is there anything we should be looking forward to in season three? Because HBO does that. They edge you out, man. They don't let you binge watch it. It's like once a week. It's so frustrating.
- [59:56]
Garrett McNamara
Yeah, we know, we know how that is. Well, first of all, yeah, none of it would be possible. My wife, she's the one who kind of wrote the script for the beginning of the show. But then Joe Louis and then he brought in Chris Smith, who brought in Topic, who brought an hbo. And we have the dream team. The powerhouse women at HBO are second to none. The whole team, we have attend everybody's high vibration, top of their game for season three. You know, we go exploring, we go to a few other spots. We go to Cortez Banks. In next episode we go to Morocco and then we surf a bit in Hawaii during the eddy.
- [60:40]
Duncan Trussell
I can't wait. God be with you. The next time I'm body surfing in the gentle warm tides of coastal Georgia, I'll pretend I'm on a big wave. And thank you so much and thanks for giving me your time. It's a real honor to meet you. Thanks so much.
- [60:59]
Garrett McNamara
Thank you. Thank you so much.
- [61:01]
Duncan Trussell
Cheers. Bye. Thank you. That was Garrett Magnamara, everybody. 100 Foot Wave, season three, HBO. Max, I love you and I'll see you next week. Until then, Hare Krishna.