Chasing Mavericks Page #2

when everything goes right.

Now, big wave surfing,

that's a different ball game.

That's about how you perform

when everything goes wrong.

One bump off the face

of that wave,

and you're hitting the water

like concrete

at 50 miles an hour.

And you got a thousand tons

of water

coming down on top of you.

It's knocking you senseless,

ripping you apart

and pushing you down to a place

that is so deep and so dark,

you don't want to be there.

So why do it?

Hey. Come on, get out of here.

I got work to do.

Train me, then.

Train me to ride it.

Did you hear what I said?

Go on, get.

You don't get it, do you?

What?

There are all kinds of sons,

Frosty, you know?

Some are born to you

and some just occur to you.

Jay's looked up to you

his entire life.

I mean, can't you see

how much he needs you?

You want me to teach

him to surf that wave?

He's a kid.

You made me promise

I wouldn't even surf that...

Yeah,

and you break that promise

every chance you get.

You think I don't know

where you were this morning?

I heard the message

on the machine.

"25 at 16"? Come on.

I don't know where

you're going with this.

That boy's gonna surf that wave

anyway. You know that, right?

Even if he dies trying.

I mean, wouldn't you?

Okay, two Hawaiians,

two Santa Barbara,

one pepperoni and one cheese.

All right.

Thank you.

Dude. Dude.

It goes, first sauce,

then cheese, then toppings.

It's not rocket science.

You all right? You haven't been

here since you got here, man.

You ever see something

and you think,

like, it's the reason

you were put here?

I mean, like, on this earth?

Sure, man.

Every time I turn on Baywatch.

Right, keep it moving.

Pleasure Pizza. Okay.

Hey, Blond, I'll be right back.

Hold on, hold on. Hey, dude,

where are you going now?

- I'll be right back.

- You're killing me here!

Hi, sir.

Okay, here's the deal.

I'm gonna train you

for one thing

and for one thing only:

To survive that wave.

All right?

You want to know why?

Because I don't want it

on my conscience.

That's it.

No questions, no arguing,

end of story.

I teach you what you need

to know, and it's over.

You got it?

Got it.

Now, the reason

no one knows about this wave

is because it only happens

on big northwest swells.

And the window for those swells

closes in 12 weeks.

So you got 12 weeks.

Meet me in my shed

tomorrow morning, 6:30 a.m.

Not 6:
31 or 6:32.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Hey. Ooh.

Don't bother with that.

We're not surfing.

Paddleboards.

All right. Unh.

A few things we need to

establish before we begin.

The first,

thou shalt not ding

Frosty's board

or damage thy neighbor's car.

Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.

Second,

this little, uh, program

is all about building

what I like to call

the four pillars of a solid

human foundation. Understand?

Yes, sir.

How could you? I haven't even

told you what they are.

Steady rhythm.

Drive and glide.

The four pillars

of the human foundation

are the physical, the mental,

the emotional

and the spiritual.

Though I admit

to being a little bit wobbly

in that department.

I'm not sure I understand, sir.

You know what a thesis is?

Uh, an idea.

Exactly. An idea which attempts

to explain something.

Lays it out to be

proved or disproved.

So here's our thesis:

It's 36 miles across the bay

from Santa Cruz to Monterey.

The day that you can

paddle that far

will be the day

you're ready to surf Mavericks.

Not a moment sooner.

Frosty, that's impossible.

Oh, more so than you know.

So the physical will represent

the sheer strength

needed to make the paddle.

So you're gonna be doing this

from now on, every day,

And the mental will be tied

to your own research.

The calculation

of the tides and swells,

and, of course, your ability

to navigate them all.

So, Monterey equals Mavericks.

Deal?

Deal.

Good. All I need

is for your mom

to sign me a permission slip

accepting responsibility

for anything that's

gonna happen along the way.

Whoa. Frosty.

Hey, Frosty, what if

she doesn't sign it?

Deep breaths, steady rhythm.

Drive and glide.

Hey, Sophie.

What's up, girl?

Come here, Sophie.

Shh.

Sophie. What are you...?

What are you doing here?

My parents are asleep.

Can you sign me

a permission slip

with my mom's signature on it?

My handwriting blows.

Hey. A permission slip?

For what?

Okay, I haven't told this

to anyone

so you have to promise

to keep it a secret.

Okay, promise.

It's Mavericks.

I mean, it's real.

Maybe the biggest wave

in the world.

I've seen it with my own eyes,

it's right up the coast.

Frosty's gonna train me

to surf it.

Mavericks?

No one believes that.

I swear, it's like nothing

you've ever seen before.

And if I ask my mom

for permission,

it'll just give her an excuse

to act like my mom for once

and she'll probably say no.

You look great.

Thanks.

I would've asked you at school,

but I know you don't like

being seen in public

with younger men, so...

Hey, Blondie.

All right, fellas.

Come on, race you to the pool.

Ow!

Yeah! Sick!

Get some!

Whoo! Yeah!

Aah!

Yeah, man, get up.

Yeah.

Hey. Hollybra's having a party

tonight. You clowns going?

Yeah, sounds good to me.

Jay?

No, I got school and stuff.

Dude.

We all got school, dude.

That's no excuse.

Heard that. Haven't been

to class all week.

Yeah.

The dude actually wonders why

he's a second-year sophomore!

So, what kind of stuff

you got going?

Just trying to make sense

of everything.

We're in high school, dude.

Hey, Frosty.

Hey.

It's 20 to 4.

You told me to be here at 4.

Exactly.

So, we ready to go?

Does it look like it?

Tell you what, we'll be ready

when you clean up

that driveway.

That's what you get for

being 20 minutes early.

Deep breaths.

You got to stretch

out those lungs.

A wave like Mavericks will hold

you down for minutes at a time

while it pounds you to a pulp.

If you can't hold your breath

for at least four minutes

under normal circumstances,

then you may as well

not even paddle out.

How long was that?

You know what, I'm not even

gonna acknowledge

that just happened.

Hey.

Where'd you find that?

In the dresser that you

moved into the baby's room.

Hm.

God, you're so beautiful.

Mm.

Look, um, I know that surfing

is your passion and your life,

your escape.

I get it.

But I need you to

make me a promise.

And I'm serious this time.

That you're not gonna put

the rush of a 30-foot drop

in front of the future

of your two children.

I promise.

God, you're a good man.

Okay.

Jay's waiting for you.

Mom!

Mom, you got to get up

right now!

You got a 6:
00 shift!

You're gonna lose

your job again! Mom!

Oh, no.

Mom, get up! Come on!

I'm getting up!

Hey.

You're 11 minutes late.

Yeah, sorry, Frosty.

You know, my mom...

She had to write

my permission slip, so...

Your mother's got

nice handwriting.

She take much convincing?

No.

Not much.

Good.

That your breakfast?

Hm? Yeah.

You want to be an athlete,

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