In 1975, in the small town of 
Half Moon Bay, California
a lone surfer was poised on the beach
between the forested coastline
and the deserted ocean, 
about to make surf history. 
Jeff Clark dropped his surfboard 
into the ice cold water 
and paddled toward the spot known
 as Mavericks for the very first time
A place surrounded by myth 
and speculation.
Some denied the existence 
of Mavericks altogether.
Big waves weren’t believed 
to exist outside of Hawaii,
while those who saw them were 
certain the waves
were too dangerous for 
any human to surf.
But all that was about to change.
Half Moon Bay’s surf pioneer
 would eventually shift the world’s  
spotlight to the phenomenal 
waves of Mavericks
thus changing our understanding
 of the California coastline
and the course of surf history, 
forever.
Lives have been touched 
and transformed here.
In some cases they have been taken. 
The surf legends of Mavericks were 
all called to this place 
for a reason. Curiosity. 
Adventure. Ego. To know God.
 To be a part of nature. 
Each surfer came out changed
in different ways but it wasn’t
just the wave that changed them.
Long after the feeling of riding 
the waves had faded away,
it was their friendships that 
remained. Their memories
of those they grew to know and love, 
and those they lost along the way.
Located just 25 miles south of 
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, 
Mavericks has been recognized 
by the surf community as 
the ultimate wave, but it has
taken decades to achieve that title. 
 Named in the early 1960s after 
Maverick the dog
who swam after his caretakers as 
they tried to surf the area,
the dog was safely rescued but,
having only reached about 
a quarter mile off shore,
 the surfers spotted the break 
about two miles farther out 
and deemed the area too 
dangerous to surf.
Mavericks was left untouched 
for over a decade
 until Jeff Clark moved to town. 
Today, Mavericks is
 referred to as one of the most 
awe-inspiring waves in the world.
Hollywood just wrapped up 
a twenty million dollar movie
about the young Mavericks surfer, 
Jay Moriarity, whose genuine 
enthusiasm for life and riding
 the waves of Mavericks 
was unparalleled in his time.
Key day of filming in the surfing 
movie "Of Men and Mavericks"
The Jay Moriarity Story
Honored to be a part of it in any
 small way to help
recognize what Mavericks is all 
about. What Jay was all about
Hopefully gromits and grandkids 
will see what it was like during 
this period in time. We were 
representing sort of the 
original guard of guys surfing 
Mavericks, the Mavericks pioneers
so we were kind of a blend of 
like Richard Schmidt, Vince Collier,
 Jeff Clark, Tom Powers, Charlie 
Heitman. All the guys that
were the first guys surfing up there.
Many local surfers have been 
used as extras in the film. 
Today was their big day.
One thousand strong, these
 local surfers hit the ocean hit the 
the ocean near Pleasure Point.
I see the whole community coming 
together in Jay’s name and 
this is perfect.
Mixed in among the maze of boards 
and colorful wetsuits, 
is Jay’s widow, Kim. She thanked 
the crowd for supporting
her husband and asked them 
to live their lives to the
fullest, the way Jay did.
I know Jay’s here looking over us. 
His spirit lives on in each
one of your smiles, your laughs, and 
every time you treat each other good.
And you guys be safe out there today 
please have fun
and live like Jay.
Thank You, Love You.
I came across this story you know
 and it’s a beautiful story
it’s kind of inspiring. You know 
this guy lived
an incredible life. You read it, 
you know, I want to
want to be involved with that. 
I always wanted to learn to surf 
so here I am, and I’m surfing now.
While filming a scene one of 
the lead actors, Gerard Butler,
 playing Jay’s neighbor and 
surf mentor, almost drowned 
 in the ferocious waves after
 a two-wave hold down.
Butler is not an experienced surfer 
and had not surfed
much prior to the filming 
of the movie.
You know, filmmakers were working 
on a shot of Gerard Butler
 paddling out at the local 
big wave spot with local surfer 
named Peter Mel when a round 
of rogue wave caught them.
These waves came out of nowhere 
and I’m with three of the best 
surfers in the world and they’re 
just going, “paddle Jay, paddle!” 
and I’m paddling on my board
this just, wave, spread across 
 the skylight and it came and it 
was about thirty feet high and I
just dived in and it took me.
 And I was under, and I’m thinking,
you get to that stage where you’re 
like, ‘ugh! I got to get out,
I gotta get out’ and it ripped my 
leash off so I knew, you know,
 there was nothing to pull me up, 
I’m just tumbling tumbling tumbling
tumbling tumbling, going going, 
and I’m thinking, I need to get up,
I need to get up, and then I felt 
the next wave go and it all started 
all over again and I’m like -
Oh my God. Wow.
When he made it to the surface, 
he was rescued by seasoned Mavericks
surfers Peter Mel and Zack Warmhout. 
Butler spent the night in
the hospital but recovered quickly 
and although shaken by the
experience, was relatively unharmed.
True story of Mavericks is,
way heavier than any
 Hollywood movie could imagine, 
and it’s a really critical story that
will be told.
Another event shining the
 spotlight on Mavericks
the Mavericks surf contest held 
annually, conditions permitting
in the winter’s 
biggest surf.
Riding the giant waves of Mavericks 
can be dangerous even for the most
 talented of surfers, right? But 
today, the monster waves proved just
as dangerous for people there just 
to watch. Take a look at this.
At least three huge waves washed 
onshore knocking dozens of people 
down and sending others
 running for safety.
In a shocking moment in surf contest 
history, a rogue wave wiped out the 
contest’s scaffolding, tossing 
several alarmed spectators into the 
sea. This only added to the 
notoriety of Mavericks.
Today, the performance level of big
wave surfing has never been higher.
Professional athletes who make their 
living surfing big waves focus their
attention on Mavericks every time it
 breaks, pushing boundaries and 
bringing an upcoming generation of 
surfers to new heights. 
Surfers like Grant Twiggy Baker, 
Mark Heeley, Nathan Fletcher,
and Shane Dorian are dramatically 
influencing the sport.
There are unique geographical 
reasons why the wave at Mavericks
is so thrilling, deadly, and 
unlike any other.
These huge storms, they either 
come off Japan or Alaska, and they 
 generate so much speed and and 
they’re coming from deep water
and then they hit Pillar Point, which
goes up to like a twenty foot
shelf - twenty foot deep from
 like hundreds of feet deep. 
from like hundreds of feet deep. 
So a lot of the water
just comes out of the deep water
 and just hits that one spot
and it’s just this big perfect
 double up, and, the swells hit
so perfect there. You know, every 
single swell, it picks up something 
 up, you know, so it’s just 
a special place.
It sits on a very deep channel
 and any time you ever have big waves
in the world generally off the coast
 it has a really deep canyon in the 
water and so what that does is it
 focuses swell onto a shallow reef
and then that’s what makes it so
 special too is that it doesn’t take 
any of the energy. If you were to
 have if you were to go just north of
Mavericks, there’s a really flat 
bed that goes just into San Francisco
and it’s kind of shallow,
and there’s not really any 
big waves north of there.
But as soon as you get off that 
shelf and it comes
 into Mavericks it’s like 
there’s a fault that runs off right 
there so there’s this big deep 
crevice that runs off there. 
The other part that’s unique 
about the wave is the way
the reef is shaped. So the swells
come in from the northwest and
it hits the shallow reef and it jumps
 up but they’ve got these deep, 
rutted fingers that run off so the 
wave will lift and lift and lift.
But it’s in the Red Triangle, 
which means that the Red Triangle
is one of the hot spots on the 
planet for Great White sharks.
Great White sharks are protected 
in the marine sanctuary at Mavericks
and the population has 
exploded in recent years.
In 1991 there’s shark attacks a mile 
above it and a mile below it, brutal
ones. One of ‘em was a guy I don’t 
know but his name was Eric Larson
from over the hill, basically he,
 basically almost bought the farm.
I think he ended up with about 
four hundred stitches. And then 
another friend of mine, John Ferrara
got hit at a reef that you hike into 
and basically there’s you know
 only a handful of guys out about 
five guys and he’s paddling 
out with two of his friends
and got hit so that’s way on my radar
 way more on my radar.
On the inside, and when, if you wipe
 out, like, it happens super often, 
like almost every time you have a 
session there you get blown
through these rocks so you can go 
through this cheese grater of rocks
 that water that just goes in and 
spills into this lagoon so you’ve got
rocks, sharks, massive amounts 
of water-cold water too-and that’s 
another part of it I mean the water
 in the wintertime ranges from 
 52 to 54 degrees so you’re wearing
 all this rubber you’ve got booties
and gloves and hoods and I mean
 all that and you know Hawaii
you get to wear just board shorts.
It’s hard to fathom the idea of 
 surfing Mavericks by yourself, 
but for over a decade,
 that is just what Jeff Clark did.
Jeff Clark’s pretty gnarly I mean
 straight up, he’s gnarly. 
I mean the guy has been surfing
 out there for so long
and to even contemplate surfing
 out there by yourself for one
session, let alone a decade plus.
Grow up in Half Moon Bay you know
 with so with the ocean as my 
playground. My family moved
 here in ’66 and to grow up in the 
ocean to, to see how quickly 
the ocean can change how violent
 it is and how quickly a ripple
 will pull you off shore and you, 
either learned how to deal with a rip
 or you drowned.
Blessed to have uh, have Mavericks
 and have the natural pull the ocean 
had on me was amazing. I would
do almost anything to go surfing.
From the very first time I paddled
 out at Mavericks 
I jumped through the reef, 
paddled through
the reef to deep water 
and then paddled in from the north.
Because we’d always looked at
 Mavericks from the north side 
and it was this big, beautiful left.
And that’s what I surfed.
I surfed the left. 
And once it got so big or
or the tide got so low you 
couldn’t make the
drop on the lefts they were 
just you know pipelining
it at forty feet, fifty feet,
and if the tide was too low
it just displaced the 
water just too quickly.
The ocean is alive
the ocean’s got no 
conscience as well.
It’s a special place and it
used to be a place I would go
 to be by myself. I do like being
 by myself more than downtown 
 city anytime. I got used to
 being out in the ocean by myself
and I knew how to take care
 of myself out in the ocean
and if I had to swim in I,
 I wasn’t afraid of swimming in.
 I have swam in many times
 from out there. Being in the
ocean by yourself a half a mile
 off shore you, you have to have a 
peace within yourself about
where you are
I would have loved to have 
had somebody
out there in the water 
with me to share what an insane place
we have to surf here.
It's a very special place and I
treat it with a great deal of respect
You know everything, 
you know all the hype
and the this and the that 
I surf Mavericks for fun.
I think there’s always 
something within us
 that you know surf big waves 
that we want to push it
to the next level
and, you know Mavericks
 will let you do that.
If you get the right one 
man, you are riding
the biggest wave you’ve ever seen
and, you know that is the 
exciting and really fun part
about Mavericks but if you’re 
not in-tuned with it 
and you’re just bringing
the wrong attitude 
to the table it’ll light you up
 if you try and force it.
You can do more things in the ocean
 if you learn to dance with it
and listen to it its behavior and 
be receptive to or be open
to allow the impossible to happen
and be free.
I mean for me it’s freedom
 when I’m in the ocean
I feel like I’m you know twelve 
years old kid playing in 
the water, for me it’s
 the most free thing 
you know I always try to 
treat it like that.
Just turn me loose and let me free 
and you know if you’re 
on a wave you’re flying.
People just didn’t believe me it’s, 
it’s like okay
and I’d try and talk to them to 
go and go and you know finally
it’s like you know what?
You don’t wanna go, 
okay you don’t wanna go. 
I’m going.
In the 1970s, there was 
an actively growing surf scene
 in Santa Cruz, California, 
a gritty surf town 
located fifty miles south
 of Half Moon Bay. 
 On days when the surf 
conditions were just right
 Jeff would head to 
Santa Cruz to surf
describing the waves he 
was riding at Mavericks
 to his fellow surfers. Jeff 
eventually introduced
a handful of his closest friends 
from Santa Cruz to Mavericks
but it wasn’t easy. Although first 
met with skepticism
a few Santa Cruz surfers finally
 chose to venture to new territory,
with Jeff as their leader. 
One of the first to be introduced
to Mavericks, Tom Powers.
Awe. Exhilaration. Fear. 
You know there’s so many, 
so many different emotions that,
that run through you and 
especially a place like Mavericks
evokes all those emotions. 
You know I don’t know
 that I would be surfing a place
 like Mavericks all by myself so my
hats off to Jeff for doing
 it all the years that he did.
We didn’t even know what
 we had. It was-our minds
were blowing as far as, 
we never realized anyting like
that existed right in our back yard.
 Fate you know, helped fate
plays its part like i said
 I could have very very been easily 
been born in Des Moines Iowa
 and never been by the ocean
 my whole life and you know
 hopefully I’d have a good life
and be doing something fun
 and gratifying and you know
have a fulfilling life but, 
but damn you know I 
couldn’t imagine, I couldn’t imagine
 a life without surfing and
the ocean and I’m grateful to
 have the ocean right here you know
as as my, as my temple so to
 speak and what a wonderful
wonderful flow of energy and, 
and stoke you know it gives us
and I call it my fountain of
 youth man and you know
I’m still super stoked at 57
 I hope to be surfing, hope to be
surfing until I’m, you know
 until the day I die. 
we love surfing the big waves,
 there’s a handful of us. My
inspirations and mentors,
 they’re really hard chargers.
In the 1970s on the California 
coast the popularity of surfing
and surf culture was growing.
 Santa Cruz was a town filled
 with innovators who were
 pushing the boundaries
of surf performance,
 like Jack O’Neill.
The ocean is alive and we’ve
 got to take care of it.
It belongs to all of us.
I think surfing has been like
 a therapy. I used to work
downtown and get all screwed
 up and come out and jump
in the ocean, catch a wave
 and everything’s, everything’s all
right again. It was invigorating.
 It wasn’t crowded and
you came out of the
 water and you, you knew 
you’d been in you had a good
 feeling. We used to build
fires on the beach, 
you know a bunch 
of old guys hanging out.
The up and coming Schmidt
 brothers from Santa Cruz, California
were at the top of their game.
The up and coming Schmidt
 brothers were passionate 
big wave surfers who would
 travel all the way to Hawaii's
Waimea Bay on the north 
shore of Oahu to surf.
Unbeknownst to them as they
 were traveling over 2,000 
miles to Hawaii, Mavericks was 
alive and pumping just an
hour's drive from their home
town, the exact type of wave
they were seeking.
The ancient Hawaiians made Waimea Bay
a holy place and today these 
sacred waves ar worshipped
by a handful of highly motivated
 water men. In the spirit of aloha, 
the Hawaiians always greeted
 the quiet Santa Cruz surfer
Richard Schmidt with open arms.
 They respected his surfing ability
 in navigating the big waves,
 thus forging a bond between
the surf communities of northern
 California and Hawaii that has  
lasted even to this day. Big wave
 surfing had its birth in
Hawaii and historically Hawaiians
 have always been considered 
the world’s best big wave riders.
And yet they all have one thing
 in common. These guys possess
 more raw courage than any
athlete on earth. Is it courage
 or insanity that would entice these
surfers to challenge these
 waves? To win you must
successfully ride the biggest
 wave and put in the day’s
gutsiest performance.
That was a big wave,
 that was no doubt about it.
That was a big wave.
Named after Eddie Aikau,
 the Hawaiian lifeguard 
who lost his life trying to save
 others, the event pays
 homage to the collective
 courage and calmness in the face
of danger that all big wave
 riders are respected for.
For Richard Schmidt, surfing
 the Eddie was the biggest honor
of his career. He placed third
 overall in the contest.
The year they had the Eddie
 Aikau in really big surf 
was probably about the most
 incredible day of surfing
 in my life just to be with that
 elite group of surfers
in those big, beautiful perfect
 waves was incredible and the
the skill level I mean there really
 weren’t that many bad wipe outs
I mean there were a couple
 but for the most part people were
just surfing so well out there.
 And it was pretty much how you
want Waimea to be you don’t
 want it much bigger than
 that it was like as big as it
 could handle and nice
conditions. And it just I remember
 surfing out there all day
and just having this incredible
 session. Uh, the one big perfect one
I got where they gave me a
 perfect score was just insane
I remember seeing it cap way
 on the outer reef that set and
 so I had about a minute to 
prepare myself like
“okay, this is this is a big wave,
 if you want it, here it comes.”
 And I just put myself just in
 the corner of the apex of the peak
right in the apex I think I woulda 
got pitched so I kinda just snuck in.
No one ever dreamed a wave
 in California could be as good a
Waimea, but Richard Schmidt’s
 brother Dave and Tom Powers
were about to finally discover 
Mavericks for the first time. Their  
 first surf session would change
 their lives, and the story of 
Mavericks, forever.
Dave Schmidt and I were on our
 way up to a pretty well known
reef point break in northern
 California a couple hundred miles 
north of San Francisco. Got a
 couple days off of work and we’re
cruising up, it was um happened
 to be the day after Richie
Schmidt got third in the Eddie
 Akau. We’re on our way up and
when we get to San Francisco, 
pull over and check out Ocean Beach 
and it’s just absolutely macking.
 The camaraderie and friendships
you know that, that I forged
 and you know I’m very grateful for.
And I’m driving up the coast
 and I look at the swell and I just
go “wow it’s gigantic.” And I went 
down to Ocean Beach and 
and there’s Tom Powers and 
Dave Schmidt and, and Doc’s standing
there also and you know we’re
 looking at thirty foot walls of
water. 20 to thirty foot walls
 of water I mean huge close outs 
and Doc’s going “yeah, let’s,
 let’s go out down at the other end
 I’m looking at this stuff and I’m
 like, “really? These are close out
man where are you gonna go?
 How are you gonna get out?” 
And uh, and I said “You guys should
 come with me. I’ll show you a
wave that takes all this power
 and makes a perfect peak out of it.”
They looked at me
like I was completely like 
I was from Mars
you know, completely out of
 my mind and I
go, “really, a wave you can
 get out next to
and approach and pick the
 one you want and
it’s and it’s a paddle out that
 you can you
don’t have to paddle
 through waves like these
twenty foot wall walled
 out close-outs.
And Dave’s going “really? 
No way. Really?” I go
“yeah, really,” and they just went 
“okay, we’ll, we’ll follow 
you down there.”
We check it from, from the 
Rosta’s Cove side
and you know up by the 
radar installation
you’re not really supposed
 to be up there.
You know there wasn’t a set 
right so Dave’s
like seeing waves break over
 here “is that
it? is that it? is that it? 
is that it?” you know 
I wasn’t going to let on till, 
till i saw an actual
big wave break and 
finally here comes
a set and I go, “hey Dave, 
see that peak out
behind the point there?” 
and he goes, 
“no way that’s Waimea.” 
You know, you know
you’re looking from 
the north side,
you see this big old plume 
blow up and then he starts
pacing back and forth and 
I go “what’s going on?” 
and he goes “we’re going out there,”
and he’s just pacing back and forth, 
 he knows we’re going out there.
 He was nervous,
and, and but excited at the 
same time and not you know
like “let’s go check this out”
and you know there weren't 
any twenty foot waves in 
California so this will be easy
Basically, we paddled out, 
you know through the harbor, 
and around, I don’t know what
 they call it is it Mushroom Rock
or Sail Rock? To the first big one 
and then, you
know just the visuals you know
 Dave and I are
looking at each other as we’re
 getting closer to the line up
 it’s a long ass paddle out you 
know you’re looking at a good, you
know a good fifteen solid minute 
paddle out if not longer, 
 and by the time we get around
the rock and you’re actually
out there you know you’re paddling
 over the small you know
eight or ten foot waves. 
Just the roar, the energy,
just amazing I mean Dave and
 I were looking at each other
 just completely dumbfounded 
like, “are you kidding me?” You
know, getting over, getting 
over the ledge
physically getting over the ledge,
 you know having to
paddle hard and go over it and
 then also mentally getting
over the ledge just to get yourself,
 to get yourself to paddle
into a wave like that really,
I don’t know what it is.
 For me it’s always been terrifying 
surfing Mavericks but exhilarating
 it took me, oh God, an hour to 
catch my first wave and the
sensation of taking off on the 
first wave at Mavericks, never 
experienced anything like that.
 It felt like skiing because there
was, I’d never had a sensation 
where you’re going as far,
 traveling as far down on a wave
 before hitting flats and turning.
And I got a left, and, you know,
 rode it, kicked out and paddled 
 back out and across the bowl 
to the right side where
they were andmet ‘em out 
at the peak and
started asking ‘em “what do you 
think?” and you know they’re
like “where do you line up?” 
and you know it’s always,
I started figuring out my line-ups
 for them and showing
them where to sit and
it was big and the swell was growing
growing and the tide was dropping
 yet out into the line-up and, and I 
just spin and I go on this wave and,
 and I make the drop and
then I go over the double up and
 the double up just it was glassy
and it was huge I got going
 so fast I hit a bump and my front 
foot bounced forward right so
 I had the super-wide stance and I 
I needed to get a turn off and I 
tried to  turn with my foot way 
and there was no way so I went
 down up and over broke
my leash and uh, I had to start
 swimming so I swim into the rocks
and get right to Mushroom Rock
 and the current’s just ripping
through there and at that point
 is when you know you do everything
you can to find your board looking 
into the rocks and, and I remember 
 into the cove to see if it was in
 there and looking south and not
being able to see it anywhere
 and I just paused for a minute 
you know, just said to myself,
 you know “where’s my board?”
 you know just, I just let the spirit
 guide me. I just started swimming
 the current south to open 
ocean open water
and south around the reef
and after I swam I got into 
deeper wate
 inside the break zone 
and then about a hundred yards away
 I saw my board floating over there
and I remember Dave going,
 “where ya been?”
This was, this was groundbreaking. 
You know here I got a couple
 guys out to surf Mavericks 
 I’d been trying to get 
somebody out there 
to surf with me for years.
A whole new cast would be 
joining Jeff Clark at Mavericks.
This was just the start.
When it got big and gnarly, 
like that next winter, 
Vince, he’d be out there in the 
pit with me and Rich 
and I remember one day 
Vince wasn’t around
but it was just Rich and I 
in the bowl and it was heavy.
 A little offshore winds
over twenty foot sets 
rolling through 
Flea wasn’t up to it yet.
Pete was just learning it, I
mean this was the early days.
We kind of looked up to guys
 Richard and Vince 
probably had, what is it probably
 had like five or ten years 
on us you know so they were 
that perfect next step
up as far as who you looked at 
and you’re always looking at 
the older guys especially if
you’re from Santa Cruz that’s 
how it works you know there’s
a hierarchy and you look to those 
are the guys who are getting
the best waves. They’re the ones 
who are going to
get the waves in the lineup when
 they’re surfing at the lane
 or up north at Scotts or 
wherever they were going to be
the ones that you looked at
 and you looked at their styles 
 and you took it into your, into what
 you wanted to do for your
surfing you know, they were,
 they were the guys.  A little
bit of all those guys and then 
applied it to our surfing and then 
now there’s a generation underneath
 us doing the same thing you
know Nat Young, to whoever, whatever 
that’s how it worked. 
We all looked at each other, we used
 each other as a group,
as a peer group, to push each other
 on a day to day basis. We looked at 
our hierarchy, like our mentors, the
 drafting styles of the guys we
 looked up to, a guy like Vince 
Collier and Richard Schmidt. Vince 
Collier was the brash, raw, kind of,
 you know a very raw
approach whereas Richard Schmidt
 took a more relaxed and calculated
effort, he was mapping it all out.
Whereas Vince just went out and 
and did it and that’s how Flea 
did it. He went out and put himself
and did it, you know, and I was just
 kind of going, “yeah okay
that’s where I think the spot’s going
 to work so I’m going to go sit over
here and I’m going to line this up
 and like it took a little bit more 
of a calculated approach. Two
 different styles.  you know and then
combine them and then you’d have a
 pretty good big wave rider.
I wasn’t really even expecting to
 find waves like that in California
you know and they were, you know 
they told us oh there’s this huge
huge wave come out north with us
 and finally when I got there I was
in such amazement I couldn’t believe
 that we surfing these waves 
seeing these waves breaking, it was 
the most radical thing I’ve ever seen
They sound like thunder and they 
fold in half and they, they spit like
no other, like the biggest barrel
 you’ll ever see you, could drive a 
huge bus through it 
and it just spits 
just water out just boom boom!
you’re just going what?  It’s crazy  
like Niagara Falls or something,
the amount of water that’s moving
out there is just unbelievable 
it’s really cool to see nature in 
its big fury like that you know after
each storm to see nature and 
where it actually comes out of 
 the deep water and just folds in 
half and releases all of that energy 
it’s a feeling you’ll never, 
you’ll never see anywhere else.
Weather and Bouy Readings -
"Coudy with haze 
wind north at seven,
air pressure thirty point two one
this report will be
updated around seven thirty am
Flea’s as talented as anyone 
when he rides big waves
he gets respect because he charges 
 hard and When you’re talented 
and you catch alot of waves 
and you charge and
he gets a lot of respect because 
he’s a talented big wave rider.
It’s just super exciting because, 
it was a timing thing with me, 
Peter Mel, all of us young guys 
that were surfing out 
really good timing because we
 just found out about it when I was 
in my prime you know I was just 
coming into 
my prime of just being physically
 fit and stuff like that and psyched
on surfing and with sponsors
 and everything like that so 
it was it was such a great timing 
thing and we were just hungry
 hungry, hungry to surf and 
we surfed every day with each other
and we just pushed each other
 completely. If it’s two feet, 
we were doing airs and rotations
 and if it was 25 feet we were 
pushing each other in the bowl. 
And especially 
with Peter Mel. Me and Pete were
 just like, we didn’t want to
say it like “oh, we’re going against
 each other out there,” but it was,
 it was apparent every single 
session. We wanted to out do each 
each other and you know 
sometimes he got denied, 
sometimes I got denied,  
but it made it so much more
he probably got me into more 
waves than he can imagine he did
because he was, he was, going on 
waves before me and I was like,
“fuck, I’m going to whip it and go,” 
and pulling it off.
It was a time that I cherish a lot
 because, 
 that was when I could really use
 a friend like Flea and he 
could use me to push 
each other to limits that we 
didn’t know existed
we were at Mavericks especially
 because we were on every swell
 and Skindog too and you know
 all those guys were all there 
but  like Flea and I at that point 
we were going head to head 
and it was an exciting time and 
he would catch a big one
and I would want to get a bigger
 one and then he would get a bigger
one and then he would get a bigger
 one and then oh he’d pull in 
and then oh he’s pulled in, 
I’ve gotta pull in you know 
and it’s like we were getting photos 
that way too and it was kind of it’s 
like we were getting photos that 
way too and it was kind of it’s a 
a good way to feed the ego I 
mean really if you look
back on it that’s what it was we 
were just ego-ing out but it’s 
had to do to ride those kinds of
 waves. You really had to kind 
do to ride those kinds of waves. 
You really kind of had to kind of 
 have that self-confidence
 in a lot of it and a lot of it was 
fed off of each other and the 
energy that we gained off of that
I cherish that a lot. Nowadays I’m 
 a different human than I used
to be back then. But I look back 
and it was a special time.
It was 1994 and the glow of 
Mavericks had reached the Hawaiian
islands. More and more big wave
 surfers were  traveling to Half
Moon Bay. It was only a matter
 of time before tragedy
would strike. A group of Hawaiians
 led by Mark Foo were coming over
to challenge Mavericks on oneof 
the best swells in surfing history.
The Mavericks surf community 
was buzzing. 
Jeff Clark was like a proud father.
At that time,
 the repercussions 
of saying that we had twenty foot
 waves in California, if you said
that in Hawaii
they would have laughed at you
 but as you know now,
things have changed and
now, you know, it’s obvious
You can’t deny the obvious 
and Mavericks holds a candle 
to any wave in the world.
The surf paparazzi were foaming
 at the mouth to get pictures 
 of the celebrities. This is footage 
 from that historic day, shot by surf
that historic day, shot by surf 
photographer Steven Spaulding.
You know, I was out in the water
 with Foo
I go “so Mark what do you think?”
And he goes, “I never thought
 it was this good a wave.”
And, um, he was really stoked
 you know and I 
was so stokked because this
 was the first time that, you know,
they had, you know, Mark had come. 
To have Foo be stoked on 
the surf spot and the 
and he got probably a handful
of waves
 and surfed them really well
 and I think
there, you know, he took the 
red eye over here
 got a little, he was tired,
exhausted, but the, the 
rush of surfing a new
wave like Mavericks and 
how good it was and, you know
you can amp up to meet the
 challenge but then you
 you kind of conquer it a 
little bit and you get comfortable.
Big wave surfing went though
 the roof. That’s really when 
 Mavericks got put on the map,
that swell.
Ended up getting this one 
wave where I rode through the inside
pulled up in the inside and then
 Doug Action started shooting 
out of this one boat and I 
ended up getting a picture
that made the cover of Surfing 
Magazine it was my first cover
of Surfing Magazine so I walked out
 of there getting barreled
getting spit out of a barrel at 
Mavericks it was, like, amazing.
Driving home that afternoon 
I actually saw Foo, like
high-fived Foo, going “yeah it’s
 so sick out here, insane, yeah,”
and ended up driving home. I get
 home and I get a call from Loya
and Loya’s all, “dude.”
Before anyone had died 
you’re not, probably as cognizant
into keeping tabs on your friends
 and what they’re doing where
they’re doing you know and 
somebody’s chord could snap easily 
where they’d have to swim in 
so that’s a tough thing and
you know there’s a lot of water
 moving and you’re out there
in a huge playing field too
it’s like multiple football fields
 the whole zone from the inside
 to the very outside so it would 
be very easy to lose track of 
someone. And like you said it could
could be for a pretty innocuous
 reason I mean basically
like a chord snapping and someone
 having to do a long swim to get in
so you know I could see how it
 would be easy to miss someone
out there and um, not having
 anyone die yet I think uh 
probably not as heightened
 of a level of awareness
you know as you would have
 now you know, if someone
now I think they’re keeping
 a lot heavier or a lot better tabs
on people that are getting drilled
 and you know looking to see 
 that they’re going to pop up in
 the white water inside and you 
know that’s where, that’s where
 a jet ski would come in real handy
to come in and basically swoop
 someone out before they get 
into the rocks.
“You cannot believe it but 
Mark Foo passed away.”
and I’m like, “what? No way.”
I mean Mark Foo was the guy 
that basically did everything
he surfed Todo Santos, he surfed
 Waimea, he surfed the outer reefs, 
like, invincible. He was invincible
 and he had just been killed
 by a wave at Mavericks. 
 Like, just was devastating
I remember that night 
As soon as that happened,
 that afternoon got kinda stormy 
 weird and then all of a sudden,
 you know, it just shut down. 
Rainy, the rest of the season
 was done.
So that week right there started
 with the wipeout of Jay
ended with Mark Foo’s death,
 amazing week of surfing
unfortunately had to have
 the passing of Mark Foo 
but it also showed how crazy
 and gnarly this wave was 
 at Mavericks. So that’s how he
 kind of lived and he was also a 
professional big wave rider and
 he surfed at Waimea he was a 
 competitor at the Eddie Aikau
 event which is the elite big wave
Quicksilver sponsors and it’s
 in a memory of Eddie Aikau 
so he was a part of that he
 was one of the guys who
rode big waves and being
 from Hawaii that’s what he did. 
he was one of the guys that actually
 took big wave riding out of Hawaii
he’d come to Todo Santos
 which is an island off of Mexico 
that has big waves as well and
 he’d come and he’d surf that all 
the time when the swells were
 up so it was just second nature for 
for him to come and visit.
It was a pretty inconsistent swell.
 There was a set that came, Mark Foo
 and Ken Bradshaw were paddling 
Mark actually had the in road
 he was more towards the channel
When he stood up the wave 
kind of lurched and when I
 I was describing the way the 
wave works it gets these big ruts 
 in the wave so sometimes it
 will lurch and it will back off and
it will lurch again and that’s kind
 of what happened is it lurched
a little bit it wasn’t a real super 
sized wave but it like kind of backed
off for a second and that’s 
what allowed Mark to get the in road
and then it lifted again and 
right when he stood up it lifted 
he kind of poked the nose of his
 board when he was dropping
 it dug the nose of his board and
 he fell kind of face first. And he 
fell he kind of went, “mmm.”
on his neck and everything 
could have  knocked the air
 out of his chest 
it was kind of an awkward kind of
 landing, the wave wasn’t gigantic. 
The problem was was that that wave,
 when he got it he lurched, hit
got sucked over because every time
 you get if you don’t penetrate you
know sometimes you’ll penetrate
 and you’ll get through the back
but this one he didn’t penetrate
 so he got sucked in the lip
and you see him and he kind of goes
 over the falls and what
happens in that wave is that his 
board breaks, he’s only got a little
piece of his tail left, and, the way
 the bottom is shaped out there they 
they have these kind of undertows
 and you have these things 
called you know like I said 
underwater full undertow so he got
held down. He didn’t really have 
a board to show him where up was
because he only had this really teeny
 piece of his tail left so 
he was held down and on the
 next wave, which was a bigger wave
was Brock Little and um Mike Parsons.
 Mike Parsons was deeper Brock Little
 was a little bit further and they
 take off on the same wave and 
they’re both too deep and the wave
 breaks and it just blows them up
and they both kind of get blown up.
 Parsons, he eats it on that wave
and when he’s underwater, he hits
 somebody. He knows that he
hits somebody and he,
 guaranteed he hit Mark Foo.
You felt him bumping under the wave?
I felt him bump, I felt something
 come up under me,
you know when I came up after the
 wipe-out it was him,
 he was still, he was still under.
 He came up after the next wave I’m
pretty sure. And then we were tangled
 together just getting ping-ponged
through the rocks.
You never know, 
if you fall a little bit,
one way or another if it’s too
 far that way or too far the next
 you never know. So. I don’t surf
Mavericks anymore  I’ve moved on
I have a kid now and that was
 a really good time in my life
I know how dangerous it is
 you know and you gotta be totally 
 totally at the top of your game
 out there and I probably not at 
 at the top of my game since I'm
forty, now I’m just enjoying surfing 
now, fun-sized waves. I surf big 
waves still but I’ve definitely had 
my times at Mavericks where I really
 thought that that was it 
 you know um, my leash got
 caught on the rocks and basically
just thinking God just a couple
 more waves and I’m gonna die.
Just you got to pay attention
 to everybody in the line up
and make sure that you account
 them one way or the other
even if they’ve had a pretty normal
 wipe which is what Foo’s
looked like it didn’t look like a
 super nasty wipe out but any wipeout
at Mavericks can be your last.
The next monumental shift
 in surfing progression
hit Mavericks with the speed
 and power of a two-stroke engine.
Surfers wanted to ride the biggest
 waves of Mavericks. Waves that were 
 too big to paddle into and were
 going unridden. They harnessed the
power of the jet ski and formed teams
 to tow each other into the
biggest waves ever ridden. Tow
 surfing allowed them to go places
on the wave that had never been
 ridden before. But the tow era was 
short-lived. Due to Mavericks being
 located in a marine sanctuary
 tow surfing was outlawed.
I look back on it and it
 was a special time.
This historical session was one
 of the last of its kind.
You will never see this type of
 surfing at Mavericks again.
Tow surfing was something that
 we had borrowed from a crew
 over in Maui. Laird, Dave Kalama,
 the strap crew, they all were 
doing it already and we just took
 what they were doing and brought
brought it to Mavericks.
Fear either stops you in
 your tracks and you don’t go forward
or it motivates you to go
 to the next level
and that’s pretty much
 what it did for me.
I’m not really afraid of anything.
Those days the fun was just
 amazing and if you’d go out there
in the early mornings, but when
 the winds were blowing offshore 
and you really couldn’t get into
 the waves paddling and you’d 
ride these waves with these
 shorter boards and I loved the
fact you could kind of come
 from behind it and backdoor
 it like because you had all this
 speed that you’d carried
you’d just slingshot your
 way into the peak.
Or from behind the peak 
you’d kind of load up underneath
underneath it and set it up
 just like a wave at Stockton 
 Avenue or something like these
 little teeny waves that would just 
expand into this thirty-five
 foot face.
The neatest thing about tow
 surfing is the fact that you
 get to ride this equipment that
 you would never normally ride
on big waves and we were able
 to experiment and ride
these boards that 
were super short.
A new breed of Mavericks surfer
 was starting to evolve.
A younger surfer, who was looking
 up to his mentors and poised to 
make the next leap in surfing
 progression. One of those surfers
was Jay Moriarity.
A lot of guys surf big waves with
 eyes like this and fear. 
Jay would drop into these things
 with the biggest smile on his face.
As he’s taking this late drop his
 eyes aren’t like this,
he’s got the big smile. He loved it.
 He probably loved it more
than anybody. And I think ultimately
 that’s what got him in trouble.
He showed up in the line up
 and he’s just this smiling,
 all teeth, starry-eyed, and you’re
 kind of almost kind 
of in a way kind of like, “woah,
 like, this kid’s so happy that, it 
kind of almost like turns me
 off in a way 
you know and you’re like, how could
 somebody be that happy 
and be so nice to everybody and
 because that’s not how
 Santa Cruz was. Santa Cruz was
 always guarded and tough guy
ou know you didn’t, that’s how
 I was brought up you didn’t,
you weren’t, open arms to everybody.
 I’ve learned a different way
Jay had that at a early age
I've learned a lot from him.
We paddled out at Pleasure Point
 one day and the first peak
was there and first peak at the
 time during this year, this season
first peak at Pleasure Point was real
 who’s there who are you attitude.
It was just the, you could cut the
 atmosphere with a knife, the
pressure with a knife. It was thick.
 And I’d paddle out there
 and I hate that attitude.You
 gotta be careful what they
 say careful what they do and
 just a lot of barking it’s ready to 
explode. And all of a sudden
 Jay’s paddling this way and I’m 
 paddling this way and I’m just
 making out and I said some sort
of uncool statement loud. I looked
 at Jay, and Jay looked at me, and 
I figured he’d go “oh, shhhh,” 
kinda like this, just like keep it 
 you know? And I had a big smiley
 face and he turned around, and
reciprocated, with something
 equally as loud as, as obnoxious as,
you know just a statement. You know,
 “boy surfing is great, isn’t it?
Aren’t we having fun out here?
 It’s great to see everybody,”
you know, something like this,
 and he did too. And first the
guys looked at me, then they looked
 at Jay, and things just mellowed out
 But I was blown away that Jay,
 as young as he was, and how
much he thought of these guys,
 who they were and everything,
how he would say such a thing
 to put himself in a place where 
they may dislike him or think
 less of him. I was blown away
he had the, the maturity to do that.
He shows up at Mavericks
 and he starts going off
out there like he literally showed
 up and had the boards and the
 confidence and went out there and
 was in the bowl taking off 
One of his first sessions he,
 he takes this huge wave.
People cheering,
wave sounds
Jeff Clark remembers his all-time
 favorite tow session 
with Jay Moriarity.
He shows up at the dock at the
launcher one day and he goes
“what’s that?” and I go, “it’s 
gonna be fun.”
 It’s as good as it gets. 
Anything is possible ‘cause it
was just gaping barrels. Jay and
 I were doing no hands barrel riding
 completely gone, disappearing
 and coming out the end,
and he was one of the best surfers
 to ever surf Mavericks.
He was able to put me right in
 the place where I needed to be 
 I took off on this wave and,
I let go of the rope too soon,
and I tried to hop over the ledge
 and get down, I couldn’t get so
I turn out of the wave and my
 feet are stuck in
the strap and I reach down to the
 board and I fall over and tumble
over and he comes driving in
 and goes, 
“what are you doing?”
 and he’s laughing
and there’s a thirty foot wave
 about ready to break on our head
and he knows how long he
can just sit there and the wave’s 
standing up and throwing and
he hasn’t even hit the throttle yet 
until he goes, “hey, hold on we
 gotta go.” And I’m either
on or I’m not and he’s, he’s out. 
Just calm in the face of what
 some people would think
 is just terrifying fear.
Jay’s passion for the ocean
 translated into a new sport 
addiction: free diving. Here he
 could not only be close to nature
but also push the levels of his
 personal training. Jay loved free
diving because it increased his
 connection with the underwater 
world. 
Here, he could be at peace.
Jay asked Tom Powers to
 become his free diving mentor.
He reached out to the, the elderly
 state men you know 
 like Frosty to say “hey I want to do
 this can you, can you help show me 
 the way?” Which is, is pretty cool. 
I started taking Jay 
out on a regular basis. You know,
 first time he ever got a lingcod.
or halibut I was with him,
he was really really stoked
 kind of like me just as stoked on
 spear fishing and free diving as 
as he was surfing Mavericks. You
 know he got his first white sea 
bass actually the month before
 he died. You know super, super
super duper bummed you know
 and then I felt a little bit of 
of responsibility for not having
 the shallow water blackout talk 
and you basically, you know you
 want to make sure you’re diving
within your limits. Ultimately,
 and none of us do this but we
should, is diving with a buddy. 
You know in a perfect world you’d be
doing one up, one down while one
 guy’s on the surface breathing up
the other guy goes down but you
 know what happens we end up 
spreading out looking for fish in
 different areas and disconnecting. 
 Never seen Jay snap on
 anyone in the water
 you know and, and things get
 heated sometimes you know for
for whatever reason, right or
 wrong but it
happens and Jay had nothing
 but a great attitude and good 
positive vibes you know making
 sure that you know you’re 
not all by yourself.
Jay was free diving in the
 Maldives when he went missing.
You know the Maldives is some
 of the best diving in the world
 it’s the most clearest water in
 the world so he was at this
one dive spot and there was a 
couple of other guys there too that 
were actually free diving and so
 they could dive down to the bottom,
it’s super deep, and then hang out
 on the bottom and he was down
 there timing and he, he was
 trying to hold his breath as long
 as he could. The error that he made
 was the fact that he wasn’t with
 people and like well he was earlier
 but they all had kind of left,
and then he was there by himself
 and he went for one last dive
what happened was that he was
 supposed to show up for dinner 
when he didn’t show up for dinner
 there was a couple people
were like “oh, when I saw him last
 he was over there diving,” so they
 all ended up going to that spot
 and then they saw his towel and his
 stuff and like they ended up
 doing a full search and you know 
they went straight to the bottom
 like they basically started diving 
for him and they found him at the
bottom.  
 and he was sitting just in peace.
 His watch was beeping, just “beep 
beep beep beep beep beep beep,”
 you know and it was a couple hours
later probably and he was just 
sitting there, still as can be.
But you know they call it a
 shallow water dark blackout
or basically what I think happens
 is you get to a certain point
when you hold your breath for so
 long that it gets beautiful. 
 At a certain point where you can
 just it’s actually really nice to be
 there. And I think he just wanted
 to stay there. And he did.
I was going to meet you know
 everybody up at the funeral
home and I got there before
 everybody and uh, they said,
 “who are you here to see?”
 and I said, “Jay,” and he goes
“oh I’ll bring him out for you.” 
So I’m in the chapel, 
 and there’s Jay. It was just him
 and I
in the and he was 
there in front of me
and I was on my knees 
and I was praying and just
I held onto his hand
 and just
 cried.
 Because it was going
 to be the last time I’d
 I’ve ever met ever,
 and I got to sit and be with
 one of the most favorite 
people I’ve ever met
I got to say goodbye to him
I guess the greatest thing
 that I could do 
moving forward
was try to remember 
how Jay was 
and you know the example
 he set at such an early age
of kindness and joy 
 and it seemed that
 everywhere he went
he left it a better place
and if we could all do that 
this whole world would be
 a better place wouldn’t it?
I just couldn’t believe it. 
There’s just no way that that
 could have happened to that guy.
 Because that guy was
one of the ones that trained
 hard and ate well and took care of
himself and did everything right.
 How could, how could
something like that happen to him?
 It’s supposed to happen
to the guys who don’t take care
 of themselves and you
know so, um, so I was in shock
 um, and it was hard to believe, 
it really was hard to believe um
 I had to, it really kinda sank
in when we did the paddle out
 for Jay I came back from the trip
 and they did a paddle out for him.
 When there was 500 people I mean
maybe even more I don’t even know
 but like I’ve never seen
a paddle out like that and still to
 this day I’ve never seen a paddle
out where the whole entire
 community came out. Guys were
 paddling from the west side all
 the way to the east side. 
That’s you know that’s a good
 four mile five mile paddle like Flea
and all his crew they all paddled
 from the lane you know and just
 this huge gigantic circle and
 that’s really when I was like
wow, it’s true you know like he
 did touch that many people. 
 And he was gone. Which in hindsight
 he really isn’t gone because
 we all now remember him for that
 same smile that same starry
blue eyes that same love of
 passion for life that you know
 that’s that you can hold 
onto that now.
 I can hold onto that. 
Forever.
And in the end the wave
 never changed. 
But the people did.
