Welcome to the second part of In Search of Excellence episode featuring Garrett McNamara, a legendary surfer who owns the world record for the largest wave ever surfed, 100 feet tall, which is the equivalent of the 10-story office building or the height of Niagara Falls.  

He is the first person ever to ride a wave created by breaking glaciers.  Garrett is also the author of the book “Hound of the Sea: Wild Man. Wild Waves. Wild Wisdom.” and the star of the fantastic HBO documentary TV series called “100 Foot Wave."

He is also a dedicated philanthropist. Garrett and his wife, Nicole, started an amazing Waves of Life McNamara Foundation, which helps kids to discover nature and be more environmentally conscious and self-sufficient, with a particular focus on disadvantaged kids.

Time stamps:

02:05 From a hippie commune to a crazy cult

• Born in Massachusetts, grew up in Berkley
• Raised by a single mom in a hippie commune
• Found the cult The Christ Family
• He was around 6, and his brother was 4
• Those were the crazy times

07:57 Life in Hawaii

• Was being poor motivation for his success later in life?
• In Hawaii, mom had a husband Daryl
• Lived on welfare
• Always wanted to feel secure and not worry about the money

11:14 Surviving elementary school

• First went to elementary school in Berkley
• In Hawaii, he fought with Filipino gangs
• In high school, fought with another guy and took him out
• Hawaiians and Filipinos fought mostly with brass knuckles and knives

16:30 Garrett’s first surfing board

• Anybody with darker skin who moves to Hawaii is accepted faster
• Haole – Hawaiian term for anyone that is not a native Hawaiian
• His garage sale surfboard
• Surfed for the first time with his friend Butchy Boy Wong, a Chinese Hawaiian
• He fell in love with surfing at 11

21:25 Falling in love with big waves

• His bad experience surfing at Sunset and his fear of big waves
• Didn’t have a father in Hawaii, but had father figures (Roy Patterson, Gustavo Liberte)
• Was hanging out with Gustavo, smoked marijuana
• When he was 16, Gustavo wanted to take him to surf at Sunset
• Gustavo literally grabbed him by the neck and took him

27:27 How Garrett quit drugs and alcohol

• Was using often drugs, but stopped at 19
• He was invited to a Triple Crown
• Realized that it was possible to earn a living from surfing
• Quit using pot, cocaine, and alcohol to become a professional surfer
• How much money did he earn in Japan?

33:30 Garrett’s brother Liam

• Liam was better than Garrett, had more sponsors, made more money
• Liam became the most photographed surfer in the world
• Caught more waves than anybody at Rocky Point and Pipeline
• He should have won the Pipeline Masters one year but didn’t
• Breaking his femur and how it affected his career

41:35 What is big wave surfing?

• Surfing on big waves became popular
• Anderson Cooper described it as cruising at the side of a skyscraper but the skyscraper is collapsing on you
• Garrett describes his best experience with big wave surfing