Kelly Slater does a hell of an Occy impression. I never knew that. Most people probably didn’t know that. Intonation aside, he gets his chin into it in a uniquely Occy way. And you can skip to 4:10 in the first video of the Talk Story we put together with Kelly Slater and Rob Machado if it tickles your fancy to see for yourself.
Beyond explaining Mark Occhilupo’s tangible fear of defeating Sunny Garcia at the 1995 Pipe Masters, Kelly and Rob divulge a gaggle of revelations at the premiere of our film, HI-5: Rob Machado, Kelly Slater, and Surfing’s Greatest Heat.
From Kelly:
“I could probably make about three thousand dollars today and lose the world title and my day would be over, or, who knows, I could win this thing, make a whole ton of money, accomplish my dream of winning a world title and a pipe masters, and it could be the best day of my life in that way.”
“To be honest, I think I enjoyed my time off tour more than most of my time on Tour at this point.”
“We’re just normal people like everyone else trying to enjoy life, and it’s better when you’re open with people and not a jerk.”
“What’s happening in Sumatra is frightening; it’s probably one of the scariest things on earth. The forests are disappearing faster than the Amazon and they’re not being replenished in any way.”
“You can have my spot if you want it. I will retire now at Pipeline right now.”
The last one was a joke.
From Rob:
“Our lives revolve around the ocean, so we’d be dumb not to try to protect it and try to keep not just the ocean, but this earth that we have. It’s a magical place.”
Kelly and Rob Discuss Leaving the Tour:
Kelly and Rob Discuss Staying Grounded:
Kelly and Rob Discuss the Environment:
Editor’s note: Watch our film HI-5: Rob Machado, Kelly Slater and Surfing’s Greatest Heat here, and view the rest of the excerpts from our Talk Story with Kelly and Rob here.
