Mick Fanning is sitting on a brown leather couch in the living room of his palatial estate on the Gold Coast. It’s a crisp Spring day, and the waves are almost completely flat. His dog, Harper, is curled up next to him. They both look comfortable. Mick adores his dog. Just a few months prior Mick actually flew back from California early to take care of Harper when she needed surgery on her leg. She’s a little skittish around strangers, but she’s trotting around with a skip in her step today; she takes the elevator in the house, a feature I suspect might exist exclusively because of Harper’s hip issues. There isn’t much clutter in Mick’s home. It’s open, white, and sits on the sand just a few kilometers down the road from Snapper Rocks, where he surfed waves so exceptionally that he has his very own giant surf shop adjacent to it: Mick Fanning’s Rip Curl Store. After a marathon year in 2016 filled with personal trauma of epic proportions (think: shark attack, family death, relationship changes, almost winning a 4th World Title), Mick is taking a break. Like, actually pressing pause. Something that doesn’t come easy for him.
“When you’re going for world titles, every day is shaped around how you’re going to win that world title, you know?” says Fanning. “Thinking so many steps down the road that you sort of miss actually being where you are.”
Seated next to Harper, who is now snoring, he seems acutely present.
“This year has been about not making any plan, and if something pops up I can just do it,” says Fanning. “I’m really excited I can just be a fan right now…If you’re going to have a holiday, you might as well have a proper holiday, even if I do get jealous of guys surfing Pipe.”
I ask him about 2017, but he doesn’t provide any details. When he insists that life is up in the air, he shrugs. He seems sincere. That afternoon he was packing for “a top secret, once-in-a-lifetime trip” that just popped up. He leaves tomorrow. Beyond that, he was looking forward to a trip to Alaska. Watching bears eat fish. Stuff like that. Probably not items on the itinerary when you’re strategizing a mathematical, moment-by-moment run at the title. (Ironically, when we caught up, he sat in 10th place after competing as a wildcard in just four of seven events on the Tour. Mathematically, still in striking distance despite his “recess.” He thought that was ridiculous.)
Just fifteen minutes from Mick’s house sits Balter Brewery, a project hatched by Fanning and childhood friends Bede Durbidge, Josh Kerr, and Joel Parkinson. They enlisted the expertise of brewmaster Scotty Hargrove to dial in a craft beer that seems to be the Gold Coast’s new trophy beverage. The brewery is shiny and clean. Bede Durbidge drops by to say hi and check in to a meeting in the upstairs boardroom. It all appears to be something of a dream, and it’s hard to say which is more gratifying: winning three world titles or operating a successful beer company with his mates. He said when he started in surfing, he never expected to win one world title. Let alone three. It’d be fair to wager that he didn’t anticipate owning a brewery either.
He pours us a pint of the XPA, it’s got a hint of fruit with the bite of an IPA. It’s distractingly good. Seated at the wood and metal bar at Balter Brewery, I ask him again about 2017, and without hesitation or a hint of irony he laughs.
“I could end up in places I never thought I’d end up. For me, that’s exciting.”
Editor’s Note: This piece was made possible by our friends at Skullcandy.
