Watching mainstream media coverage of all things surf can often be painfully awkward. A typical local newscast from a contest or record swell offers up its fair share of cringe worthy surf puns every 15 seconds. “It’s fair to say, the surfers on this beach are having a swell day. Back to you, Bob.”
Alexander Marquardt is not one of those reporters. Here he hangs with Garrett McNamara to share the simple story of an obsessive search for what McNamara calls “Big Mama”. Filmed during a mission to Nazare, GMac is determined to find a new record setting wave. He has a staff of safety personnel, a film crew recording every wave from ten different angles (literally), and his wife on the cliff as a look out. Marquardt is giving us a detailed look at everything it takes to hunt down the biggest waves on the planet, even going so far as to climb on the back of McNamara’s ski for a first hand look at navigating Nazare’s lineup during big surf. That is some solid reporting.
