North American wants to surf for another 50 years; feel protected and lucky; of the legacy he left in the waves of Nazaré, he liked to erase the excessive construction on land and, therefore, «he would try to do everything so that Walter Chicharro would not win the local elections»
Garrett McNamara was in Lisbon, at MAAT, to promote the 3rd season of the documentary 100 Foot Waveto be shown on the Max platform (ex-HBO).
The Big Wave of Nazaréin Portuguese translation, written by Nicole McNamara, Garrett’s wife, it was supposed to be an hour and a half film, designed for an Oscar, but it ended up in a series that received an Emmy.
“We were very lucky. We had good content and they chose to make a series. They saw a good story to continue for years and it’s working. The 3rd season should air in September and the 4th is being filmed,” he said.
He leaves the character who is real on the screen and spoke to A BOLA about the giant waves of Nazaré and the village, about the body, spirit and mind, addressed the topic of death that he does not fear and left a warning: he will continue to surf more 50 years.
«Surfing at first was because I simply loved it, then it became a job», he recalled. «I surfed for the acceleration and because I was paid. In 2007, it was still my job, I liked it, but I no longer felt that acceleration», he continued McNamara.
The feeling would change. «After Nazaré and the first series on HBO, I achieved all my goals. I was finally happy with surfing, my career and I could stop surfing,” she acknowledged.
However, he didn’t. «I like it so much that I will continue until I feel good, small, big, monstrous waves, I will surf not for ego, pride, money or fame, but for pleasure and to inspire people that anything is possible», he acclaimed.
The Nazaré Canyon has already been the scene of serious accidents big riders in pursuit of the dream of breaking the world record – a wave of 30 meters, or 10 stories. It happened to Brazilian Maya Gabeira (2013), Englishman Andrew Cotton (2017) or Portuguese Alex Botelho (2020, during the big wave world circuit stage).
There is one death to report: Márcio Freire, 47 years old, at the beginning of 2023. «I was on the paddle [sem ajuda do jet-ski]he was wearing a thin vest, I don’t know what killed him, but it could have been a heart attack,” he said.
Luckiest surfer in the world
The waves in the shape of a giant wall transform the water into bricks after a certain size. In this elementary challenge to the human condition in which a wipe out (fall) can shatter bones and muscles similar to a fall from a half-dozen-story building, the feeling of death can hover in the subconscious.
«It’s very lucky. A couple of people might die every year, but God must love surfers. We didn’t lose any in Nazaré because we have the safest equipment, we are prepared and we have the drivers”, he reinforced.
Asked if he is afraid of being turned into a death, McNamara responds dryly. «I’m not afraid of death. Maybe I’ll die after one last day of surfing when I’m 105, or rather, 106. I have another 50 years of surfing ahead of me,” smiled the 66-year-old North American surfer.
«If I eat properly, see and hear good things, my mind will be perfect, as will my body and soul and this will determine how long I will surf. If I choose to eat poison, see and hear rubbish, I will destroy my mind”, he assured.
Take a step towards spirituality. In the waves “I feel the PCP: presence, connected and protected”, he decoded. «I feel something bigger than myself, 100% spiritual», she attested. «I didn’t believe in spirits and ghosts, but I’ve seen some with my own eyes in recent years, so now I believe it», he confessed.
McNamara held the life of CJ Macias, brother-in-law and brother of his wife Nicole. “At the Jet Ski you feel more responsibility in guiding someone than when you are alone, you feel more adrenaline when you are putting someone on the bandwagon», he assumed. «Put them in their place and they choose sides. Sometimes it can be your fault if you put them in the wrong place,” she acknowledged.
He’s already been injured and has had scares. «I’ve never been underwater for two minutes, only 30 seconds. I’m the luckiest surfer and human being in the world to date, but any of us could be. It’s a question of mindset“, shot.
Regulation of going to the water
Since 2011, the year of the response to the repeated email that it took him a while to respond, but that «because of my wife, the real person in charge, one day she organized my mailbox and a month later we were in Nazaré», a lot changed on and off the water.
On certain epic winter days, the Canyon seen from the Forte de São Miguel Arcanjo Lighthouse looks more like a kindergarten without a teacher, as publicly stated Sebastian Steudtner, German holder of the largest wave surfed and approved (26.21 meters).
«I would try to do everything so that Walter Chicharro would not win the local elections»
«There should be some regulation when going to the water. I worked on it a lot and few people accepted it and no one wanted it in the law. Fortunately we have a good captain who does his best and ensures that whoever goes out, goes out properly equipped, but, however, there are a lot of unqualified people going into the water”, he warned.
Garrett recognizes that he put Nazaré on the world map, but considering the legacy he left, if he could go back, he would change what happened on land, on the slope of the fishing village overlooking the big waves. «I would try to do everything so that Walter Chicharro does not win the local elections. He ruined everything, the town became monstrous, he would have stopped construction, he would have tried to maintain as much of the traditional side as possible”, he concluded on the sidelines of the presentation of the 3rd season of the documentary 100 Foot WaveThe Big Wave of Nazaréin Portuguese, broadcast on the Max platform (ex-HBO).
