THE FISHERMAN’S SON

Chilean big-wave surfer Ramon Navarro was raised in the small coastal community of Pichilemu, where for four generations his family has made its living diving for mariscos (sea food) along the rocky beaches, fishing for sea bass, and cooking over open flames on the beach.

Navarro’s love for his home was forged in the water, and his passion was born in the cold glassy barrels of Punta de Lobos, one of the greatest big-wave lefts South America has to offer.

“Everything I know about life, my father has taught me, and everything I know about the ocean and nature—to respect it, protect it, and take care of it—I learned from my family,” says a mustachioed 35-year-old Navarro in the first two minutes of Chris Malloy’s film, The Fisherman’s Son. At 29 minutes, the movie succinctly chronicles Navarro’s Chilean roots, a rise to big-wave-rider fame at the 2009 Eddie Aikau surf contest in Waimea Bay, and his decision to use his newly earned visibility to become a powerful voice and ambassador for surf conservation in Chile.

In the last decade, there has been an onslaught of land grabs along the Chilean coast, where corporate entities have recognized unique natural beauty and in quick succession worked to develop infrastructure like hotels, parking garages, and new homes. It was during Malloy’s early pro-surf touring days that he witnessed firsthand the way small communities were changing as a result of careless development by outsiders—damaging ecosystems, driving up populations, and altering people’s traditional ways of life. In Pichilemu, Navarro was the one who said “no.”

The Fisherman’s Son is tied closely with Santa Cruz-based nonprofit Save the Waves, which aims to protect the world’s best surf breaks from major development and other threats to their environment. The organization has worked in Chile for about nine years and Punta de Lobos for two, and is now partnered with Navarro, says Save the Waves Executive Director Nik Strong-Cvetich, who is featured in the film.

“The film tells the story of Ramon, which is incredible because he went from being a nobody to one of the greatest big-wave surfers in the world, and then made his decision to return to his home, which you don’t see a lot of other pro surfers make,” Strong-Cvetich says. “He cares about that place and wants to do what’s right for it. He’s seen what’s happened to many of the world’s most popular surf breaks and how they lose the magic they once had.”

Save the Waves has been running a campaign called “Punta de Lobos Por Siempre,” or “Punta de Lobos Forever,” for two years that aims to acquire and preserve 23 coastal acres of land in Pichilemu, prevent development, and protect near-shore marine environments.

“It would be the first time an organization actually bought land to conserve a surf spot,” says Strong-Cvetich.

Two of the key properties currently being targeted, which are held by a number of private owners (who have agreed to sell), will cost about $1.5 million.

“Within the title of the land, it stipulates that you can’t build on it,” Strong-Cvetich says of the acquisition plan.

The film and “Punta de Lobos Por Siempre” are backed by Patagonia, which will match donations for the campaign up to $100,000, he says.

In 2003, Punta de Lobos was selected to be named a World Surfing Reserve, which is a Save the Waves program that seeks to conserve the most epic surf spots around the world. If everything goes according to plan, the site will be dedicated this fall.

“Ramon has been at the heart of this, and it’s really his vision,” Strong-Cvetich says.

Since Save the Waves began working in Pichilemu, Strong-Cvetich says that Navarro’s efforts have helped to stop some “pretty heinous construction projects.” In the last year and a half, there was a plan to build a seven-story hotel right on the Punta de Lobos point, an underground parking structure, and 22 cabanas.

“All this was very close to becoming reality and totally changing the nature of the place,” Strong-Cvetich says.

In 2006, Save the Waves was part of a campaign in Pichilemu to prevent the city’s mayor from directing a sewer pipe just offshore of the main surf break, a struggle that is recounted in the film. Navarro was organizing protests, rallying the community in the streets, and even piled trash on the mayor’s doorstep to make a point. The protesters were victorious in blocking the sewage pipe, and today Navarro holds the title of Ambassador for both Patagonia and Save the Waves.

Recently, Navarro’s work is becoming increasingly high profile, garnering attention from influential Chilean authorities. The Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heraldo Muñoz, invited him to be a Goodwill Ambassador and speak at the Our Ocean conference in Valparaiso, Chile this October.

“That’s really exciting,” says The Fisherman’s Son director Malloy. “It can take years to make that happen, and here it almost happened overnight.”

Malloy says there is a certain passion in Navarro that invites that kind of excitement and inspiration in people, which is just one of the reasons he wanted to make the film.

“I once saw Ramon at a town meeting that blew my mind—he was like Pancho Villa,” Malloy says. “He went up to the perpetrator [a South American businessman who intended to develop a large hotel at Punta de Lobos] and, in front of everyone, pointed between this guy’s eyes and said, ‘Look, you can say what you want, but if you do this, it’s not going to be good for this place that’s our home.’ The guy got put on his heels. Ramon held his ground. We saw a spark in this kid—that he’s not going to take this shit … and I wanted to help tell his story.”

Malloy says The Fisherman’s Son is not supposed to be an environmental film, or be anti-construction or anti-progress, but rather aims to highlight a unique culture and show why people like Navarro should make land-use decisions.

It is “about letting the people who have stewarded the land for so long be the ones who decide how their homes are developed,” Malloy says. “Because what happens is, before the locals know it, their way of life is gone—for good.”

As for Navarro, he says he just wants to do what he can for his home.

“SURFING IS GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK AND EXPRESS THE REALITIES OF MY COUNTRY,” HE STATES NEAR THE END OF THE FILM. “I NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS VOICE THAT IT’S GIVING ME.”

RISE TO FAME:

Ramon Navarro finished in fifth place at the 2009 Eddie Aikau, but caught what many have described at the biggest wave of the day—one that stretched the width of the whole bay. Kelly Slater, interviewed in the film about the day Navarro became a world-renowned surfer, says it was “like winning the Super Bowl. He was not a super well-known guy at that point in the surf world. And you could tell that within five seconds, everyone knew who Ramon was.” Among his notable wins since, Navarro went on to finish in second place in the 2011 Big Wave World Tour.

THE VISION:

Save the Waves’ “Punta de Lobos Por Siempre” campaign aims to acquire and protect 23 coastal acres of land in Pichilemu, prevent development, and protect near-shore marine environments. If they succeed, it will be the first time an organization bought land in order to preserve a surf spot.

ECHOES OF SANTA CRUZ:

Santa Cruz and Pichilemu, Chile have some interesting similarities. Mirroring their distance from the equator,both cities are close to the same latitude—Pichilemu is at approximately 34; Santa Cruz is at approximately 37. Both surf cities are defined by their cold water, rugged coastline, large waves, and excellent point breaks.

“People say Chile is a lot like California but a 100 years ago,” says Strong-Cvetich. “And I think what they’re experiencing right now, with the development and land grabs, is a lot like what California experienced during the 1970s.”

In the 1970s, the City of Santa Cruz had a grant for $900,000 to develop a convention center and hotel at Lighthouse Field and Lighthouse Point, Strong-Cvetich says.

“What we see there now was very close to becoming a huge constructed edifice. It’s hard to imagine now, but if instead of the field, there was something like a huge shopping mall, rather than just the lighthouse, it would have totally changed the place.”

Q&A between author Joel Hersch and Ramon Navarro