Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown

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Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown, is an hour-long documentary on a remarkable legend in the worlds of surfing, sailing and soaring. Maui resident, Woody Brown, (who passed away at age 96 in 2008) not only lived a life full of extraordinary adventure and accomplishment including inventing the modern catamaran, setting world gliding records, and surfing Hawaii’s 25-foot surf in the early 1940s but he did so with a kind of selflessness and generosity that have made him an inspiring role model for four generations of Hawaiians, especially surfers and sailors. The documentary captures Woody s unique blend of enthusiasm, wisdom and spirituality that makes him a truly inspirational figure for everyone who has met him. Born to great wealth in New York City, Woody ran away from the life of privilege to become a protégé of Lindbergh at age 16. The film captures his journey to become a world record glider pilot, then a surfing pioneer before the tragic death of his first wife in childbirth. Of Wind and Waves explores Woody s life in his own words and from the perspectives of his family and friends who have shared his journey, along with surfing and soaring historians. The film also features a remarkably rich archive of film and photography from every stage of Woody s long life to complement coverage of his contemporary life as an amazingly lively elder. It won the Inspiration Award at the 2006 Mountainfilm in Telluride, Best Surfing Film at 2006 Byron Bay Film Festival and the Adventure Award at the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Documentary in 2008.

Review

Surf s still up for Woody Brown ‘Of Wind and Waves’ is a surfing film that aims to inspire nonsurfers as well By Burl Burlingame bb*********@**********in.com Not only has Woody Brown been around longer than most of us can remember, he’s been a fixture on Hawaii’s beaches longer than our parents can remember. But as the memorable new documentary Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown explains — often heartbreakingly — Woody’s life in Hawaii was actually his third attempt at finding himself. He began as the pampered son of upper-crust New York City rajahs, horrified at the idea of living in concrete canyons; then became an acolyte of aviator Charles Lindbergh and the thrills of flying, moving to rural Southern California with a wife and stepdaughter he adored, so he could spend his days teaching gliding. There, he discovered surfing. Then, his wife died in childbirth. Overcome with grief and dangerously suicidal, Brown put his stepdaughter and baby up for adoption and fled to Hawaii to live on the beach. He was already in his 30s and unaware that his life was just beginning. Brown became a legendary Hawaii waterman, riding the big waves when few others dared — and along the way seemingly befriended everyone he met. He was the other man in the soup when Dickie Cross was swallowed alive by monster combers at Waimea in 1943, an event that scared off big-wave surfers for more than a decade. Inspired by twin-hull canoes he saw in the South Pacific during World War II, and armed with aeronautical engineering and lightweight construction know-how, Brown invented the first modern catamaran in 1947. The Manu Kai was not only the fastest sailboat in the world, it was a design revelation that not only inspired a generation of sailors, it is one of Hawaii’s true historic vessels. Surfer Hobie Alter was so impressed by the Manu Kai that he reinvented the concept as the Hobie Cat, and Alter is listed today as the inventor of the catamaran in sources as authoritative as Wikipedia. But we know better. It seems that Brown was having too much fun selling rides aboard Manu Kai to Waikiki tourists to bother with patents. A life of fun — joie de vivre — colors Brown’s life, and this is reflected in the film by David Brown (no relation, although he seems to be the only one in the film who isn’t a relation). Brown earlier filmed Brown (!) for his award-winning documentary Surfing for Life. Today, Brown the Elder, at 94, is still gliding, surfing, swimming, making new friends and — memorably — climbing trees for fresh fruit. Woody was one of 10 surfers in ‘Surfing for Life,’ but his life was so full and interesting we just had to do a full feature film on him, said Brown the filmmaker, long-distance in his California office. Many of the fans said Woody was their favorite character in ‘Life,’ and that was the catalyst. It took six years. One source of archival surfing footage came from, naturally, filmmaker Bud Brown (documentarians Bruce Brown and DeSoto Brown also figure in). It’s a common name, but there seem to be a lot of Browns involved in surfing, said David Brown. We think it will be popular in Hawaii, naturally, but we think there will be broad interest internationally and should be shown, say, on PBS. It’s a pretty rich and resonant story for surfers and nonsurfers alike. It embodies a lot o