San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Moss Beach surfer still catching waves after 30 years
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“The way I see it, I’ve cheated death twice. I have a saying: If the sky is blue and I can wiggle my toes, it’s a good day.”
Surfer Christy Davis
At this point, it appears nothing can keep 68yearold Christy Davis down for too long.
Over the last three years, the thrillseeking resident of Moss Beach has suffered a broken back and a heart attack, yet he’s still surfing Mavericks multiple days a week.
His inner strength and perseverance are the subjects of a forthcoming documentary film, a piece that spans 10 years and takes a closer look at Davis’s approach to life, the ocean and the inexorable challenges that both seem to throw at us all.
For Davis, the secret is simple: passion.
“What keeps me going is continuing to surf,” he said. “I never feel more alive than I do when I’m out there.”
Davis began surfing back in East Hampton, N.Y., when he was 11. He moved to the Coastside in 1988 and spent a few years surfing Ocean Beach and some of the more popular spots off Pacifica, Montara, and Moss Beach. Finally, in 1991, he found out about Mavericks, a legendary spot off the coast of Half Moon Bay. He’s been surfing there ever since.
Sometime around 2016, Davis’s story attracted the attention of filmmaker Grant Thompson. Thompson had known Davis for a while (and through other cycling and surfing injuries), and was compelled by Davis’s longevity and perseverance.
Thompson started filming what he thought would be a 5minute short. It ended up becoming much more than that.
Two separate incidents dictated the change in approach.
The first occurred on May 2, 2018. Davis was surfing north of Half Moon Bay when a wave catapulted him off his board and into a rock. The incident left him with a traumatic brain injury and a broken back. Somehow, he still managed to ride the next wave in and walk
back to his car.
“I was fortunate not to be paralyzed,” Davis said.
After four months of rehab and rest, he was back in the water, a testament to his physical fitness and his indomitable spirit.
The second incident was on March 11, 2019: Davis was in the water when he had a major heart attack.
Everything unfolded in the lineup for a big set. Davis had been in the water for a while that morning and had just pulled off one of the best runs he’d ever had at Mavericks. He was feeling great — better than he’d felt at Mavericks in a while. Then — boom — everything changed.
Thompson was in the water with Davis that day. It was the first time he had ever successfully captured Mavericks. The filmmaker had rented a jet ski to go out and got the shot when Davis nailed the big wave. Thompson and his crew headed back to shore just minutes before the incident. They asked Davis if he wanted a ride in. He was feeling so good in the moment, he declined.
Davis described the experience as “surreal.” He had all of the textbook symptoms, only right there in the water. Pain down the arm. Dry heaves. Vomiting. A few friends paddled in with him to make sure he got back to shore safely. From the beach, he drove himself home, then called for an ambulance.
“The way I see it, I’ve cheated death twice,” he said. “I have a saying: If the sky is blue and I can wiggle my toes, it’s a good day.”
Davis took a few weeks off from surfing as he recovered from the heart attack. Gradually, he has worked his way back into the water. He joked that in the two weeks before a recent conversation with a reporter, he’d surfed eight times and ridden his bicycle to the top of Montara Mountain. His assessment: He simply can’t stay away.
Fans and friends said they
Above: Christy Davis paddles to catch a wave. Below: Davis rode this wave at Mavericks on March 11, 2019 about a halfhour before suffering a heart attack. Filmmaker Grant Thompson is working on a documentary about Davis that will start showing this fall.
are glad he’s back.
Perhaps noone is happier than longtime friend John Raymond. Raymond, 62, has lived on the Coastside since 1986 and surfed Mavericks for 32 years. He said he sees Davis as a sort of mentor, and noted that Davis has “always inspired” him, and “kept [his] stoke going” over the years.
“Every time I start thinking I am too old for Mavericks, I look to Christy and think I have a few more years,” he said recently. “He’ll always be my friend who wants to play, and I feel lucky to have him.”
Davis and Raymond still surf together from time to time. Davis also spends lots of sessions surfing by himself. He said his new routine is to get out anywhere from two to four times a week. While his dawn sessions are behind him, he usually goes out around 10 a.m., after the young guns who get up before the sun return to shore.
As for the film, Thompson said he’ll edit it down to about 45 minutes long and will start showing it this fall. He added that the working title is, “A
Man and the Sea,” but noted that likely will change since the film now incorporates Davis’s two daughters and the effect his passions have had on them.
“He’s a bull,” Thompson said of his subject. “He shows us we can keep going and we don’t have to stop.”