WEBVTT - 11. Writing on the Wall 0:00:15.036 --> 0:00:22.036 Pushkin Hey, Lost Tills listeners, it's Dana. I wanted to 0:00:22.076 --> 0:00:24.196 let you know that you can hear the entire new 0:00:24.236 --> 0:00:27.556 season of Lost Hill's ad free, along with other great 0:00:27.596 --> 0:00:31.836 binge listens by becoming a Pushkin Plus subscriber. Find Pushkin 0:00:31.916 --> 0:00:35.156 Plus on the Lost Hills Show page in Apple Podcasts, 0:00:35.356 --> 0:00:46.436 or at pushkin dot fm, slash Plus. 0:00:49.276 --> 0:00:52.916 Mickey was highly intelligent, well read, and he didn't give 0:00:52.916 --> 0:00:54.956 a fuck, and he saw that what the future was 0:00:54.996 --> 0:00:59.156 going to bring to surfing, and so he acted accordingly, 0:00:59.916 --> 0:01:01.316 and he wouldn't capitulate. 0:01:02.676 --> 0:01:06.436 This is Chris molloy. He's a documentary filmmaker who moved 0:01:06.436 --> 0:01:09.236 to Hawaii to be a professional big wave surfer in 0:01:09.276 --> 0:01:12.716 the nineties. Chris is a big fan of Mickey Dora. 0:01:13.756 --> 0:01:15.796 He was like, you know what, I can get paid 0:01:16.436 --> 0:01:19.436 to surf, But he said, I'm going to take credit 0:01:19.436 --> 0:01:24.076 cards and checks and go around the world and surf 0:01:24.116 --> 0:01:28.236 waves that nobody knows about. And he said, God damn it. 0:01:28.916 --> 0:01:31.876 He goes, if they gave you this plastic card and 0:01:31.916 --> 0:01:34.516 you could just go get stuff for free, what the 0:01:34.556 --> 0:01:35.356 fuck would you do. 0:01:38.556 --> 0:01:42.756 I'm visiting Chris at his sprawling ranch on California's Central Coast, 0:01:43.076 --> 0:01:45.556 where he and his wife are raising three kids on 0:01:45.556 --> 0:01:49.436 one hundred acres. He's part of that Kelly Slater generation 0:01:49.516 --> 0:01:54.476 of surfers who grew up on Mickey Dora Lore. Mickey's 0:01:54.516 --> 0:01:57.876 status as an iconoclast spoke to them. 0:01:58.596 --> 0:02:03.236 He was very aware of the big public and governmental 0:02:03.316 --> 0:02:07.636 systems and was smart enough to go, Hey, I'm going 0:02:07.676 --> 0:02:10.516 to do it my way and you guys can pretty 0:02:10.596 --> 0:02:14.996 much fuck off. That was Mickey, you know what I mean, 0:02:16.396 --> 0:02:17.436 and he did it with style. 0:02:18.836 --> 0:02:21.836 Two years before Mickey died, Chris got to spend a 0:02:21.836 --> 0:02:24.476 couple of weeks with him in Chile surfing. 0:02:25.716 --> 0:02:30.196 I was very very focused when I was with him, 0:02:30.236 --> 0:02:33.996 just taking it in because I knew I knew I 0:02:34.036 --> 0:02:35.356 was in a special space. 0:02:35.436 --> 0:02:40.836 So Mickey talked a lot on the trip and Chris 0:02:40.916 --> 0:02:45.556 was listening, but he was also thinking about posterity, and 0:02:45.636 --> 0:02:50.516 so secretly at first, because Mickey was so paranoid, he 0:02:50.596 --> 0:02:54.916 started recording him. As Chris is telling me this, he 0:02:55.156 --> 0:02:56.636 hands me a mini disc. 0:02:57.636 --> 0:03:00.916 So this is a recording that you guys can take 0:03:00.996 --> 0:03:06.036 if you want. That I did with him. So this 0:03:06.196 --> 0:03:10.076 is very unjournalistic, but I'm not a journalist, so I 0:03:10.076 --> 0:03:13.556 can do whatever the fuck I want. He didn't know 0:03:13.716 --> 0:03:17.116 I was recording, and I don't think there's anything good 0:03:17.196 --> 0:03:19.356 in there, honestly, Like I listened to it once and 0:03:19.356 --> 0:03:27.876 it's horrible. Sound testing Testing one, two three, Avocado Balloon. 0:03:30.396 --> 0:03:33.676 There are very few recordings of Mickey Dora. He rarely 0:03:33.716 --> 0:03:36.676 sat for interviews, and when he did, they tended to 0:03:36.716 --> 0:03:42.316 be incredibly contrived, not to mention, full of lies. But 0:03:42.396 --> 0:03:46.996 this tape is different. It captures the final chapter of 0:03:47.076 --> 0:03:51.276 Mickey's life. He was sixty five and he knew he 0:03:51.396 --> 0:03:52.276 was falling apart. 0:03:54.636 --> 0:03:56.076 People do what they want. They have to live with 0:03:56.116 --> 0:03:58.276 their conscience. I want to live the way and I 0:03:58.316 --> 0:03:58.716 want to live. 0:03:58.716 --> 0:04:05.236 It's hard to do and it's an experiment, but I don't 0:04:05.276 --> 0:04:10.596 want anyone to live the way. I wanted to serve 0:04:10.676 --> 0:04:12.436 like everybody else. I want to do anything like anyone 0:04:12.436 --> 0:04:16.276 outside just struggle in my life what suitable for me. 0:04:17.836 --> 0:04:22.916 After years of seemingly perpetual youth, Mickey looked his age. 0:04:23.036 --> 0:04:25.436 A picture from around this time shows him with a 0:04:25.516 --> 0:04:29.916 silvery goatee, wearing some kind of cravat, a soft twinkle 0:04:29.916 --> 0:04:33.436 in his eye, like the most interesting man in the world. 0:04:33.876 --> 0:04:35.636 If he was left on the beach for a week. 0:04:36.956 --> 0:04:40.676 The cancer that would kill him was most likely already 0:04:40.716 --> 0:04:45.356 eating him away. Mickey had been on the outside for 0:04:45.436 --> 0:04:52.236 so long, in exile, in prison, forsaken and the surf world, 0:04:52.676 --> 0:04:57.436 the whole world had moved on. He'd lost his kingdom 0:04:57.756 --> 0:05:02.236 and most of his fawning fans. His fame was underground, 0:05:02.956 --> 0:05:07.436 deep underground. Did the new wild kids of Surf Rider 0:05:07.716 --> 0:05:12.476 even know who Mickey Door was. Mickey always said he 0:05:12.596 --> 0:05:19.076 hated attention, but he craved relevance. He wanted to be wanted. 0:05:20.356 --> 0:05:25.076 The one thing Mickey hadn't lost was his legendary charm. 0:05:25.116 --> 0:05:28.756 So when he met Chris molloy and Kelly Slater, two 0:05:28.796 --> 0:05:33.156 of the surf world's biggest celebrities, he turned it on. 0:05:35.756 --> 0:05:44.436 Mickey was ready for his last act. I'm Dana Goodyear 0:05:45.236 --> 0:06:22.596 and this is Lost Hills, episode eleven, Writing on the Wall. Hi, Kelly, 0:06:21.996 --> 0:06:22.836 how good? 0:06:22.836 --> 0:06:24.836 How are you doing good? 0:06:26.036 --> 0:06:27.996 I'm on a zoom with Kelly Slater. 0:06:28.956 --> 0:06:32.996 You guys see me? No, no cameraw oh I didn't. 0:06:32.836 --> 0:06:34.356 Realize I never had an on cool? 0:06:35.676 --> 0:06:36.236 Okay great. 0:06:37.596 --> 0:06:39.916 He's at home on the north shore of O Wahoo 0:06:40.236 --> 0:06:43.316 and when the camera turns on his zoom. Background's got 0:06:43.396 --> 0:06:48.316 real Hawaii vibes, whitewashed wooden walls, a ceiling fan, and 0:06:48.436 --> 0:06:51.156 surfboards stashed in the roof beams. 0:06:51.676 --> 0:06:51.956 Cool. 0:06:52.276 --> 0:06:54.396 Well, I'm going to start by asking you a question 0:06:54.516 --> 0:06:57.956 that you probably haven't been asked in twenty five years, 0:06:58.276 --> 0:07:01.236 which is who are you and what do you do? 0:07:03.156 --> 0:07:06.156 Funny enough, I get asked that a lot to set 0:07:06.196 --> 0:07:10.396 up interviews. But I'm Kelly Slater. I'm a professional surfer. 0:07:10.876 --> 0:07:13.396 I have been for I've actually been a professional for 0:07:13.436 --> 0:07:18.916 thirty thirty three years now and I'm still competing full time. 0:07:20.596 --> 0:07:23.316 I'm a father. I do a little bit of business 0:07:23.316 --> 0:07:25.716 here and there, so that's kind of my thing. 0:07:27.076 --> 0:07:30.036 It's taken a while to schedule this call because Kelly 0:07:30.236 --> 0:07:32.116 is busy right now. 0:07:32.156 --> 0:07:34.916 I'm actually just I'm in a process of packing and 0:07:35.116 --> 0:07:36.876 kind of closing up my house for the winter because 0:07:36.876 --> 0:07:40.196 I'm going to Portugal tomorrow for a competition. 0:07:41.156 --> 0:07:43.996 It's March, and Kelly's on the World Tour and he's 0:07:44.036 --> 0:07:46.516 hoping to qualify for the Olympics. 0:07:46.876 --> 0:07:49.796 The results from the World Tour feed into the Olympics, 0:07:49.996 --> 0:07:53.996 so it's really essentially like a year long Olympic trials 0:07:54.636 --> 0:07:56.996 and I need to make the top two from the 0:07:57.076 --> 0:07:59.556 US and the men's in order to make the Olympics. 0:08:00.396 --> 0:08:03.716 Kelly Slater is fifty two years old and the winningest 0:08:03.796 --> 0:08:07.316 pro surfer of all time. He just barely missed making 0:08:07.316 --> 0:08:10.556 the US team for surfings first Olympics in Tokyo in 0:08:10.596 --> 0:08:13.436 twenty twenty one. He really wants to make it in 0:08:13.476 --> 0:08:14.316 twenty twenty four. 0:08:15.276 --> 0:08:18.116 This would be my one and probably only Olympics that 0:08:18.116 --> 0:08:18.676 I would ever do. 0:08:21.236 --> 0:08:24.156 Kelly Slater met Mickey in the late nineties, right in 0:08:24.196 --> 0:08:26.236 the middle of a streak in which Kelly won the 0:08:26.236 --> 0:08:29.716 world title five years in a row. Mickey was spending 0:08:29.756 --> 0:08:34.516 time in Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa, another perfect rite, another 0:08:34.676 --> 0:08:38.796 stand in for Malibu. After he was released from prison, 0:08:39.076 --> 0:08:42.596 Mickey kind of alternated between Gettorie, his spot in France, 0:08:42.796 --> 0:08:46.516 and Jay Bay. His constant companion was a small King 0:08:46.596 --> 0:08:50.796 Charles Spaniel named Scooter Boy after a hot dogging Hawaiian surfer. 0:08:51.636 --> 0:08:56.796 Scooter Boy ate at the table from a plate. Mickey 0:08:56.916 --> 0:08:59.796 was surviving on the kindness of others and the fumes 0:08:59.796 --> 0:09:03.916 of his legend. The surf apparel company Quicksilver had come 0:09:03.956 --> 0:09:06.156 to Mickey's rescue when he got out of prison and 0:09:06.196 --> 0:09:09.916 appeared destitute, they paid him a monthly stipe, got him 0:09:09.916 --> 0:09:11.996 a small apartment, and gave him a tab at a 0:09:11.996 --> 0:09:17.276 local restaurant. In return, he agreed to be essentially their mascot, 0:09:17.596 --> 0:09:21.436 showing up at parties and attending surf events. It was 0:09:21.516 --> 0:09:24.196 more or less the same gig Gidget has at Dukes 0:09:24.356 --> 0:09:25.516 in Malibu. 0:09:26.996 --> 0:09:28.636 Over the years. I've told a few of the stories 0:09:28.636 --> 0:09:31.276 that I know where Mickey did like rip people off 0:09:31.316 --> 0:09:34.716 and treated people kind of badly, you know, And I 0:09:34.756 --> 0:09:38.636 don't say those stories to like tarnish his image or 0:09:38.676 --> 0:09:42.076 anything like that. To me, it was a defining part 0:09:42.076 --> 0:09:45.316 of his personality and who he was, that he was 0:09:45.996 --> 0:09:50.636 so paranoid and untrusting of other people. That it was 0:09:50.676 --> 0:09:54.196 maybe because of his own skeletons, but you know, he 0:09:54.276 --> 0:09:56.036 had all these tricks he would pull, and people who 0:09:56.076 --> 0:09:58.956 knew him well would get ahead of his tricks. 0:09:59.636 --> 0:10:02.596 Though Mickey was too scared after prison to pull any 0:10:02.676 --> 0:10:06.636 serious scams, he was still seemingly incapable of paying for 0:10:06.676 --> 0:10:07.316 his own meal. 0:10:08.436 --> 0:10:10.356 One thing that comes mind is he lived in France 0:10:10.356 --> 0:10:11.756 for a long time and he would go to dinner 0:10:11.756 --> 0:10:14.116 with people there, and he always had this trick where 0:10:14.116 --> 0:10:16.276 he'd show up at dinner with one hundred dollar US bill. 0:10:16.516 --> 0:10:19.996 And at the time, it was French Francs, and you 0:10:20.036 --> 0:10:23.316 couldn't just readily exchange a hundred dollars bill at any restaurant, 0:10:23.476 --> 0:10:25.796 and so when the bill would call me, go oh, 0:10:25.836 --> 0:10:28.236 all I have was one hundred dollars bill. And so 0:10:28.316 --> 0:10:30.436 my friend's wife caught onto it. She goes, oh, I 0:10:30.436 --> 0:10:32.556 know he's gonna pull that trick on us again this dinner. 0:10:32.956 --> 0:10:35.556 So she brought enough money to exchange his one hundred 0:10:35.556 --> 0:10:38.156 dollars bill in Frank's at dinner, and as soon as 0:10:38.156 --> 0:10:39.676 he picked it up, when I have one hundred dollars bill, 0:10:39.676 --> 0:10:40.796 she grabbed it out of his hand and goes, I 0:10:40.836 --> 0:10:41.476 got changed for that. 0:10:44.436 --> 0:10:47.876 Kelly was charmed by Mickey. It was incredible to meet 0:10:47.916 --> 0:10:50.676 someone who had been there back at the birth of 0:10:50.756 --> 0:10:54.956 California surfing. His little brother was a big Mickey Dora fan. 0:10:55.316 --> 0:10:57.716 So the first time he met Mickey, Kelly asked if 0:10:57.716 --> 0:11:01.436 he would sign a picture for his brother, and he 0:11:01.636 --> 0:11:01.956 just like. 0:11:01.916 --> 0:11:02.996 Went, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 0:11:03.036 --> 0:11:06.396 No, Kelly, I really like you. He seemed like a 0:11:06.396 --> 0:11:09.476 great guy. But I can't do that, and I said, 0:11:09.516 --> 0:11:11.956 why not, you can like personalize it to my little brother. 0:11:12.556 --> 0:11:14.796 You know, I'd probably signed a thousand autographs at any 0:11:14.916 --> 0:11:19.676 particular event, and Mickey just said, no, you know, these 0:11:19.756 --> 0:11:22.236 Japanese think that my autograph's worth five thousand dollars and 0:11:22.276 --> 0:11:25.516 I can't change that. I can't let him down. And 0:11:25.556 --> 0:11:27.676 what he meant by that was that every surfboard that 0:11:27.756 --> 0:11:30.516 he signed, him and Greg Noel had a surfboard deal 0:11:30.556 --> 0:11:32.636 together and they would sell these boards in Japan and 0:11:32.716 --> 0:11:35.156 they would sell for about five thousand dollars. So he 0:11:35.236 --> 0:11:38.076 equated his signature to being worth about five thousand dollars. 0:11:38.116 --> 0:11:42.876 I guess Mickey's weirdness about signing, about giving any part 0:11:42.876 --> 0:11:46.716 of himself away was a motif Kelly noticed. It might 0:11:46.756 --> 0:11:49.236 have been the fact that in the forged passport case, 0:11:49.436 --> 0:11:53.156 the FBI forced Mickey to submit hundreds of handwriting samples. 0:11:53.756 --> 0:11:57.116 They were never able to get a match, but maybe 0:11:57.116 --> 0:12:03.356 Mickey wasn't taking any chances. Sometime later, Kelly ran into 0:12:03.396 --> 0:12:07.476 Mickey in France. Kelly was sponsored by Quicksilver. He'd been 0:12:07.516 --> 0:12:09.916 invited to play a round of golf with Mickey, the 0:12:09.996 --> 0:12:13.876 Quicksilver mascot and a couple of executives. At the end 0:12:13.876 --> 0:12:15.956 of the round, Mickey and Kelly sat down for a 0:12:16.036 --> 0:12:20.596 drink and Bruce Raymond, who ran Quicksilver International, passed around 0:12:20.636 --> 0:12:23.436 the scorecard for everyone to sign, and. 0:12:23.396 --> 0:12:25.516 Mickey gets up and goes to the bathroom. And I've 0:12:25.516 --> 0:12:28.476 already told you this story about Mickey's autograph, but the 0:12:28.556 --> 0:12:30.876 problem is that Bruce is basically his boss and the 0:12:30.956 --> 0:12:33.396 oneer determines whether he gets a paycheck every month, and 0:12:33.396 --> 0:12:37.716 he gets his travel and all that stuff. So I said, 0:12:37.796 --> 0:12:39.796 you know, Mickey's not going to sign this, Bruce, and 0:12:40.196 --> 0:12:41.996 he goes, he'll sign it, and I said, no, he 0:12:42.476 --> 0:12:44.596 won't sign it. I'm telling you this will be a fight. 0:12:45.116 --> 0:12:46.756 He goes, just put it in front of his seat 0:12:46.756 --> 0:12:49.116 and when he gets back, he'll sign the scorecard. And 0:12:49.156 --> 0:12:51.276 so after about he gets back and he sits there 0:12:51.276 --> 0:12:53.156 for about five or ten minutes and he hasn't signed 0:12:53.156 --> 0:12:57.636 it yet, and Bruce finally goes, Hey, Mickey signed the scorecard, 0:12:57.796 --> 0:13:02.116 and Mickey goes, he just totally freaked out here, Who's 0:13:02.196 --> 0:13:04.916 is this, Who's going to where's this going? I'm no, 0:13:04.956 --> 0:13:08.556 I don't sign things. And Bruce real calmly goes Mickey 0:13:08.596 --> 0:13:11.996 signed the score card, and he goes, well, where's this 0:13:12.036 --> 0:13:15.436 going to go? Who's keeping this? And Bruce goes, don't worry, Mickey, 0:13:15.436 --> 0:13:19.076 it's mine. I'll keep it. All gentlemen signed their scorecards. 0:13:19.596 --> 0:13:20.916 You have to sign your scorecard. 0:13:21.836 --> 0:13:24.396 Mickey agreed reluctantly. 0:13:24.876 --> 0:13:27.756 And Bruce to this day has that scorecard framed on 0:13:27.796 --> 0:13:29.756 his wall at home. He put it in a box 0:13:29.796 --> 0:13:32.716 frame behind glass and I told him, I said, Bruce, 0:13:32.716 --> 0:13:34.356 if you ever pass away before me, I want that 0:13:34.396 --> 0:13:35.276 to go into my house. 0:13:37.676 --> 0:13:40.596 During the golf game in France, Kelly had noticed that 0:13:40.676 --> 0:13:42.956 Mickey's clubs were badly out of date. 0:13:43.876 --> 0:13:45.716 After we had our drinks and he'd signed the scorecard, 0:13:45.716 --> 0:13:48.516 and we're walking to our car and I said, Mickey, 0:13:48.516 --> 0:13:51.916 you know you should probably get a new set of 0:13:51.916 --> 0:13:54.316 golf clubs. I go, those things are like thirty years old. 0:13:54.596 --> 0:13:55.916 You want to get a new set. And he goes, 0:13:56.236 --> 0:13:57.956 what do you mean how am I going to get 0:13:57.956 --> 0:13:59.036 a new set? And I said, I'll get you a 0:13:59.036 --> 0:14:02.196 set of clubs. And he goes, well, if you're not 0:14:02.196 --> 0:14:03.436 going to get me a set of clubs, I need 0:14:03.476 --> 0:14:04.756 to make other plans. You need to let me know 0:14:04.836 --> 0:14:06.716 right now, because I need to make some other plans. 0:14:06.716 --> 0:14:08.556 And I said, Mickey, you haven't made plans of twenty 0:14:08.636 --> 0:14:11.116 five years. I don't think you're worried about how long 0:14:11.196 --> 0:14:12.996 this is going to take. I said, don't worry. I'll 0:14:12.996 --> 0:14:15.396 send you a set of golf club and he goes, well, 0:14:16.236 --> 0:14:16.756 how long is it. 0:14:16.756 --> 0:14:17.236 Kind of taken? 0:14:17.316 --> 0:14:18.636 But I said, I don't know. I got a friend 0:14:18.676 --> 0:14:20.556 at a golf company and I'll order them and i'll 0:14:20.596 --> 0:14:22.916 send him over here to you, and I think I 0:14:22.916 --> 0:14:25.916 flew to California and within a few days I got 0:14:26.156 --> 0:14:28.116 a fax from him. That was when we had faxes 0:14:28.156 --> 0:14:30.996 in the late nineties, and it said, you know, if 0:14:31.116 --> 0:14:32.716 the same thing, Kelly, if you're not going to be 0:14:32.756 --> 0:14:36.556 able to get this set of golf clubs, you're gonna 0:14:36.556 --> 0:14:38.116 have to let me know because I need to make 0:14:38.156 --> 0:14:39.876 other plants, the same exact thing he had told me. 0:14:39.916 --> 0:14:41.756 And I said, Mickey, I don't want to hear from 0:14:41.756 --> 0:14:43.956 you again until you get your golf clubs. 0:14:43.956 --> 0:14:44.276 Okay. 0:14:45.716 --> 0:14:47.396 A month or so later, I got the clubs and 0:14:47.436 --> 0:14:49.116 I sent him to him, and then he sent me 0:14:49.156 --> 0:14:52.316 this fax and it said, Kelly, thank you, thank you, 0:14:52.436 --> 0:14:55.476 thank you. These King Kobra Golf clubs have changed my life. 0:14:55.996 --> 0:14:58.676 Signed to Mickey Dora. I had a really bad facts, 0:14:58.676 --> 0:15:00.556 but I saved the facts and I have his signature 0:15:00.596 --> 0:15:03.476 and stuff. But I'm almost positive that that fact has 0:15:03.516 --> 0:15:04.556 faded to nothing now. 0:15:05.796 --> 0:15:08.516 I was thinking that if you find your facts and 0:15:08.676 --> 0:15:12.196 the signal has vanished, that would be like a perfect 0:15:12.276 --> 0:15:14.556 Mickey from the Grave moment. 0:15:15.796 --> 0:15:15.996 Yeah. 0:15:16.116 --> 0:15:19.956 Really, yeah, he'd be like, I got you, I got you. 0:15:25.516 --> 0:15:29.356 Mickey's greatest accomplishment, in the eyes of many of his admirers, 0:15:29.596 --> 0:15:33.276 is that he managed to orient his life entirely around surfing. 0:15:34.036 --> 0:15:36.956 He was free of the obligations that anchor most of 0:15:37.036 --> 0:15:41.396 us to the shore. He didn't let anything or anyone 0:15:41.876 --> 0:15:43.756 get in the way of his wave. 0:15:44.996 --> 0:15:47.956 He told me, he goes, Kelly, I've almost made it, 0:15:48.636 --> 0:15:50.676 and I said, what, he goes, I'm going to be 0:15:51.916 --> 0:15:54.556 whatever age, sixty two years old, sixty three years old 0:15:54.596 --> 0:15:56.836 next year, and I've never worked a day in my life. 0:15:57.556 --> 0:16:01.116 And that was success to him, was never working. I 0:16:01.196 --> 0:16:03.476 think that was very sincere, you know, like he felt 0:16:03.596 --> 0:16:06.476 that was his accomplishment, that was his legacy. I got 0:16:06.476 --> 0:16:08.236 all the way through life without ever having to work 0:16:08.276 --> 0:16:11.516 a day of my life. He worked harder than he 0:16:11.556 --> 0:16:29.556 probably would have had he just had a job, I. 0:16:29.556 --> 0:16:33.476 Mean Chili on the coastline in a little town called 0:16:33.516 --> 0:16:34.236 Pici Limo. 0:16:35.596 --> 0:16:39.716 I'm in a little one bedroom hotel room. It's Mickey Dora. 0:16:41.996 --> 0:16:46.836 That's Chris molloy, the former pro surfer and documentarian. It's 0:16:46.876 --> 0:16:50.396 the year two thousand. Mickey has just left the room 0:16:50.396 --> 0:16:52.716 to run an errand, and Chris has pulled out his 0:16:52.796 --> 0:16:53.836 mini disc recorder. 0:16:56.916 --> 0:17:00.756 It's been an interesting stay with Mick. 0:17:02.156 --> 0:17:04.116 I feel like after a few days now, I can 0:17:04.156 --> 0:17:06.556 ask him anything I want and he likes to talk 0:17:06.596 --> 0:17:08.676 about it, and she's offended. 0:17:08.796 --> 0:17:11.276 He just skips it and keeps going, doesn't get mad. 0:17:11.676 --> 0:17:17.836 So far. We'll see I set the recorder up and 0:17:17.836 --> 0:17:24.956 he seems to ignore it. Anwer Micky Dora. 0:17:32.836 --> 0:17:35.676 I was living in Hawaii at the time, and my 0:17:35.836 --> 0:17:40.356 friend he called me and then he said, hey, Mickey, 0:17:40.356 --> 0:17:43.116 door's in town. I said, and he goes, I think, 0:17:43.236 --> 0:17:45.516 you know, YouTube should get together, and I'm like, yeah, 0:17:45.556 --> 0:17:46.316 that will never happen. 0:17:47.356 --> 0:17:50.316 At his ranch on the Central Coast, Chris is describing 0:17:50.356 --> 0:17:52.716 how he ended up traveling to Chile with Mickey Dora. 0:17:53.316 --> 0:17:56.836 It was one of the last great adventures of Mickey's life. 0:17:57.596 --> 0:18:00.196 At the time. I was living with my two brothers 0:18:00.196 --> 0:18:03.476 on the North Shore right near pipeline. And I get 0:18:03.516 --> 0:18:05.836 a phone call. And so this is when we just 0:18:05.876 --> 0:18:07.716 had phone a phone on the wall, right, there's no 0:18:07.836 --> 0:18:09.076 cell phones and stuff like that. 0:18:10.276 --> 0:18:12.276 So I pick up the phone. 0:18:12.316 --> 0:18:12.796 Hello. 0:18:13.476 --> 0:18:18.716 He goes, who's this. That's rude, like you just called 0:18:18.796 --> 0:18:22.236 me if I didn't say that. And I'm like, this 0:18:22.276 --> 0:18:24.836 is Chris. Who's this? And he goes, Mick. 0:18:25.716 --> 0:18:27.436 So I go. 0:18:29.916 --> 0:18:33.796 Mick. Who He goes, it's Mick. And so now I 0:18:33.836 --> 0:18:36.156 don't know who it is, and he goes, I heard 0:18:36.196 --> 0:18:36.956 you're going south. 0:18:38.196 --> 0:18:41.876 Chris was planning a trip to Antarctica to go surfing, 0:18:42.596 --> 0:18:45.796 the kind of crazy surf odyssey that Mickey was famous for. 0:18:47.076 --> 0:18:50.956 Anyway, so uh, he goes, well, I'm going to Chili 0:18:51.196 --> 0:18:53.876 and I had never been to Chili, and he goes, 0:18:54.196 --> 0:18:56.156 you want to go? And I didn't. 0:18:56.316 --> 0:18:58.756 Still, I was like, I don't know who this is. 0:18:59.716 --> 0:19:02.036 And I'm like, yeah, no, I'm not stopping in Chili, man, 0:19:02.076 --> 0:19:05.916 I'm going from Lima to Ushiwaia or wherever we're you know, 0:19:06.036 --> 0:19:10.276 my flight plan was. He goes, okay, bye, click, and 0:19:10.316 --> 0:19:12.236 then I'm like kind of like making dinner. I go, 0:19:12.356 --> 0:19:13.516 that was fucking Mickey Dora. 0:19:13.676 --> 0:19:14.396 Ohle shit. 0:19:14.996 --> 0:19:18.316 And so back then you could do the Star sixty nine. 0:19:18.756 --> 0:19:24.876 So call I go chick jink jink Mickey. Yeah, Hey, 0:19:25.796 --> 0:19:28.876 when do you want to fly? And so I changed 0:19:28.876 --> 0:19:29.756 my whole flight plan. 0:19:30.836 --> 0:19:34.356 Chris was born in nineteen seventy one. His generation of 0:19:34.396 --> 0:19:38.676 surfers grew up in the era of established surf brands, competitions, 0:19:39.036 --> 0:19:43.156 and an official professional surf league. He grew up and 0:19:43.196 --> 0:19:46.996 started surfing and the Dora Lives era when Mickey had 0:19:47.076 --> 0:19:50.236 vanished from Malibu, but traces of him lingered in the 0:19:50.276 --> 0:19:54.876 writing on the wall. Chris grew up on a farm 0:19:54.996 --> 0:19:59.636 in Ohi, California, about an hour from Malibu. He'd heard 0:19:59.676 --> 0:20:03.276 the stories from his dad, who knew Mickey back in 0:20:03.316 --> 0:20:03.876 the fifties. 0:20:04.876 --> 0:20:09.636 My dad had served with them. I always loved surfing history, 0:20:09.716 --> 0:20:13.716 so I was aware of the Dark Knight. And so 0:20:14.636 --> 0:20:17.316 it's somebody you thought you'd never meet because he was 0:20:17.316 --> 0:20:20.196 so elusive, you know, he was so elusive. 0:20:20.276 --> 0:20:21.356 That was sort of if. 0:20:21.196 --> 0:20:25.676 There's an adjective that might be the most appropriate for 0:20:26.156 --> 0:20:29.996 meekless Dora is how elusive he was. 0:20:31.396 --> 0:20:33.916 When Chris told his dad that he was going surfing 0:20:33.956 --> 0:20:37.596 in Chile with Mickey Dora. His dad was not too thrilled. 0:20:38.836 --> 0:20:44.436 Anybody that knew him didn't miss him. 0:20:44.716 --> 0:20:47.476 Chris and Mickey agreed to meet at Lax and head 0:20:47.516 --> 0:20:51.316 south from there. But first Mickey had a little job 0:20:51.356 --> 0:20:54.836 for Chris. Mickey was going to send a surfboard to California. 0:20:55.396 --> 0:20:57.316 He wanted Chris to pick it up and bring it 0:20:57.356 --> 0:20:57.996 to the airport. 0:20:58.716 --> 0:21:01.396 And I said, of course, you know, of course, and 0:21:01.236 --> 0:21:05.796 and my dad said, keep your fucking wallet in your 0:21:05.796 --> 0:21:08.476 front pocket. Then he took the border out of the 0:21:08.516 --> 0:21:12.236 box and he held it up. It was nighttime. He 0:21:12.236 --> 0:21:14.916 held it up to his headlights because he was convinced 0:21:14.956 --> 0:21:21.156 that Mickey had like put contraband in the surfboard. He 0:21:21.276 --> 0:21:23.236 was like, there's no way that this is on the 0:21:23.316 --> 0:21:23.796 up and up. 0:21:25.676 --> 0:21:30.076 Chris understood his role. Mickey had made it clear. Mickey 0:21:30.156 --> 0:21:33.636 was sixty five years old and getting weaker. Chris was 0:21:33.676 --> 0:21:36.116 there to carry his stuff like a caddy. 0:21:37.156 --> 0:21:41.836 So we land in Santiago and I'm like, okay, this 0:21:41.916 --> 0:21:45.236 is your trip, you know, and You're I'm coming at 0:21:45.276 --> 0:21:45.836 your behs. 0:21:45.876 --> 0:21:47.156 Okay. 0:21:47.316 --> 0:21:49.636 I've never been a chip. I don't even know if 0:21:49.676 --> 0:21:53.716 there's waves here. I don't know anything. And we land, 0:21:53.916 --> 0:21:57.636 I load all his shit. Well, he's just standing there 0:21:58.356 --> 0:22:02.636 and the cab drivers like, Okay, where are we going? 0:22:03.756 --> 0:22:09.356 And he goes, well, take us to the take us 0:22:09.356 --> 0:22:14.316 to the beach. And the guy's like, it's a big country, 0:22:14.396 --> 0:22:17.316 like you know in Spanish, and he's. 0:22:17.156 --> 0:22:18.996 Like, just just take us to the ocean. 0:22:19.756 --> 0:22:22.116 And I'm like, I'm fucked, Like I don't even know 0:22:22.156 --> 0:22:23.916 what I don't even know where we're going. 0:22:24.916 --> 0:22:27.716 The cab driver took them four hours to pitch a lemu, 0:22:28.036 --> 0:22:30.036 a surf spot on the coast. 0:22:30.396 --> 0:22:33.196 Then we get to the first hotel, haul all of 0:22:33.236 --> 0:22:35.876 my shit in there, haul all of his shit in there. 0:22:36.316 --> 0:22:40.596 There's no hot water because we're not staying here, and 0:22:40.636 --> 0:22:43.116 I'm like, yes we are. I'm like, we just flew 0:22:43.156 --> 0:22:47.596 all night. I'm not, no, we're moving. So I got 0:22:47.636 --> 0:22:52.396 everything out, freaking dragged it through the streets, found another hotel, 0:22:52.956 --> 0:22:56.356 and yeah, he was a bit of a prince. 0:22:59.316 --> 0:23:02.916 Mickey was high maintenance, but for Chris it was worth it. 0:23:03.556 --> 0:23:06.796 He couldn't believe he was traveling and surfing with the 0:23:07.236 --> 0:23:12.916 Mickey Dora, not just Prince the Dark Prince we had so. 0:23:12.956 --> 0:23:16.716 Much like solitude, you know, And this is a short 0:23:16.716 --> 0:23:20.676 period of time, but I was just locked on at 0:23:20.716 --> 0:23:24.156 all times. We were in a hotel room and I 0:23:24.156 --> 0:23:27.076 had been I was tired of listening to him talk, 0:23:27.156 --> 0:23:29.156 and I wanted to go sleep, but I don't want 0:23:29.196 --> 0:23:32.516 to miss anything. I didn't want, so I put on 0:23:32.516 --> 0:23:41.796 my little mini disk. 0:23:43.676 --> 0:23:46.636 It's hard to get vitamins in France, very difficult, is it. 0:23:46.676 --> 0:23:48.276