Local Sports Report: New documentary tells story behind ‘The Endless Summer’

“The Endless Summer” was released in 1966, and remains one of the most popular films ever made about surfing.

Recently, “The Birth of the Endless Summer,” a documentary about the making of the original film co-starring Encinitas surfing legend Mike Hynson, was released on several streaming services.

Hynson said in the documentary that he and others were “completely obsessed” with surfing.

“It is all we thought about morning, noon and night,” he siad. “There was nothing else we wanted to do, and that was what came through in that film.”

Hynson, who was inducted into San Diego Surfing Hall of Fame’s inaugural 2023 class, died Jan. 10 at age 82. He features prominently in the original film and new documentary along with longtime friend Dick Metz.of Laguna Beach.

Also appearing in the documentary is legendary San Diego surfer Rob Machado, who will be inducted into the San Diego Surfing Hall of Fame on Sept. 10. He lists the original film as a major inspiration for his own stellar career. Several other surfing icons, including Kelly Slater, call “The Endless Summer” the most important surfing film ever made.

The original film details a three-year surfing tour that Metz took between 1958 and 1961, a journey that involved steamship-hopping, hitchhiking, every other possible manner of transportation across Europe, Australia and Africa.

Metz (and later Hynson) brought worldwide attention to Cape St. Francis off the coast of South Africa. It has since become one of the most iconic breaks on the planet.

“No one had ever seen a wave that was that perfect,” Metz said. “When I saw it, I told the guy I was driving with: ‘I gotta get out and surf this here.’”

Hynson embarked on his own surfing journeys after learning about Metz’s travels.

“I wanted to get out of town and explore,” Hynson said. “I was just turning 21 from 18 years old, I had been hassled by the (Vietnam War) draft so I was so stoked to go.”

The new documentary was created by Richard Yelland. He said he was inspired to dive into the background story of the original “Endless Summer” after the film’s creator, Bruce Brown, died in 2017.

“All the tributes started coming through social media from what seemed like every living surfer, young and old,” Yelland said. “It was the first time I’d seen surfers from every generation agree on something. I immediately thought the telling of the story behind Bruce’s ‘The Endless Summer’ would be a great tribute to him.”