10/10/2026
It’s hard to articulate the last 72 hours.
Two days ago I was in Nashville shooting the movie poster with Jeremy Cowart for Gulf of Dreams, a documentary I’ve spent the last two years making about chasing hurricanes and waves in the Gulf.
That night I saw my friends in SWITCHFOOT play, and that same day, I got an email from my music supervisor that “Hello Hurricane” (a song of theirs) had officially been cleared for the film.
Then I flew home to an actual hurricane.
I was supposed to leave the next morning for Sonoma, but at the last minute I stayed. There was a chance the Gulf could produce one of those rare windows I’ve spent years waiting for.
We scored incredible waves before the weather completely unraveled.
Then I drove home, lost power, and waited out the storm.
This morning I woke up with three trees on my house.
When I walked down to the beach, parts of it were almost unrecognizable. Boardwalks gone. Trees everywhere. Dunes I’ve spent years photographing dramatically reshaped.
For almost a decade, I’ve built a huge part of my life around this coastline and around hurricanes.
And there has always been a strange duality to that.
For me and my friends, a hurricane can mean anticipation, adventure, and absolute euphoria in the water.
At the exact same time, that same storm can mean someone losing their home, their neighborhood, or part of the landscape they love.
That tension is a huge part of Gulf of Dreams.
The film is about chasing storms and the dream wave I’ve carried in my head for years, but also about obsession, risk, beauty, destruction, and what we’re really searching for out there.
Yesterday I lived one side of that story.
This morning I saw the other.
And more than anything, I felt grateful.
We were spared something much worse.
I still have a home. I have family, friends, shelter, food, and the ability to keep creating and chasing what makes me feel alive.
Switchfoot’s song “Beautiful Life” hit me hard hearing it live two nights ago.
Today it hits differently.
I didn’t get the 20-foot wave I wanted.
My beach doesn’t look the same.
But I have what I need.
What a beautiful life.
Gulf of Dreams. Coming soon
