Catching Up With Dane Reynolds; Fatherhood, Former & Suburban Normalcy

Save for the news of his brief incarceration in Portugal and a bone break at Pipe, the world’s favourite free surfer has been pretty quiet since his 40 minute epic ‘Chapter 11’ dropped last year.

The boys at WhatYouth recently paid a visit to his suburban home in California and found Dane entrenched in family life, working on his brand, but still loving surfing as much as ever.

The clip opens with a scene familiar to all parents, featuring Dane and his wife Courtney unstrapping their son Sammy from the car-seat and taking him shopping. The overwhelming normalcy of the scenario serves as a stark contrast to Reynold’s enigmatic and frequently eulogised persona and the rest of the clip continues in much the same vein.

Until, that is, the first surfing interlude begins (around 1.38) and reminds you this is not a normal man, living a normal life, this is Dane Reynolds, arguably one of the greatest free-surfers of all time. The speed and flair are still there.

Back at home and Dane harks back to his own childhood looking through a box of old things, before discussing the making of Chapter 11 and the inception of Former, with lots of interesting tangents thrown in for good measure: