“If anyone tells me I’m gnarly, I always take that as a compliment. It’s kind of my goal in life.” – Sachi Cunningham
Yeah, she’s gnarly alright. San Francisco swimmers have to be badass just to survive the paddle out. On big winter days, that is. Ocean Beach’s heavy beach break will separate the women from the girls, so to say. Trust me, OB doesn’t give a shit if you’re tired and just want to go in because you’re so cold you can’t feel your hands or feet. I’ve been there, been humbled, and ended up a mile south of where I parked thanks to that deep ocean current. This vortex of the Pacific Coast will pull you to deep sea if it gets the chance, and that’s only if a 14-ft great white don’t spot you first.
Water photographers always take the cake. Especially when they work without a jetski (restricted in San Francisco due to environmental concerns) or any other fancy floatation device. This one particular waterwoman caught my attention this winter after working with her in the water at Mavericks for the Wickr Super Sessions project for big wave women. Sachi Cunningham is a globally recognized, San Francisco-based journalist (published in the Los Angeles Times, PBS, and FRONTLINE), a journalism professor at San Francisco State University and documentary filmmaker. She is also a wife and a mom. Yup, badass.
And damn, that woman can swim! As I sat semi-dry and comfortable in a Zodiak (maybe due to the hazy side effects of Dramamine), Sachi was in thick rubber with one hand working the camera and another keeping her afloat and ready to B-line for the channel at any given notice of an infamous Mavericks swinger set. I saw instantly that she was just as addicted to big wave surfing as the athletes she was documenting.
Sachi’s visual and written storytelling is responsible for such empowering inspiration. Not only for females, but for the human spirit to achieve the once though impossible. She helps exposure the successes of remarkable athletes, such as Bianca Valenti, Savannah Shaughnessy, Paige Alms, Keala Kennelly, Andrea Moller, Emi Erickson and many other. We like to call them badass big wave bitches. Appropriate? Yes, very much so.
This first short film in the new SeaLevelTV series called “Saltwater Daughters” tells the story about Sachi’s missions with the Big Wave World Tour Champion, Bianca Valenti. The two are up at dawn making life or death decisions over morning coffee. There’s nothing better than a good buzz at Java Beach and waiting for the marine layer clouds to clear at OB, revealing the legacy that is is San Francisco surfing.
And it’s so damn addicting. In a healthy, scary-at-moments kind of way.
Inside the Mind of Sachi Cunningham from Sea Level TV on Vimeo.
