Home Is the Ocean

Of Boats and Brothers: The Yacht Building Herreshoffs

April 1995 •English

This award-winning documentary film chronicles the accomplishments and relationship of John and Nathanael Herreshoff. These determined brothers overcame all obstacles, including blindness, to earn a worldwide reputation in yacht design and construction.

Singlehanders

January 1982 •English

Follow two Canadians, Bob Lush and Mike Birch, aboard their yachts during the 1980 Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race. More than a record of this prestigious international sailing event, the resulting film is the starting point for an epic of challenge and determination.

La Voie arctique - Trois hommes à travers les glaces

October 2020 •French

Sailing with Bushnell Keeler

January 1967 •English

In 1967, a young David Lynch grabbed his new Bolex 16mm camera, to film his friend and mentor Bushnell Keeler and brother Dave Keeler sailing on the Chesapeake Bay in Bush's King's Cruiser. This was David Lynch's very first film, which he prefers to call a "home movie". It depicts a man, a painter, who changed David's life forever pursuing the artist's life, which he continues to this day.

A Dream of the Mediterranean

April 1991 •Finnish

A documentary about Göran Schildt and his relationship with the Mediterranean.

Sacred Vessels: Navigating Tradition and Identity in Micronesia

Invalid date •English

A 1997 documentary by Micronesian scholar, Vicente M. Diaz, that follows a new generation of traditional outrigger canoe builders and navigators from Polowat, Central Carolines, Federated States of Micronesia, and Guam in their respective efforts to continue and resuscitate an ancient tradition of outrigger canoe carving and sailing in the late twentieth century. Like the motif of water that flows through the documentary and blurs lines between surface and depth, and between water, land and air, an indefatigable tradition and aesthetic of seafaring is shown to also challenge pat and problematic distinctions between past and present, tradition and modernity, indigenous and Christian religiosity and spirituality, that prevail in conventional understandings of Micronesian culture and history.

The Camino Voyage

February 2018 •English

A crew including a Writer, two Musicians, an Artist and a Stonemason embark on the Camino by sea, in a traditional boat that they built themselves on an inspiring, and dangerous, 2,500 km modern day Celtic odyssey all the way from Ireland to Northern Spain.

Sea Gypsies: The Far Side of the World

August 2017 •English

The vessel is Infinity, a 120-foot hand-built sailboat, crewed by a band of miscreants. The journey, an 8,000 mile Pacific crossing from New Zealand to Patagonia, with a stop in Antarctica. Unlike all the other boats heading to the Southern Ocean, Infinity is no ice-reinforced super-yacht crewed by professional sailors; rather, Infinity lives in the moment and sails on a whim. What can be found in abundance on board is blood, sweat, enthusiasm, risk tolerance, disdain for authority, and an ample supply of alcohol – all in all a mad voyage of reckless adventure just for the sheer joy of it. Along the way the crew will battle a hurricane of ice in the Ross Sea, assist the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd in their fight with illegal whalers, and tear every sail they have. At the heart of their journey is a quest for awe and a sense of wonder with the raw power of the natural world.

Mergui

November 2018 •English

Using nature shots with narration and a musical score, this documentary tells the story about the Moken, Myanmar's last sea nomads.

Water Sports

October 1935 •English

This short film showcases water sports activities such as sailboat racing and surfboard riding, including Christian Peterson doing a human surfboard at 45 mph.

Under the Hull: an 11th Hour Racing Team Documentary

June 2022 •English

Under the Hull takes viewers behind the scenes as the Newport, Rhode Island based team lines up against the masters of the sport of offshore sailing – the French – in the build-up to the double-handed race across the Atlantic. From the building of a brand new, state-of-the-art 60-foot foiling race boat, to the physical, mental and onboard training, the film gives unrivaled insights into the highs and lows as the four sailors, supported by an international shore team, prepared their two entries – Mālama and Alaka’i – for the race of the year.

Girt by Sea

February 2014 •English

Girt By Sea is a cinematic love letter to the coastline of Australia - a poetic celebration of our connection to the sea as documented through archival footage over the past 100 years.

The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail

May 1984 •English

Neil Hollander sailed a ten-meter sailboat nearly 25,000 miles meeting and working alongside those men who still earned their livings using sailboats. This book recalls the authors' experiences with eight surviving craft, all representative of distinct cultures or geographic locations.

The Wind Gods

April 2013 •English

A feature length documentary film following Larry Ellison's 10-year quest to bring the oldest trophy in international sport, The America's Cup, back to the United States.

30 Years of National Geographic Specials

January 1995 •English

Celebrates 30 years of televised specials by The National Geographic Society.

Call Me Captain

July 1961 •English

The Norfolk Broads tourist film promotes the pleasures of boating.

Holland Sailing

December 1956 •English

This Sportscope series entry highlights sailboat races in Holland.

Mediterranean Holiday

December 1962 •German

A 1962 West German documentary film directed by Hermann Leitner and Rudolf Nussgruber.

Blakey

December 2011 •English

The life and times of sailor and adventurer Sir Peter Blake, one of New Zealand's favourite sons.

Surf Sail

September 1978 •English

A documentary following the attempt by three young people to be the first windsurfers to cross Cook Strait.