A new adventure

Mike Sciacca

Not long ago, in a world far away, Timmy Turner and a few of his

buddies were marooned on a deserted island in western Indonesia.

They were stranded there by choice, their desire to film raw,

spectacular surfing footage outweighing their need to be part of

civilization.

Last Wednesday, Turner sat comfortably among the warm glow of a

surf community that had packed the Huntington Beach High School

auditorium to watch the fruits of their labor.

The full house was for the debut of Turner’s 40-minute film

entitled, “Second Thoughts,” a “surf discovery adventure film,” as

Turner calls it.

Turner, along with friends Travis Potter and Brett Schwartz, began

filming their unusual adventure in 2001.

The film will have runs in Mann Theaters under Big Red

Productions, up and down the coast, from Ventura to San Diego, Turner

said.

“I’ve made about 15 trips to Indonesia and it is just a magical

place,” said the 23-year-old, a 1999 graduate of Huntington Beach

High. “First of all, the waves there are absolutely perfect. Then,

the people are so nice and the lifestyle is awesome, which makes for

a great place on Earth.”

Turner, Potter and Schwartz continued their fantasy adventure in

search of the world’s most perfect waves with “Second Thoughts.”

It is Turner’s third film, following 1999’s “Burning the Map,” and

“The Ombak,” which was released in 2001.

“It’s really a great film that captures the old-school adventure

aspect of surfing,” said former surfing world champion Peter Townend,

who attended the screening. “Old school is where you’d jump on the

junket and hope to find some amazing waves.

This film is more in the spirit of ‘Endless Summer,’ which is

celebrating its 40th year this year.”

The backdrop for “Second Thoughts” is the beauty and imagery of an

island off the coast of western Indonesia. The film captures the

danger associated with survival in a desolate, foreign land, as well

as the beauty of the desire to find and ride perfect waves.

Just getting to the finished product was a story in itself.

There were no boats around. No hot or cold running water. No meals

provided by local bars or restaurants.

It’s a story about the trio being dropped off on this island and

surviving: Just them, the island and, if all went according to plan,

big waves.

“We brought live chickens and a goat with us, for fresh food,”

Turner said. “We had a big bag of rice, potatoes, garlic and noodles

and a lot of water. We’d use swamp water, too, which we boiled. There

were days were all we’d eat were dry noodles.”

One of the chickens -- Turner called the creature a cross between

a chicken and rooster -- was used as an alarm clock, which went off

routinely at 5 a.m. each day.

The island proved to be fickle, too.

“We’d go as many as 10 days without waves,” Turner said. “To kill

the days, we’d walk south along the island, walks that would take up

to four hours. But, the trip ended with us riding some of the best

waves of our lives. It was awesome.”

The surf session was highlighted by Turner being featured on the

cover of Surfer magazine. That photo was up for photo of the year in

2003 at the Surf magazine Surfer Poll and Video Awards.

The filming adventure lasted three months, but the longest the

three would stay alone on the island was a one month.

In general, they’d stay on the island for 10 days, then be picked

up by boat and head back to a more populated area to “rejuvenate,”

Turner said.

“I actually loved being cut off from the world,” Turner said. “No

cell phones, televisions, things like that. It was also a very

special time for me and my family.”

It was during the trip that Turner learned that his wife, Jessica,

was expecting their first child.

Their daughter Kayla is now 16 months old.

“My entire family has been incredibly supportive of me and my

adventures,” Turner said. “I’m very fortunate, in that regard.”

Turner is back, once again, on the adventure trail.

He departed Friday for Indonesia, this time to begin work on his

new film, “In Search of the White Rhino.”

“There are only 80 white rhinos left in the world, and nobody has

captured one on film,” Turner said. “That sounds like an awesome

adventure to me.”