Following Seas

USA, Feature Documentary, 2016 94 min

Bob Griffith sailed into Honolulu Harbor in 1960 and met fellow iconoclast Nancy Hirsch. From that moment, they were wedded to the sea. Steering their 53-foot cutter Awahnee to places no small boat had been before, they spent decades navigating the relentless pull of family and adventure. They captured all of it on Nancy’s hand-cranked Bolex camera, and here their footage comes to life. Combining recent interviews with exquisitely textured archival footage shot on location in the ’60s and ’70s, Following Seas is not only a story of world records and sailing feats, but also of a family who truly lived a self-determined life and made the sacrifices their dream demanded.

Directed by Tyler J. Kelley and Araby Williams