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GEORGE GREENOUGH IS THE ‘CRYSTAL VOYAGER’

See surfing’s original nautical adventure, on the big screen.
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Written by ‘Crystal Voyager’ producer/director and Tracks co-founder, David Elfick

Long before John John Florence and Torren Martyn set sail, George Greenough took viewers on a transcendent journey aboard his yacht, the Morning Light. The film ‘Crystal Voyager’ charts that experience from the construction of the Morning Light to its maiden voyage with George and Nat Young. Released in 1973, the movie was brilliantly crafted by David Elfick and Albe Falzon in the wake of their success with ‘Morning of the Earth’.

In what is undeniably one of the biggest coups in surf movie history, the final bonus section of the film, titled ‘Echoes’, famously features a Pink Floyd soundtrack. The band were fans of George’s work and David Elfick was able to trade some of George’s footage for music by Pink Floyd when they were at the zenith of their powers. Not surprisingly ‘Crystal Voyager’ and ‘Echoes’ are recognised as cult classics for surfers, film buffs and music fans alike.

To fully appreciate ‘Crystal Voyager – Echoes’ you have to see it on the big screen. Below, David Elfick gives us six reasons why we shouldn’t miss the upcoming screenings which are being hosted by Tracks and the Sydney Opera House at the First Wave Film Festival next month. To purchase tickets click here. 

Greenough’s pioneering tube footage is featured in ‘Crystal Voyager’.

1. The original nautical odyssey about finding perfect waves and escaping the crowds.

In ‘Crystal Voyager’ we see two boats designed and built by George; the Coupe, the design of which came to him in a dream, and the yacht the Morning Light, built in his back yard in Santa Barbara, with its retractable keel so that it could float over reefs and navigate shallow water.

George’s ingenuity and adaptability is on display. He builds a blast furnace by reversing a vacuum cleaner to melt the recycled lead the keel needed and creates a spinnaker sail from a war surplus parachute.

Greenough with his revolutionary fin designs.

2. George pioneered point of view (POV) footage and his cameras were revolutionary.  

The ultimate goal was to film deep inside the tube.

George re-engineered camera technology, a high speed camera with a custom built waterproof housing, battery pack and shoulder mount that strapped to George’s upper chest and shoulder. The camera was very heavy and came in at about eight kilos – 17 LBS. 

Filming at high speeds was a critical part of the visual appeal. George chose to film at 200FPS (approximately eight times faster than normal speed.) He was only able to film for 25 seconds before the film ran out and he had to make the long paddle all the way back to shore to reload.

All tube shots from the Echoes section were filmed from a surf mat or a spoon kneeboard. George lived in his car travelling for the best days and best swells. He found them at the Lennox Headland.

George edited the film with a knife and a viewfinder. He didn’t have a film splicer so he would cut the film work print on a block of lead with nails in it to align the sprocket holes, then used tape to paste the film together.

Greenough flexing through a terminal velocity bottom turn on the spoon.

3. The soundtrack.

The soundtrack has an otherworldly quality. The first hour of the movie takes you into George’s world, the narrative propelled along by his stream of consciousness voiceover and the music of G. Wayne Thomas’s Crystal Voyager Band. With help from four of the best musicians in Australia, G. Wayne built on what he did so well in ‘Morning of the Earth’, creating songs that reflected the time and the scene.

For the final 23 minutes of the film we enter another reality, as the film takes us inside George’s head to experience what he experiences in the ocean.

We are in the world of the dolphin, the surfer, deep inside the tube, transported there by George’s kaleidoscopic camera work and Echoes  the music of the Pink Floyd. 

Greenough and the spoon.

4. Surfing’s greatest innovator

George is one of the most original thinkers in surfing.

Modified movie cameras, lenses, and waterproof housings are only part of the picture. The film showcases the fabled ‘Spoon’ kneeboard with its scooped flexi-deck, convex bottom and high-velocity potential. George also explains the inspiration and natural logic behind the fin design that changed surfing and the retractable yacht keel.  George Greenough is the ‘Crystal Voyager’.

5. The international success.

‘Crystal Voyager’ was an international success that resonated with not only surfers, but artists, writers, musicians and more. 

Here are some of the rave reviews from 50 years ago:

I don’t think it’s praising it too highly to compare it with the final reels of Kubrick’s ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’. ‘Crystal Voyager’ creates the same feeling using totally real effects. Kubrick constructed the whole thing but Greenough has filmed the inside of waves and has created something of astounding beauty cinematically. – Mike Harris, The Australian

The most impressive sequence is the final one, in almost surrealistic style, which takes us on a fantastic trip inside and thru the ocean – and also inside the mind and soul of George Greenough himself. – Bev Tivey, Sydney Sunday Telegraph

George Greenough has established himself as one of the most advanced and resourceful surf photographers and innovators in the world today.  He is an artist like Van Gogh, an inventor like Edison, an adventurer like Scott. – Harry Hodge, Melbourne Sunday Press

He is inside the wave now in the very centre, in the “watery womb” in Dr John Lilly’s “centre of the cyclone”, Patrick White’s “eye of the storm”, he is a dolphin, you are a dolphin, it is the highest high imaginable, you hear the dolphins life-loving cries, only it is the electronic cries of Pink Floyd’s Echoes. – Victoria Anoux, Lumiere Film Media Monthly

Perspectives flatten a seascape into a field of ploughed-up furrows. Slow motion reveals the multitudinous beauties of sea water. Sometimes a wide-angled lens distorts the horizon’s curvature; the world becomes a green ball you can throw up and catch.

The last 25 minutes is an almost unbroken underwater trip of a thousand translucent tints, accompanied by the electronic music of Pink Floyd pinging out of infinity like an echo sounder.

‘Crystal Voyager’ radiates an authentic experience in a way that will even appeal to people whose only immersion in water is bathtime. It makes you share in a genuine lifestyle that’s rare in films which mostly just want to sell you a synthetic imitation of life. – Alexander Walker, London Evening Standard

The Morning Light, ready for its launch party.

6.  The digitally remastered 50th anniversary director’s cut.

The images for the remastering of Echoes are taken from the original reversal film, meticulously cleaned, graded and balanced by distinguished director and cinematographer Ray Argall, who created the films for Midnight Oil. The soundtrack was remastered in 5.1 Surround Sound by Greg P.  Fitzgerald who mixed Mad Max Furiosa. Pink Floyd’s Echoes has never sounded this good in a cinema before.

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