The Argentine brothers Joaquín and Julián Azulay in July 2010 left Los Angeles, California, in a truck with two surfboards and just $1500 in their pocket. Some 403 days later they had surfed all over the Americas and taught surfing to children in coastal towns. They documented the journey in the film “Gauchos del Mar” – a bonafide hit after winning nine international film festival awards.

 

The brothers were given the name “Gauchos del Mar” (which in English translates as “Cowboys of the Sea”) by a friend who observed the two when out surfing drinking the traditional tea yerba mate, which is oft consumed by gauchos in Argentine Patagonia. But for these gauchos, the weather and insufficient time did not allow them to explore Patagonia during their epic trip through the Americas. But in early 2013 they finally took on Patagonia for their recently released film, Tierra de Patagones. They began along the northern Argentine coast in typical surfing cities like Mar de Plata and Necochea before heading south. 

 “At times when we thought we would find good waves, we didn’t always have that luck,” said younger brother Joaquín, 25.  “Yet, at other moments, when we had low expectations, we were surprised by incredible waves on the immense Patagonian coast.”

 

The brothers arrived to Chubut while the penguins were enjoying their summer in the same coastal area. Although it wasn’t the first time they had surfed with marine life, they were surprised by the abundance and proximity of the fauna. “Surfing with penguins is a magical sensation. They are so much more agile than we are in the water,” says Joaquín.

 

Their greatest challenge was when they would become likely the first people to have ever surfed on Isla de los Estados, located 18 miles off the southeastern coast of Tierra del Fuego. Only four marines on a naval base inhabit the island. Arriving after three days of sailing, they were greeted in typical Patagonia fashion, which they described as “an imposing presence of snow-capped mountains that fall crashing into the sea, rocks all around, impenetrable vegetation, rivers and waterfalls wherever you looked, and no trace of human life.”

 

They felt a profound admiration for the nature they encountered. “There, one realizes how small we are, and how isolated. You recognize the immensity of nature and the freedom one can have if they set their mind to it,” Joaquín said.

 

What’s next for these “gauchos del mar”? Athletes turned filmmakers, the brothers are planning for the next video…in Africa. Yerba mate included.