Among surfers, Gerry Lopez is revered as a true legend. The 74-year-old man is known as Mr. Pipeline due to his unflappable demeanor. He’s an entrepreneur, a family guy, a movie star, and one of the most influential surfers and surfboard shapers in history. As Lopez is alone responsible for introducing aggressive surfing to the world, his impact on the sport is incalculable. Lopez contributed significantly to the sport in many ways, although he struggled to make his mark on the industry at first. As he had to work hard to get where he is today, we can say that he wasn’t an overnight success.

The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez, directed by award-winning filmmaker Stacy Peralta and released by Patagonia, sheds light on one of surfing’s most mysterious heroes. Lopez, who has long dreamed of opening a surf shop, recounts his first significant failure in the documentary posted to YouTube in 2022. Mr. Pipeline had a tough time establishing a surfing environment because of the problems that were always looming in the background.

The incident that devastated the surfing veteran

Gerry Lopez explains his motivation for opening his own surf store. He recalls finding the historic Hobie store in Hawaii on sale. But after acquiring the store, they spent some time looking for a suitable name. Lopez’s friend Jack used to smoke a joint by the name “Lightning Bolt,” and when Lopez visited Jack’s home, Jack’s wife advised him to use the name “Lightning Bolt” for the business. The veteran surfer gave his prompt assent, saying, “Okay. Let’s call it Lightning Bolt.” The store eventually became a local institution because of its prominence in the surf industry. While Lopez had initial success, he was soon dealt a serious blow that devastated him.

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In the documentary, Lopez talks about the situation, saying, “And then we suffered a pretty big setback, ’cause we started in the summer and it was the night before Thanksgiving that all of the sudden we got a call at like 2:00 in the morning, they go, ‘Hey, your surf shop’s on fire.’ What?! We went down there and the whole shop was burned.” After inspecting the destroyed business, fire officials informed Lopez that someone had squirted flammable liquid beneath the building’s rear door and started the fire. The veteran was just devastated by this news.

The next stop for the legend

The legendary figure didn’t slow down even after this. His own hard work was destroyed in a fire, but that didn’t stop him from starting again with his surfing pals and opening a new store. When Gerry Lopez’s store burned down, Pro Surfing Tour founder Randy Rarick became one of Lopez’s business partners. With the same doggedness, Rarick, Lopez, and Jack set out to construct a new store. The business partners divided up the workforce, with Jack left to tend to the store while the rest of the people attempted to construct surfboards.

According to Rarick, Lopez was notoriously sluggish at making surfboards, but the ones he did make were so well-crafted that they quickly became in great demand. The rest, as they say, is history. With Randy Rarick’s brilliant sales strategies and Gerry Lopez’s expertly crafted surfboards, their business quickly rose to prominence once again.

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What do you think of this struggle of the surf veteran? Let us know in the comment section.