Watch: Three Florence Brothers, One Cockeyed Rock Shelf

When the wheels start falling off, we picture John John tearing loose, dropping the act, leaving the machine to rust, and finding some wild stretch of coast to run free with his brothers. But when he’s winning, when the machine’s humming and the trophies are stacking, the thought of him walking away feels like abandonment. Who would we turn to? Who else could validate competitive surfing?

In Nate’s latest vlog, we’re either peeking into a future that could be glorious, or savouring a bittersweet preview of what might never be. Three brothers and Florence teammates — united on film, sporting heavy beards that mirror the waves they’re in: powerful, imperfect, and a little unsettling.

The real highlight of the experience, though, is the brotherhood made flesh. The latter half of the video shows Nathan, big brother and shepherd, gently and kindly shoving little bro Ivan over the ledge of a jagged cliff.  

“This session the tide started to make the drops extremely difficult and we wanted to try some of the bigger ones, so we started pushing each other in,” Nate writes in the comments. “It worked so well we were tripping! Might try on a tow day at chopes next?”

No pushes for the world champ, though. Employees know better than to touch the boss. Get into the mind of the CEO, here.