It was my first night on the island of Rapa Nui—better known as Easter Island—the most remote habitable piece of land on Earth.  I had sailed there from Mexico.  Our mast broke 400 miles northeast of the island.  There was no telling how long we would be there with our boat in such disarray.  I didn’t even care at this point.  I was lying in the dirt next to one of those strange statues the island is famous for, staring at the stars, wondering what Earth might look like from up there.

Lying next to me was a local girl named Makohe.  I had just met her that day.  She was singing.  Here voice had the quality of water, taking on many different forms—soft, soothing, powerful, and at times foreboding.  I looked over and she had her hand on the fallen Moai statue, lightly caressing it.  She would later refer to them as, “my ancestors”.

There was no way of knowing where this all was going to take us.  This trip I was on was going to be a new film directed my good friend Chris Malloy.  I knew he had some idea, a story line perhaps, but he couldn’t have foreseen the mast breaking, or this indefinite stay on Rapa Nui, or Makohe.  Did she know she would join us on the boat to continue on to Chile?  Could she have imagined climbing a glacier in remote Patagonia with us?  What about discovering new surf spots down there?  Would she ever have imagined herself on tour in California, playing music for hundreds, if not thousands of people while opening up for the film she is in, now called 180 South?  Maybe she did have some idea.  She has that air about her.

It had been almost two years since I’d seen her.  We had spent four months traveling together: sailing, climbing, surfing.  Like any kind of travel some was arduous and some easygoing.  It was all unforgettable, life changing.  We have a bond now that is forever.  Then to see the island girl on stage at sold out venues, playing her music in front of total strangers, in strange cities, was something else entirely.  Like with everything she does, she looked totally at home.  The audiences seemed blown away.  Who is this girl from Rapa Nui?

Before saying goodbye she asked, “So, when will you come back to Rapa Nui, Jeff?”  I had to think about that one for a minute.  The island has been on my mind since I sailed away from it two years ago.  It’s the most intriguing, awe-inspiring place I’d ever been.  If I go back, I want to stay for a while.  And I want to see it again before it changes.  Maybe it will never change.  “Soon,” I said, “Soon”.

The cast and crew of 180 South at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Left to right: Scott Soens, Tim Lynch, Jimmy Chin, Danny Moder, Jeff Johnson, Rick Ridgeway, Chris Malloy, Yvon Chouinard, Keith Malloy.

Get the full feature on 180 South in "Dirtbags of the Southern Cone", TSJ 19.3.

And check out Jeff Johnson's other work at his website..