My dad really wanted to learn how to sail and, when I was 16, he became a quarter partner in this small, 24-foot trimaran.Three weeks a year, I'd go with him and we'd sail from Florida out around the Bahamas.

We pretty much had crazy weather, historically speaking, in every location we filmed [The Fourth Phase]. Nothing has been normal in the past three years.

The idea [of the Fourth Phase ] was that by taking a closer look at where our weather comes from, and the processes involved in making it, we could all walk away with a greater appreciation of water in its various magical forms.

Shin [Biyajima] rides down with this big ol' Japanese grin and giggle and I'm like what? Two years later, when I started planning the trip, I knew Shin was from the Hakuba area, and I didn't want to come film in Japan without a Japanese rider. Shin had the time and availability, and it worked out perfect.

I knew I wanted to shoot in Japan early on. Years ago, we did a Japan segment in "The Community Project," and at the time I felt it was one of the better Japan segments ever captured.

Now you're gonna take beatings. It's written in our DNA, you know. You're gonna go down. You get up, it's that simple.

They were all just chapters in the book, stepping stones. Each was perfect for where we were at the time, and I'm proud of them all. We couldn't have done this film [The Fourth Phase] without the other films pre-dating it and being part of the process.