South Jersey surf legend Ben Gravy, who recently documented his mission to surf in each of the 50 states, has a new, even loftier goal in sight: to surf all the world’s seven seas in seven days.
The 34-year-old Longport native, whose real name is Ben Graeff, begins his new mission on Tuesday, October 31 in Japan, where he is set to surf the North Pacific. He is then expected to surf the Indian Ocean in Bali and Indonesia; the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean) in Melbourne, Australia; the South Pacific in Sydney, Australia; the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas; the Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic City on November 4; and, finally, the Arctic Ocean in Norway on November 6.
“On October 31, we are gonna be setting out on the one of the biggest missions, journeys, projects, I’ve ever done: 7 Seas in 7 Days, where we’re gonna be surfing seven different oceans around the world in seven days,” says the surfer.
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In For the Dream, a 2022 documentary about his mission to surf around the United States, Gravy used an 8-foot foam board to surf river waves, small inlets and lakes. Graeff, who is one of the most popular surfers in the country with his unconventional approach to riding waves, was able to surf in every state, even those without a coastline, by riding novelty waves—usually small waves that break in unexpected spots when certain conditions align.
His unusual approach to surfing has led him to build a huge following online.
In the documentary, which Graeff produced and Sean Davis directed—Graeff’s story of overcoming alcohol addiction and spreading a message of positivity was also told. “I didn’t want to be that person” he told New Jersey Monthly last year of his struggles. “I started considering how I could take that poor trajectory of my life and turn it into something more inspiring.”
Graeff, who now lives in Ventnor, made his own videos for decades—filming his and his friends’ hijinks for his YouTube channels. These included falls, fires and crashes. But when he did a stunt that launched him off the hood of a moving car, he was left with an injury—a fractured patella—that could have caused him to never walk again. He realized that he had a drinking problem, and began rehab, turning his life around.
Graeff new trip is also being chronicled on his YouTube channel.
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