Ever been on a boat trip with no waves? Anyone will tell you, it can suck. All it takes is one rotten apple, one whinger on board and the rot sets in, and cabin fever takes hold.

No such problem on a recent leg of the Quiksilver Crossing, where Kelly Slater took along good buddies, musician Jack Johnson and film-maker Chris Malloy, to workshop a new movie of his life. And with little surf on the remote, Indian Ocean island wilderness, the lads had plenty of time to devote to the new project. For Kelly, after nursing his father through serious illness back home in Florida, and his return to the WCT, the timing was spot on.

"It's awesome. I've had a heavy few weeks with my father and my family. It's nice to get away and clear my head a little bit," Kelly says. "Jack, Chris and I are working on a film project and having Jack along was part of that. Chris is making a doco on me this year, sort of whatever happens happens, my life and my friends." "Even if we don't get surf it's a great time for us," says Chris. "We've been doing sketches, planning the movie and Jack's been working on a bunch of new songs." What can we expect from the Kelly movie? "We're taking it as it comes and having fun with it. We're going back to his childhood and bringing it up from there, and at the same time following him this year," says Chris.

For Jack, it was a timely break in one of the most remote places on earth, squeezed in between another successful Australian tour, and more sold-out shows back in the States.

"I fly back from this trip straight to Seattle to do a show," says Jack. "I was thinking about that. After one and a half days travel, I get off a plane and have to play a show, with thousands of people staring at me. It's going to be interesting, quite a shift."

Also on board soaking up the creative atmosphere was American pro and keen musician Hans Hagen, and top Australian junior Luke Munroe. "It's super special to have Jack on board. He sets the pace, bringing everyone's music together," says Hans. Luke, a keen Jack Johnson fan, can't believe his good fortune. "It's so good sitting there and Jack will start playing something. His new stuff's so amazing," says Luke. "A lot of times a boat trip can work in two ways for me," explains Jack. "It gives me time to work on things I've been thinking about already, or it can inspire things down the track. I think there's going to be a lot of experiences I'll be writing about later, like my first time scuba diving. When you dip your head under water here, I've never seen so many fish in my life. It was just amazing to be able to kick back down there," he says.

Kelly, Jack and Chris have known each other since they were starry-eyed grommets, first tackling the North Shore. Never could they have imagined all this back then - world titles, movies, music tours, boat trips. "We were talking about that today out in the water," Jack reflects. "Me and Chris were complaining for a second that the waves were so small, then we slapped ourselves and said, wake up, look where we are. We feel really fortunate." Good Times.