Filmmaker Ben Weiland on The Search for Volcano Island . The First-Ever Aleutian Chain Surf Expedition

There are surf trips, and then there are otherworldly expeditions. The Search for Volcano Island is the latter — a first-ever mission to comb the Aleutian Chain, one of the most remote and hostile maritime environments on earth, for surfable waves. Over 1,000 miles of largely uncharted island chain, with the Bering Sea on one side and the Pacific on the other.

It's far beyond a strike to Baja, Costa, or Indo, and the variables are wildly more unpredictable. There's no guarantee of safe passage, let alone scoring. An expedition like this adds a whole new layer to the expression, 'it's about the journey, not the destination.'

Watch the film above, then read our conversation with Weiland below.

The Search for Volcano Island: A Conversation with Filmmaker Ben Weiland

Doc Renneker, Steve Hawk, Captain Mike McCune — that's a pretty specific cast of characters for a first-ever expedition. How did this group come together, and what did each of them bring to it?

Doc, Steve, and Mike have known each other for years, having spent many years exploring Alaska together. I think for them, it had been a dream for a long time to go all the way to the end of the Aleutian Chain in search of surf. My time on the boat only briefly overlapped with Doc, and I caught up with Steve afterward, so I can't speak exactly to how it all came together. But from my perspective, all three of them have spent decades exploring the most remote corners of the planet for surf, and in some ways this expedition was the most ambitious and comprehensive of any they'd attempted.

The Aleutian Chain is one of the most hostile maritime environments on earth. What did "searching for waves" actually look like out there day to day?

Some of the seas around the islands in the chain are literally uncharted, which makes exploration by boat very challenging and tedious. You have to be careful where you go, and you have to take your time. It's slow-going. With the scope of the project, there wasn't enough time to thoroughly investigate each island, let alone each potential surf setup. You're talking about an island chain with a distance of over 1,000 miles. I would say this project was just scratching the surface. And every time you arrive at a new island, you're wondering what you might discover.

Every exploration film has a moment where the whole thing almost falls apart. What was yours?

For us it was chasing swell. You have the Bering Sea on one side of the chain and the Pacific on the other. When doing long hauls to cover ground, you want to be sailing in pleasant conditions. And if you find yourself on one side of the island chain that is relatively calm, and a swell pops up on the other, there really isn't a quick way to get around — many of the islands are large. On top of that, it's easy to get caught up exploring on land. They are all so fascinating. We came very close to missing the best swell of the whole trip.

What's the biggest misconception surfers have about cold water lineups, like, the reality on the ground versus what people imagine?

To me the biggest surprise is how pleasant the conditions can be, and how mechanical the waves can be. In my mind I often imagine a place ravaged by wind, with flurries of sleet and snow, and a lineup that is mostly home to short-period chop. But as we discovered on this trip, some of the setups can be quite idyllic.

You're asking surfers to care about a place most of them will never go. How do you make that connection between the viewer and somewhere that remote?

To me that is the most interesting part of these kinds of trips. I'm fascinated by strange, unexpected places that might be home to perfect surf. The idea that it is slightly out of reach is what drives my curiosity. I think these kinds of stories are what motivate us and help us imagine a bigger picture of what is possible.

Related: 3 Photos That Will Make You Want to Surf Canada