Cool on the cam, but way better in person. Photo: Corey Gehr Photography
During each big SoCal swell, I find myself at my desk toggling between Surfline and work e-mails. If a large south swell is in the water, the cam of the day is more often than not on the Wedge. The way other people would silently cheer and slam their desks when their team scores a home run while they’re at work, I internally hoot or let out a peppy “yew!” when I see a ballsy surfer making his way down the Wedge’s mutant face. They often end in an epic closeout, but it still makes me wince so hard that there’s no way my boss still thinks I’m working.
After Hurricane Marie, I promised myself that on the next big swell I would be there to look at this wave in person. No excuses. And on Sunday, May 3, 2015, it arrived, growing bigger and more powerful by the moment. Monday was 12 to 18 feet with a few reaching into the 20+ range. Unfortunately, work would make me wait one more day.
I woke up at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and headed from Venice to Newport to live up to my own promise to see this beast for myself. Parking alongside other spectators knowing you’re about to witness something otherworldly is intense, to say the least. There’s something magical about the big wave dawn patrol experience. It makes you giddy. Like going to a concert or landing on the runway of a city you’ve been waiting years to visit.
I’m still scared of a five-foot day in Venice, and I couldn’t imagine what these guys were feeling. But seeing 12-year-olds slipping into their wetsuits suddenly made me calm. The way seeing a little kid get on a rollercoaster while your old ass nervously waits in line has a reassuring effect that everything is going to be okay. Roller coasters are meant to be fun; surfing is meant to be fun. Sometimes it can get scary, but it’s all a part of the experience. If you’re not scared then you’re not taking a chance. And if you’re not taking a chance then what the hell are you doing anyway?
Seeing the Wedge in person–or any other big wave spot, for that matter–inspires awe. It reminded me that Mother Nature has morphed the land over millions of years to make certain spots especially epic. Sure, the Wedge’s jetty contributes to a large part of the wave’s character, but it’s still a wonder to watch. Especially when you take into account that this one wave traveled thousands of miles to form something so unbelievable. If only for a moment, it’s still unbelievable. To sit there when it’s double to triple overhead makes you feel incredibly small–physically and metaphorically. It’s an experience that should not be passed up, and to be content with seeing it on Surfline would be doing yourself a huge disservice.
After sitting in traffic for three hours, I was still able to make it to work on time. It was only 9 a.m. and I crossed something off my bucket list. With a grin from ear to ear, I was so happy that I was shaking. Whether it was from the rush of caffeine or adrenaline, I’ll never know.
