Gnarly Swells

California in the summertime is by far the best getaway from the scorching hot Arizona sun. The ocean is what attracts me. The force, power, mass, and power of the Pacific Ocean is mind-boggling. Words cannot explain the amazing vibes that take over my body when I am about to prepare to surf killer waves. This particular story takes place in Huntington Beach, California.

A cool ocean breeze woke me on this Friday summer morning; as I thought to my self, “today is going to be a good day”. I quickly grabbed my computer and looked at the surf report. According to Surfline.com that day, waves were off the chain, with the face of the waves ranging from ten to twelve feet in size on average. After a needed Jamaican shower, I rushed downstairs to get a quick breakfast so I could get some very needed energy. The sun was behind a thick marine layer that covered the entire atmosphere. My younger brother Skyler and I were the first ones to finish waxing our boards, while everyone else slowly lagged around for a while. Wearing nothing but a skintight wetsuit, I grabbed my bike and surfboard and started to make headway towards the beach.

Skyler and I were cruising through the neighborhood with our surfboards with nothing but positive energy and vibes. Eventually we made it to the beach after riding down a grassy hill on our bikes. We locked the beach cruisers up and started running towards the ocean on the soothing sand. We screamed with excitement with the biggest smiles on our faces. I had never seen waves this enormous in my entire life. This was nuts! Yet, something was very strange, the waves were ridiculously big but there was hardly anyone out in the water. Nonetheless, there was nothing that was going to stop us, unless the water was infested with great white sharks. So next I zipped up my wetsuit and proceeded to stretch before I got into the freezing cold water. My jaw was permanently dropped from the size of these gigantic swells. It was very scary because one of these waves could seriously injure or perhaps even kill me. I then said a silent prayer to myself asking for God’s protection while I was out in His breathtaking ocean. The last step was to strap my leash to my left leg and jet out into the salty flavored water.

Skyler and I ran out into the ocean trying to avoid the cold waves as long was we could until we had no choice other but to duck dive underneath the first set of shore breaks, fully emerging our bodies in the cold water. Wave after wave, I have never felt such a powerful force in my entire life. It was absolutely insane. I felt as if I was a professional surfer on Fuel TV surfing waves in Hawaii. I couldn’t believe I was out there trying to paddle past the breakpoint beyond these twelve-foot waves. I have never paddled harder than my life. These waves were so colossal in size; I was literally scared to ride one. The rip current was overpowering and we were drifting further north every second. We soon began to realize that these waves were all closeouts and nearly impossible to ride after wiping out several times. After being tossed around underwater after trying to ride down the face of the wave, I could barely breathe considering all of the salt water that I had swallowed. I eventually made it to the surface and began to paddle towards the beach.

By the time I got out of the water I was ready to hop in the Jacuzzi and chill. We then unlocked our bikes and started heading back to our house talking about how gnarly the waves were and the crazy situations we were just in. Skyler and I made it back to the house and washed off our surfboards and put them on the surfboard rack. We showered the salt water off of our bodies and hopped into the Jacuzzi. It was an amazing feeling, especially knowing that we had the entire day ahead of us. The U.S. Open of Surfing was going to start in a few hours and we were going to see the world’s best surfers shred it up on waves the size of the ones that were in the same part of the ocean that we were in. I thought to my self, “shit, those were some gnarly swells”!