There is a portion of a beach in Southern California that is famous among surfers for routinely offering the best “shore break” in the United States.
It’s called The Wedge.
I used to body surf and boogey board there back in my early days when I was a competitive swimmer, a swim instructor, and a lifeguard.
And a reckless idiot.
The Wedge is the location on Balboa Island where the Newport Harbor jetty runs into the ocean, causing waves approaching shore to bank off of the rocks and then “pile up” on another wave to create a last-minute elevation of the wave.
This effect can cause a 6’ wave to become a 10-footer, a 10-footer to explode upwards another five feet, and so forth. Occasionally, some very large surf comes to shore along this beach…15’, 20’, and even 25’ waves…easily the gnarliest shore break in America.
Two other factors make The Wedge unusual: a very steep beach which slopes back into the surf, creating a natural amphitheater for spectators and a very strong backwash into the sea; and, the fact that large waves break in shallow water. The latter is apparent when you’re taking off on a wave and you see sand, rocks and fish being sucked up into the wave under you, and then when you get wiped out…and speared into the sandy bottom by the force of the wave.
Regular mortal folks like most body surfers, belly boarders and board surfers have no business challenging The Wedge when the waves get to ten feet. The danger of getting a broken arm, leg, or even a back or neck, is very real.
As competent a swimmer as I was back in the 60’s, I really wasn’t safe out there: The Wedge toyed with me, and I knew it.
People didn’t board surf The Wedge back then. Boards were longer then, and there’s no way that they would have worked on quickly-developing, super-steep shore break. Nowadays, however, surf boards are much shorter and more maneuverable, and surfers are more athletic. Some highly skilled guys are surfing The Wedge now, but the place is still the mecca of boogey boarders.
We made our own boogey boards back in the Sixties. They were fiberglass/resin-coated plywood with a stiff skeg added for turnability. Nowadays boogey boards are foam-core, like surfboards.
On July 4th, throngs of spectators, photographers, and surfers descended upon The Wedge, even though the City of Newport Beach had prohibited beach activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The surf crowd pretty much ignores societal conventions, and the word was out: a forecast of very large surf at The Wedge.
So, they came.
I don’t know where everyone parked. There is no parking lot, so beachgoers must park their cars on the street in local residential neighborhoods. In the Summer, on a busy day, finding a parking space within walking distance to The Wedge is harder than finding a virgin in a whorehouse.
Which reminds me of a story:
Back in the 1980’s, when our kids were young teens, I took them to The Wedge for a beach day. I had a VW bus back then, and we hit the jackpot: enough curb space for my VW only about ¼ mile from the beach. I drove just past the space, shifted into reverse, and was about to back in when…a VW Beetle packed with four Anthony Spicoli’s cut in behind me, stole my spot, and yukked it up as they hot-footed it toward the beach.
Oh, boy, some nasty words flew in my VW bus. I was enraged. We had to re-start our search and eventually found a spot a half-mile away.
On the way to the beach with my gang, we spotted the offending VW in “our” spot. I took one, and directed my boys to take the others, and we deflated all four tires on that Beetle. And then, strolled down to the beach, where we settled in about fifty yards from the four assholes who had stolen our parking spot.
About an hour later, somebody came up to them and reported that their car was flat on its rims. They jumped up yelling and cussing and ran off in the direction of the Beetle.
The kids and I high-fived each other: street justice had been administered.
Anyway, I digress.
I mention the July 4th spectacle at The Wedge because I caught it on U-Tube this morning. Holy Jesus, those waves were monsters! And there were a bunch of brave idiots out there getting their asses handed to them, interspersed with a few really spectacular rides.
What courage it must have taken, along with copious amounts of ganga, for those dudes to take off on 20’ waves and risk being crushed into the sand!
Those watching on the shore oohed and aaahed, cheering on their reckless heroes. It was outdoor theater at its best…maybe once-in-a-lifetime. A perfect 10. Just what was needed to brighten up an otherwise depressing Summer.
The police eventually got there and cleared the beach, protecting the surfers from the Covid-19 danger.