Sitting in a Tree: Epic Waves and the Media Don't Mix

Last Thursday a storm swell from New Zealand rolled into south/southwest facing beaches. That always means beautiful sets breaking in Newport Beach. In particular there is a phenomenon at the end of the Balboa Peninsula called the Wedge. Residents of Newport and the surrounding beach cities are familiar with the Wedge and most Southern Cali surfers, skimmers, and body boarders have been there or heard about the legendary wave break.

When I awoke Friday morning newscasters were at the Wedge.Uh? So I called my dad who was at our families beach house. When he picked up the cell he notified me that he was standing on the beach with at least 1,ooo spectators, 5 news vans, lifeguards, and police officers. The Wedge was kicking 20 foot waves and 10 insane guys lined up in the water to catch a once in 10 year chance to be the one to ride the giants.

Hold on a minute.....I was there last time the Wedge was hit by a large swell and all I remember was standing there watching with 20 people, one ambulance, one lifeguard truck, and 3 to 5 guys in the water. So why, do I dare to ask, are there so many spectators at the Wedge now?

Meanwhile, Tuck and I drove down to Topanga State beach and watched the beautiful waves break from the roadside. We talked about driving to the beach house for a night just to catch a glimpse of the larger than life waves that were breaking at the Wedge. It was 3:30, we loaded the bikes and drove back to the coast. 3 hours later we arrived at Newport Beach Blvd in deadly bumper to bumper gridlock. Apparently everyone and their mom had seen the news and wanted a look see too. It took us 1 hour to get 2 miles to the house. I've never seen anything like it, I was in shock, that this many cars can fit on the three dead end streets that lead to the Wedge. Where are they all going to park? Do they even know where they are going? Are they following like Lemmings to the place the media is? We made it to the house, had to park in the alley in front of the garage, legs stiff and in bad need of a potty break.

Since the streets were like parking lots we rode our bikes down the alley way that is 4 blocks from the Wedge. While riding we realized that the alley way was a swarm of pedestrians and bikes making it look like two lane highway traffic of feet and wheels. As we approached the beach entrance, with the harbor in view, we saw the ZOO, unable to ride our bikes any further because the wall of people coming and going. I can't describe the scene any further because it was truly an indescribable gathering of people just to see a wave brake on the sand. The joke of the weekend quickly became, "Which way is the Wedge?"

The pictures describe the exuberant amounts of people and the epic waves that this swell produced.