Written By: David Nehrig| National Director
Photo By: Zane Miller

We had what seemed like weeks of swell. The hype got to us. My boys and I found ourselves checking the forecast way more than we should have.

We tried to figure out how to get down to one of our favorite right point breaks in Baja. That door was closed pretty tight because we had graduation commitments, birthdays to celebrate, and a bunch of end-of-the-school-year stuff. We couldn’t surf Huntington because it was going to be way too big and walled out. The world-famous Wedge was not even on the table for a conversation, so we started thinking about Malibu.

Yes, the famous right-hand point break that attracts longboarders from all over the world. It brings you back to the classic surf films like The Endless Summer and listening to The Beach Boys sing their famous songs.

So, we locked in our plans and decided to leave the house at 3:45 a.m. and drive up to Malibu. The forecast looked solid. Winds were good. The tide was a little high. But we figured we had plenty of swell, so it wouldn’t matter. We pulled up, got a parking spot, and suited up in the dark.

As we paddled out, a constant flow of other surfers had the same idea we had. The crowd grew and grew. My first couple of waves were really good. Then it got light, and I looked around and realized I was surrounded by more than 100 other surfers. It wasn’t even 6 a.m. yet. By 7 a.m., the crowd had filled in even more. I tried counting, but I couldn’t. If I had to guess, there were around 200-plus surfers on shortboards, mid-lengths, soft tops, longboards, and even a brave guy on a paddleboard. As you can imagine, the crowd was very excited and hungry to catch one of those epic waves from the hyped swell forecast.

Most waves had four or five surfers on them, and then another four or five surfers paddling with the intent to catch the wave. It caused it to snowball and affected the shape of the wave. I sat in the water on my shortboard, feeling my blood pressure rise because of the crowd and how many people were breaking the rules of surfing. I very rarely surf a wave or a crowd like this, where surfers drop in on your wave when you’re already riding it. I wanted order, and I wanted everyone to follow the rules of surfing.

Then I had a shift in mindset. I was not going to change the crowd or the rules, so I might as well join them. I caught a wave in, went to the van, put away my shortboard, and got out Big Red. Big Red is my 7’6’ single-fin with a lot of volume. I can catch just about any wave on that board.

So I paddled back out, and when the next set wave came, four or five surfers started paddling for it. I was in the middle and went ahead and joined them. I stood up and rode the wave with a few of the other surfers. They eventually fell or pulled out, and I continued all the way to the pier. It was one of the longest waves I have ridden in a long, long time. My legs were burning. My mind was trying to figure out what to think. My emotions were all over the map.

Should I feel bad for taking a wave from others? Should I feel guilty for what just happened? Why do the surfers at this spot let this kind of behavior happen?

As we drove home, my mind settled down, and I was stoked that we experienced surfing Malibu on a big swell. However, I most likely won’t do that again. It made me realize how important order and structure are. When we don’t have rules, chaos exists. God created the world. He created the universe with perfect order. Then He made man in His image and put him in the garden. There was night and day, and God said it was good.

When we follow God’s plan, life won’t be easy, but it’s good. 

God, help us walk in Your plan for our lives. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.”

And Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”