{"id":4890,"date":"2012-01-10T10:40:06","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T18:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/?p=4890"},"modified":"2012-01-10T10:40:06","modified_gmt":"2012-01-10T18:40:06","slug":"seizing-the-day-pushing-over-the-edge-and-just-showing-up-a-surf-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drewbrophy.com\/seizing-the-day-pushing-over-the-edge-and-just-showing-up-a-surf-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Seizing the day, Pushing over the edge, and just showing up. A surf trip."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

That's me, making the drop into KILLERS<\/p><\/div>\n

“The waves are so hard to catch, like lassoing freight trains while trying not to get run over. Out of the thirty surfers that day most only caught a couple waves.”<\/em><\/p>\n

There are three things that I know about myself:<\/p>\n

1 – I love my family<\/p>\n

2 – I love to surf<\/p>\n

3 – I love to travel<\/p>\n

Period.<\/p>\n

My art is a mere side effect of these three loves.<\/p>\n

Knowing what you love and what you want is everything.\u00a0 From this point of view, anything is reachable.\u00a0 You just have to push yourself over the edge and go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An epic swell marched across the Pacific Ocean last week.\u00a0 From Hawaii to Mavericks and Southern California, surfers went into a flurry of activity.<\/p>\n

Where to surf? \u00a0For most surfers, surfing the local break on the best day of the year will do.<\/p>\n

But for professional big wave riders, their careers are made on such swells, being at the right place at the right time and \u00a0getting paid to risk their lives.<\/p>\n

And for a few of us, dreams of giant waves inspires us to dust off our big \u00a0guns and call \u00a0friends to line up a good, old fashioned surf trip.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Island of Todos Santos off Baja Mexico would be the best place to go.<\/p>\n

Such trips are what fuel my art<\/strong>, out-of-the-way places and giant waves that only appear every few years.<\/p>\n

This is where most people get stuck; even me.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to go, but I had things to do,\u00a0a ton of reasons not to go<\/span>.\u00a0 The clock was ticking and the waves were on the way, either I would be there to meet them or not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Patrick Gudauskas charging<\/p><\/div>\n

The waves would be the biggest at Todos.\u00a0 Only the surfers who want it the most will be there. The surf spot is called Killers, a deep water cobalt blue boiling monster.<\/p>\n

Todos Santos (Mexico) is a three hour drive from San Clemente.\u00a0 Once there, you have to hire a boat and it\u2019s another hour to the island and Killers.<\/p>\n

Just like anything else in life that you want really bad; there are roadblocks, difficult decisions and logistics to overcome and make it happen, not to mention money.<\/p>\n

I knew there were surfers just like me doing the same mad rush to figure it all out, to be there on the magic day.<\/p>\n

I made one phone call to my friend Gary Linden<\/a>.\u00a0 Gary\u2019s a master surfboard shaper and adventurer.\u00a0 He\u2019s a 60-something year old surf stoked grom who loves to RIDE BIG WAVES.\u00a0 He answered the phone and said \u201cwe got a spot on the boat for you, get down here!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I packed my gear, dusted off my 10\u20196\u201d gun and kissed Maria and Dylan goodbye and drove South to the border in rush-hour traffic.<\/p>\n

Once I crossed the Mexican border, the roads were empty, and the sky was black.\u00a0 I pulled into Gary\u2019s place at San Miguel.\u00a0 There were figures around a fire, cooking in the darkness.\u00a0 A welcoming voice called to me \u201cyou made it, just in time for dinner.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The next morning \u00a0before dawn we began our voyage to Killers.\u00a0 The dock was cold and still with groups of fishermen huddled together, hoping to rent their boats out to traveling surfers.\u00a0 We were the first to arrive, and then other groups who had also made the journey showed up.\u00a0 All of them had to push through their own roadblocks and logistics to be there, too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sunrise over Baja was intense.\u00a0 Instantly, we felt the huge swells and Todos Santos began to grow on the horizon.\u00a0 White water slammed and exploded on its point.\u00a0 Slowly Killers came into view and dreams became reality.<\/p>\n

The flotilla of boats took their places in the channel and surfers suited up for the ultimate challenge.\u00a0 With no one out it was hard to tell how big it was; just massive blue swells in an endless sea.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rusty Long leads the way<\/p><\/div>\n

My friend Rusty Long<\/a> was the first in the lineup and the first to catch a wave. \u00a0\u00a0It is amazing that a man can paddle a ten foot surfboard into such huge waves and actually ride it.\u00a0 With this first wave the session began.<\/p>\n

Everyone knew that this was going to be a magical day.<\/p>\n

As I paddled out I realized that I know or have met almost everyone there.\u00a0 We all share a similar love for surfing and the big waves seem to call to us.<\/p>\n

As surfers, you have one of two reactions when it gets really big:<\/strong><\/p>\n

*Either you can\u2019t wait to get out there because you\u2019ve been waiting for these kinds of waves your whole life;\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

*Or: \u00a0it strikes the fear of God in you and there is just no way in hell you would even consider going out. <\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no in between, you are one or the other.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course every surfer has his limit; it\u2019s soulful to push yourself and inspiring to see others pushing even further. At forty years old I am stoked to still be pushing.<\/p>\n

That day at Killers many great waves were surfed.\u00a0 It was pure glass all day with sunny skies.\u00a0 Time melted as the hours went by.\u00a0 I surfed from 8:30 to 4:30 nonstop,\u00a0 as did most of the other surfers.<\/p>\n

I only caught 3 waves in those eight hours, but that was my goal.\u00a0 I was lucky to get that many.<\/strong> The biggest waves came late in the day and huge set came right to me, it would have been my forth wave, but my first love flashed in my mind (my wife and son) and I had to let it go and be content.<\/p>\n

The waves are so hard to catch, like lassoing freight trains while trying not to get run over. Out of the thirty surfers that day most only caught a couple waves.<\/p>\n

Really all you needed was one wave to be able to experience the ten seconds of taming a giant, and to feel the pure joy of achievement and bliss that you were there.<\/p>\n

I watched as my friends charged over the edge of huge waves, knowing they were feeling this same joy.\u00a0 It made me feel good about myself that I was more like them.\u00a0 We push over the edge and we go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>They inspire me.\u00a0 The waves inspire me.\u00a0 The adventure inspires me.<\/p>\n

The group of guys that were there, they are the rarest of surfers.\u00a0 The most soulful.\u00a0 They live for \u00a0these moments and I\u2019m proud to be amongst them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the end, I am just a guy from South Carolina who always dreamed of surfing big waves.\u00a0 Those dreams have taken me all over the world chasing them, meeting adventurous people and fueling my crazy art career.<\/p>\n

I will just keep showing up and pushing myself over the edge, Just like I always have.<\/p>\n

You should, too.\u00a0 It makes life worth living.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life is good – Drew<\/p>\n

PS: \u00a0(Except for my sunrise photo above) \u00a0Photos courtesy of Captain Lonnie Ryan, a photographer who pushes himself over the edge, too. \u00a0Check out his website here: \u00a0http:\/\/bajatiempos.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

PPS: \u00a0A great article written by my friend Jason Murray about that day can be found on ESPN here: \u00a0Topping it off at Todos.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The waves are so hard to catch, like lassoing freight trains while trying not to get run over. Out of the thirty surfers that day most only caught a couple waves.” There are three things that I know about myself: 1 – I love my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[135,346,492,569,1188,1213,1276],"class_list":["post-4890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tripping","category-behind-the-scenes","tag-big-waves","tag-gary-linden","tag-killers","tag-lonnie-ryan","tag-surf-trip","tag-surfing-mexico","tag-todos-santos"],"yoast_head":"\nSeizing the day, Pushing over the edge, and just showing up. 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