Dirty Old Wedge Page #4

- There's a famous story

of the Wedge of these women

that went down below the

burm line on a big swell

and the lifeguard didn't

get down and talk to them

early enough.

They just were down playing

and thinking that the water

was gonna wash up and get their

ankles wet

like any normal beach.

And the Wedge is not a normal

beach

and they don't know the danger

they're in.

And the waves swept up and

took 'em off their feet

and they were gone.

They just disappeared.

- [Voiceover] The other one

may get stuck, she's rolling.

Look at that, look out, look

out.

You're gonna get hammered again.

Look.

(women screaming)

Oh jeez, get the lifeguard.

- [Voiceover] Better get going.

- [Voiceover] Holy hell.

Oh sh*t.

Getting sucked out.

JT, how is she?

- She was--

- [Voiceover] Is she okay?

- You know how hard it was to

get her--

- [Voiceover] JT, lifesaver.

That ones okay, we hope.

Her mom or whatever having a

tough time.

- [Voiceover] What makes

the Wedge so dangerous?

- It's just the angle of the

beach

and the way it throws out.

It's a steeper break and it

breaks into very shallow water.

Just down from the peak

break it can break into

absolutely no water at all.

And if you don't know what

you're doing,

or even if you do know what

you're doing,

sometimes you fall, free

fall, and hit the bottom.

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] They generally

wear fins

so they can get enough speed

to make it down the face

before they would get thrown.

And that's why we generally try

to keep

the inexperienced public out of

the water

to save them from possibly

life threatening injuries.

- I've had broken collar bones.

Thank God, I haven't had a

broken neck.

There's plenty of that out here.

- I dropped in on about a four

foot wave

and it sucked up and I was at

the top

and I went straight down and

hit my head on the bottom

and broke my neck.

- You have to be a little bit

crazy though

to get out there when it's like

this.

- Absolutely.

- And that Pacific storm is

having an impact right here

churning up high surf and

monster waves

along the southland coast.

- My relationship with the Wedge

was, it was almost kind

of like bi-polar almost.

Like, one of those things

where there was such a rush

and high and stoke but

there was such a fear

of death from it.

Like, seriously, like, it was

just so like one or the other

and it was zero in between.

And so, living right there

and hearing the big surf

all the time, I'd be so pumped

but at the same time I would be

like,

is tomorrow the day I die,

you know, is the day I drown?

- If there's a big south

swell in California,

guaranteed Wedge is gonna

be the big spot, you know.

And, it's the nature of

the beast of the Wedge

that shits gonna go down

on a big, heavy day.

- Big days at Wedge, there's

so much that goes along

with that.

You know, not being able

to sleep the night before

and thinking about what you're

going to do

and where you're gonna put

yourself.

- [Voiceover] I would just be so

nervous

that I would almost puke.

I'd almost puke in the night

before.

I'd almost puke in the morning.

- Like, on a big day, to not be

afraid

or have a little bit of fear,

you gotta be a little loony

or actually really loony.

- You want to survive,

you don't want to die

so you're thinking about that.

And you want to perform and

so you're thinking about that.

But excited, you know,

excited, you can't wait.

Cause you want it, you want it

also

but you wanna do it right.

- Riding a big wave at

the Wedge body surfing

is the best thing you can do in

the water.

It's like jumping off of

a cliff and landing it.

And what's big, big, what you

usually see

is the top of roofs.

- I've heard that when

the waves get really big

you can actually go over a

set and see over the houses

into the bay, over the bay.

Which I thought was bullshit.

And, a swell came through it was

(mumbles)

and sure enough, I went

over a set and I could see

over the houses into the back

bay

and I was like, you gotta be

kidding me.

- You're like, here we go.

Your feet go over your head

and your flaying, you're like,

am I gonna stay on the face

or am I flying?

And, you do everything

you can to navigate it

but there's nothing else

going through your brain

other than get me down the face

and I better stick my turn at

the bottom.

And when you do, you come up,

and you watch the guys pulling

the barrel,

it's just all smiles.

(people shouting and cheering)

(upbeat, rock music)

- The fact that the wave

is so close to the beach,

you know, proximity, you

get that crowd factor.

It wouldn't matter if the

crowd was there or not,

we'd still be doing what we're

doing

but it certainly elevates things

and it just adds to the

circus of the whole place

that it's just electric.

- Those crowds on the beach,

random, eclectic people

from all over the world,

tourists, whatever,

just watching and hoping and

someone was gonna eat crab,

break their neck, die.

Sick as it sounds, people wanted

blood.

- Let's be straight up.

It's a scene.

It's a big, crazy, powerful

wave breaking so close to shore

where it's so spectator

friendly.

- And you got the water

splashing up.

I mean like, water is taking

people out.

It's almost dangerous that

people

are even standing that close.

- I mean, what a special place,

you know.

Every summer it's like the

equivalent

to the Super Bowl of body

surfing.

All these elements come together

and you get a couple lunatics

out there

charging these massive waves.

- The thing that makes

it so unique, the Wedge,

it's a man-made mistake, it was

it is.

But for us, it's a man-made

blessing

because we love it and we go out

there

and have the time of our lives.

And, it keeps us breathing,

pretty much.

The fact that we can go out

there and get our asses kicked

and go back into life

itself and be humbled

and stoked and thrilled.

So, it's a special man-made

wonderment of the world.

(bright, pop music)

(people yelling and cheering)

(machine buzzing)

- [Voiceover] You know,

Wedge had been our happy home

for decades.

Everybody was friends.

Everybody loved it.

And then a little invention came

along.

There's something really

rolling around the USA

The Morey Boogie

Bodyboard is here to stay

Put your body on a boogie

Grab your Morey Boogie

Put your body on boogie

And you should've bought a

boogie

And you'll be surfing today

Boogie

- We were down at the water one

day

and this comes down with us

with these boogie boards,

these little soft little

sponge looking things.

And he says, hi, my name it Tom.

I want you guys to try these

boards out.

They should let you ride the

waves

and get better rides and stuff.

And we kind of looked at him

and go, ah, okay, whatever.

He left a couple of boards down

there

and the next day a pretty

good sized swell came in.

So, we started using the

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