The summer of 2008 was a season to remember. A tropical storm devoured the Atlantic Ocean and sent an army of goliaths toward the east coast of Florida.

The waves rolled in endlessly, sets of three to five, eight to ten feet high. Imagine a ten-foot wall of water stretching along the coast, breaking with direction, and perfect barrels coming right at you! You have to decide, Do I go under and try to pull away or go for the ride of a lifetime? I chose to ride, and I will never regret my decision.

It was exactly 7:28 a.m.; the month was June. The day was mine for the taking; I was in control. I waded into the deep blue, jumped on my surfboard, and took off. I duck-dived through the walls of sheer magnificence, the spray hitting my face.

I laughed because everything in my mind and body had forgotten about the outside world. I was in my zone, the zone of endurance, power, focus, and adrenaline. This was my time to shine.

I had been sitting and waiting in the lineup for ten minutes. My brother-in-law, Josh, a Marine, was with me.

“This is amazing, bro!” I said.

He laughed and agreed. In every direction we could see the beautiful baby blue skies and the greatness of the sun. Its blazing heat made the Atlantic very refreshing. I knew this would be the peak of my surfing career; there were photographers everywhere.

Finally I saw my wave and charged it with every thing I had in me. I reached the peak and I was off. I stood up and flew down the face of the marvelous wall of water. Then I cut a hard right, threw my hand into the belly of the beast, and hung on for dear life!

Boom, boom, boom! I could hear the wave crashing behind me. I was inside the barrel of the wave of my dreams and riding it tenaciously. Before I knew it, the beast started to close in on me and I knew I had to get out.

I pumped my surfboard as fast as I could. I could see the opening of my barrel, and it was within my grasp. I charged hard and flew out of the barrel, took a sharp left cut and then another to the right, and flew off the peak of the wave, crash-landing into the gorgeous deep blue.

I had done what I always dreamed of! I made the barrel on a ten-foot wave in the Sebastian Inlet, for ten seconds. And it felt like I was flying to heaven.

I could hear the spectators on the beach whistle. Josh was coming over as fast as he could to congratulate me on my epic wave. This, I knew, had been the best day of my life. I felt worthy of a gold medal and a trip to Hawaii, but all I really wanted was more of the beautiful place I call home.

The ocean is a place of peace, life, beauty, and sometimes fury, but one thing is certain: I will never love any other place more in this world than our beautiful deep blue sea.