The Malloy Brothers Conspiracy

Chris can see where this is going, though, and doesn’t want me getting all soft on them. He has a warning for people who think they’re some kind of saints just because they’ve taken advantage of some of their time and privilege.

"I just want to call bullshit on it," he says, almost pleading. "We get wasted and we get in bar fights and do stupid shit."

"If I read the stories about us, I’d be like, ‘Jeez, dude, what are you trying to prove?’ " adds Dan.

In the end, they say, they’re not out to save the world, or even surfing, for that matter. Their goals are much more modest. "My new goal is no more goals. That’s what I told my wife," Chris laughs. But then he gets a little serious again and says, "All those guys who came before us, they’ve passed on a really precious thing, and we want to take off all the bullshit and leave it just how we found it. We don’t want to be seen as anything other than that." Well, there’s one other thing, Chris sheepishly admits: If they ever write the story of this odd place called Ventura and the characters who lived and surfed here, maybe, just maybe, there will be a page in the book on them.

If there is, it should say something about these handsome, modest kids who surfed pretty well, but, more importantly, who stuck together and lived exemplary lives . . . and that their father’s proud.