catch a wave

verb2

1. •
   To mount one's surfboard at a distance from shore, turn it toward land, and control it for a successful, satisfying ride on inrushing water.

   • Like surfers trying to catch a wave, balloonists try to ride jet streams. — 1999
2. •
   To derive benefit from a fortunate opportunity; to experience a sudden increase in energy or luck.

   • The size of his fortune, he said, revealed only that "we caught a wave. We were lucky. We had more luck than we deserved." — 1997