Earlier this year, I went up to the Noosa Festival of Surfing for a couple of days. Friends of mine were competing so I wanted to watch and support them and as an extra added bonus, the waves were amazing!! The days were spent surfing, chatting, sitting, eating, drinking and teasing each other mercilessly (some [...]
There are few more satisfying feelings in the world than that waterlogged, salty, muscle-aching, red-eyed, stoked exhaustion after a really, really, really fun surf. You know when you stay in the water until you are not even sure you can make it in and you decide that this is your wave in, and then that [...]
In the past, I’ve alluded to the fact that, as surfers go, the word that best describes me is “polite”. I tend to follow the rules, give up waves, smile, hoot for other people and try keep the tone in the water mellow. I was not that person today. I take that back. I showed [...]
I see dolphins a lot. I know that is connected to spending time in the ocean, but I honestly seem to be a magnet for sea life. Especially dolphins. The other week I was driving into town from the highway when I looked up and saw this cloud that looked disarmingly like a dolphin jumping [...]
A surfer’s wish this holiday season eh? ‘That’s easy’ you say with a Grinch-like grin! No, dear friends, it is not for a bigger quiver of surfboards or a surf break alone to myself every dawn session (although those things are quite desirable too!). It has been many years since I have indulged in that [...]
Some days, it all just works. Some days it feels right. You have flow, inspiration, motivation, enthusiasm, energy and it all comes easily and without effort. Your ideas, thoughts, excitement, heart, mind and body all spill out through your fingers, hands and feet. They move out through the things you create and easily become lines, [...]
“For me, why you surf is more important than how you surf” – Nathan Oldfield, Seaworthy. I think about the reef and how the wave forms a bowl over and around it. I know where to sit on my board and wait, taking my bearing from the sucky rock. Sections close fast going right at [...]
Surfing has been mythologized in many cultures, and with good reason. From an athleticism standpoint, it’s an incredibly difficult sport and requires someone to be in pretty decent shape just to learn. To be truly good at surfing one has to be in peak athletic condition, and to do it as much as possible. It’s [...]
They may be trapped in Gaza, but riding the waves seems like the great escape.
I have not been surfing for over three weeks now … and oddly, I have not gotten the usual “gotta get in the water” itch that would normally accompany such a stretch of dry living. Should I be worried??? Have I lost something magical? Lost the urge or drive to surf? I had to find [...]
Three-time surfing world champion Andy Irons has died from an illness on his way home to Hawaii from a surfing event. The 32-year-old was forced to withdraw from the current men’s tour event in Puerto Rico. His family has confirmed he was found dead in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday after being too ill to board a [...]
I’ve always wondered how you quit surfing. I know it’s possible; I just don’t think I could do it. I’ve seen others drop the sport without much struggle, yet I’m not sure I quite understand the circumstances or physiology required to walk away from the ocean. In Steven Kotler’s West Of Jesus: Surfing, Science and [...]
Aikido, as Pat Cockett, a waterman from Kauai, writes, “is the art of directed motion within a stream of energy.” If one were to substitute as a training partner, instead of a 200 pound man, 10,000 tons of moving water, then the strategy of blending with and using the energy at hand makes a great [...]
This year’s extreme heat is putting the world’s coral reefs under such severe stress that scientists fear widespread die-offs, endangering not only the richest ecosystems in the ocean but also associated fisheries that feed millions of people. From Thailand to Texas, corals are reacting to the heat stress by bleaching, or shedding their color and [...]
As I thought about it more, I noticed there were correlations between surfing and blogging that I wanted to point out and hopefully allow up and coming bloggers to benefit from the power of catching their first “wave”. So without further ado, here is my 6 step guide for getting up on your board. Enjoy! [...]
