FOR 25 years, Dr. Warren M. Patch has kept regular office hours. Mornings, the 55-year-old chiropractor sees patients from 9 to noon; afternoons, from 3 to 6. And noon to 3? “Doc Patch is gone surfing,” said Scott Harrison, 52, a computer network engineer and surfer himself, who comes to Doc for the chronic upper back [...]
Somewhere in California, Florida or Hawaii … someone is painstakingly sculpting a block of polyurethane foam into one of the most unique products the United States has ever produced: a surfboard. Using knowledge handed down from “shapers” and surfers over hundreds of years, the craftsman sands here and there along the blank until, eventually, it [...]
It’s 4:30 a.m. in Santa Cruz. While most exhausted parents are fast asleep, big-wave surfing couple Sarah and Mike Gerhardt are tiptoeing past their children’s room and starting their day together with wetsuits, surfboards and prayer. “We get up early, and that’s our time to connect,” Mike says. “We read the Bible together, we pray [...]
Although all beaches in Hawaii are open to the public, access is restricted in some locations by the development of hotels, condominiums, and private homes on beachfront properties.
Surfing is as much about passion as it is about any one emotion. Certainly, there is the love of the sport which begins as respect for the mere physical act. There is the adulation experienced when catching a nice wave and riding it successfully. Often times there is the excited burst of energy that comes [...]
Are surfing exercises really necessary? Most surfers are in pretty good shape, and surfing itself is a good workout. But did you know that there are five dimensions to surfing fitness? That’s five different types of exercises to help you get the most out of your precious time in the water. If you’re not addressing [...]
A surfboard atop a vehicle, 700 miles from the nearest ocean, is your first clue that the surf’s up in Wyoming. Along the Snake River, just south of Jackson, Mother Nature provides a unique venue for the surf-obsessed in a region better known for wolves, grizzly bears, bison and the rugged Grand Teton and Yellowstone [...]
Only a few of us are lucky enough to say that we live within driving distance of a beach. With this luxury comes knowledge from years of experience combing the beaches (during the on- and off-season) to know the unwritten rules while you are at the beach. Check out my top five tips if you’re [...]
There are so many people out in the water these days that one cannot get enough reminders as to what proper etiquette should be … at least what some of us hope it could be. If you are a surfer – beginner or not – you could stand to read some of these fabulous cartoons [...]
Picture a perfect sunny morning with azure blue skies, a glassy horizon, and breaking surf. You paddle out early to beat the crowds and are the only one in the water. Just as you reach the lineup you turn toward the horizon to see a magnificent wave roll in as if it were waiting for [...]
If you’ve done any surfing, then I’m sure you’ve been beaten up by the ocean once or twice. Surfers are notorious for trying to “work through” their injuries and not seek medical attention. They would much rather continue to surf in pain than be told that they need step away from the beach for a [...]
We all like to have control. We like the idea that if we complete a measured task, we will get a measured result. Parts of life operate like this. You can go to work and expect to get your weekly pay. You can get on the train and expect to end up at your destination. [...]
When you first hear the words surf and yoga together, you may conjure images of a swami sitting cross-legged on a paisley long board, coasting effortlessly through the clouds to a soundtrack of “Ohmmmm…” Not quite. Surf Yoga is a growing phenomenon amongst surfers with an interest in yoga, and yoga practitioners with a taste [...]
BE PATIENT (oh so very patient!) It takes a long time to learn to surf … and even longer to master it. Surfing is flat out hard and one should not expect to be ripping waves on their first day out. If you want a basic feeling about learning to surf, it is basically an [...]
If you pay attention to the surfers at the beach preparing to paddle out into the line up, you may notice most devotees to the sport are partial to stretching. As you watch them contorting into poses that gear them up for hours of surfing fun, some familiar poses may begin to appear – downward-facing [...]
