Surf Books

[oldmansurfer]

I know a guy that I hear only surfs the big winter surf. He quits surfing for the rest of the year. then as winter comes he starts paddling in the river to build up his arm strength. Somehow that still seems pretty needy

[oldmansurfer]

I finished reading Barbrian Days and now started Surfings Greatest Misadventures so far 3 shark attacks, rabies, a big wave wipe out and a learning to surf when the Indonesian tidal wave hit.

[JuanPardo]

I finished "North Shore Chronicles, big-wave surfing in Hawaii. It is an interesting read about the history of big wave surfing, about some of the first surfers that tackled those huge waves. The book is made up of a series of interviews with top big-wave surfers, and they talk about how they started surfing, a bit about their background, the waves that really made a difference in their surfing etc

[dtc]

I finished reading Barbrian Days and now started Surfings Greatest Misadventures so far 3 shark attacks, rabies, a big wave wipe out and a learning to surf when the Indonesian tidal wave hit.

Rabies?

[oldmansurfer]

One of the shark attack stories was a group of guys who went to South Africa to surf. One guy gets killed by a shark and I guess while they were still there they ran into a sick dog which the other two guys felt sorry for so were sticking their hands in the dogs mouth I guess presumably to figure out why it was drooling. It was diagnosed with rabies a day or two later. They went to the hospital but there was some regulation about treating foreigners but the hospital gave them the vaccines they needed only they had to give it to themselves or find someone else to give it to them.

[oldmansurfer]

I am reading a book titled Surfing by Desoto Brown. It is basically a collection of photos of surfing culture from the Bishop Museum. Interesting tidbits from it Tom Blake created a sailboard in 1935 basically put a sail on a surfbaord. another fact is that surfers were complaining about the crowds of surfers at Waikiki at least by 1956 where it was published in local newspapers. IN 1963 there was a headline "Waikiki has three times as many surfers as the area can safely handle"

[oldmansurfer]

I read "Hound of the Sea" autobiography of Garrett McNamara big wave surfer. He had a very unusual upbringing. It's pretty amazing that he ended up being the surfer who holds the world record for the biggest wave ever ridden. Now I am reading "All for a few Perfect Waves" the posthumous biography of Miki Dora. I have been taking a break from reading surfing stuff and just read biographies of Carole King, Carly Simon and Augustus Owsley Stanley

[oldmansurfer]

I think maybe I missed some books I read recently including the biography of Greg Noll "Da Bull"

[oldmansurfer]

Finally a book that I really don't recommend. It's titled "Caught Inside" and the author seems to suffer from Attention span deficit syndrome. It's like he is telling a story but he can't just tell a story instead it meanders all over the place. He mentions seeing a seal and then writes a couple pages about what he thinks he knows about seals. He is also overly descriptive and it interferes with my reading. I will read something then wonder why the heck he made such a wild description and what did it add to this book other than words. Or I will read some paragraph full of overly descriptive stuff and can't even remember what I just read. In those cases I usually just continue on since it is likely just more meandering. I haven't finished it yet but if I change my mind about it I will let you all know.

[oldmansurfer]

I forgot to mention I got a kindle and read my first book on it. Surfari: from Malibu to Panama by WW Blanchard. That name might sound familiar because it is Alana Blanchard's grandfather and is a story about him and Alana's father and uncles and friends and their surf trips up and down Mexico and Central America. It's an entertaining tale and an insight to the cultures of the various countries and the problems related to traveling by car through Central America.

[oldmansurfer]

I finished reading Heap of Bones: A Baja Surfer's Chronicle by Steve Sorensen. I found it easy to read and enjoyable about the nortoamericano surfing community that exists in Baja Mexico. Currently I am reading a book by Shaun Tomson called Surfers Code 12 simple lessons for riding through life which I just started but seems like a good book for beginners the lessons are
I will never turn my back on the ocean
I will paddle around the impact zone
I will take the drop with commitment
I will never fight a rip tide
I will always paddle back out
I will watch out for other surfers after a big set
I will know that there will always be another wave
I will ride and not paddle into shore
I will pass on my stoke to a non-surfer
I will catch a wave every day, even in my mind
I will realize that all surfers are joined by one ocean
I will honor the sport of kings

[dtc]

Words to live by. Pay attention, avoid problems if you can, when you do something do it well, look after others, dont sweat the small stuff

I will watch out for other surfers after a big set

I was quite heartened recently when a kid (well, teen) took off on a fairly big wave that closed out and the 4 people still out the back all kept looking back to the beach until the kid popped up, then went back to checking out the waves. No one knew the kid, but there was this expectation that we just had to keep an eye on him. Even though he was probably better than all of us.

[jaffa1949]

I finished reading Barbrian Days and now started Surfings Greatest Misadventures so far 3 shark attacks, rabies, a big wave wipe out and a learning to surf when the Indonesian tidal wave hit.

Rabies?

Beware the nasty Indonesian dog or monkey, if they bite you, get a rabies shot!

[oldmansurfer]

I just read "Bali: Heaven and Hell" by Phil Jarrat. Not quite a surfing book but about the history of Bali including surfing. It's interesting and horrific

[oxtailsoup]

If you liked Barbarian Days you will like this one:

A Surfing Adventure in the Mentawai Islands - where Indian Ocean Power disturbs the sea of tranquility

An intimate, insiders tale of a charter trip that lets you live the trip, with some interesting detours into surf history, sharks etc

on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com.au/Surfing-Adven ... B00GVO7SHC

The free sample will give is worth a read and by then you'll know if you want to read more.

[jaffa1949]

Oxtail I deleted your almost exact same other post from other threads, once is enough. Advertising through spam is not acceptable and oxtail soup is more palatable than spam. Please read the rules re spamming and self advertising!

[oldmansurfer]

I'm reading the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis and maybe will read that Mentawai one after I finish

[oxtailsoup]

Sorry Alpha, the post was meant to be more like a nice bowl of seafood chowder, not spam on toast...

[jaffa1949]

Sorry Alpha, the post was meant to be more like a nice bowl of seafood chowder, not spam on toast...

Well taken Oxtail, Oxtail soup is pretty good as is Kangaroo tail soup!

[RobSF]

Very surprised that in all the replies no one once mentioned the Pulitzer Prize winner, Barbarian Days, by William Finnegan:

‘Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,’ by William Finnegan
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/book ... negan.html

Incredibly good writing by a war correspondent who surfed wherever, whenever he could.