"In the not-so-small world of surfing, Phil Jarratt has seen it all. Luckily for us, he's a fearless, funny storyteller, with a reporter's unsentimental eye and an endearing modesty. But his memoir is, above all, a haunting self-portrait: the boy practising drop-knee cutbacks in his mother's full-length mirror in mid-century Wollongong becomes a man." William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Barbarian Days Life of Brine is the memoir of Phil Jarratt, one of the world's best-known chroniclers of surfing culture whose lifelong pursuit of the perfect wave has placed him in the midst of some of the most exciting moments in surfing's modern history. Jarratt, who has courted controversy in his long career as a journalist, editor and documentarian, pulls no punches as he rides an exhilarating wave of nostalgia from the sixties up until now, through the heady days of drugs, alcohol and excess in Bali and Biarritz and other exotic locations in between. Filled with debauchery, reflection and insight, this is a book that will be devoured by surfers young and old.

Surfing Liquid Blue Topaz: Regaining Lost Skills, Moving to Peak Performances Through the analogy of surfing, the sport of Kings, Dr. Oliver takes the reader on a lifetime journey telling how to regain lost skills and move to peak performances regardless of age or circumstances. A perfect book for surfers, sports enthusiasts, unemployed, downsized, divorced, disease challenged and those simply hungry to know the truth of life and where to find it. Jammed packed with real-life photos, Dr. Oliver tell the true-life story of how he overcame through the power of Jesus Christ and achieved success in spite of all negative circumstances. With a no-holds-bared honesty and transparency learn up-close and personal what makes Dr. Oliver tick and how he overcame the tragic death of his father at age 12, personal rejection, unemployment, poverty, cancer twice, crippling arthritis, lack, persecution, divorce and almost dying 7 times.

'A remarkable story that will appeal to those who ride a board and those who have never set foot in the water alike.' NEWCASTLE HERALD In GHOST WAVE, Chris Dixon dives deep into the fascinating history of Cortes Bank and the motley brotherhood of argumentative, damaged, brave and quirky margin walkers who discovered and scaled the tallest mountain in the sea. Along the way, he'll show how these pioneering wave-addicts changed our very understanding of the science of surfing, while giving sea-level credence to environmentalists' fears that the weather is indeed going haywire. GHOST WAVE is the result of extensive interviews not only with these surfers and those close to them, but also with psychologists who provide insights into their strange addiction to deadly waves. Dixon draws on the knowledge of oceanographers and meteorologists as well as emulating his own experience as a lifelong surfer. 'The object of my obsession for the past few years has been a sunken island 100 miles off the southern California coast called the Cortes Bank. On just the right swells, in just the right conditions, the three foot deep summit of this mile-high mountaintop produces the biggest surfable wave on the face of the earth ...'

Surfing today evokes many things: thundering waves, warm beaches, bikinis and lifeguards, and carefree pleasure. But is the story of surfing really as simple as popular culture suggests? In this first international political history of the sport, Scott Laderman shows that while wave riding is indeed capable of stimulating tremendous pleasure, its globalization went hand in hand with the blood and repression of the long twentieth century.
Emerging as an imperial instrument in post-annexation Hawaii, spawning a form of tourism that conquered the littoral Third World, tracing the struggle against South African apartheid, and employed as a diplomatic weapon in America's Cold War arsenal, the saga of modern surfing is only partially captured by Gidget, the Beach Boys, and the film "Blue Crush." From nineteenth-century American empire-building in the Pacific to the low-wage labor of the surf industry today, Laderman argues that surfing in fact closely mirrored American foreign relations. Yet despite its less-than-golden past, the sport continues to captivate people worldwide.
Whether in El Salvador or Indonesia or points between, the modern history of this cherished pastime is hardly an uncomplicated story of beachside bliss. Sometimes messy, occasionally contentious, but never dull, surfing offers us a whole new way of viewing our globalized world.

"Wave Riding: The Life and Times of a Surfer" is an autobiographical surge that will take you on a whirlwind ride with dancing dolphins, beautiful sunsets, twenty-foot waves, and a flying flock of pelicans gliding along the face of a peeling wave. As a former surf instructor, I will not only teach you about the joy of wave riding, but as well as the etiquette, the culture, how the ocean works, and exactly how to surf. Also dive into my world as a wave rider since I was a little grom. Enjoy

A "New York Times "Notable Book
A "San Francisco Chronicle "Best Book of the Year
In her astonishing new book Susan Casey captures colossal, ship-swallowing waves, and the surfers and scientists who seek them out.
For legendary surfer Laird Hamilton, hundred foot waves represent the ultimate challenge. As Susan Casey travels the globe, hunting these monsters of the ocean with Hamilton's crew, she witnesses first-hand the life or death stakes, the glory, and the mystery of impossibly mammoth waves. Yet for the scientists who study them, these waves represent something truly scary brewing in the planet's waters. With inexorable verve, "The Wave "brilliantly portrays human beings confronting nature at its most ferocious.

Waterman is the first comprehensive biography of Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968): swimmer, surfer, Olympic gold medalist, Hawaiian icon, waterman. Long before Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz made their splashes in the pool, Kahanamoku emerged from the backwaters of Waikiki to become America's first superstar Olympic swimmer. The original "human fish" set dozens of world records and topped the world rankings for more than a decade; his rivalry with Johnny Weissmuller transformed competitive swimming from an insignificant sideshow into a headliner event. Kahanamoku used his Olympic renown to introduce the sport of "surf-riding," an activity unknown beyond the Hawaiian Islands, to the world. Standing proudly on his traditional wooden longboard, he spread surfing from Australia to the Hollywood crowd in California to New Jersey. No American athlete has influenced two sports as profoundly as Kahanamoku did, and yet he remains an enigmatic and underappreciated figure: a dark-skinned Pacific Islander who encountered and overcame racism and ignorance long before the likes of Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Jackie Robinson. Kahanamoku's connection to his homeland was equally important. He was born when Hawaii was an independent kingdom; he served as the sheriff of Honolulu during Pearl Harbor and World War II and as a globetrotting "Ambassador of Aloha" afterward; he died not long after Hawaii attained statehood. As one sportswriter put it, Duke was "Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey combined down here." In Waterman, award-winning journalist David Davis examines the remarkable life of Duke Kahanamoku, in and out of the water.

Surf Safari is a true story that follows a family into the 1960's Latin America in search of adventure. As surfers, they clung to the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America, often forced to travel unmarked roads through dense jungles to lonely beaches. In addition to braving unknown waters and unexpected travel hazards always lurked as well - bandidos and armed soldiers of the ruthless dictators in those third world nations. They survived a major hurricane, an earthquake and drove through the middle of an ongoing war. Several times they were stopped by armed soldiers, automatics weapons pointed into the car until proved they were americans. There was even a brush with the law, the boys and Land rover arrested then released. another time they were held for several days in El Salvador's main prison. few down there had ever seen anyone surf the terrifying waves that crashed on their shores. Entire villages came out to watch the boys surf waves they feared and expected to see them eaten by sharks. When they emerged from the ocean they were treated as local heros, surrounded by kids who wanted to carry their boards and touch their shoulder length sun bleached hair. after two years in Latin america the Blanchard family moved to Hanalei, Kauai where Holt and Brad still live and surf, including Holt's children. alana Blanchard, a top ten world pro surfer, helped her father and brother save Bethany Hamilton's life when attacked by a Tiger shark.

You're young, in love, and in paradise ... surfing, traveling, partying. Then in one terrifying wave of heat and noise your reality shatters into a million pieces that can never be put back together. On October 12, 2002, a massive car bomb ripped through the popular Kuta nightclub, the Sari Club, killing 202 people and maiming many others. Hanabeth Luke was hamming it up on the dance floor to cheesy pop tunes with a friend when a loud bang, like a car back-firing, momentarily silenced the music and dimmed the lights. Dancers stopped and heads turned, but the music and flashing lights soon came back on and the party resumed. But only for a few seconds ... "The noise which came next I will never forget. It was an empty sound that did not resonate. It was a thud, like the slam of a car door, but multiplied to a volume I simply cannot describe," Hanabeth writes in this extraordinary memoir. Hanabeth survived the Bali Bomb, somehow crawling through the flaming wreckage and using fallen electrical cables to shimmy over a four metre high concrete wall. But her boyfriend Marc Gajardo was killed instantly in the blast. The heart-wrenching story of young love, and lives, cut short is chilling and confronting, . Her raw and honest account of those dreadful events brings the spectre of terrorism into sharp and intensely personal focus. Yet it is the story of what Hanabeth has done since which brings a spark of hope and light to this awful chapter in our history. Confronting world leaders, campaigning for peace and against the war on terror, raising money and awareness, resolving to squeeze the most from every day, Hanabeth's inspirational tale provides a stirring case study in survival and healing.

"Wanted: six guys with guts " An obscure advertisement in a surf magazine sets in motion a journey through Sumatra's jungles, across volcanoes and along chaotic roads, through isolated villages and temples to the fabled Mentawai Islands and beyond. As the Island Explorer drifts deeper into the wilds, its occupants gradually lose their connection with the "real world" and start existing in their own dreamland. But the future becomes uncertain when the captain jumps ship and the stand-in skipper slowly becomes unhinged in the tropical heat. Join the quest to find pristine islands, untouched coral beaches and flawless surf. Sail through equatorial Indonesia's sparkling seas with a group of surfers searching for that elusive, ideal wave. Please note that the print version of Island Explorer does not contain the photographs that are included in the Kindle version.

An in-depth look at surfing as a form of spirituality and way of life. Real surfing, real stories, real spirituality. Reviews: "Drawing on philosophy, religion, science, literature, and her own experience, Leslie Kerby deftly reveals why so many of us find solace and peace in the sea. I loved this book." Jaimal Yogis, author of Saltwater Buddha and The Fear Project Surfing And Spirituality is the only book I've ever read to capture the true essence of why we are drawn to the ocean and surfing. If you surf or just love the ocean you just "get it." Where "it" is the nearly indescribable sensation of infinite connection and presence we feel when riding a wave. Leslie has finally put a voice to this spiritual calling we have to the waves. She proves without a doubt we who ride the waves do so for much more than fun. We do it to experience a spiritual connection that can't be found in any church or religious practice. Incredibly well researched and written in a decidedly academic but friendly and relatable voice. I highly recommend Surfing And Spirituality to anyone who loves the ocean or feels that omnipresent drive to reconnect with who we really are. - Ryan Camana