There is no greater or more powerful or more pure human rapport with the elements than that experienced by a surfer dancing with the ocean. In "Dancing the Wave, Jean-Etienne Poirier brings alive the world of surfing by offering historical, anthropological, and cultural perspectives on this increasingly popular sport. By recounting tales of his own surfing adventures, he opens the door to this world beyond the summer sun and simple pleasures of the ride, inviting readers to reflect upon the true place of human beings in the universe.
This book is for all board riders, for all those who are touched by the forces of the ocean, and for all those who wish to understand the boldness of surfers, who join power and elegance in that harmonious dance with the sinuous movement of the wave.

If there was one story that enthralled and captivated the surfing world in the past decade, it was the resurrection of Australian surfer Mark Occhilupo. After a high of #3 in the world in the early 1990s Occy spent three years in the surfing wilderness, his ranking plummeting to a low of #490.

Then in spectacular fashion, Occy made a comeback and returned to the waves. In 1999, at Barra Beach in Brazil, he finally clinched the elusive crown and became the last surfing world champion of the twentieth century."

A Surfers Year" picks up where Occy left off in Rio, following the day-by-day highs and lows of life on the World Championship tour and his all out effort to successfully defend his title. A must for all surfing fans.

The mixed-race Hawaiian athlete George Freeth brought surfing to Venice, California, in 1907. Over the next twelve years, Freeth taught Southern Californians to surf and swim while creating a modern lifeguard service that transformed the beach into a destination for fun, leisure, and excitement. Patrick Moser places Freeth's inspiring life story against the rise of the Southern California beach culture he helped shape and define. Freeth made headlines with his rescue of seven fishermen, an act of heroism that highlighted his innovative lifeguarding techniques. But he also founded California's first surf club and coached both male and female athletes, including Olympic swimming champion and "father of modern surfing" Duke Kahanamoku. Often in financial straits, Freeth persevered as a teacher and lifeguarding pioneer--building a legacy that endured long after his death during the 1919 influenza pandemic. A compelling merger of biography and sports history, Surf and Rescue brings to light the forgotten figure whose novel way of seeing the beach sparked the imaginations of people around the world.

Surfing has fascinated filmmakers since Thomas Edison shot footage of Waikiki beachboys in 1906. Before the 1950s surf craze, surfing showed up in travelogues or as exotic background for studio features. The arrival of Gidget (1959) on the big screen swept the sport into popular culture, but surfer-filmmakers were already featuring the day's best surfers in self-narrated two-reelers. Hollywood and independent filmmakers have produced about three dozen surf films in the last half-century, including the frothy Beach Party movies, Point Break (1991) and Chasing Mavericks (2012). From Bud Browne's earliest efforts to The Endless Summer (1966), Riding Giants (2004) and today's brilliant videos, over 1,000 ""surfing movies"" have celebrated the ""stoke."" This first full-length study of surf movies gives critical attention to hundreds of the most important films.

In 1956, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz stepped away from a successful medical practice and began a lifelong surfing odyssey that grew to include his wife Juliette, and their nine children. Together, the Paskowitz clan lived a vagabonding bohemian existence, eschewing material possessions in favour of intangible riches like health and good cheer...all the while careening along the world's coastlines in search of the perfect wave. In Scratching the Horizon, Izzy Paskowitz looks back at his unusual upbringing, and his lifelong passion for the sport that carries his family's stamp. As the fourth-oldest child in a family of inveterate surfers, rock stars, and beach bums, he is uniquely qualified to shine a light on a childhood that has come to symbolize the surfing credo, a reckless young adulthood that nearly cost him his sanity, and a maturing sense of self and purpose that allows him to lift others on the back of his experience. As the father of a son with autism and the founder of "Surfers Healing," a foundation devoted to expanding the horizons of children with autism through surfing, Paskowitz has found a way to connect the surreal aspects of his childhood to the harsh realities of adulthood, and he shares these discoveries in this wickedly entertaining and transforming memoir.

The Maverick's surf point near Half Moon Bay, California, has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world to catch a ride. It is also the site of the Super Bowl of big wave surfing: the Maverick's Surf Contest. In The Voodoo Wave, Mark Kreidler takes readers inside the waves, inside the lives of the competitors, and introduces them to Jeff Clark, the man who first dared to ride Maverick's. Kreidler's riveting account of the 2010 season captures the jaw-dropping performance of South Africa's Chris Bertish who bested twenty-three other surfers amid the biggest waves many had ever seen as well as Clark's clashes with the contest's newly corporatized management. A thrilling account of the culture of high-risk, high-adrenaline athletes, The Voodoo Wave is also an amazing story of what happens when love of the endeavor collides with the realities of business in the twenty-first century."

This complex look at surf culture explores its inherent masculinity, as well as the violence, racism, misogyny, turf wars, and homophobia that are as much a part of the sport as ocean swells. Both a touching memoir and a sharp social critique, this analysis reveals the unwritten codes that rule all aspects of a surfer's life--from body image and national identity to politics and friendship--and the issues that have imprinted themselves on Australian beaches since the Cronulla riots.

This practical and accessible volume is aimed at helping surfers and non-surfers alike learn and improve their skills to get the very best out of their surfing experience. "How to be a Surfer" uses case studies, first hand experiences, and high action and scenic surf photography of some of the best surfers in the world to guide readers through the rich and diverse world of surfing. It also provides an internationally acclaimed surf training and teaching method - The 7 which breaks the sport down into seven simple and easily mastered techniques. With its unique combination of stunning photography, superb teaching method, and surfing philosophy, this is an essential volume for everyone interested in this highly enjoyable sport and lifestyle.

Over the last forty years, surfing has emerged from its Pacific islands origins to become a global industry. Since its beginnings more than a thousand years ago, surfing’s icon has been the surf- board—its essential instrument, the point of physical connection between human and nature, body and wave. Based on research in three important surfing locations—Hawai‘i, southern California, and southeastern Australia—this is the first book to trace the surf- board from regional craft tradition to its key role in the billion-dollar surfing business. Hawai‘i, California, and Australia are much more than sites of surfboard manufacturing. Their surfboard workshops are hives of creativity where legacies of rich cultural heritage and the local environment combine to produce unique, bold board designs customized to suit prevailing waves. The authors follow the story of board makers who have survived these challenges and explores the heritage of the craft, the secrets of custom board production, the role of local geography in shaping board styles, and the survival of hand-crafting skills. From the olo boards of ancient Hawaiian kahuna to the high- tech designs that represent the current state of the industry, Surfing Places, Surfboard Makers offers an entre?e into the world of surf- board making that will find an eager audience among researchers and students of Pacific culture, history, geography, and economics, as well as surfing enthusiasts.