Surfing has emerged from ancient roots to become a twenty-first century phenomenon - an 'alternative' sport, lifestyle and art form with a global profile and ever-increasing numbers of participants. Drawing on popular surf culture, academic literature and the analytical tools of social theory, this book is the first sustained commentary on the contemporary social and cultural meaning of surfing. Core themes of mind and body, emotions and identity, aesthetics, style, and sensory experience are explored through a variety of topics, and particular attention is paid to: * evolving perceptions of the sea and the beach * the globalization of surfing * surfing as a subculture and lifestyle * the embodiment and gendering of surfing. Surfing and Social Theory is an original and theoretically rigorous text that sets the agenda for future work in this area. Along with the Surf Science courses now appearing in universities around the world, this text provides students and researchers in sport, sociology, culture and geography with a new perspective and a thought-provoking text.

Motorboating Start to Finish is the perfect book for you if you are new to motorboating and need to learn the basics, or if you are experienced, but wish to broaden your skills and develop your techniques. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide takes you through the basic principles, preparing to go to sea, your first voyage and safety at sea. It includes advice on choosing and buying a motorboat, essential equipment, boat handling, tides, weather and navigation, all taken from courses delivered by the UK's biggest sailing school, the UKSA. This book is accessible to all levels, giving those new to motorboating straightforward advice, and showing experienced powerboaters how to take the sport to the next level with professional tips that will help improve speed, skill, safety and enjoyment. It is a complete reference for every level of tender, RIB, fishing boat, motor cruiser or sportsboat driver. This book is packed with hundreds of illustrations and photographs, and is a great way to learn, develop and refresh your powerboating skills.

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.

This is the radical journey of an Italian surf punk studying Chinese in the late 1980s, fuelling surf adventures in the 1990s through work as a Mandarin interpreter., running Surf News magazine in the 2000s, tackling the Silver Dragon river bore in 2007, and then moving the so-called 'Peoples Republic of Empty Waves' to explore the virgin breaks and the surf development of China. Along the way, Nik discovers an untold history of wave riding in dynastic culture. How do the breathing techniques of Daoism, the flow of calligraphy and the pragmatic values of Confucianism relate to the art of wave riding? Strangely, and quite brilliantly, this happens in the oldest continuous civilisation in the world over 1200 years ago.

Six-time world surfing champion, actor, and US heart-throb Kelly Slater tells of the struggles and triumphs he's experienced throughout his life and how they have helped him to become one of the world's most loved sports figures. From beach blanket bingo to Baywatch, surfing has fascinated people for years, and Kelly Slater is the sport's newest star. He's one of the world's most popular surfers; his radical moves have revolutionised the sport. Born in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in 1972, he found surfing to be a great way to escape problems at home. When he was 11, his parents divorced. Slater and his brother, Sean, were raised by their suddenly single mother, who struggled to support two young sons. After Slater's surfing career took off, he made the transition into acting and modelling. He spent a season starring on the popular television show Baywatch, where he won the hearts of women young and old, including Pamela Anderson, whom he dated for about a year. He has also been featured in Versace ads. In Pipe Dreams, he shares the stories that have influenced his life and have inspired him to overcome both personal and professional hurdles and achieve his dreams.

Surfing has emerged from ancient roots to become a twenty-first century phenomenon - an 'alternative' sport, lifestyle and art form with a global profile and ever-increasing numbers of participants. Drawing on popular surf culture, academic literature and the analytical tools of social theory, this book is the first sustained commentary on the contemporary social and cultural meaning of surfing. Core themes of mind and body, emotions and identity, aesthetics, style, and sensory experience are explored through a variety of topics, and particular attention is paid to: * evolving perceptions of the sea and the beach * the globalization of surfing * surfing as a subculture and lifestyle * the embodiment and gendering of surfing. Surfing and Social Theory is an original and theoretically rigorous text that sets the agenda for future work in this area. Along with the Surf Science courses now appearing in universities around the world, this text provides students and researchers in sport, sociology, culture and geography with a new perspective and a thought-provoking text.

Experience the thrill and adventure of riding the surf through this wonderful compilation of graphics and collectibles from around the globe, including California, Hawaii, Australia, Britain, and Europe. Surf legend Rod Sumpter shares his memories of the unique culture that evolved in the mid-twentieth century -- one characterized by surf, sport, beach beat, and Friday night surf stomps echoing the joy of riding big, small, and hollow waves. Surf movies were in their heyday and colorful posters, now highly collectible, announced the date and time of local showings. Enjoy this fantastic assortment of movie posters and handbills, striking magazine covers, decals, patches, vintage photographs, advertising, trophies, surf-theme record albums, and much more. Current values are included in the captions. Surfing enthusiasts everywhere will crave this nostalgic and visually exciting look at one of the world's most exhilarating sports.

The Longboard Travel Guide is the first surf guidebook written specifically for longboarders.

Loaded with mouth-watering lineup photos, the book describes 100 of the best longboard waves in the world and offers insider tips on how to ride them. From the Maldives to Australia’s Gold Coast, from Costa Rica to Fiji, from Samoa to Sri Lanka, all the classic destinations are here. A smorgasbord of less-well known areas are also included for adventurous surfers who thirst for uncrowded waves.

The book covers every aspect of surf travel for longboarders: where to go, where to stay, what gear to take, how to get in shape for your trip and how to stay healthy abroad.

Longboarders of all ages and abilities will benefit from the practical advice offered by a writing team of seasoned travelers and pros. There’s plenty to soak up, whether you’re planning a road trip to Europe, a cold-water trip to Iceland, or a boat trip to the Maldives.

A selection of real-life traveller’s tales illustrate the pleasure and pain experienced by loggers searching for the elusive perfect wave.

Stand Up Paddleboarding is the fastest growing watersport worldwide. The comparatively low cost, the convenience of inflatable boards and the fact that you can just get on and go all add up to its appeal. But, as with everything, a little bit of knowledge and technique makes the experience so much more enjoyable! That is where this book - the first UK how-to book on paddleboarding - comes in. It provides a perfect introduction to the sport: how to paddleboard, what kit to use and where to go. The book guides you through launching, the correct stance, paddling in a straight line, the different types of turns and landing. It shows you how to choose your board and paddle, inflate and deflate an inflatable board, and talks about where to ride as well as weather, safety, maintenance and repair of your equipment. It covers the main types of paddleboarding: touring, racing, surfing and yoga / fitness. All aspects are heavily illustrated with colour photographs making it easy to understand and clear to follow.

Choosing the right travelling companion for that trip of a lifetime is a tough task, yet Stormrider Surf Stories makes life easy by offering something for everyone who is on a journey of enlightenment through Indonesia. This compendium of short stories brings together some of the finest tales of discovery, adventure and hardship from every corner of this surf-blessed archipelago. Join the pioneers and share their experiences as they hack their way through the jungles of Nias, the Mentawai Islands, G-Land, Sumbawa and Sumba, searching for the perfect wave around the next headland. Feel the terror as survivors recount their flirtation with disasters as big as the Boxing Day tsunami and Bali bombings or as small and personal as getting lost or falling overboard. Learn what it was really like in the early '70s on the sleepy island of Bali or jump in a sampan for a magical mystery tour of the far-flung Mentawai islands, decades before the modern, luxury, charter boats appeared. Shipwrecks, tsunamis, volcanoes, bombs, beatings, malaria and death are all cheated by an intrepid cast of trailblazers and chancers, but it's not all danger and mayhem as there are also some heart-warming narratives of love, joy and face-creasing comedy. This compendium of Stormrider Surf Stories will delight both the road-weary Indo traveller and the inquisitive intern, looking for a good ol' yarn to read during the next flat spell.

Winner of the Pulitzer Price and William Hill Sports Book of the Year: Barbarian Days is a deeply rendered self-portrait of a lifelong surfer looking for transcendence 'that recalls early James Salter' (Geoff Dyer, Observer) Surfing only looks like a sport. To devotees, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a mental and physical study, a passionate way of life. New Yorker writer William Finnegan first started surfing as a young boy in California and Hawaii. Barbarian Days is his immersive memoir of a life spent travelling the world chasing waves through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa and beyond. Finnegan describes the edgy yet enduring brotherhood forged among the swell of the surf; and recalling his own apprenticeship to the world's most famous and challenging waves, he considers the intense relationship formed between man, board and water. Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, a social history, an extraordinary exploration of one man's gradual mastering of an exacting and little-understood art. It is a memoir of dangerous obsession and enchantment. 'Reading this guy on the subject of waves and water is like reading Hemingway on bullfighting; William Burroughs on controlled substances; Updike on adultery. . . . a coming-of-age story, seen through the gloss resin coat of a surfboard' Sports Illustrated

Over 400 dynamic color photos and a concise text rich in facts show important developments in surfing over the last century. The ancient Polynesian heritage of surfing is presented through its introduction to the modern world by Hawaiians such as Duke Kahanamoku in the early 1900s. Emphasis is given to a later period when surfing's popularity grew steadily in southern California during the 1950s and 1960s and surf culture was assimilated into a west-coast lifestyle. The music, filmmaking, photography, design, and literature of surfing all have influenced popular culture internationally. Surfboards are shown here to have evolved from 150-pound solid redwood boards to "hollow" boards of the 1930s and lightweight foam and fiberglass boards of the 1970s. Northern Californians contributed the development of the wetsuit as an adaptation to cold water conditions. As a result, the endless summer now can be found on any beach in the world. This book is based on the exhibition "He'e Nalu: Wave Riding" presented at he San Francisco Airport Museums from October, 1997 to February, 1998.

This is the true story of Ted, Viscount Deerhurst, the son of the Earl of Coventry and an American ballerina who dedicated his life to becoming a professional surfer. Surfing was a means of escape, from England, from the fraught charges of nobility, from family, and, often, from his own demons. Ted was good on the board, but never made it to the very highest ranks of a sport that, like most, treats second-best as nowhere at all. He kept on surfing, ending up where all surfers go to live or die, the paradise of Hawaii. There, in search of the "perfect woman," he fell in love with a dancer called Lola, who worked in a Honolulu nightclub. The problem with paradise, as he was soon to discover, is that gangsters always get there first. Lola already had a serious boyfriend, a man who went by the name of Pit Bull. Ted was given fair warning to stay away. But he had a besetting sin, for which he paid the heaviest price: He never knew when to give up. Surf, Sweat and Tears takes us into the world of global surfing, revealing a dark side beneath the dazzling sun and cream-crested waves. Here is surf noir at its most compelling, a dystopian tale of one man's obsessions, wiped out in a grisly true crime.

Join the quest to surf the biggest wave in history. Welcome to Nazaré, home to the big-wave surfers risking it all – their search to ride the Everest of the ocean – the 100-foot wave. Sports journalist Matt Majendie is welcomed into the inner circle of Nazaré's tight community of extreme thrill-seekers, living among them for a season as he chronicles their incredible highs and terrifying lows. Join a cast of fascinating characters, from surfing scientists to big-wave addicts, as they battle fear, each other and nature itself.

Your complete practical guide to this fast-paced and addictive sport. Kiteboarding has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, and interest is only set to increase with its inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In this book, Andy Gratwick (Head of Training for British Kitesports) gets you started with the kite and takes you through to flying it on the water, jumping, tricks and racing, as well as covering weather, wind and tide theory, and helping you select the right kit. Sections cover: - The origins of kiteboarding and massive rise in popularity in recent years - How a kite flies and basic weather principles as well as background on tides and currents, waves, and wind vs tide - Getting started on land – LEI rigging, assembly, launching and flying, body-dragging - How to master your board skills – turns, stopping, rules of the road - Going upwind, riding toeside, turning and transition - Moving fast and riding waves; learning to tack and gybe - Details on all kiteboarding disciplines from speed kiting to kiting on land - How to improve your performance and enjoy incredible airtime! For this second edition there's a new chapter devoted to all things foiling, as well as new text on latest kit, more effective techniques, tips on higher jumps, and new photography throughout. Packed with step-by-step photo sequences explaining the basic moves all the way through to more advanced tricks, and including information on competitions and becoming an instructor, this is a book no kiter will want to be without.

Scotland is famed for its rugged coastlines, pristine beaches, endless rivers and deep lochs. The whole country is a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world. In this unique guide, adventurer Mollie Hughes introduces many of her favourite places to paddleboard, kayak, swim and surf. Mixing world-class surfing breaks with kayaking adventures on the west coast, and urban paddleboarding along the Clyde with invigorating swims in the lochs of the Cairngorms, the book shows us how to access and enjoy these varied blue spaces. Mollie includes her own personal experiences and tips, enabling wild watersports fans of all levels to make the most of the amazing opportunities Scotland has to offer.

The white peaks of the Lyngen Alps have attracted the interest of climbers and mountaineers since the 19th Century. The Lyngen Alps are famous around the world for its excellent skiing and breathtaking landscape. This guidebook is a comprehensive manual to the best skiing and alpine climbing in the Lyngen Alps. It covers the iconic Jiehkkevarri traverse, the easy option Perstinden, the steep couloirs of Jaegervasstinden and everything in between. Climbers get the key to the treasures of unknown Guhkkesgaisa and Piggtinden, the mountain made famous by philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe. A good selection of ice-climbing routes is also described in the book. The summer visitor can enjoy the peaks, the valleys, the lakes and the glaciers of The Lyngen Trek, an eight day walk from south to north of the peninsula - or vice versa. A section of daytrips and family friendly activities are also included.

The Stormrider Surf Guide Tropical Islands travels through the trade winds belt on the ultimate island-hopping journey to explore and compare the world's best warm-water surf zones. Many of the planet's finest surf breaks are found between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn - from the powerful, mountainous waves of Hawaii and Tahiti, through the exotic Caribbean to the pristine perfection of the Maldives and Mentawais. Coral encrusted atolls, dazzling white sands and gently swaying coconut palms fringe the backdrop for many of these islands found in the shimmering, equatorial waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Superb photos and illuminating text combine to make this Stormrider Guide indispensable for anyone searching for their next tropical paradise surfari. This completely new addition to the famous Stormrider library covers all the world's best tropical islands across the 3 great Oceans. The Stormrider Surf Guide Tropical Islands enhances the proven formula of trusted, dependable surf spot descriptions, coupled with more than 300 beautiful, informative photos. It is the only dedicated tropical islands surf guide. Proven high quality design includes integrated text, symbols and detailed maps containing crucial, otherwise unavailable information.

A deeply-rendered self-portrait of a life-long surfer by the acclaimed "New Yorker" journalist
"Barbarian Days" is William Finnegan's memoir of an obsession, of a complex enchantment. Surfing looks like a sport, but that's only to outsiders. To initiates, it is something else entirely: a beautiful addiction, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life. Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa. A bookish boy, then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. "Barbarian Days" takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right under our noses--off the coasts of New York and San Francisco--and dramatizes the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships annealed in challenging waves.
Finnegan shares stories of life in a whites-only gang in a tough school in Honolulu while his closest friend was a Hawaiian surfer, and of a world turned upside down for kids and adults alike by the social upheavals of the 1960s. He details the intricacies of famous waves and his own apprenticeships to them. Youthful folly--he drops acid while riding huge Honolua Bay on Maui--is served with rueful humor. Their knapsacks crammed with reef charts, he and a buddy bushwhack through Polynesia. They discover while camping on an uninhabited island in Fiji one of the world's greatest waves. As Finnegan's travels take him ever farther afield, he becomes an improbable anthropologist: unpicking the picturesque simplicity of a Samoan fishing village, dissecting the sexual politics of Tongan interactions with Americans and Japanese, navigating the Indonesian black market while nearly succumbing to malaria. Throughout, he surfs, carrying readers with him on rides of harrowing, unprecedented lucidity.
"Barbarian Days" is an old-school adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of a novice's gradual mastering of a demanding, little-understood art. Today, Finnegan's surfing life is undiminished. Frantically juggling work and family, he chases his enchantment through Long Island ice storms and obscure corners of Madagascar.

This is the first book to combine a detailed history of surfing, surfboards, and related collectible items with an accurate price guide. It gives a complete overview of sport surfing from its ancient beginnings in Polynesia and Hawaii until 1969, the end of the longboard era. Included are several innovative features, such as a grading guide for surfboards, Duke Kahanamokus handprints, and collectible surfing books with their current valuations. The items pictured are from many of the best private collections worldwide, and represent the enormous range of popular surfing memorabilia. The great icons of the sport all put in appearances to make this the book that all surf fans will covet.