A People’s History of Surfing

[basquebromance]

Not sure why I waited 33 years to try new things but I did. Surfing. It’s a vibe.

A People’s History of Surfing

From its Hawaiian origins to the postwar surf craze, surfing has been a defiant challenge to the Calvinist work ethic and the commercial pressures of capitalism. But those malign social forces may now finally succeed in extinguishing the spirit of surfing.

jacobin.com

 

[Rye Catcher]

Not sure why I waited 33 years to try new things but I did. Surfing. It’s a vibe.

A People’s History of Surfing

From its Hawaiian origins to the postwar surf craze, surfing has been a defiant challenge to the Calvinist work ethic and the commercial pressures of capitalism. But those malign social forces may now finally succeed in extinguishing the spirit of surfing.

jacobin.com

Big waves ten miles south of San Francisco.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

I have never surfed. I don't particularly enjoy watching surfers.

When I lived in Redondo Beach, right across the street from the sand. I would get up early to watch the dolphins come to play with the surfers. They would splash, upend boards and laugh uproariously. They didn't come every day. It was special when they did.

It's not quite fair to say I didn't enjoy watching surfers. I am an avid fan of the surf dog competition. The expertise and enjoyment these competitors have is impressive. It makes me want to run down and throttle the protesters who think the dogs are being abused.

Surfing takes all kinds.

 

[lg325]

Great fun surfing in the late 1970s and early 80s. It will give you a good workout. I taught myself and it took some rough wipeouts until I got the hang of it. Surfers are mostly real sociable and it's a good way to meet people.

 

[lg325]

 

[Canon Shooter]

I used to surf. I learned back on Long Island in the 1970's, but good waves were sporadic, at best.

In the 80's I surfed in San Diego; La Jolla and Ocean Beach, specifically. I surfed the north shore of Hawaii once. Man, I'll never do that again.

I don't surf anymore. I actually get a kick out of the fact that we have surf shops here in northeastern Florida. There's almost no surfable waves ever.

High on my bucket list is to photograph surfers at Nazare, Portugal. The waves there are absolutely insane. It's said these are the largest surfable waves on the planet:

World record for the largest wave ever surfed: