Somewhere off the coast of Newfoundland, my flight only a few hours old, I watched people surfing. Never mind that these people were from El Salvador and on videotape courtesy of the entertainment division of Lufthansa, they surfed nonetheless.
As entertainment, the fifteen-minute segment made better diversion than the chosen two-hour film for the trip to […]
Not too long ago, I fell into a conversation about P.A.S.A. Introduced as “the guy with the Philadelphia surfing Web site,” the conversation veered in the way it often does, especially in the era of failing dot-coms.
“So,” he said, “does it have all those flashy things the other big sites do?”
“Well, it’s not a big […]
On my recent trip to the Outer Banks, I found out some important facts:
The high school on Hatteras Island has a football team, and they travel at least an hour to their games. Their record so far has more wins than losses.
The part of Highway 12 that washed away last year has been replaced with […]
I recently had the pleasure of witnessing a friend’s son stand up on his first wave. It happened right as I approached the beach. I didn’t expect to see my friend, much less his son riding what would hopefully be the first of many waves. The level of stoke on the beach raised visibly, enveloping […]
The situation I least expected: sitting in a bar in New York City’s East Village, discussing the topic of beach breaks versus reef breaks with a freelance lighting technician. Being on the guest list of a private party is one thing, but this was quite another.
Since the party was for the photo editors of a […]
We surfers are an odd bunch of characters. One of my co-workers returned from her two-week honeymoon in Tahiti. My first question was not “How was it?” but “How were the waves?” I can’t think of another sport that is so obsessed with the playing field. It’s not like golfers ask “Did you see any […]
There is a German word — schadenfreude — which, loosely translated, means “taking delight in the misery of others”. I wonder if the word has an antonym, for taking delight in the delight of others.
Case in point: heading to work, I spot a car with three surfboards loaded up, a wagging-tail dog in the back […]
I had the chance a few days ago to visit my “local” break. Never mind that it took over an hour to get there, never mind that Mr. Hypothermia paid a visit, never mind that Winter storms have taken a toll on the beaches and sandbars. Fact is, I chose to go surfing for a […]