Waterspot: Is surfing spiritual?
Anyone who watched the latest Super Bowl to its conclusion was forced to recon with the thought that professional football is, for some people, a...
Waterspot
Waterspot: What’s so hot about being warm?
In this, a winter of summer, the ocean temperature still hovers in the low 60s. This, for most surfers, means full wetsuits and sometimes hoods,...
Waterspot: Sidewalk surfing
Grab your board and go sidewalk surfin’ with me. — Jan and Dean I’m not sure how The Beach Boys’ flop, “Catch a Wave” morphed...
Waterspot: Surf houses
I woke up this morning to the distant rumble of breaking waves and knew that the first winter swells had finally arrived. In the past...
Waterspot: The joy of junk surf
I have surfed Cardiff Reef for more than half a century, and lived within walking distance of it for much of that time. It is...
Waterspot: High on a wave
“You go surfing to get high; why get high when you go surfing?” — Legendary skateboarder/film director Stacy Peralta Encinitas is about as nice a...
Waterspot: The night Bruce Brown slept on our floor
Many of us who began surfing in the ‘60s can thank (or in some cases blame) Bruce Brown for how their lives played out. At...
Waterspot: We might just be hodads
I first heard the word “hodad” in 1962, the year I began surfing. A surfer had used that strange word to describe my friends and...
Waterspot: Uncertain winter
“Southern California is one of the most difficult places in the world to forecast surf.” — Surf forecasting pioneer Sean Collins Blame it on the...
Waterspot: For the love of surfing
Nothing has ever touched me quite like surfing. If you’re reading this, you know what I mean. A close second might be skiing, where the...
Waterspot: Mark of Swami’s
I can honestly say I have never seen a better senior citizen surfer than Mark Donnellan at Swami’s. I wish I had a photo of his...
Waterspot: Surf Story II
As a surfer, I was exposed to surf stories from the first day I surfed in January of 1962. The first story came from my...
Waterspot: Yes, he’s a surfer
Bodyboards have been derogatorily referred to as everything from “sponges” to “speed bumps.” Still, nobody makes fun of them when they see a master at...
Waterspot: Falling Forward
Surfers can tend to feel superior this time of year as most of our species reacts to this season by hoarding beer and chips for...
Waterspot: Surfing the future
I don’t know if I was the first to consider it, but I have been mind surfing a computerized surfboard for at least the past...