Surfing culture began in Portland, Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Pacific City in the early 1960s. Influenced by surf music and a few California surfers, a handful of skin divers and adolescent boys yearned to engage in the sport. In the beginning, surfing was illegal along the beachfronts of Seaside and Cannon Beach. Answering the siren call, locals took to the beaches, while others from around Oregon, Washington, and California found their way to isolated spots along the Northern Oregon coast. The early surfers were not intimidated by their lack of knowledge, poor equipment, or the unpredictable waves. Instead, surfing caught on in the cold waters of Oregon. Experience the early days of Oregon surfing through the pioneer surfers' stories and vintage photographs.
Surfing came to the central Oregon coast in the early 1960s. Mostly young boys from Newport and the Agate Beach area took to the waves, without wetsuits or leashes, and taught themselves how to surf in the forbidding cold waters. Eventually forming the Agate Beach Surf Club, they discovered other surfing communities along the Oregon coast. With no modern-day technology to help them, they traveled the rugged Oregon coast in search of good and accessible surf spots. Fifty years later, the surfing culture has grown and evolved, including both genders, kite, wind, stand-up-paddle, and big wave surfing. What hasn't changed is the unique and challenging environment of the Oregon coast. Geography, the weather, and the cold water still remain the biggest challenges. In the face of all this, the surfing community grows and continues to prosper.
Surfing culture began in Portland, Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Pacific City in the early 1960s. Influenced by surf music and a few California surfers, a handful of skin divers and adolescent boys yearned to engage in the sport. In the beginning, surfing was illegal along the beachfronts of Seaside and Cannon Beach. Answering the siren call, locals took to the beaches, while others from around Oregon, Washington, and California found their way to isolated spots along the Northern Oregon coast. The early surfers were not intimidated by their lack of knowledge, poor equipment, or the unpredictable waves. Instead, surfing caught on in the cold waters of Oregon. Experience the early days of Oregon surfing through the pioneer surfers' stories and vintage photographs.
Make Your Escape with Moon Travel Guides! Discover incredible hiking, camping, seafood, and wildlife along this picturesque coastline with Moon Coastal Oregon. Inside you'll find: Flexible, strategic itineraries that can be adapted for your schedule, including: "Coastal Road Trip," "Coastal Camping," "Trails and Tidepools," "Save It for a Rainy Day," "Cozy Seaside Inns," "Foraging the Coast," "Surf Oregon," "Top 10 Photo Ops," and "Undiscovered Beaches" Honest advice on when to go, how to get around, and where to stay, from quaint coastal B&Bs to camping in the redwoods Full color photos and detailed maps throughout Expert insight from Oregon locals Judy Jewell and Bill McRae The best spots for outdoor adventure: surfing, fishing, hiking, biking, whale-watching, and more Activities and ideas for every traveler, season, and budget: Hop in the car and take the 101 for a stunning coastal road trip, stopping along the way to explore charming harbor towns. Camp among sand dunes and shipwrecks, gaze at free-swimming sharks at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, or visit one of Lewis and Clark's expedition landmarks. Hike through any of the 80 state parks along the coast, forage for your own dinner of fish, crabs, clams, and mussels, and discover the best spots to catch that perfect Pacific sunset Detailed coverage of small towns along the coast, as well as the larger hubs including Astoria, Newport, and Lincoln City Thorough information, including background on the landscape, plants and animals, climate, and local culture With Moon Coastal Oregon's expert tips, myriad activities, and local insight, you can plan your trip your way. Hitting the road? Try Moon Pacific Northwest Road Trip. Exploring more of the Beaver State? Try Moon Oregon.
Many abodes can fall under the label of surf shack: New York City apartments, cabins nestled next to national parks, or tiny Hawaiian huts. Surfing communities are overflowing with creativity, innovation, and rich personas. Surf Shacks takes a deeper look at surfers' homes and artistic habits. Glimpses of record collections, strolls through backyard gardens, or a peek into a painter's studio provide insight into surfers' lives both on and off shore. From the remote Hawaiian nook of filmmaker Jess Bianchi to the woodsy Japanese paradise that the former CEO of Surfrider Foundation in Japan, Hiromi Masubara, calls home to the converted bus that Ryan Lovelace claims as his domicile and his transport, every space has a unique tale. The moments that these vibrant personalities spend away from the swell and the froth are both captivating and nuanced.
With grit, poetry, and humor, Peter Heller, acclaimed author of The River and The Whale Warriors recounts his remarkable journey of discovery—of surfing, an entirely new challenge; of the ocean’s beauty and power; of the strange surf subculture; of love; and, most of all, of how to seek adventure while crafting a meaningful life. Author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Dog Stars Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Literature Having resolved to master a big-hollow wave—that is, to go from kook (surfese for beginner) to shredder—in a single year, Heller travels from Southern California down the coast of Mexico in the company of his girlfriend and the eccentric surfers they meet. Exuberant and fearless, Heller explores the technique and science of surfing the secrets of its culture, and the environmental ravages to the stunning coastline he visits. As Heller plumbs the working of his own heart and finds joy in both love and surfing, he affords readers vivid insight into this fascinating world, with all of its perils and pleasures, its absurdity and wonder. Exhilarating, entertaining, and moving, Kook is a love story between a man and his surfboard, a man and his girlfriend, a not-so-old man and the sea.
Written by one of the most revered surfers of his generation, Gerry Lopez's Surf Is Where You Find It is a collection of stories about a lifetime of surfing. But more than that, it is a collection of stories about the lessons learned from surfing. It presents 38 stories about those who have been influential in the sport — surfing anytime, anywhere, and in any way. Lopez, an innovator in stand-up-paddle (one of the fastest growing water sports in the world), now shares his stories about pioneering that sport. Conveyed in Gerry's unique voice, augmented with photos from his personal collection, this book is a classic for surf enthusiasts everywhere.
For centuries, the ocean waters of the Atlantic have impacted the daily lives of those on the South Carolina coast. Beginning in the 1960s, those waves caught the imagination of young beachgoers who studied magazines and Super 8 films and refined their moves on rent-a-floats until the first surfboards became available in the area. The buildup to the Vietnam War brought GIs and their families from the West Coast and Hawaii to South Carolina, and their surfboards came along with them. Unbeknownst to each other, local surfers concentrated in the beach and military base areas of Beaufort/Hilton Head, Charleston, and Pawley's Island/Grand Strand began to conquer nearby surf breaks. When contests finally brought these groups together, a statewide sport was born.
Surfing in Far Rockaway, romantic obsession, and Moby-Dick converge in this winning and refreshing memoir Justin Hocking lands in New York hopeful but adrift—he's jobless, unexpectedly overwhelmed and disoriented by the city, struggling with anxiety and obsession, and attempting to maintain a faltering long-distance relationship. As a man whose brand of therapy has always been motion, whether in a skate park or on a snowdrift, Hocking needs an outlet for his restlessness. Then he spies his first New York surfer hauling a board to the subway, and its not long before he's a member of the vibrant and passionate surfing community at Far Rockaway. But in the wake of a traumatic robbery incident, the dark undercurrents of his ocean-obsession pull him further and further out on his own night sea journey. With Moby-Dick as a touchstone, and interspersed with interludes on everything from the history of surfing to Scientology's naval ties to the environmental impact of the Iraq War, The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld is a multifaceted and enduring modern odyssey from a memorable and whip-smart new literary voice.
Bend to Baja documents a surf-inspired road trip along the West Coast of North America. In February 2005, a group of world-renowned surfers left Ventura, California, for Bend, Oregon. From Oregon, the crew worked its way south to the tip of Baja, looking for waves and traveling in a pickup truck converted to run on alternative fuel sources: veggie oil and biodiesel. Jeff Johnson, along with Chris, Keith, and Dan Malloy, experienced a road trip centered on surfing, climbing, and camping. Along the way, they met an array of characters, found rich, road-weathered experiences, and endured setbacks, all against the backdrop of a captivating ocean. Bend to Baja chronicles their journey and a nontraditional lifestyle centered on the search for waves.
