The Bread and Butter of East Coast surfing
After trampling the Bahamas, Hurricane Irene tossed wave starved Florida the best bone of the summer with sweet to epic Reef Road and long period perfection the day after it passed North Florida. Hurricane surf is a notoriously fickle concept, even with today's minute by minute forecast updates. You can literally track every swell pulse by direction and intensity. The East Coast's shifting sand base can make for hit and miss missions up and down the coast. Either way, hurricane waves are the staple diet of East Coast summer surfing, and this season has been a particularly hollow wave famine. More...
Riding the waves of surf music
Music and surfing are inseparable; its kinship goes back to the Hawaiians. The term "surf music" waxed electric a generation later as Californian beach culture exploded. 1960s acts like Duane Eddy and The Ventures developed the instrumental rhythms that would stoke legions of surfers. The sound was honed to perfection by Dick Dale and exploded in beautiful absurdity via The Surfaris' "Wipeout." While the genre faded as the 70s approached, surfers still turned to music as fuel and therapy. The sounds of such giants as Led Zeppelin, The Who, and the Foo Fighters still show how the power to amp has always been the secret ingredient. More...