alt.surfing crew - graphic
book list
foondoggy
john webster
surffohio
don scott - mex
"Some books are to be tasted,
others to be swallowed,
and some few to be chewed and digested,"
Francis Bacon
Tabler Books - San Diego new and used surf books and mags
alt.surfing crew - graphic
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Eastward Sweeps the Current ..A saga of Polynesian seafarers - Alida Sims Malkus, 1937
387 pp. publ. by John C. Winston Co.by Rick Bates fbates@capecod.net
Nice illustrations. Although the author makes a few errors, i.e. a reference to chewing Coca Beans instead of leaves , most of the work is solid and after a few chapters you get sucked right in to the story. Being written in the 30's there is a certain romantic innocence to the writing; but all in all 'tis a great story of adventure and I think it would appeal to many of us. There are lots of copies of this book available, on Bibliofind for $7.00 or so.
by lp veronix@pacbell_remove.net
i picked up this book from the library this week and have been gleaning some tasty tidbits of surf history. the book was first published in 1965 by john kelly jr who is now in his 80's and was featured in the recent movie, "surfing for life". the book is sort of a technical manual for surfing as it was practiced during the period and may not appeal to today's surfers because of it's dated value. however, i found many sections interesting and some truly enlightening and enjoyed his case studies or stories throughout.
some of the parts most interesting to me were his discussion of boards, tricks, surfing techique and new technology,
the section on wave prediction and reading the ocean was good. they didn't have the tools we do now and it was interesting reading how sophisticated they were and how primitive they were behind were compared to today. one funny bit was how they couldn't get very worthwhile forcasts from meteorologists because the weather people don't surf or know anything about surfing.
his chapter on big wave surfing was enlightening, as he articulated the techniques he used in the day to deal with the heavy surf. one example was how he described the depth at which to dive the wave for best results after you were separated from the board (dive too deep and you stay in the soup, dive a little shallower and the turbulence takes you inside and away from other currents). much of the focus of the time was how to stay with your board (obviously), overall conditioning and most importantly, reading the ocean.
the section on boards was a fun read as well. a lot of focus was on the hydroplane surfboards at the time. the section on board sizes based on a persons body size was huge compared to today. but it was all based on how they were riding at the time. for instance, here is how he described his dream board: "a good paddler, easy to stall, slow to dig, yet good for nose-riding, stable and heavy-riding in rough water, yet light to the touch and smooth. it should be impervious to dinging and able to yell,"stop thief!" when stolen. not quite what i would consider a dream board, but the theft deterant would have come in handy on a couple of lots boards my bros or i have had over the years.
i think he was a little off target in the section on molded board as he predicted the demise of the custom shapers in the near future (in 1965). it was also interesting how he described how custom shaped boards were made at the time.
i enjoyed his descriptions of the slice of life that was surfing in that time and place. from the big waves of waikiki to the descriptions of beginners in the lineup in his learning to surf section.
in summary, i thought it was a good read, kinda like a history book in a way, where you could get caught up in the time and techniques of the day and skim through the less relevant portions.
lp