Surfboard Shaping Is Back, Dude

The Art of Shaping Survives, In New Forms, After Some Difficulties

I first stood up on a surfboard not long after I learned to walk. But until recently, I’d never shaped my own surfboard, personally molding it and altering its design, the way so many surfers do. I was oblivious to the painstaking craftsmanship that goes into a board. If I grew an inch, I got a board an inch bigger. All I knew was if a board rode well, I liked it.

And so I had never learned the story of how the art of surfboard shaping had recovered from a …

The Ocean Vs. California

On a Boat Off Santa Barbara, Contemplating How The Coast Has Changed—And Will Again

Melting Greenland ice sheets. Calving glaciers. Fresh water released into a warming ocean that floods great cities and has the potential to kill thousands. The media are full of such …

Maverick’s Surf Point

Unwavering Devotion to the Wave

Zócalo originally published this article on August 4, 2011.

One of the most magical things about the Maverick’s surf point-or perhaps it’s simply the most intriguing-is that you can’t usually see …