One can make a good argument that surfers, or at least water lovers, have access to divine real estate. Muslims perform wudu, ritual ablutions, before praying. Buddhists offer bowls of water as a symbol of clear enlightenment. Baptism is a major component of many religions; converting to Judaism requires full immersion in a mikvah, a bath that must be connected to natural water. Surfing—immersion into the liveliest of waters—has spiritual roots that started well before hippie surfers were passing the peace pipe.
Hawaiian chiefs demonstrated their clout by braving big waves. But whether walking on it, surfing it, or bathing with it, water has been at the center of transformative rituals throughout history.
Nichols, a biologist and the author of the New York Times bestseller Blue Mind , which explores how humans can benefit from being close to water. Scientists are still learning why people say they feel increased amounts of unity, reverence, and happiness in the water, Nichols told me. Second, you get many of the perks of solitude without the side effects of pain and loneliness. For many, it's a recreational activity, physical activity, and a competitive sport, but for others, it is a religion, a lifestyle, an addiction, and a spiritual connection with Nature.
In less than a century, the act of wave riding evolved and gave birth to several other boardsports. Skateboarding, bodyboarding, windsurfing, kitesurfing, skimboarding, kneeboarding are, in a way, part of the surfing family. Interestingly, the word "surf" has its origins in the late 17th century, apparently from obsolete "stuff. But the surf culture developed its own lingo , and surfers' catchphrases can be instantly recognized in a non-surfing environment.
Mark P. McCahill, a passionate windsurfer and world wide web pioneer used the expression "surfing the internet" for the first time on February 24, , in an online newsgroup. The article was written in the early months of , so Polly might have been the first to write the famous expression.
The future of surfing is bright. With the advent of artificial wave pools and river waves , the sport will attract new participants in landlocked countries. Surfing has different meanings to different surfers. English Language Learners Definition of surf Entry 2 of 2. See the full definition for surf in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Nglish: Translation of surf for Spanish Speakers. Britannica English: Translation of surf for Arabic Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
Log in Sign Up. Save Word. Definition of surf Entry 1 of 2. Definition of surf Entry 2 of 2. Other Words from surf Verb surfer noun. The concept is simple, but the practice is not. Surfers paddle or are towed in to the surf line , the area of open water where waves break as they near a coast. There, surfers sit on their boards and watch waves roll in to shore. Experienced surfers assess several different qualities in every wave. A wave must be strong enough to ride, but not dangerous enough to toss the surfer as it breaks.
Surfers must be able to ride and safely exit the wave—not too close to shore or rocks. For river waves or those at artificial surfing facilities, surfers watch waves develop and jump right into the breaking wave.
When surfers see a wave they can ride, they paddle quickly to catch the rising wave. Just as the wave breaks, the surfers jump from their bellies to their feet, crouching on their boards. Being able to stand up is the mark of an experienced surfer. Surfers ride the wave as it breaks toward the shore. As the wave falls and loses power, surfers can exit the wave by turning their boards back toward open water.
Surfers can also exit by simply lowering themselves back to their boards and paddling back out. Surfers can be tossed above a wave or below it. Then the process of paddling out to the surf line begins again. Surfers must be aware of their physical skills as well as the environment. There are several different types of surfing longboard, shortboard or big-wave, for instance. Each requires a different sets of skills. All surfers must be aware of weather patterns and topography , or surface features, of the shore.
Experienced surfers are also familiar with bathymetry , the depth of the body of water. They must be strong swimmers. Surfers must also have an excellent sense of balance and be able to quickly react to changes in the environment.
For this reason, skateboarding is a common hobby among surfers—and surfing is a common hobby among skateboarders. Men and women from all over the world practice surfing, and the surfing community shares a concern for the ocean environment. Waves Surfing depends on the science of hydrodynamics. Hydrodynamics is the study of water in motion.
Oceanographer s, ship captain s, and engineer s must all be familiar with hydrodynamics. Surfers seek out strong waves called swells. Swell s are stable waves that form far away from the beach.
Swells are formed by storm systems or other wind patterns. Two things determine the strength of a swell. First, swells are influenced by the strength of the winds that form them. Swells can help predict how strong a storm is as it approaches land. Most storm systems that form far out to sea never reach land with much strength. Sometimes, however, they do. These storms arrive as hurricane s or typhoon s. Hours before a hurricane approaches shore, large and frequent swells signal its arrival.
Surfers have been known to ignore hurricane warnings and stay out on stormy beaches because the swells are so frequent and strong. Fetch is a geographic term that describes the amount of open water over which a wind has blown. The length of fetch is why ocean swells are usually much stronger than lake swells. In the open ocean, a wave's fetch can be thousands of kilometers.
Surfers consult these surf zone forecast s and can chase swells all over the world. Not all waves are swells, however. Most are smaller, more unpredictable waves, called wind wave s. Swells are a type of wind wave they are caused by wind , but the term usually refers to waves caused by wind with a shorter fetch. Wind waves have more chop than swells. Chop is the amount of short, irregular shifts in wave formation. Choppy water can be dangerous for surfers because the direction and strength of waves change from minute to minute.
Breaking Waves Both wind waves and swells must break crash for them to be of use to surfers. A calm day with no wind may be perfect for beachgoers, but makes for lousy surfing weather. Surfers need a reliable set of breaking waves, which requires moderate offshore wind. The most significant factor in how a wave develops is the underwater topography.
Topography is the surface features of an area. Waves can be weakened or strengthened by topographical features of the seabed. Surf break s are permanent features that cause waves to break in a predictable way. Reef s, sandbar s, and large underwater boulder s are examples of common surf breaks. Ocean trench es and submarine canyon s can also determine how a wave breaks.
Surfers must account for the presence of sea life, such as a kelp forest , a dense cluster of large seaweed. Seaweed can slow a breaking wave. A wave breaks when its base the water beneath the surface can no longer sustain its height. Near shore, waves break because water gets shallower as it nears a beach. The shallower a wave base, the more likely the wave is to break. The region of water where waves begin to break is called the surf line. Waves crash forward, their tips turning frothy and white.
Sometimes, a breaking wave crashes into another wave. Other waves curl in on themselves, forming a tube near the crest, or top. Many surfers consider these tubular wave breaks the most desirable to surf. There are four major types of waves. Experienced surfers can ride all four types, although each has its own difficulties. Rolling wave s 1 are the most familiar waves, and the type most surfers prefer.
These waves break in a stable pattern. Rolling waves are usually a feature of a flat, sandy shoreline.
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