headphonesnotrequired:

poptech:

noraleah:

I just finished The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey and I’ve been Googling a lot of big-wave surf videos and generally obsessing about the tsunami that’s going to smash the California coast sooner or later (get out while you can, my friends). (Bee-tee-dubs, Europe’s gonna get it, too.) (This book has made me one of those “End is nigh” weirdos. Except I still shower.)

The Wave covers massive, tragic waves that wiped out cities (did you know Lisbon was leveled in 1755? or that a SIXTEEN HUNDRED foot wave hit Alaska’s Lituya Bay in 1958?), and other dangers of the high seas. But the most fascinating parts focus on big-wave tow surfers (so named because a partner has to tow them into the wave with a Jet Ski), particularly Laird Hamilton (check out this video).

Casey takes us to all the great big wave breaks, each with its own set of dangers. Pe’ahi (aka “Jaws” aka “Atom Blaster”), on the North Shore of Maui, is a massive wave reef break that earned its nicknames because the reef is shaped like jaws and breaks with extreme force; Teahupo’o in Tahiti is in shallow water — just 3’ or so — and the seabed is sharp coral. A wipeout almost guarantees you emerge a bloody mess — and that’s if you’re lucky. Off the coast of Half Moon Bay, CA, lies Mavericks, which is very cold, very treacherous (part of it is dubbed “the Boneyard”), and it’s in an area known as “the Red Triangle” because more attacks by great white sharks have occurred there than anywhere else on earth(!!!).

Anyhoo. It’s a great book.

PS: Seriously. Watch the video.

WATCH THE VIDEO.

Watch the video! Also, I want to read that book.

Don’t watch the video, watch the whole movie. This is the opening shot of Billabong Odyssey and the whole film is one giant perspective backhand.

Source: noraleah

88 Notes/ Hide

  1. sizzlemayfield reblogged this from mikebakerthebikemaker
  2. mikebakerthebikemaker reblogged this from noraleah
  3. simplehappyness reblogged this from yeahiheardyou
  4. porcupine-love reblogged this from fuckyeahoceancreatures and added:
    This is beautiful
  5. sssevy reblogged this from headphonesnotrequired
  6. nancylicious reblogged this from noraleah and added:
    While Nora has been reading and researching big wave surfers,...four books about food
  7. ysvoice reblogged this from blognfool
  8. imsocrispahy reblogged this from fuckyeahoceancreatures and added:
    How incredibly powerful the earth is and how incredibly insignificant and weak we are. Except for this guy. Badass.
  9. yourwar reblogged this from fuckyeahoceancreatures and added:
    one of the most incredible things i have ever seen
  10. billy-shakes reblogged this from fuckyeahoceancreatures
  11. costaliving reblogged this from poptech and added:
    That is how I feel everyday at about 3:30pm.
  12. yeahiheardyou reblogged this from suninthesoul
  13. winstonwolfe reblogged this from spytap and added:
    What Spytap said. It’s an absolute must watch.
  14. spytap reblogged this from headphonesnotrequired and added:
    Don’t watch the video, watch the whole movie. This is the opening shot of Billabong Odyssey and the whole film is one...

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