The waves are always with us
Few surfers have the talent, means and nerve to drop into waves six stories tall, so this collection of board-riding ants in the thick of Jaws, Mavericks, Todos Santos Island, Oahu’s North Shore and the Cortes Bank is class-A jaw-dangling.
I almost needed a Jet Ski to rescue me from my slobber, especially during wipeout footage of great surfers flailing like water babies.
But this DVD has more, with wave science a costar of the show. We learn how wind creates ripples and then swell, and how the swell period foreshadows underwater wave energy and hugeness above.
Each of the world’s big wave spots is deconstructed as a combination of storm location, underwater topography and refraction of waves toward shallower water, a combination that can balloon a 12-foot face into a 66-foot, Mount Rushmore-size cliff.
Emmett Berg
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