THE LONG RIDE
The New Yorker|June 10, 2024
The surf legend Jock Sutherland's unlikely life.
WILLIAM FINNEGAN
THE LONG RIDE

Jock Sutherland’s childhood home, on Oahu’s North Shore, was a picturesque ruin when he brought me there. It was built after the attack on Pearl Harbor: a wooden barracks at the water’s edge, part of the military’s frantic preparations for a second attack. The building had a soft V shape, as if embracing the ocean, with a line of louvred windows opening onto a basic deck. Waves pounded the rocky point below. Sutherland’s mother, Audrey, bought the house in 1961, for fifteen thousand dollars, and lived there for nearly sixty years.

I thought the place looked salvageable, but Sutherland said no. “Dry rot. Rust. The walls are racked. It’s a teardown.”

He sounded so unsentimental.

“Anyway, look at the neighborhood.”

He gave me an eyebrow signal that I had to interpret. We couldn’t actually see the neighbors. We were in the yard, surrounded by coconut palms, lush vegetation, an ancient unpainted stake fence. I decided I knew what he meant: mansions were slowly filling every lot along this part of the coast. In fact, Jock and his siblings had already sold this place to wealthy mainlanders. But the new owners seemed to be in no hurry to build, so Jock was still taking care of the yard, and using it to park his van while he surfed nearby.

“Looks fun out there,” he said, peering at waves breaking on a reef off the point. It did look fun. We paddled out through a gantlet of blue-gray lava rocks. I tried to mimic Sutherland’s every move—he had been navigating this tiny, swirling channel since the nineteen-fifties—but still managed to slice my foot. Out in the channel, he took my foot in his hands, studying the cut from various angles. “That’s not from a rock. You kicked an ‘opihi”—a limpet. “We can clean it later. I’ve got some good stuff.”

Esta historia es de la edición June 10, 2024 de The New Yorker.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición June 10, 2024 de The New Yorker.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE NEW YORKERVer todo
BADDIE ISSUES
The New Yorker

BADDIE ISSUES

\"Wicked\" and \"Gladiator II.\"

time-read
6 minutos  |
December 02, 2024
LET'S MAKE A DEAL
The New Yorker

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

\"Death Becomes Her\" and \"Burnout Paradise.\"

time-read
5 minutos  |
December 02, 2024
ANTI HEROES
The New Yorker

ANTI HEROES

\"The Franchise,\" on HBO.

time-read
5 minutos  |
December 02, 2024
FELLOW-TRAVELLERS
The New Yorker

FELLOW-TRAVELLERS

The surprisingly sunny origins of the Frankfurt School.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 02, 2024
NOW YOU SEE ME
The New Yorker

NOW YOU SEE ME

John Singer Sargent's strange, slippery portraits of an art dealer's family.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 02, 2024
PARIS FRIEND - SHUANG XUETAO
The New Yorker

PARIS FRIEND - SHUANG XUETAO

Xiaoguo had a terror of thirst, so he kept a glass of water on the table beside his hospital bed. As soon as it was empty, he asked me to refill it. I wanted to warn him that this was unhealthy - guzzling water all night long puts pressure on the kidneys, and pissing that much couldn't be good for his injury. He was tall, though, so I decided his insides could probably cope.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 02, 2024
WILD SIDE
The New Yorker

WILD SIDE

Is Lake Tahoe's bear boom getting out of hand?

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 02, 2024
GETTING A GRIP
The New Yorker

GETTING A GRIP

Robots learn to use their hands.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 02, 2024
WITHHOLDING SEX FROM MY WIFE
The New Yorker

WITHHOLDING SEX FROM MY WIFE

In the wake of [the] election, progressive women, who are outraged over Donald Trump's victory at the ballot box, have taken to social media with public, vengeful vows of chastity. - The Free Press.

time-read
4 minutos  |
December 02, 2024
DEADLINE EXTENSION
The New Yorker

DEADLINE EXTENSION

Old age, reborn.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
December 02, 2024