I Dream Of Surf
Surfer|Volume 59, Issue 4

Decoding our deepest, darkest surf dreams

Justin Housman
I Dream Of Surf

The best wave I’ve ever surfed is a novelty right-hander that spins up inside a sandspit-protected harbor in the little Central Coast town where I grew up. At a glance, the setup doesn’t seem like it should be capable of producing surf—it’s a good half-mile or more from the open ocean, tucked way, way inside a boat-filled bay on the edge of a brackish estuary. While it seems impossible for any swell angle to actually reach the break, it’s somehow pumping every single time I’m there. There’s no beach, just the rocks of the harbor, still water, and that absolutely flawless wave. Paddling out, you can’t help but shout to your buddies, “Can you believe this wave is even here? This is insane!” Pulling into little shimmering tubes that rival any first wave at Slater’s wave pool, peeling off in uniform fashion for minutes at a time, it feels like a dream. Probably because it is a dream—the surf dream I’ve had at least once a month for years.

For the first few waves of the dream, it feels so real, then, somehow, my logical brain kicks in and breaks up all the fun, announcing: “This is a dream. This wave isn’t here. How could a wave possibly even break here, anyway? Don’t be absurd! Show’s over.” Then I usually wake up, frustrated that I didn’t actually score perfect tubes, and a little embarrassed to be tricked by my own subconscious again.

Bu hikaye Surfer dergisinin Volume 59, Issue 4 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Surfer dergisinin Volume 59, Issue 4 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

SURFER DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
60 Years Ahead
Surfer

60 Years Ahead

We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.

time-read
4 dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong
Surfer

A Few Things We Got Horribly Wrong

You don’t make 60 years of magazines without dropping some balls. Here are a few

time-read
7 dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
THE LGBTQ+ WAVE
Surfer

THE LGBTQ+ WAVE

Surf culture has a long history of marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community, but a new generation of queer surfers is working to change that

time-read
10+ dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
For Generations to Come
Surfer

For Generations to Come

Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice

time-read
5 dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
Christina Koch, 41
Surfer

Christina Koch, 41

Texas surfer, NASA astronaut, record holder for the longest continuous spaceflight by a woman

time-read
4 dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING
Surfer

END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING

By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?

time-read
10+ dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Surfer

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public

time-read
10+ dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
What They Don't Tell You
Surfer

What They Don't Tell You

How does becoming a mother affect your surfing life?

time-read
10+ dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 3 / Winter 2020
Surfer

Four Things to Make You Feel A Little Less Shitty About Everything

Helpful reminders for the quarantine era

time-read
10+ dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 2
The Art of Being Seen
Surfer

The Art of Being Seen

How a group of black women are finding creative ways to make diversity in surfing more visible

time-read
4 dak  |
Volume 61, Issue 2