Lopez - Surf Is Where You Find It

SURF IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

Gerry Lopez

The 1971 Golden Breed Expression Session. Photo: Jeff Divine

The shaping room at Surf Line Hawaii where, for the first time, I shaped boards under my own label. Photo: Gerry Lopez Collection

Buzzy Trent taking the drop at Sunset Beach, a wave he considered a shorter and less challenging ride than his favorite, Point Surf Makaha. Photo: John Severson

Jock Sutherland, an early master of the Pipeline, was a great help to me when I was starting out there. Photo: Art Brewer

Buffalo and Teddy Bear headed out for another day at the office at Makaha Beach. Photo: Jeff Divine

R B, Reno, and I posed this shot at the Makiki Pumping Station as a tribute to our new shortboard shapes. Photo: David Darling

Another routine drop at the Pipeline that ended up as a poster for Surfer magazine. Photo: Jeff Divine

A slight stall at the bottom of a sweet Pipeline wave to let the tube set up ahead. Photo: Jeff Hornbaker

The tube at the Pipeline had enough room to stand straight up inside it. Photo: Jeff Hornbaker

A bottom turn at the Pipeline on the Coral Cruiser marks the beginning of some success at surfing this difficult and dangerous break. Photo: James Cassimus

The Coral Cruiser, an eight-foot pintail gun, made surfing the Pipeline, more or less, a cakewalk. Photo: Art Brewer

SURF IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

Gerry Lopez

Patagonia

SURF IS WHERE
YOU FIND IT

At Patagonia, we publish a collection of books that reflect our pursuits and our valuesbooks on wilderness, outdoor sports, innovation, and a commitment to environmental activism.

Copyright 2007 Patagonia

Revised edition copyright 2015 Patagonia

Text Gerry Lopez

Foreword Rob Machado and Steve Pezman

All photograph copyrights are held by the photographers as indicated in captions.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from publisher and copyright holders. Requests should be mailed to Patagonia Books, Patagonia, Inc., 259 W. Santa Clara St., Ventura, CA 93001-2545

REVISED EDITION

Editor: John Dutton

Photo Editor: Jane Sievert

Design: Scott Massey

Production: Rafael Dunn

Printed in China on 100% recycled paper

Front Cover: Art Brewer

Library of Congress Control Number 2014954048

Hardcover ISBN 978-1-938340-43-7

Print ISBN 978-1-938340-26-0

eBook ISBN 978-1-938340-25-3

Versions of Sweet Candy Days, Pakala, A First Time at the Pipeline, Dr. Surf, RB, A Giant Among Men, Herbie, The Fastest Wave in the World, Flippy, Momentary Entertainment, Jans Board, Everything Bad Happens in Parking Lots, Caught Inside Again, The Money Motive, Incident at Eke Moku, The Mother of All Pipeline Swells, The Edge of Panic, A Good Day to Die, Tales of Indonesia, Jungle Love, Treasure Islands, The Mile-Long Rides, Chile, Get It While You Can, The Country, Whitey and the Duke, The Last Laugh, A Good Deal, Cannons, and The Coral Cruiser were previously published in Surf 1st magazine.

Versions of The Track of the Cat, No Prisoners, The Big Swim, and The Best Surfer in the Flesh were previously published in Free & Easy magazine.

Versions of Caught Inside Again, G-Land, and The Best Surfer in the Flesh were previously published in Water magazine.

A version of Incident at Eke Moku was previously published in a Patagonia catalog.

Versions of A Giant Among Men, Big Wally, and The Country were previously published in The Surfers Journal.

A version of Pakala was previously published in Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawaii Literature and Arts.

A version of Jungle Love was previously published in The Surfers Path magazine.

Versions of Comin Down, Big Wally, The Demise of the Ditch, A Big Score, The Gorge, and A Saturday at Ala Moana were previously published in Nalu, The Longboarders Magazine.

To my wife, Toni, and son, Alex.

Special thanks to these fine photographers: Erik Aeder, Branden Aroyan, Art Brewer, James Cassimus, Sylvain Cazenave, David Darling, Kirk Devoll, Jeff Divine, Dana Edmunds, Gordinho, Leroy Grannis, Jeff Hornbaker, Don James, Jeff Johnson, Don King, Kimiro Kondo, Don Marsh, Tim McCullough, Dan Merkel, Ben Moon, Bev Morgan, Joe Quigg, John Russell, Denjiro Sato, John Schwirtlich, Tom Servais, John Severson, Craig Stecyk, Ron Stoner, Andy Tullis, Mike Waggoner, Steve Wilkings, and John Wrenn.

I wish to thank my mother and father, both avid readers and writers, for instilling in me their love of books. To Michael McPherson, a surfer friend from the old days and accomplished author; mahalo for providing much needed motivation, patience, and understanding. To good friendsGordon Clark, Roy Mesker, Bruce Bailey, Tomoko Okabe, my brother Victor Lopez, George Kam, Dale Hope, Michael Cassidy, Dave Chun, Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, Rick Ridgeway, John Dutton, Jane Sievert, Tom Adler, Casey Bevington, Takashi Isobe, Yoshinori Ueda, Steve Pezman, Jeff Divine, Drew Kampion, Alex Dick-Reed, and Steve Zeldenthanks for all the encouragement and support. To George Downing, a very special person to me and the world of surfing. And most of all, thanks to surfing and all the great surfers who made these stories happen.

FOREWORD

It was sometime in the summer of 2004. I had been invited on a boat trip to the Mentawai Islands with a stellar cast. Laird Hamilton was the leader of the pack; he was working on a movie project and invited a crew of people to join him for an adventure. For some reason I dont remember I was arriving a day late for the trip, and I would have to jump on a different boat to catch up with the mother ship, which was already well on its way.