With its massive faces, punishing rocks, and treacherous currents, Maverick's presents a surfing challenge like no other. Author Matt Warshaw has updated his critically acclaimed illustrated history of Maverick's to cover important recent developments, and we've added a fresh new cover to kick this edition off in style. "A fascinating account," to quote Surfer magazine, it takes "a cue from Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm...Warshaw focused on a single event...and expands on it to illuminate an entire culture and its world beyond waves." The event was the death of celebrated surfer Mark Foo, one of those who congregate every winter to test themselves in the dark, foreboding waters. And what unfolds in Maverick's is no less than the story of big-wave surfing, from its ancient Hawaiian origins to modern tow-in riders. It's a book to be enjoyed not only by those who surf deep in the waves, but also by those whose taste for adventure is satisfied deep in the pages of a very good book.
| Foreword | viii | |
| Introduction | x | |
| 1 | Surfacing December 19 1994 | 1 |
| 2 | Hot Curls and Bluebirds big-wave surfing circa 1900 - 1956 | 17 |
| 3 | h3o (heavy water) December 20 1994 | 37 |
| 4 | Bull Market big-wave surfing 1957 - 1969 | 55 |
| 5 | Singular achievement December 21 1994 | 79 |
| 6 | Athletes, Artists, Professionals big-wave surfing 1970 - 1990 | 101 |
| 7 | Wheel of fear December 22 1994 | 125 |
| 8 | Machine Age big-wave surfing beyond waimea 1991 - 1994 | 143 |
| 9 | Maverick down December 23 1994 | 163 |
| 10 | Bigger, Richer, Faster, Harder big-wave surfing 1995 - 2003 | 183 |
| Sources by Chapter | 212 | |
| Acknowledgments | 215 | |
| Photography Credits | 215 | |
| Index | 216 |
jamespisano
Posted February 24, 2009
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"Mavericks," is about the only big wave (a "heavy" wave with a face of 18 feet or more) generally known by the surfing community, at the time the book was published, that breaks regularly on a U.S. coastline outside of Hawaii. It is a very interesting story further, because it was discovered and ridden covertly, albeit not intentionally so, by a Jeff Clark, a local for some 15 years, before he was finally able to convince others to join him. This aspect of the story in and of itself is truly remarkable. "Mavericks" covers many interesting facets of the story of the break Mavericks including how it was named, how Jeff Clark discovered it, the surfers who have ridden it, how it compares to some of the other major big wave breaks around the world, and how technology is changing how it is surfed, specifically through the advent of surfing augmented with personal water craft. "Mavericks" also provides a context for the Mavericks break as it is divided neatly in half, with alternating chapters of Mavericks specific content and general big wave content, including the origin and history of big wave surfing and some of the more pivotal surfers involved, and discusses personal water craft and how that is changing surfing, including the ability to ride waves often created by open water reefs, unmakeable by paddle-in surfers. Any book about big wave surfing would be remiss if it didn't mention some of the great surfers and men, who lost their lives pursuing their love, including Jay Moriarity and Mark Foo, and these stories are included in "Mavericks." Lastly, Mr Warshaw discusses big wave surfing and some of the current issues and possibilities including issues affecting all of surfing such as sponsorships and photographers and the business-economic factors of big wave surfing. Ultimately, I found it to be quite a page turner, Matt Warshaw is a prominent writer in the surfing community and the book does not disappoint, the content is augmented by great photographs of Mavericks and Waimea, including legendary photographs of Jay Moriarity's wipeout in 1994 and Mark Foo's wipeout on his last wave on December 23, 1994. If you like this book, you should also read "Inside Mavericks," a book comprised of content from over 10 surfers, particularly compelling of which are descriptions of how to paddle out to the lineup, how the drop is made, and what happens during a wipeout. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say I'm not a surfer, I'm a skateboarder, specifically I longboard and besides Concrete Wave magazine, I've found good longboarding content lacking so I found surfing content, mostly big wave surfing content, to be an enjoyable alternative. As surfing superseded skateboarding and as skateboarding borrows so much of its culture and terminology from surfing, it seems a natural progression.
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Overview
With its massive faces, punishing rocks, and treacherous currents, Maverick's presents a surfing challenge like no other. Author Matt Warshaw has updated his critically acclaimed illustrated history of Maverick's to cover important recent developments, and we've added a fresh new cover to kick this edition off in style. "A fascinating account," to quote Surfer magazine, it takes "a cue from Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm...Warshaw focused on a single event...and expands on it to illuminate an entire culture...