On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida's Space Coast
A high—speed glide through Florida surf culture and a deep dive into the lore of a classic surfing destination.

Not far from where the Apollo 11 rocket launched to the moon, surfers make their way to the shore in the night. Clutching their surfboards, they chase a familiar dream: more speed, more altitude, and going beyond the limits of what has been done before. For that, they want to be the first ones to catch the early morning waves.

In this book, Dan Reiter chronicles stories of the sport on Florida’s Space Coast, a region that has produced some of the world’s finest surf champions, Pipe masters, and surfboard builders. On this stretch of sand between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, Florida’s surf history reaches back to the native Ais people of the Atlantic Coast and continues to the elites of today, including Kelly Slater, Caroline Marks, and CJ Hobgood. Reiter offers insights into the evolution of surfboard shaping and design, the distinctive culture of the East Coast surfboard industry, and the traits and traditions that make Florida surfing unique.

United by the background of Florida sun, soaring blue skies, and shifting sandbars, each one of this book’s eclectic chapters tells its own story of passion and pursuit. Weaving together history, personal experiences, and interviews with the greats, Reiter redefines surf literature and invites readers to share in the thrill of a rising swell.

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On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida's Space Coast
A high—speed glide through Florida surf culture and a deep dive into the lore of a classic surfing destination.

Not far from where the Apollo 11 rocket launched to the moon, surfers make their way to the shore in the night. Clutching their surfboards, they chase a familiar dream: more speed, more altitude, and going beyond the limits of what has been done before. For that, they want to be the first ones to catch the early morning waves.

In this book, Dan Reiter chronicles stories of the sport on Florida’s Space Coast, a region that has produced some of the world’s finest surf champions, Pipe masters, and surfboard builders. On this stretch of sand between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, Florida’s surf history reaches back to the native Ais people of the Atlantic Coast and continues to the elites of today, including Kelly Slater, Caroline Marks, and CJ Hobgood. Reiter offers insights into the evolution of surfboard shaping and design, the distinctive culture of the East Coast surfboard industry, and the traits and traditions that make Florida surfing unique.

United by the background of Florida sun, soaring blue skies, and shifting sandbars, each one of this book’s eclectic chapters tells its own story of passion and pursuit. Weaving together history, personal experiences, and interviews with the greats, Reiter redefines surf literature and invites readers to share in the thrill of a rising swell.

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On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida's Space Coast

On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida's Space Coast

by Dan Reiter
On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida's Space Coast

On a Rising Swell: Surf Stories from Florida's Space Coast

by Dan Reiter

Paperback

$24.95 
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Overview

A high—speed glide through Florida surf culture and a deep dive into the lore of a classic surfing destination.

Not far from where the Apollo 11 rocket launched to the moon, surfers make their way to the shore in the night. Clutching their surfboards, they chase a familiar dream: more speed, more altitude, and going beyond the limits of what has been done before. For that, they want to be the first ones to catch the early morning waves.

In this book, Dan Reiter chronicles stories of the sport on Florida’s Space Coast, a region that has produced some of the world’s finest surf champions, Pipe masters, and surfboard builders. On this stretch of sand between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet, Florida’s surf history reaches back to the native Ais people of the Atlantic Coast and continues to the elites of today, including Kelly Slater, Caroline Marks, and CJ Hobgood. Reiter offers insights into the evolution of surfboard shaping and design, the distinctive culture of the East Coast surfboard industry, and the traits and traditions that make Florida surfing unique.

United by the background of Florida sun, soaring blue skies, and shifting sandbars, each one of this book’s eclectic chapters tells its own story of passion and pursuit. Weaving together history, personal experiences, and interviews with the greats, Reiter redefines surf literature and invites readers to share in the thrill of a rising swell.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813080970
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Publication date: 04/29/2025
Pages: 174
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Dan Reiter lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on a dissolving barrier island. His surf writing has been featured in The Surfer’s JournalSurfer Magazine, and Eastern Surf Magazine, and his short stories have appeared in American Short FictionTin House, and the Kenyon Review.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

“Surf Lit” ix Firsts 1

How to Be a Kook 12 

Beneath the Sand  17 

The Golden Age 24 

Youth Movement 30

Passages from the Surfer’s Bible 37

Juracán 43

The Halloween Swell, 1991 44

Frances and Jeanne, 2004 49 

Why We Surf 57

Slater, in Bronze 59

A Field Guide to Spring Break, Cocoa Beach 63 

Dick Catri, 1938–2017 68

Holding the Line 71 

The Birth of Style 75

Three World Champions 80 

On Shapers 90

Thickness Flow: The Larry Mayo Perspective 101 

George Robinson: The True Line 105

Ricky Carroll: Portrait of a Grandmaster 107 

One Summer Day 114

Thoughts on the Cold—Water Season 118 

Inlets of the Mind 121

Core Surf 130

Noseride Obsessive 133

Openings 139

Acknowledgments 149 

A Note on Sources  151 

Index 153

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