Just Go
International Surfing Day is fast approaching. On June 20, surfers all over the world will paddle out to celebrate that thing which makes our lives different, and a little better, than our land-bound neighbors.
International Surfing Day is a synthetic holiday — like Father’s Day, which coincides with ISD this year — but one that is worth observing. Originally, World Surf Day was a concept promoted by Alt.Surfing, the first and largest Usenet group about surfing, in 1993. The Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Magazine got on board with International Surfing Day in 2005. That year there were less than 20 official ISD events, but by 2009 there were over 105 worldwide events spanning countries such as Sweden, Mauritius, Korea, West Africa and Taiwan. This year, ISD has a confirmed 200 official events taking place worldwide, including 73 in the United States.
Despite the corporate gloss, World Surf Day is still a do-it-yourself holiday for surfers all over this planet. You don’t need to attend an official event; just grab your board, paddle out and catch a few. It helps that ISD falls near the solstice. June 21 is the solstice this year — the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere — and a pagan holiday since pre-history.
Also, World Surf Day reminds us to appreciate something we too often take for granted. On this fragile and overpopulated planet, surfing in clean water is a rare privilege that must be fiercely protected. Our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast won’t be surfing this year. Nor will surfers near the Nigerian Delta, or anywhere else that development and greed have pushed aside sensible resource management.
