One of the most influential surfers in history was born far from the oceans. Tom Blake, a Wisconsin native, arguably did as much for the evolution of surfing as Duke and the famous authors of the time who helped popularize this activity, such as Mark Twain and Jack London. He is the establisher of “surf …
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Why is the weather always wrong?
Weather is described as the current state of the atmosphere. It is always around us in the form of clouds, rain, wind, and air temperature. Yet, predicting the weather beyond 7 days into the future is excruciatingly challenging. We as a society still have issues not being able to forecast correctly. But why? How have …
Atmospheric Rivers: Streams in the Sky
Californians, on a normal year, typically celebrate New Year’s Eve with parties in backyards, beaches, or rooftop bars. Not this year. It rained, a lot. In late 2022 into early 2023, a long channel of warm moist air called an atmospheric river, flowed up from the tropics into the mid-latitudes (30-60N). It brought rain and …
Ancient Water: A Brief History of Surfing
Surfing today is a worldwide cultural phenomenon. All around the world, surfers are able to share the spiritual bond that riding the oceans brings. This sport, however, has a rich history complete with roots in mythology, gender equality, and shameful colonialism. The origin story of surfing begins in the heart of the grandest of oceans, …
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The way to score the best waves
If you get free gas, you can drive around all day checking spots. If you trust the forecast websites you can continuously check those. If you have a photographic memory you can just remember the best conditions for each spot. The truth is that most of us don’t get free gas, don’t trust the forecast …
Climate Crisis and Surfing: A Look Into The Future
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the Earth’s overall temperature has been rising. The heating of the planet is in strong correlation with increased human activity. Human activity is related to carbon dioxide (CO2) which is released every time coal, oil, or natural gas is burned. Greenhouse gases, such as CO2, capture the Sun’s …
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The P’s of Surfing: Tips to riding more waves
Surfing is not an easy sport. The art form of riding waves incorporates balance, cardiovascular endurance, and zen-like patience. However, there are still times in which it feels impossible to catch these offerings from Poseidon. The oceanic energy slips underneath without even the slightest push forward. The effect of seeing someone take the wave you …
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How to surf using tide data
This post is designed to be read following a previous Lazy Surfer post on tide basics. If you are unfamiliar with what a tide is or why tides form, Please check out the post here! “Ride of the Day” Photo by santabarbaraca.com Surfing and Tides In a previous post “All you need to know about …
Top 3 Coldest Waves in the World
Winter is coming. Soon, much of the world’s northern hemisphere will be subject to howling winds, frigid temperatures, and longer nights. In order to help the brave wintertime surfers get in the cold water spirit, or to spark an unconventional holiday break surf trip, here are the three coldest waves in the world that will …
All you need to know about tides.
First photo of the Earth taken from Apollo 8 on Moon in 1968. Tide Basics The world’s incomprehensibly gigantic oceans are an ideal location to become intimately connected with the ruthlessly raw power of nature. Hikers and beachgoers alike love to look at the mysterious beauty of the world’s bodies of water from dry land. …
Never Miss Good Surf Again
Feel like you’re not surfing the best waves out there? Getting skunked more than you’d like? Lazy Surfer can help. Alerts Lazy Surfer will send you notifications when current conditions are similar to a highly-rated session. So if you scored great waves at a point break last year, rest assured – Lazy Surfer is constantly …
Using the Home Screen to Plan Surf Sessions
The Home Screen in Lazy Surfer is your personalized surf guide – it’ll give you the run down on exactly how to find good surf at your spots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHBnyPfrmyw This is a video version of this blog post in case you don’t feel like reading Best Spot Now This is it – you paddling out …
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How to Read the Sessions Screen
The Sessions Screen gives you a very in-depth view of how current (and future) conditions relate to all your individual sessions. Overall Similarity Rule #1 of the sessions screen is that if you see a session with a 4+ rating and current conditions are identical then paddle out there! Stop reading this and paddle out …
How to Read the Spots Screen
There are a couple different ways to use the Spots Screen – the most common are when you’re trying to find out where to surf now and where to surf sometime in the future. Where should I surf now? To find out where to surf now, sort the list by rating descending. Your screen should …
Lazy Surfer Tips – Three keys to scoring the best waves.
Lazy Surfer can be intimidating at first – follow these three easy steps to get started! #1 – Add your spots! You can add any spot to Lazy Surfer. Just go to the “Add Spot” screen, move the map so that the pin is close to the peak, add the spot name and hit “Save …
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Ho.Stevie! Canvas Board Bag Review
I’ve long been a staunch supporter of the bare-it-all, dings-be-damned type of surfboard care regiment. Dirt stuck in your wax and making your boards look grimy? I like the look of a well used board. Got clear tape up and down your rails? Sounds like a good opportunity to learn some ding repair skills (something …
The Ultimate Gift Guide For Your Surfer
Gifts for Surfers This is the ULTIMATE gift guide for surfers. Whether this is your surf buddy, surfer boyfriend, girlfriend, or family member. They will be beyond stoked if you got them a present related to their favorite pastime. Let’s start with performance… The thing your friend/boyfriend/family member craves the most is that feeling when …
Surf Vloggers The New Free Surf: Mason Ho
Mason Ho! Named one of the “World’s most entertaining surfers” by Stab, The Inertia, and Surfer. Mason Ho comes from a legendary dynasty of surfing, Mason is the son of professional surfer Michael Ho, brother of Coco Ho (who frickin rips), and nephew to world champion Derek Ho. Mason is continuing to make the name …
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Dylan Graves – The Man Behind Vans’ Weird Waves
Dylan Graves’ the man behind ‘Weird Waves’ Vans is always finding creative ways to show off their sponsored surfers and skaters but weird waves is a showcase of its own. Van has been putting on a series since 2019 called ‘Weird Waves” hosted by pro-surfer Dylan Graves. The premise of the show is having talented …
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George Greenough – Surf Influence
The father of the modern-day surfboard fin, in-water photography, some of the first versions of water housing, and the revolution of the shortboard! Let’s break it down. George Greenough (image from http://www.weekendhippie.com/weekend-hippie-stories/2016/6/19/in-the-greenough-room-george-greenough) George Greenough was one of the most innovative figures in the surf industry and his attitude and lifestyle portray that. He was very …
Surfer’s Ear
The Lazy Surfer app is a digital surf log that helps you use your surfing data to make better decisions on where and when to surf. Download for free today. What is Surfer’s Ear? To put it simply, a surfer’s ear is the growth of bumps inside the ear canal which can trap water and cause …
The 5 Best Free Surfers
The Lazy Surfer app is a digital surf log that helps you use your surfing data to make better decisions on where and when to surf. Download for free today. What is Free Surfing? Free surfing is the act of surfing outside of a contest. Free surfing is a phenomenon in the surf industry led by …
Surf Conditions
Do you have trouble understanding surf conditions? Take control of your surf experience by understanding the basics of surf conditions. Understanding surf conditions will help you surf better waves, have a better time, and become a better surfer! We will be showing you how to understand surf conditions in 5 basic factors that affect overall …
Surfing After it Rains: Will I Die?
TLDR: It’s unlikely but you could. Know the risks and try to mitigate them if you’re going to surf after it rains. This water tastes funny… Thanks to https://unsplash.com/@naja_bertolt_jensen for the image If you live in or near a big city and you’ve paddled out after a rain you’ve probably noticed that the water tastes …
How is my data used in Lazy Surfer?
So glad you asked. The bottom line is that there are three options for how your data is shared – No Sharing – Your data stays completely on the phone. Sharing with the prediction model and backups – If you want backups + better predictions then your data is stored in a cloud database but …
NOAA Buoy Basics
The Lazy Surfer app is a digital surf log that helps you use your surfing data to make better decisions on where and when to surf. Download for free today. How do I read the data on the NOAA buoy pages? This is a very common question on a lot of surfing forums – the …
Reading Surf Forecasts: But how do I know if it’s going to be good?
Reading Surf Forecasts: But how do I know if it’s going to be good? This article is part 4 of a series about reading surf forecasts. Here are the first, second and third articles. We surfers have one goal — finding out when and where the best waves in our travel radius are going to be and making …
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Reading Surf Forecasts: Swell Height
This is the third post in a series about reading surf forecasts. Here are the first and second articles. Swell Height[1] is a deceptively difficult thing to measure. The first thing to realize is that this isn’t an objective number — it doesn’t correspond one-to-one with any specific thing in reality. Instead, it’s a number that should …
Reading Surf Forecasts: What Can Go Wrong
Reading Surf Forecasts: What Can Go Wrong Credit to https://www.flickr.com/photos/stignygaard In the last article we went over the 7 most common metrics you’ll see on a surf forecast. In this article we’ll talk about the ways a good looking 4–5 foot swell can go wrong and how you can use the metrics besides swell height to …
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Reading Surf Forecasts: The Basics
Reading Surf Forecasts: The Basics This is the first post in my Reading Surf Forecasts series. Check out the second post here. Any forecast worth its salt will include at least 7 metrics. Swell Height —This has a technical definition that we’ll get into in a later post but for now let’s use the obvious definition — this …