To surf Dessert, a standing wave in the middle of the Ottawa River, one must paddle a quarter mile from shore, drift down to a set of rapids, line up the approach perfectly, pivot at just the right moment, and with a burst of power strokes either slide onto the shoulder or catch the foam pile. If you miss the wave, wipe out, or get flushed, it can take half an hour to try again, starting with a cross-current slog back to shore and a long hike upstream鈥攊n my case, lugging a SUP and stewing over what went wrong. Which I did dozens of times over the past few years. Which kind of sucks.

Proficient at riding a much more accessible but short-lived wave that only works when the river is surging with snowmelt, I sought the same feeling on . With absolutely zero success. This made me wonder why some of us spend countless hours learning how to ski or bike down mountains,听or scrambling back onto paddleboards while dodging rocks in the rapids. Outdoor enthusiasts tend to be meticulous planners, not daredevils, according to Australian adventure psychologist Eric Brymer. So, what exactly are we craving?

Our Brains Like the Challenge

As exasperating as those attempts at Dessert were, the effort itself was probably part of the appeal. Evolutionarily, we鈥檙e programmed to follow the path of least resistance, but in modern urban lives, easy often begets boredom. If it鈥檚 a struggle to do something, the outcome can be more rewarding. 鈥淥utdoor adventure can feel good precisely because it鈥檚 hard,鈥� says psychology researcher Michael Inzlicht, who runs the University of Toronto鈥檚 Work and Play Lab. 鈥淒espite these oversized brains, we鈥檙e still embodied creatures.鈥�

Yet what if there doesn鈥檛 seem to be much ROI from all that floundering? So many swims at Dessert, a couple seconds of surfing. My progress may have been imperceptible, but each wipeout made me slightly less bad, suggests Inzlicht. To him, this is an example of 鈥渆ffortful leisure,鈥� which can be a source of deeper meaning and purpose鈥攐r what he calls 鈥渆udaimonic wellbeing鈥濃�攖hat hobbies such as binge-watching Naked and Afraid don鈥檛 deliver.

鈥淥utdoor adventure can feel good precisely because it鈥檚 hard.鈥�

Inzlicht was right, because this past summer, I finally began to figure out the wave. I locked in during the approach, kept my balance while turning, and committed to digging in with my blade. My rides were fleeting and butterflies set up camp in my stomach, but I had an inexorable urge to drive through rush-hour traffic to the put-in every day after work.

Unfragmented Consciousness

To understand what was brewing inside my head, as a water-logged proxy for what extreme athletes feel, I contacted Susan Houge Mackenzie, who moved to New Zealand from California in her early twenties and became a wilderness guide, leading clients on river surfing trips with bodyboards and fins. (Or as she describes it: rafting without the raft.) 鈥淭here鈥檚 a tension between anxiety and excitement when you鈥檙e getting close to the wave,鈥� says Mackenzie, now a sport psychology researcher at New Zealand鈥檚 University of Otago. 鈥淒uring activities like this, we鈥檙e almost always flipping back and forth.鈥�

Fluctuating between these telic and paratelic states is common in whitewater. In the former, people are serious, goal-oriented, and arousal avoidant; in the latter, we鈥檙e playful, spontaneous, and game for a thrill. Individual personalities differ, but the multiphasic nature of these types of pursuits, plus a dash of fear, could be 鈥渁 precursor to optimal experiences,鈥� says Mackenzie. What鈥檚 more, the trajectory of emotions people typically go through while river surfing, from nervous anticipation to stimulation, relief, confidence, peace, and a sense of accomplishment, is derived from the ability to display expertise in a challenging situation and the creativity we feel while immersed in the activity鈥攁 buzz that persists long after we鈥檙e off the water.

鈥淭he skills required to navigate rapids,鈥� Mackenzie says, 鈥渉elp you tune out other aspects of your life and focus on what鈥檚 right in front of you.鈥� Circa 2025, this 鈥渦nfragmented consciousness鈥� is rare and precious.

Even though she鈥檚 9,000 miles away, it鈥檚 like Mackenzie is peering into my skull. In mid-August, on my birthday, I picked up an oversized sandwich at an Italian deli and spent the day at Dessert (named thusly, I鈥檝e been told, because it鈥檚 a treat to be consumed after Ottawa鈥檚 spring surfing season is finished). On my second attempt, I paddled out, pivoted, and slid into a supersensory harmony. I was in synch with the wave, shifting my weight slightly and stepping back and forth to carve and glide on its short, steep face. My body seemed to move on its own鈥攆lying, floating鈥攁s if powered by the river, roaring over a limestone shelf toward the sea.

Later, sitting in the shade to eat that sandwich, all of my worries had evaporated. Problems morphed into possibilities. Small stuff was not sweated.

Flow State

Researcher Eric Brymer, from Australia鈥檚 Southern Cross University, tells me this wasn鈥檛 a cognitive leap. Looking at outdoor sports through the lens of ecological psychology, which revolves around the relationship between humans and the physical environment, he says that when we鈥檙e 鈥渄ancing with nature,鈥� we鈥檙e scanning and exploring with our bodies, trying to make sense of the world. Surfing is not necessarily an augmented process in the brain; distance and time might be directly perceived, catalyzing our rapid-fire actions. In this context, emotions we label as fear or anxiety are not negative, simply information to absorb as our bodies wobble and bounce and settle into energized focus. Basically: flow.

We鈥檙e on top of the world during and apr猫s surf, Brymer suggests, because activities like this, surrendering to the moment, failing and grinding, playing at the edge of our comfort zones in dynamic outdoor environments, are 鈥渁 fundamental way to be human.鈥� They shut down cognitive chatter, our haptic senses fully alive.

I confess to Byrner that I can鈥檛 stop thinking about river surfing. 鈥淭iger in a cage,鈥� he replies.

Confined in an artificial space, a tiger feels suppressed, unwell. Bogged down in cities and cubicles, that鈥檚 us. 鈥淓ssentially, we鈥檙e locking ourselves in a cage,鈥� Brymer says. 鈥淪ome of us don鈥檛 realize there鈥檚 a door, and even if we see it, a lot of us are afraid to open it. But if you open it and step outside, you鈥檙e where human beings feel most at home.

鈥淲e call this adventure,鈥� he continues, 鈥渂ut really, it should be considered normal.鈥�

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Many outdoorsy folks will happily slog for hours toward outdoor fun, despite the fact that any number of adventure derailing smackdowns await us. Gear malfunctions, crummy weather, and bloodied limbs don鈥檛 stop us from heading into the unknown. No one puts this optimistic persistence to better use than lifelong surfer and CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, Chad Nelsen. Chad grew up in smog-choked Laguna Beach in the 1970s, when pipes spilled raw sewage into the ocean regularly. He was inspired to pursue environmental science and a PhD combining his love of surfing with sustainability, thus dedicating his life to protecting and preserving the world鈥檚 oceans, waves, and beaches. Despite bureaucracy, apathy, and disengagement, Chad pursues environmentalism like a surfer paddling into pounding beach break, confident that the wave of his life is just outside the shore pound.

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The blissed out, swell chasing surfer with a single-minded focus on the next great ride is a pervasive outdoorsy archetype that鈥檚 completely at odds with the lived experience of many surfers. Take historian Kevin Dawon, a professor at UC Merced, for whom surfing serves as his connection to a rich tradition of African aquatic culture. Dawson is credited with resurfacing the first account of surfing in Africa, from 1640鈥攎ore than 100 years before Captain Cook鈥檚 famed account from Hawaii鈥攁nd his research centers centuries of oceanic accomplishment by Black communities there and in North America that have been ignored or actively erased. Dawson鈥檚 experiences in the waters of Africa, the Caribbean, and his native California bear little resemblance to what many people think of when they hear 鈥渟urfer,鈥� but they鈥檙e drenched in a joy that鈥檚 recognizable to anyone who has ever played in the waves.

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David Mesfin was coming up empty. The prompt seemed simple enough: 鈥淏lack man with a surfboard.鈥� Over and over, he typed it into the search bar, and over and over, the same glaring blind spot came up on his computer screen. Was this the best AI could do? Something felt off.

鈥淲hen I searched鈥he program would end up giving me a white man with dark skin holding a board,鈥� recalls Mesfin. 鈥淏lack people, Black surfers, just weren鈥檛 part of the data set.鈥�

The filmmaker and agency creative director had just spent the last year filming and producing 鈥淲ade in the Water,鈥� a documentary about the primarily overlooked 1,000-year history of Black surfing. As a Black creative producing a film about Black representation in water sports, the moment hit with acute irony. Even after producing a film that proved Black people were participating in water sports, leading-edge technology had no evidence of their existence. And the online imagery gap didn鈥檛 stop at surfers. The more Mesfin looked, the more he found the lack of Black鈥攁nd all BIPOC鈥攆aces extended to all outdoors imagery, then to photos in workplaces, schools, and homes.

However, instead of being discouraged by the lack of visual references in AI and the rapidly evolving world of information and technology, Mesfin saw an opportunity to rewire the machine. Enlisting the help of Pocstock, a BIPOC imagery database, and dozens of other creative agencies, Mesfin and his team at Innocean have begun Refacing the Future. This project not only re-trains popular AI models for industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft to support imagery of people of color, but also creates the first AI guidebook on how to continue diversifying those datasets for years to come.

鈥淲e need a broader group of people that can actually look at this technology and what is being developed,鈥� explains Mesfin. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to create a tool for the world, it should represent the world accurately, right?鈥�

The outdoors is no stranger to the pitfalls of misrepresentation, just ask the generations of BIPOC skiers, surfers, hikers, and climbers that watched white athletes dominate the videos, ad spreads, and magazine pages of their youth. Mesfin grew up consuming that same media, watching athletes who didn鈥檛 look like him in between paddle outs around St. Augustine, Florida. Eventually, though, he did find other surfers of color, realizing that much of what he saw on the silver screen simply reflected the perspectives of its (white) creators.

In many ways, he feels the same about AI.

鈥淪peaking to under-representation, I think it鈥檚 simply because of the individuals that are behind creating the content or technology,鈥� explains Mesfin.

Throughout the short history of generative AI, those individuals have typically been both white and male.

Additionally, these language learning models draw from already published material to populate their program, material that continues to perpetuate biases and stereotypes across generations.

鈥淢edia has always painted a negative image of BIPOC communities鈥e鈥檝e never been represented in our true sense,鈥� says Mesfin. 鈥淸AI] is picking up on those things, those stereotypes鈥攊t鈥檚 reflecting what鈥檚 already out there.鈥�

When the algorithm fails to recognize antiquated depictions of people of color, it often misidentifies them altogether. A federal study in 2019 concluded that Asian and Black people were up to 100 times more likely to be incorrectly identified or depicted by AI models in comparison to white men. While advancements have been made in the technology over the last few years, it鈥檚 still easy to find holes in the ship. Innocean points to the Asian dentists that make up 22 percent of the entire U.S. dentist population. When AI is asked to generate an image of a dentist, an Asian person only appears 2.3 percent of the time.

Refacing the Future is working to eliminate these digital information shortcomings by strategically flooding the system with information. Mesfin says an alliance with Pocstock, an image database featuring over 1.8 million images of people of color, has provided the initiative a platform to stand on, but considers the way Pocstock organizes these images to be the key to a more equitable online future. Each image in Pocstock鈥檚 database is manually tagged for skin tone, gender, race, age, and a range of other cultural data, which makes it easier for AI models to identify and incorporate these details into auto-generating image processes. With Refacing the Future, the alliance aims to collect more of these photos and intentionally attach these kinds of physical identifiers to each one, making the information more readily available for popular image-generating technologies and helping to train the models to see the world in all its color.

From there, Innocean has identified 22 other creative agencies to produce BIPOC-specific media, not only to host imagery and video on the Pocstock platform but also to tag and make that work available to OpenAI, Canva, Google, and other diversity data-starved AI models. The result? According to Refacing the Future鈥檚 website, over 16 BIPOC photographers are working to produce 96,000 pieces of original media within a year. Hispanic skateboarders, Native American watermen and waterwomen, Asian snowboarders鈥攁 list of historical blind spots shrinking by the day.

As the database continues to grow, Refacing the Future has also prioritized establishing what that growth will look like. For one, the guidebook encourages creative agencies to curate photoshoots with diverse talent (including those behind the lens). Additionally, the guidebook provides creative resources and cultural curators that can help media producers steer a more inclusive course.

Currently, AI is a powerful tool without a clear code of conduct, something Mesfin and others see as an opportunity to establish some good practice ground rules. That鈥檚 why Refacing the Future published the first BIPOC AI guidebook, a comprehensive tool for agencies and creatives to explore who to shoot, how to shoot, how to prepare files, and how to tag, all to eliminate bias.

鈥淚 want to hand agencies this guidebook and say, 鈥楬ey, here鈥檚 how we did it,鈥欌�� explains Mesfin. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 how you can find photographers, how you should approach your photoshoots. That way it can be more a reflection of the community and authentically capture the demographic.鈥�

Still in its early stages, Refacing the Future has identified several areas for improvement, including the representation of women in STEM fields and the changing roles of women in the household. However, when Mesfin was tapped to produce his creative shoot for the newly established platform, he returned to what he knew best: the ocean.

On a sunny day last February, Mesfin and a team of photographers and surfers of color descended on Huntington Pier in Southern California. The ocean spray cast a morning chill, but the air was warm as the crew walked toward the iconic wooden pylons. It all felt like a full circle, as Mesfin was now charged with filling a gap he had identified during his fruitless internet search just a few years prior.

One of the photographers, Kory Lamberts, had met Mesfin at Great Day in the Stoke, the largest gathering of Black surfers in the world, and felt inspired by the creative director鈥檚 vision. When the call came to join up for this first Refacing the Future project, Lamberts knew he needed to be a part of it.

鈥淗ere was this chance to reshape and recreate the future from the lens of people that haven鈥檛 been able to tell it yet,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time we figure out a way to move forward with these technologies to utilize them for our communities.鈥�

With four athletes in the water and photographers both on land and ducking waves, the team stacked shots and videos that would later make their way to Pocstock and further into today鈥檚 popular AI modeling programs, letting a new digital world know exactly who they are.

The post When AI Failed to See Who Belongs Outdoors, This Photographer Set Out to Re-Train It appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Surfing is addictive. Once it clicks, you feel like you鈥檙e flying over the surface of water. The only thing is, you need a wave to do it. For me, wakesurfing doesn鈥檛 scratch the itch, and while mechanical wave pools exist, they aren鈥檛 exactly cheap or ubiquitous yet. Enter the Lind Canvas, an insanely over-engineered, high-powered electric surfboard that delivers surf-like thrills in any reasonably-sized body of water at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. And you only need to sell one or two critical organs to be able to afford one!

It sounded like something I needed to test for myself, so I traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, where the company is based, to check them out.

Two things that are important to emphasize right away: First, these are surfboards, not e-foils, and second, these boards are built for flat water, not waves. It is designed to put the power of a wave into the board itself and recreate the feeling of riding waves in places where there are no waves. The idea of some rich scrubs trying to poach waves from normal paddle-surfers on these 80-pound rockets in a crowded line-up is frankly terrifying.

The Lind Canvas surfboard comes in two sizes: a 6鈥�3鈥� shortboard and a 6鈥�9鈥� mid-length. From the top they look like standard surfboards, though they are a bit wider, and at 6鈥� thick they are more than twice as thick as your standard board to accommodate the special sauce. In the board鈥檚 belly, a hollow bay holds the battery and engine. Every single component, aside from the individual battery cells themselves (which are the same lithium cells you find in high-end electric cars), has been meticulously designed in-house. The result? A sleek 3.1 kilowatt-hour battery pack and an astonishing 28 horsepower engine.

If that sounds like a terrifying amount of power to have under your feet, you would be correct. It is one of the most power-dense platforms ever created鈥攄ouble the power density of a Tesla Model S. It鈥檚 the kind of engineering you expect from something military grade, not from a surfboard purely for recreation.

Evolution of the Electric Surfboard

This is not the world鈥檚 first electric surfboard. This isn鈥檛 even the first electric surfboard from Alexander Lind, the Swedish co-founder from whom Lind gets its name. His first boards under the company Radinn were heavy and wide, making them extremely difficult to get on rail and carve with. In other words, they felt more like a small boat you stood up on rather than a board you surfed.

But Radinn enjoyed some early success. In 2014, Lind took the company鈥檚 first prototype and rode it off a 9-foot-tall waterfall for a promo video. The video cuts away just as Lind and the board touch down in the water, conveniently omitting that the thing snapped in half upon impact. It didn鈥檛 matter, though. The video went viral, and despite the Radinn boards鈥� shortcomings, they sold about 1,000 units over the years. So, when Alex was looking to start fresh, he thought, 鈥淲hy not do it again鈥攔ecreate the viral enthusiasm鈥攂ut do it right this time?鈥�

Together with his two new co-founders鈥擜nders Dellson (CEO) and Mattias S枚derhielm (CTO/COO)鈥擫ind traveled to the Maldives. They took surf lessons during the day and, in the evenings, worked on a business plan for what would become Lind Surf. Upon returning to Stockholm, they got to work assembling a production team of absolute killers, including tapped Swedish materials and production specialists and poached experienced Heart Aerospace engineers who had previously worked at NASA on Mars rovers.

While Radinn had started with the jet and tried to build a board around it, Lind started with a surfboard. They worked with shaper Sam Bass of, who is known for making highly-customized boards, refining their design for a shortboard that would have the planning, grip, and responsiveness of a real board while also being thick enough to house the payload that would power it.

Design Features of the Lind Canvas

The Canvas design is modular, separated into three pieces. There鈥檚 the board itself, which features a thick oak stringer with two-dozen screw holes for the included foot-straps. It鈥檚 light enough that it can be lifted with one hand, but it also comes with a canvas bag with a padded shoulder strap. Its largest, flattest surface has an aluminum panel that becomes the bottom of the board and acts as a heat-sink in the water, keeping the batteries healthier. The heaviest component, a 37-pound battery, can be carried in the included backpack.

Also tucked away into the backpack is the jet engine. Rather than using one larger motor, which would have been bulbous and impacted the board鈥檚 hydrodynamics, they split the job and use two motors in parallel. To achieve this, Lind made a mad-scientist-level, multi-stage gearbox with bespoke gears that听 transfers maximum torque to the single impeller in the middle without shearing the gears鈥� teeth off. Like everything else, that impeller is made in-house, utilizing computational fluid dynamics to develop the correct attributes.

A wireless remote control, which uses a simple trigger to control acceleration and has a four-way D-pad on top to power on/off, pair with the board, and adjust the power-level. A bright LCD displays your current power level and remaining battery percentage (but not your speed in mph or kph). For the geeks thinking all this must take an awful lot of programming, that would be correct. The system has six microcontrollers that manage everything from speed to battery maintenance. It even has 4G telemetry so it can share critical information with you. For instance, if you accidentally leave your battery in a hot car with the windows up, it will send a notification to your phone before heat damages the electronics or the whole thing bursts into flames. It really is a staggering amount of engineering, and yes, the price tag reflects that, but we鈥檒l get to that in a minute.

The charger is pretty slick, too. It looks like something you鈥檇 plug into your electric car, but it uses a standard electrical outlet and charges shockingly fast. A battery can fully recharge in an hour. Considering each battery gives you about 45 minutes of run time (shorter if you crank up the power level), that really maximizes the amount of time you get to spend in the water.

It鈥檚 also worth noting that you can customize the board with the paint job, or specific materials, like a wooden inlay on the deck. You can even work with the shaper of your choice, as long as they can make a design that will fit the electronics payload.

Testing the Lind Canvas

None of that engineering matters if the thing doesn鈥檛 work well. Fortunately, I can confirm that it is indeed obscenely fun. The backpack and bag system is designed so you don鈥檛 need a boat ramp or a dock, or anything like that. You can even hike it down to a remote lake, river, or beach, though you probably wouldn鈥檛 want to hike too far as the whole system weighs about 77 pounds. Once you鈥檝e found your spot, you turn the board onto its back, latch in the jet pack and battery, add the fin, flip it into the water, and pair it with the remote. The whole assembly is toolless and takes just a minute or two.

Then you put your belly on the board, point it in a safe direction, and squeeze the trigger. For first timers, it鈥檚 recommended that you start at power level 4 or 5 (out of a maximum of 15). Within seconds you鈥檒l be hydroplaning, dragging your legs behind you, and grinning like an idiot. As with real surfing, the transition from prone to standing is one of the trickiest bits, but here you aren鈥檛 falling down the face of a wave with just seconds to get to your feet. On a Canvas board, you effectively have an unlimited amount of time to get your balance and work your way to vertical, which still takes time to figure out, but as with a bike, the faster you鈥檙e going the more stable it is.

In Stockholm, I test the board on a number of different lakes, rivers, and bays, in fresh water, salt water, and brackish, sometimes with rolling hills in the distance, sometimes in front of massive hotels or vacation homes. As someone who has been surfing for the last 20 years, I came in with high hopes and low expectations, but I was thrilled to make it to my feet on the first try. In fact, every single person in our small group (most of whom had never surfed) all made it to their feet relatively quickly, and then everyone just started ripping. I was able to really lean into my turns, feeling the G-forces pull my feet into the deck of the board, while a rooster-tail of water sprayed off the back. While the 6鈥�9鈥� mid-length board is more stable for getting up, the 6鈥�3鈥� shortboard is much easier to turn. On smooth water, I turned it up to power-level 10. I鈥檇 estimate I was going somewhere between 25 and 30 miles per hour, noticeably faster than the waist to head-high waves I typically surf in California. The heaviness of the board helps dampen some chop in the water, but you really feel those bumps at speed, including when you make a big turn and ride over your own wake. I had no shortage of spectacular wipeouts.

While it does indeed feel a lot like surfing, it鈥檚 not a perfect analog. The weight distribution is different and learning to carve with motorized power takes some getting used to.There鈥檚 certainly a learning curve, and I only scratched the surface. Once you figure it out, though, you can mix in some flair. LLind鈥檚 team riders, none of whom are paddle surfers, were able to cross-step their way up to the nose and hang-five, demonstrating a level of finesse that only comes with time and practice.

For all its speed, because it鈥檚 electric, it鈥檚 also much quieter than something like a jet ski, so the sounds of your uncontrolled whoops echo unimpeded. Tourists who saw or heard me coming were quick to pull out their phones and snap pics of this strange watercraft zipping by them.

Safety Notes

As good of a time as this board is, there鈥檚 still plenty of room for safety improvement. While a normal surfboard has an ankle leash to keep your board nearby, that鈥檚 not an option here. For now, once the controller hits the water and breaks the radio signal, the board鈥檚 motor stops. But if you neglect to release the trigger as you fall, then that board will continue on at speed and with inertia, which means you might have to swim a good 50 yards to retrieve it鈥攐r it could crash into a river bank, boat, or person.

Thus, you鈥檙e advised to let go of the throttle the moment you realize you鈥檙e falling. But that introduces another problem: the drag of the water slows the board down faster than your body, sending you flying off the front, which is extra scary because then you could be run over by the board or slashed by the fin. Thankfully, neither of those things happened to me or anybody in my group, but a couple of times were too close for comfort. Lind is currently testing different solutions for both of these issues.

Sticker Shock

If this all sounds like a ton of fun and you鈥檙e wondering what the catch is, well, it costs $25,000. You could buy a mid-range 2025 Toyota Corolla for that. Hell, you could buy three new, entry-level jet skis, which would carry six times as many people and are more versatile water vehicles. So it鈥檚 not an 鈥渋t鈥檚 not for everybody鈥� thing as much as it鈥檚 an 鈥渋t鈥檚 for very few people who can afford it鈥� thing.

That said, I actually hate jet skiing, and I feel indifferent about wakesurfing, but I loved this board. If I wanted a recreational water vehicle for my lake house, I would choose a Lind Surf board over a jet ski in a heartbeat. It鈥檚 such a unique feeling. It鈥檚 quiet and sleek, and the sheer amount of power it packs is unlike anything I鈥檝e ever experienced. The only problem is I don鈥檛 have a lake house or $25,000 to drop on a surfboard. For those that do, this board offers a truly unique experience on the water, and it鈥檚 a ripping good time. If you can find a way to demo one for a day, you will not regret it.

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In 2020, David Litt, former senior speech writer to President Obama, moved from Washington DC to the Jersey Shore, and felt the need for a jolt of life amidst the pandemic. So he did what anyone would do: David decided he needed to learn to surf. As a sensible Yale-educated, New York Times best selling author, David knew he needed help. And that鈥檚 how he ended up bobbing in the ocean with someone who could not be more dissimilar to him, his tattooed, truck driving, death metal enthusiast, Joe Rogan superfan, brother-in-law, Matt. The sea salt comedy of errors, became the basis of David’s brand new book “It’s Only Drowning: A true story of learning to surf and the pursuit of common ground.” And while it hilariously recounts David鈥檚 learning process, the book is also a surprising investigation of the current American culture war, the roles David and his brother-in-law have been cast into, and how, as unlikely as it would seem, a sport like surfing can help bridge the fissures of class and culture.

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Mike de la Rocha is a difficult man to define. He’s an artist and an advocate. He’s the voice of a generation and a bit of a beach bum. He’s an award-winning change-maker and the co-founder of two businesses: a that provides work for formerly incarcerated people, and an internationally renowned that connects celebrities with social change movements. And now, he’s an author, too.

De la Rocha鈥檚 forthcoming book is an ode to his profound and emotionally complicated relationship with his late father. The man, Ismael “Mayo” de la Rocha, could be an enigma. He was at once a professor who mentored thousands of students over the course of his long career, and a closed-off figure who struggled to teach his own sons emotional intimacy. The tale de la Rocha weaves is an intimately vulnerable story about culture, the trappings of masculinity, and the capacity we all have for change. In ,听de la Rocha reflects on the enduring lessons of the ocean and how surfing and the natural world helped him break through the layers of conditioning and forge a deeper relationship with his father鈥攁nd with himself.听听

In the below excerpt, de la Rocha stands on the beach with his toes in the sand, looking out at the ocean and back into the past. As he reflects, he reveals some of the lessons his father did teach him鈥攅verything from how to whittle down your belongings (including toys) to the bare essentials, to how to withstand the shock of freezing water, even when your body begs you to flee.

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An increasing number of smart, eco-conscious entrepreneurs are putting Earth first by utilizing unwanted materials that would otherwise end up as trash. From trendy tote bags and fanny packs made out of billboard vinyl to casual and recovery footwear made from leftover running shoe midsole scraps, the following four companies are doing their best to keep our planet鈥檚 landfills and oceans from overflowing with trash. In the process, they鈥檙e creating awesome gear.

Rareform Bags

caught my attention by infiltrating my Instagram account. Intrigued, I reached out to the company to learn that while traveling in El Salvador, Alec Avedissian saw locals utilizing the water-resistant, durable material that covers billboards for roofing. Alec and his brother, Aric, launched Rareform in 2013 with a surfboard bag made from discarded billboard material. They鈥檝e since expanded to tote bags, hip packs, and other bags out of brightly colored vinyl that isn鈥檛 traditionally recyclable.

鈥淭he lifespan of a billboard typically is around four to six weeks,鈥� says Alec Avedissian, who also serves as CEO of the company. 鈥淲hen the billboards come down, we then work with our partners to get them shipped to our warehouses in Thousand Oaks, California, and Nashville, Tennessee.鈥�

The company has since kept 700,000 billboards, which amounts to over 30 million pounds of material, out of the landfills by repurposing them as bags.

I鈥檝e been testing the ($80) and love its large capacity, multiple pockets, zippered closure, and waterproof exterior in a one-of-a-kind design for traveling. I can also see myself using this bag for summer adventures as a 鈥渢hrow everything in and figure out what I need on the way to the trailhead鈥� type of bag.

听Trash Gear Co.

Pete Grunwald started collecting discarded plastic 鈥渁s a fun side project鈥� in 2021 while he was working full time as an industrial designer creating protective eyewear for military applications. He鈥檇 break down plastic waste in a blender and use a panini press to mold the pieces into something new: bicycle fenders. He now collects and molds plastic full time with his company听., which continues to make fenders and is soon releasing sunglasses with frames made from repurposed plastic.

鈥淎 big source of my plastic waste is Pak-Techs (plastic can carriers) and I work with beer distributors, breweries, and various stores to collect used ones that customers bring back,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 have a whole host of smaller sources of plastic as well, much of it coming from friends and community members who are excited by what I’m doing and set aside waste plastic for me.鈥�

After working in the outdoor industry for years, a vendor trip to China opened his eyes to the environmental impacts of traditional manufacturing and, coupled with his knowledge of the massive amount of waste plastic being produced domestically, pushed him toward the Trash Gear concept. 鈥淭hat trip sparked the idea: What if a company could collect local waste and turn it into high quality outdoor gear?鈥� Grunwald says.

While Grunwald says he鈥檚 loved using kitchen tools and figuring things out on the fly, he adds: 鈥淥ne day I hope Trash Gear Co will have a proper manufacturing space and truly be an example of a better way to produce great products.鈥�

I鈥檝e been testing a sample of Trash Gear Co. sunglasses and love their unique frame coloration鈥攖he swirled pattern of the plastic reminds me that they kept something out of the landfills.

Think Blue Surf Bag

Designed to keep your key, key fob, credit card, cash, or anything small completely dry while you surf, SUP, kayak, or play in the water, the听 is made out of aviation life vests that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Co-founders Marlene Smith and Cathy Chin used to fuel their surfing sessions with Ziploc bags full of cookies鈥攏ot very successfully. They tried making more functional waterproof bags out of various materials before finding a solution in aviation life vests. Smith, who is a private pilot, and her husband, who works in aircraft maintenance, knew that the life vests were discarded after some of their components expired, while the material of the vest itself, having been stored in an airtight bag in the dark, was still as good as new.

鈥淎pproximately 5,000 life vests have been diverted from the landfill into our inventory,鈥� says Smith. 鈥淥f those, so far 2,000 have been converted into The Surf Bag. Every time someone chooses to purchase The Surf Bag over a product made from new plastic, they are making a direct impact on the environment by participating in this diversion.

鈥淢y dream is to ultimately divert all the retired life vests from the landfill into a variety of high-quality waterproof products making it easy for consumers to choose a sustainable product over new plastic products and allowing them to directly contribute to sustainability.鈥�

The small bag lies flat in board shorts pockets and can be connected to a surfboard or SUP leash tie, or to kayak straps or a backpack with a carabiner.

Fleks Footwear

Fleks Footwear founder Leah Larson says the ocean has always been her happy place. 鈥淚 used to go jump in the ocean before high school if I was in a bad mood,鈥� she says. After years in the footwear industry, including a long stint as the VP of Product and Creative Director of Ugg, Larson wanted to find a way to reuse the discarded waste from footwear manufacturing while also solving the wastefulness of flip flops, which become toss-away rubber and plastic. Her love of the ocean inspired her to minimize footwear manufacturing leftovers and discarded beach shoes. She teamed up with a friend and past co-worker, Stuart Jenkins, founder of Blumaka insoles, to launch Fleks Footwear.

Fleks (and Blumaka) grind up footwear manufacturing waste鈥擡TPU scraps left over from the midsole manufacturing process鈥攁nd shape the conglomerate material into slides, clogs, and other casual and recovery footwear. Larson says there鈥檚 enough discarded manufacturing foam waste in the footwear industry to make two and a half billion pairs of midsoles for Fleks shoes. Plus, says Larson, 鈥淭his process uses no solvents and a lot less water than traditional manufacturing.鈥�

I鈥檝e been testing the听, and while they might not be as plush underfoot as my son鈥檚 Yeezy Slides that I occasionally steal, I love how my feet stay put on the footbed. Larson chalks that up to the tiny bits of repurposed foam that morph around the foot.

I also love the flecked rubber; it reminds me that my slides kept discarded waste out of the landfills and the ocean, which, like Larson, I鈥檇 like to keep healthy. (Larson and I graduated together from the same San Diego high school and used to jump into the same stretch of ocean before classes started.)

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Surfing has an undeniable allure. The ancient Polynesian practice combines both power and grace and forges an intimate connection between a surfer and the ocean. The pros, like John John Florence and , make wave riding look effortless. But even experienced surfers are regularly humbled by the ocean. First-timers often get pummeled just trying to paddle out.

I still recall my first surf experience as a kid on the Jersey Shore. I had borrowed a friend鈥檚 shortboard and couldn鈥檛 make it past the relentlessly pounding breakers. Exhausted from being clobbered by the incoming waves, I gave up and tried to ride the whitewater. I ended up with a bathing suit full of sand and water leaking from my nose for what seemed like days.

After a few more failed solo sessions, I booked a lesson and my frustration instantly turned into enjoyment thanks to some basic pointers. Even one hour under the tutelage of an instructor can be a gamechanger, especially if you鈥檙e a total novice. Intel such as where to paddle out at a break, how to read the incoming sets, and knowing which size board is right for you, can transform your surf experience. Most newbies consider standing up on the board a success. But here鈥檚 a little secret. Learning to read the ocean and being able to paddle into a wave on your own, without a push from an instructor, is the real beginner鈥檚 success.

Now in my 40s, I consider myself an intermediate surfer. But I still try to take a lesson at least once a year, particularly when I travel to a new destination. Surfing is a lifelong practice, and the ocean is an ever-changing arena. You can always be learning and improving. And you鈥檙e never too old to hop on a board. One surf instructor I know says he regularly teaches students in their 60s and 70s.

Whether it鈥檚 your first time paddling out or you鈥檙e looking to fine-tune your bottom turn, the following surf schools can help get you up and riding and take your skills to the next level.

Hammer Surf School, Jersey Shore

Pro surfer Sam Hammer has chased waves around the world from the tropical beaches of Costa Rica to the frozen shores of Iceland to star in Chris Burkhard鈥檚 hit film, Under An Arctic Sky. But he hasn鈥檛 forgotten his Jersey Shore roots. His namesake surf school hosts private 75-minute lessons throughout the summer in several Shore towns, including his hometown of Lavallette. And most locales, like Spring Lake and Bay Head, can be accessed by train from New York City via New Jersey Transit. Hammer personally teaches the Sunday sessions in Spring Lake and you can book him for private coaching. I grew up on the Jersey Shore and know first-hand that if you can surf in Jersey, you can surf just about anywhere. The waves tend to be weak, yet steep, so they鈥檙e harder to paddle into, and, once you鈥檙e in, tougher to navigate. Summer conditions tend to be more mellow, but still, if you earn your surfing chops on the Shore, you鈥檒l feel like a pro on the slow, peeling waves in other destinations.

Beginner Tip: “Don’t overthink your movements on a surfboard,鈥� says Hammer. 鈥淟ike with any sport, you learn mechanics slowly and will instinctually move faster through repetition.”

Details: $99 for a 2.5-hour adult group surf class; $113 for a 75-minute, one-on-one private lesson;

Mario Surf School, Todos Santos, Mexico

Over the years, Los Cerritos beach has been discovered, but even with the crowds, it remains one of my favorite surf spots. Located just 10 minutes south of the hip town of Todos Santos and 45 minutes north of Cabo San Lucas, it鈥檚 incredibly accessible to reach and its mellow, smooth waves and a sandy bottom make it a friendly place for beginners. But those aren鈥檛 the only reasons Mario Becerril, a Baja native and former pro, chose to base his surf school there nearly 20 years ago. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also one of the few beaches in Mexico that has gradual wave zones suitable for all levels,鈥� he explains. This helps ease the congestion and is great for progression. Becerril鈥檚 school is known for its three-step, beginner-focused pop-up technique and also for offering more advanced learning options, such as multi-day clinics, and its surf excursions, which showcase the region鈥檚 best waves, like premier point break Punta Conejo.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to surf on a bigger board when you are learning and work your way down to smaller boards progressively,鈥� says Becerril, 鈥渁nd remember the best surfer out there is the one that has the most fun.鈥�

Details: $67 for a 60-minute group lesson; $80 for a 60-minute private lesson; $180 for a three-day clinic; $350 for a private eight-hour surf excursion

Mary Osborne Surf Academy, Ventura, California

Champion longboarder Mary Osborne has over 25 years of teaching experience and excels at tailoring lessons to match her clients鈥� goals. Her Ventura-based camp offers lessons year-round, but she suggests clients book between late August through December to score magical weather and epic right-hand point breaks. The area has a variety of surf breaks, making it ideal for progression. She starts beginners at Mondos Beach. 鈥淚 call it the Waikiki of California, because it is very easy, slow, safe, and great for learning,鈥� she says. And she coaches experienced riders how to cross step toes to nose on a longboard. Most adults book her 90-minute private lessons, however she also offers two-hour group adult classes on Saturdays, lessons with apr猫s surf brunch, music, yoga, and massages, and she can customize beachfront rental homes, dining reservations, and activities for visiting clients who book multi-day lessons.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淎 lot of times people will want to book a lesson everyday for a week, which sounds incredible,鈥� says Osborne. 鈥淗owever, the reality is the body gets tired and you may need a break every other day.鈥�

Details: 90-minute private lesson from $150;

Pro Surf School Hawaii, Waikiki, Oahu

In my opinion, Waikiki is one of the best spots to learn to surf. Legendary two-mile Honolulu beach has gentle, forgiving waves, plus it鈥檚 the birthplace of modern surfing, which makes it all the more special. Kai Sallas, the reigning International Surf Association longboard champion, was born and raised in Waikiki and operates his surf school from the stylish on the quieter, eastern edge of the bustling neighborhood. You don鈥檛 need to be a hotel guest to book a lesson (though if you鈥檙e visiting from out of town, it鈥檚 a relatively affordable, super convenient base, with the best brunch in town). Sallas and his team cater to both beginner and intermediate riders, educating on everything from surf etiquette and wave knowledge to performing more advanced maneuvers like cutbacks and snaps. He鈥檚 also a shaper and can suggest the perfect board for your riding abilities.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淎lways keep your eyes on the ocean,鈥� says Sallas. 鈥淪tudy it before you go out. Watch it as you paddle out and sit in the lineup. And keep examining the wave as you鈥檙e paddling into it.鈥�

Details: From $99 for a two-hour beginner group lesson, $199 for a private one-on-one; .

Skudin Surf, Long Beach and Rockaway Beach, New York听

Over the last two decades, brothers Will and Cliff Skudin have helped put New York surfing on the map with their global big wave pursuits and their community-driven, namesake surf school. Throughout summer, they offer adult lessons at surf spots in Long Beach and Rockaway Beach. Both can be reached from New York City by train (the former via the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the latter on the subway). Summer is typically the best time for beginners, because the ocean is a bit warmer and the waves are more manageable. Dealing with Mother Nature鈥檚 whims is part of surfing, but riders who want to finesse their pop ups in a more controlled environment can book lessons year-round at America鈥檚 largest indoor wave pool in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a 10-minute drive from Manhattan. The brothers also run a nonprofit, , which helps make surfing accessible to the economically disadvantaged and people with disabilities.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淎lways check the conditions before you go out to surf, so you鈥檙e set up for success,鈥� says Will Skudin. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing worse than gathering all your gear, being stoked to get out there, and showing up to flat or dangerous conditions.鈥�

Details: $125 for a 75-minute private lesson at Long Beach or Rockaway Beach; $99 for an hour-long wave pool session;

Surf Happens, Santa Barbara, California

Surf Happens has helped groom pros like Lakey Peterson and brothers Parker and Conner Coffin. The school鈥檚 successful teaching formula鈥攔efined over 25 years鈥攊s rooted in founder Chris Keet鈥檚 experience as a competitive surfer and lifelong waterman.

鈥淲hat sets our curriculum apart is its focus on levels of evolution, principles, and techniques that build upon one another. It resembles a martial art in its progression,鈥� he says. 鈥淩egardless of skill level or ability, from beginning to elite, there are cheat codes to get to the next level within the phases we teach.鈥�

Surf Happens鈥� methodology builds on fundamentals, like evaluating the ocean conditions for hazards, finding line-up markers, reading the winds, waves, tides, and currents, and understanding techniques like paddling and duck diving. The school鈥檚 home beach is Santa Claus Lane, which offers a sand bottom break with idyllic learning waves year round. But Keet and his team take students to various point, reef, and beach breaks in the area, from Campus and Leadbetter Point, to other secret spots. Adults have their choice of private or group lessons, coaching series, surfaris, and week-long custom packages that explore the best waves for your ability.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淭reat surfing like a life skill and be patient, humble, and hungry to learn,鈥� says Keet. 鈥淟earn how the ocean works, be respectful of her power, and the people who you share it with, know your limits and never give up.鈥�

Details: 90-minute private lesson from $150; three-day coaching series from $750; half-day surf safari from $250; week-long surf experience from $1,250;

Surf Simply, Nosara, Costa Rica

This week-long, all-inclusive surf coaching resort in Nosara is widely considered the top dog of surf schools and typically books up six to 12 months in advance, so plan ahead. The sleek, 10-room lodge is just 200 meters from Playa Guiones, a long, wide beach that delivers over 350 surfable days each year, with wave conditions for all abilities. Surf Simply鈥檚 earned a cult following for its unique, analytical style, which provides students a road map of skills and drills. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 teach you how to surf, we teach you how to teach yourself how to surf, or surf better through a combination of video feedback, theory lessons, and in-water coaching,鈥� says Robin Bass, the school鈥檚 logistics manager. This holistic approach includes classroom sessions on swell forecasting and board design, fine-tuning board agility and turtle rolling in the pool, plus mobility work and post-surf massages. Surf Simply鈥檚 team of nine coaches work with just 12 guests per week, ensuring personalized attention. And every guest is sent home with photos of their sessions and a video from the week.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淐ontrary to what a lot of people believe, I don鈥檛 think you need great balance to surf,鈥� says owner Harry Knight. 鈥淲hat you do need to be able to do is to relax your body in this unusual situation, so that your core stability muscles can do their job. The more you rush, the more tense you are likely to be and the harder it will be to find and keep your balance. Good surfing should be slow and smooth, not fast and jerky.鈥�

Details: $8,716 solo and $15,646 per couple for one-week, all-inclusive;

Surf Sister, Tofino, Canada

With more than 20 miles of rugged shoreline, the tiny coastal town of Tofino on Vancouver Island is considered Canada鈥檚 surf capital. The area鈥檚 wild backdrop of snow-capped peaks and old-growth forest are well worth donning a wetsuit to brave the brisk waters (you鈥檒l want a 4/3mm in summer and at least a 5/4mm, plus a hood and booties in winter). Surf Sisters set up shop here in the late 1990s with the mission to introduce more women to the sport. Mission accomplished. They now aim to make the sport accessible to all genders, races, and ages (their oldest client to date was 76).

Beginner lessons start with a briefing on ocean safety and surf etiquette, before moving into waist deep water where students can familiarize themselves with their longboards. A second lesson goes out past the breakers and gets into how to choose and catch a wave and how to begin to maneuver and turn once you鈥檙e up and riding. 鈥淥ur goal is to create a good foundation of knowledge so students can continue practicing and learning on their own,鈥� says Surf Sister staff member, Alyssa Teremy. Experienced riders looking to uplevel their skills can book private coaching with Shannon Brown, the head coach of the Canadian National Surfing Team, who can help with everything from surf psychology to improving stance and style. Conditions determine where you鈥檒l surf, but Surf Sisters typically teaches at South and North Chesterman and Cox Bay. The school also operates a surf shack at on Cox Bay, which caters exclusively to guests.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淭ake your time,鈥� says Teremy. 鈥淕etting into your wetsuit is hard enough when you first begin, so pace yourself with all things surfing and your entire surfing career will be all the better for it.鈥�

Details: 2.5-hour group lesson $99; private $199; $350 for a half-day of private coaching;

South Beach Surf School, Newport, Oregon

After running a surf school in Virginia Beach, Russell McClanan, a former competitive surfer and captain of the USA surf team, relocated to the Oregon Coast and was wowed by the lack of crowds and consistency of the surf. 鈥淚 got tired of teaching in flat conditions,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n Newport, there鈥檚 knee- to waist-high waves nearly every day of summer. The air is 65 to 70 and the water hovers in the mid 50s. A five millimeter wetsuit keeps everyone warm.鈥� His one-on-one lessons are geared to serious wannabe surfers who care more about learning to read the currents and understanding etiquette than popping up on day one. 鈥淓ach surf break is like a different football team that wants to beat you up,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou need to study it and do your research and have a strategy before you paddle out.鈥� Every session starts with 20 minutes of balance exercises and some stretches before entering the water. Once out past the breakers, he hones in on essential techniques, like how to use your legs to spin your board while sitting on it in the lineup. He also offers big wave training and tow-in lessons for seasoned riders looking to up their game.

Beginner Tip: 鈥淧ractice the surf burpee on land so you get used to the mechanics of jumping to your feet,鈥� says McClanan. 鈥淵ou might be able to surf the whitewash crawling to your knees, but you can鈥檛 ride a real wave if you can鈥檛 get to your feet.鈥�

Pricing: $160 for a two-hour private lesson; $300 for two hours with video analysis;

Jen Murphy is a regular 国产吃瓜黑料 contributor and considers herself a lifelong student of the ocean. She tries to take a surf lesson at least once a year and regularly hires a coach or guide when visiting a new destination. She鈥檚 surfed around the world, from the remote shores of Easter Island to the rugged coast of Scotland.

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