A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

A surfer who is comfortable in a wide variety of ocean conditions, has a broad store of oceanic knowledge, and is accomplished in a range of surfing-related activities, including diving, swimming, sailing, bodysurfing, fishing, spearfishing, surf canoeing, and oceangoing rescue work. Most watermen are from Hawaii. Surf journalist Dave Parmenter in 2000 described Makaha resident Brian Keaulana as "without a doubt the greatest all-around waterman alive, [someone who can] ride a shortboard or longboard at a world-class level, steer a four-man Hawaiian canoe through the Makaha bowl at 12 feet, and tow-surf the local cloudbreak—all in a single afternoon."

Although "waterman" was likely introduced to the surf world lexicon in the 1950s, it was little used until the late '70s; the word appeared in a surf press headline for the first time in 1978, as 

 magazine noted the death of lifeguard and big-wave rider Eddie Aikau with, "A Hawaiian Waterman's Final Return to the Sea."

The expression gained currency, and was eventually adopted for commercial use; the Waterman's Ball, a fund-raiser held by the Surf Industrial Manufacturers Association, has been an annual event since 1989. Australian surf journalist Nick Carroll, writing that same year about an imaginary University of Riding Waves, proposed a four-year Bachelor of Watermanship degree, with course work in oceanography and meteorology (to better understand wave formation), chemistry (surfboard and wetsuit construction), design and visual art (to better appreciate the sport's aesthetics), engineering (board-shaping machines), business, and literature (beginning with Homer's 

). "Eventually," Carroll summarized, "you'd emerge as a full Waterman, the Total Surfer, somebody who doesn't just ride a wave, but understands it."

Pat Curren, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, and Mark Healey are among the sport's most celebrated watermen.

While most surfers admire the waterman ethic, and celebrate those who embody it, there have been dissenters. Malibu surf icon Mickey Dora chose to live for most of his life away from the beach, and had as little to do with the water as possible during his nonsurfing hours. "When there's surf, I'm totally committed," Dora once said, asked about his relationship to the ocean. "When there's none, it doesn't exist."

In the early 2000s, the gender-specificity of "waterman" finally became obvious; "waterwoman" gained some traction but the term in general is less popular than it was before the turn of the century.  

waterman

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

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