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Surfboard Wax: A History

Where else but in surfing could a product such as Sex Wax have flourished? Here's Peter Robinson of The Surfing Museum with a review of a book that illumines the history of a substance that is a sine qua non of surfing.

These days it’s something you buy with hardly a thought – surfboard wax. You pop down your local surf shop, you’ve usually got your favourite brand, you decide what temperature water you’ll be surfing, wax up and head off to the waves. It’s probably the most basic product in surfing, but where did surf wax come from, who invented it and what did people do ‘before’ wax? You can now find out some of the hilarious history behind these fragrant little bars that we’ve come to rely upon so much in a new book Surfboard Wax – A History.

Surfing's Greatest Misadventures (1)

I've posted before about how little - relative to surfing's popularity - there is in terms of literature about surfing. I'm still not sure of the reasons for this but perhaps the tide is turning. Fresh evidence comes in the form of a book called Surfing's Greatest Misadventures, publised by Casagrande Press and edited by Paul Diamond. I'll post a more detailed review soon, but as it is I've thoroughly enjoyed five of the collection of some 30 surfing tales by surfing journalists, filmmakers, cameramen and watermen. The editing is flawless and the writing - so far - first class. Susan Chaplin's wonderful account of surfing in Mauritius - The Idiot Savant - is my favourite to date. Chaplin' s style is simple, paired back, fluid; it encapsulates beautifully the journey that brings her to Mauritius and, indeed, her life. As a Mauritian called Tiano puts it: C'est un voyage pour cherchez les vagues.

Stealing the Wave

I've just finished Andy Martin's Stealing the Wave. Its subtitle is 'The Epic Struggle between Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo,' and it recounts precisely that. Martin is an interesting man - a Cambridge University don and aficionado of all things North Shore. He wrote Walking on Water nearly 20 years ago, an entertaining account of his experiences as a reporter and would-be surfer in Hawaii. I can't say what I think of Stealing the Wave just yet, because I'm reviewing it for The Times, but I can say this: the Lord on a Board makes an excellent cameo appearance.

Stealing the Wave: The Epic Struggle between Ken Bradshaw and Mark Foo is published by Bloomsbury on 5 March. See Bloomsbury for more information.