The energy that moves across the ocean connects all surfers who ride it.

One word defines the essence of surfing better for me than any other — stoke . One of the best things about stoke is that you can pass it along to someone who has never heard the expression.

Surfing also teaches quality . I will wager that it is not the number of waves that makes a session memorable for any given surfer, but that one beautiful wave that he or she waited for … and rode all the way the way to shore.

Surfing teaches patience . On land, surfers cannot will a swell to appear. They have to wait for nature to make the call. So surfers wait . They keep their eyes on the horizon and they wait.

Surfing is all about uncertainty. That feeling of taking a risk, that leap of faith every time I jump into the ocean, that paddle out among things unseen — all of these make surfing very special

I will catch a wave every day, even in my mind.

The energy that moves across the ocean connects all surfers who ride it.