water sports

Duane gets just about everything right, and that's the problem. He's written the book probably most surfers with any literary ambition (how many is that?!) would like to have written. He's introduced the lifestyle in such a way that, I suspect, most outsiders and certainly the multitude of posers can relate to what he says. And he's reasonably humble, even while being elegant, insightful and graceful. I should admit here that I am jealous. (He also wrote the book I wanted to write about climbing--better, even, than Caught Inside: "Lighting Out: A Vision of California and the Mountains")
I have two basic problems with the book: First, _really_ being a surfer means that one's relationship to the lifestyle/commitment/experience is so personal that anyone else's perspective is inevitably going to grate in a few places. Intensely. (My apologies for the eletism, but I'm also not convinced that one can start so late as Duane and _really_ be a surfer.) Thus, this is likely a much better book for the non-surfer. This leads to me second difficulty--Duane provides a really romantic view of surfing, and, frankly, makes it all sound way too attractive. I don't want more people in the water, and neither, if he's honest, does Duane. One of the reviewers here on amazon closes his review with "For what it's worth, I didn't surf when I first read it, but I loved it so much that I soon took up the sport." For the surfers reading this, 'nuf said.

Dan does a great job explaining the sensual experience of walking down a dirt path with a board under your arm. I enjoyed the day to day update on his favorite little surf spot. I grew up surfing the SC area and have tried to figuire out where this little reef break is. He does a good job of speaking of spots without giving the actual name and location (SC locals should appreciate that a lot). The author is no Spicoli so don't expect any 'hey dude, let's party' in the text.
The book is an account of a guy in his late 20's (or is it early 30's?) that bails on his 'normal' life to surf & read and writes to tell about it. The research is in depth and the historical snippets are choice. I've dreamed of doing what the author writes about and don't think I could pull it off. I'm glad he did it and shared the experience with the rest of us. The reality that surfing is more about 5am wakeup calls and hours of driving crammed with 2 other guys in the cab of a pickup than beach blanket bingo is great. I'd like my wife to read that part. A passion for surfing is hard on relationships and Dan does a fantastic job relating the surfer's dilemma of 'wife (girlfriend) vs. waves'.
I'm a surfer so I expected more detailed descriptions of riding waves and the whole 'tripping the earth in search of the perfect wave' kind of thing. Dan is more of a naturalist who likes to surf. You get the sense that he really pays attention to everything around him when most of us just truck down the path looking only at the waves. Now go surfing and stop dreaming about it.

A very enjoyable read. Not enough 'surf' for a 5 star rating but highly recommendable.

I have just finished Caught Inside and I must say, this is pretty thin. I have been surfing the California coast for twenty two years in and around Santa Cruz and I haven't seen a fraction of the things that Mr. Duane has claimed to have seen. I think what we have here is someone who invested a year of his life surfing and still didn't have enough interesting material to put together much more than the same stories we all have about good days and bad in the water. In order to stretch his content he did some research and came up with some really good material about the history of the California coast, weather and wave dynamics and local flora and fauna. The rest seems pretty fictional with implausible conversations which occur while surfing breaking waves, stereotypical depictions of locals and main characters, forced wannabe guru-ism and a hyper alertness that notices and relates every detail of earth, sea, wind, plant and animal.