Editor’s note: When word got around that the time had come for Mr. Matt Warshaw to finally unleash his opus of a project, The Encyclopedia of Surfing, on the interwebs, we knew we needed a word from him. At least a few. I shot him an email asking for a little info and a tease, and what follows is straight from the author of surfing’s history. That’s quite a title. Be sure to check out the Encyclopedia of Surfing when it launches on Monday. I personally haven’t seen it yet, but if it’s anything like the work Matt’s put into this world in the past, it will be worth it. – Zach
Two years ago I moved from San Francisco to Seattle, which was a judo kick to the nuts for my surfing life. But a good thing for this half-baked idea I had of turning my book The Encyclopedia of Surfing into a website. How hard could it be? Hey, Zach? Launch a website? Easy! Six months. Eight, tops!
Well there’s no fool like an old fool. Jump to mid-2013. My bank account is gurgling. My wife talks to me, occasionally, but mostly just sighs and stoically turns away. The reek of caffeine comes off me in waves.
I blame coders. Easier to snatch an overhead wave to yourself at Rincon on a Saturday than it is find a reasonably-priced deadline-minded coder. Am I right, Zach? There was a point, just a few months ago, where I would have traded my three-year-old son in exchange for a working understanding of html.
But here we are. Launch date approaches. Monday, September 30. Have a look, Zach and the rest of The Inertia Nation.
Was it worth it? I think it was.
On Monday, head over to encyclopediaofsurfing.com to see for yourself. Stay up to date on Encyclopedia of Surfing news via their Facebook page.
