More and more surfers, who for generations have sought ways to mimic the sensation of riding waves when the ocean goes flat, are rediscovering the fine art of tarp surfing.
By using specialized skateboards and other people to creatively unfurl billowing tarps in a manner that closely resembles breaking waves, they're able to tuck beneath heaving lips and get barreled in what's becoming -- thanks to the video age -- an artsy board sport unto its own.
No waves? Not a problem.
More and more surfers, who for generations have sought ways to mimic the sensation of riding waves when the ocean goes flat, are rediscovering the fine art of tarp surfing.
By using specialized skateboards and other people to creatively unfurl billowing tarps in a manner that closely resembles breaking waves, they're able to tuck beneath heaving lips and get barreled in what's becoming -- thanks to the video age -- an artsy board sport unto its own.
Tarp surfing first developed as an obscure form of recreation about 20 years ago. Back then, a lot of skateboarders were also surfers; they rode walls of empty pools and concrete banks as though they were waves. They tucked beneath overhanging branches and objects as though they were getting barreled, or tubed.
But tarp surfing is now making a resurgence as its own discipline, as tarp-surfing wizard Homer Henard alludes to in the accompanying video, which has been viewed by nearly two million people after it was posted on YouTube last month.
Several tarp-surfing sessions can now be found on the Web and Henard and his crew from Santa Cruz, Calif., are confident it'll develop into a full-blown craze.
They've developed a full quiver, or selection of boards made specifically for riding atop tarps spread out like a blue ocean, and to make turns as the tarps are pulled upward and over their heads.
For tarp surfers, the perfect wave is never far from reach. All that's missing are water and, of course, crowds.
Tarp surfing rides new wave of popularity