Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life

When surfers “make a wave,” they ride it in its entirety without falling off their boards. Finnegan uses this term many times throughout his work as he remembers riding different waves.

A pipeline is a hollow, thick wave that curves over surfers as they ride it. Pipelines are notoriously dangerous and difficult waves, which only experienced surfers attempt.

Finnegan uses the slang term “gun” to describe long, narrow, pointy boards over eight feet long, which are designed to perform well on big waves. He didn’t buy one himself until middle age, when he ventured to Madeira with his friend Peter.