Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast

Good quality book at a good price.

The book’s description on Amazon was more than enough to convince me to order a copy. I read the preface as soon as it arrived and wasn’t able to put it down until reading the final, evocative pages of the epilogue. Having grown up in the S.F. Bay Area, and traveled/surfed the same stretch of coast in the ‘70s that Duane writes about, I can attest to the honesty and authenticity of this wonderfully crafted piece of non-fiction that answers so many questions about the lure of the world’s greatest sporting adventure.This book is everything it should be and more. Duane’s style and delivery has a poetic touch that deviates from the stodgy conventions of other work I’ve read in the memoir genre. Every passage is written with purpose with words that stimulate all of the senses. From the descriptions of the Santa Cruz cliffs overlooking Steamer Lane up toward Natural Bridges, 4 Mile, Scott and Waddell Creek and on up through Davenport and Pescadero, Duane took me on a ride that reminded me of everything I love about that stretch of coast.The smell and taste of thick salty early morning Pacific fog and the muffled sound emanating from the lip of a thick glassy wave smacking into the flat water came to mind. Reading along in the warmth of my living room, the cold and camaraderie of surfing with friends in a secluded spot, away from the crowd, also conjured emotions of nostalgia. Duane’s relationship with the people in the community of Santa Cruz and those he surfs with ring true and offer insights recognizable by anyone who’s ever surfed California’s Central Coast. Though local surfers probably might not appreciate it, Duane’s story might just be the lure for others to come and experience the region.Additionally, interspersed in each chapter are snippets of well researched history about the people who’ve brought surfing to the forefront over the preceding century. Along with references to the testimonies of the observations about surfing from explorers, missionaries and likes of prominent figures like Mark Twain and Jack London. Tales of some of surfing’s greatest personalities are also included (e.g. Greg Null and the legendary 50’ wave ridden at Makaha). Also included throughout, are the gently delivered technical details of wave physics, influences of weather and tide, and surfboard design. All of it contributing to the subtle complexity of what it is to be a surfer.For anyone who’s ever roughed the wax on their board with a handful of sand before paddling out, or anyone who’s ever been held down in dark cold Central California water by a second wave in a set, Caught Inside is a must read. Others should read it for the pure beauty of place and Duenes’ exquisite writing.

I can't swim, not really anyway. I can doggy paddle, I can float for a little while, I can even go from one side of a pool to the other if I have to (width not length). But after a couple minutes in the water I start to feel this weight on my chest, like the pressure of the entire ocean is pushing on me. Out of breath, I panic and realize the enormity of what surrounds me, the depth beneath me and the power that moves me. Reading Daniel Duane's "Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast" made me feel that way too, minus the panic. Mixing equal parts memoir, trail guide and history lesson Duane concocts a recipe that might not be for everyone and yet for those who have a taste for such things, what he has written will leave you changed. It's about surfing but it's really about being alive and noticing the world around you. It's about understanding the world as both science and art. It's about leaving home and finding something more.If you're looking for cover to cover eloquence in prose it isn't here. If you're looking for a pure surf story it isn't here either. I think that what we have in this book is an honest reflection of a year from a guy that's read some books and seen some movies, a guy who can think about masturbating and physics and pop culture and relationships. The book is full of quietly poignant moments about things like tide pools or teenagers staring at a bottle of beer and if that makes Duane a "wanker" like one fellow Amazon reviewer suggested, I think we should all strive to be wankers too.Anyway, it's been 5 years since I read this book last and yet I find myself thinking about it even now. As one person said to the author about the setting of the sun, it's just not the kind of thing you can look at once and say, "huh, I get it."

To sit in freezing water with even colder air temperatures for hours waiting for a good wave is an exercise in discipline, although a lot of people would say that discipline is precisely what the quintessential surfer lacks. Author Dan Duane exhibits discipline and several other honorable traits in "Caught Inside," his thoughtful memoir of a year spent following a dream and accomplishing a goal. While some may scoff at what can be called the "surfer mentality," Duane goes deep beneath the surface and dredges up a lot of emotion and introspective philosophical sentiments about why he surfs (and why he does anything worth doing). Duane is well-read, intelligent and expressive, and the book is interesting, beautifully written and thought provoking. I would imagine that Duane's musings would be valuable, meaningful and applicable even to those who have never even seen the ocean, much less ridden a wave.PS to reviewer Christopher Seal - women surf too!

I picked up this book as part of a plan to visit the coast of California. I got what I wanted, but I also got something more. There is a capture here of the soul of the person who has committed to the sea and coast. Living in another part of the world and being more into kite and windsurf than surfing, I still recognised the mind frame described in this tale. It does not even have to be related to water sports at all. This is a tale of choosing a different life, if only for a period of your life. I find it impressing to write a tale about such a subject without resorting to shanty clinches and judgemental statements about people on the other side, living "normal" lives. Sometimes great books are hard to find because they talk about small subjects.

this is the book for you.

I bought this book based on other reviews and really enjoyed it as the author does manage to convey much of what if feels and what drives you to surf. It's not outstanding literature but it is a good read and probably one to pass to your girlfriend/boyfriend to give them some understanding of why you do what you do, although be prepared for them to dump you afterwards!

Very well written, I would suggest it along with Barbarian Days

The best surfing nature fix book ever written - a modern classic - no equal.

The book itself was in excellent condition.I was very excited to start reading it but I got about 40pages in and it felt like it was written by a child with attention defic...oh look a duck.The writer went on long, incoherent, random ramblings and I had no idea wtf I was reading. I couldn't continue