Waves and Beaches

In 1945, a mine engineer-turned-oceanographer named Willard Bascom got his first taste of the sea by driving an amphibious truck into the 30-foot waves breaking outside Humboldt Bay in Northern California. His mission became: scientifically study the surf zone to find safer methods of amphibious landings on enemy-held beaches. He later devoted his life to understanding the ever-shifting milieu we simply call the “beach” and compiled his work in Waves and Beaches, released in 1963.

The seminal treatise finds new life in the steady hands of Kim McCoy, who has updated the original material with fresh new reportage speaking to today’s existential climate crises. A book every real surfer should read and own, this new edition is handsomely designed in every respect—an artistic equal to Bascom’s landmark work. As fascinating as the original author himself, McCoy bears equal study. A wave-riding, ocean-crossing scientist with a CV including NOAA, NASA, and NATO, he has infused this volume with scholarship and clarity.