The Big Surf Issue is an effort to get at the essence of this absurd act we call surfing. There are certain tangible things like the history, the culture, design progression, performance breakthroughs. There's the Search aspect, the fact that surfers inevitably go out hunting to find bigger, better waves, whether it's three miles down the coast, the next island over, or halfway across the planet. There's the professional side, one that coastal kids worldwide follow and obsess over. But what surfing really is is really hard to say. On the one hand it's something so profound, so in tune with nature, so pure and so perfect. On the other it's child's play, a silly frolic in the sea. But there's one thing that's certain: no conclusions should be drawn from reading this issue. The only way to truly knowsurfing is to get out there and do it.-Jamie Brisick