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counter culture

MORPHEUS MALIBU

MIKI DORA – EDITORIAL – CHRIS NELSON

MORPHEUS MALIBU

MIKI DORA – DA CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF

Dora was Da Cat, a name awarded for his grace and style on the water. But the moniker was more apt than anyone new at the time. Dora was a loner, sometimes friendly, often charming and always unpredictable.

Chris Nelson on Miki Dora

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to write a series of insightful features on surfing’s greatest cultural icons.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson, the four page features ran as a series across seven issues of Adrenalin Magazine accompanied by original artwork by Paul Willoughby.

Featured surfers included Miki Dora, Tom Blake, Mark Richards, Michael Peterson, Kelly Slater, Tom Curren and George Greenough.

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by Adrenalin to write a series of features exploring the lives and impact of iconic surfers and their influence on the wider surf culture. Drawing on his wide surf knowledge, Chris brought to life these surfers tales through a series of deep dive, four page essays exploring the social, historical and cultural contexts with a distinctive, stylised narrative.

HAWAIIAN AT HEART

TOM BLAKE

Tom Blake paddles, feels the momentum shift then pops to his feet, trimming his ten-foot redwood board out on the face. The significance of this moment isn’t immediately clear, but the envelope has been pushed, the boundaries have changed and a new era is coming. Surfing has a new outpost, and its name is Malibu.

Chris Nelson on Tom Blake
George Greenough's Quantum Theory Wave Mechanics exploration of a surfing icon by Chris Nelson

THE INNERMOST – GEORGE GREENOUGH’S QUANTUM THEORY WAVE MECHANICS
The Wounded Seagull // Mark Richards: Progression in the Form of an Extra Skeg exploration of a surfing icon by Chris Nelson

THE WOUNDED SEAGULL – MARK RICHARDS AND PROGRESSION IN THE FORM OF AN EXTRA SKEG
Morpheus Malibu - The Story of surf Icon Micki Dora for Huck Magazine by Chris Nelson

Miki Dora – Da Cat that walked by himself (an excerpt)

The first thing I notice is the wave of nausea. Peripheral vision bleaches from total blackness through a spectrum of pain until a piercing harsh white fills my field of view. As my brain is slowly becoming accustomed to the blinding light, a beaver-skin hat enters stage left and blocks out the sun, allowing me to focus on the face peering down at me. The huge fur hat is balanced by the grey beard. Tanned, aged skin is wrinkled in the glare, his young eyes are edged with concern. “You OK?” he says kneeling. “Missed my fucking landing,” I reply, propping myself up on my elbows. Dora unclips. “Take your time,” he says. In the three days we’d been in the Alps, there had been a lot of silences, comfortable and uncomfortable, interspersed by a collage of stories and thoughts. He sits down in the snow. “You know I like golf? They got me a round with Kelly Slater. Afterwards he gave me a brand new set of Callaways. When they’d gone, I threw them in the lake.” Another enigmatic story tossed into the staggeringly beautiful Alpine valley below. A challenge – interpret it as you will. If you get it, good. If you don’t, I don’t give a damn.

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COLD WATER SOULS

COLD WATER SOULS – BOOK – CHIS NELSON

COLD WATER SOULS

> READ AN EXTRACT <

Superb – a testament to the spirit of the surfers who are out there year after year, building the world’s frigid beauty into the stuff that fires the soul.

The Surfer’s Journal
Cold Water Souls: In Search of Surfing's Cold Water Pioneers written by Chris Nelson exploring Nova Scotia, Hokkaido, Scotland, Alaska, Iceland and beyond.
Image: Tim Nunn

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson conceived the idea to write a book unearthing the tales of cold water surfing’s pioneers.

THE RESULT

Cold Water Souls: In Search of Surfing’s Cold Water Pioneers written by Chris Nelson – a ground breaking 280pg full colour, critically acclaimed non-fiction book. Published by Footprint Handbooks.

The book explores the frigid line ups of Nova Scotia, Hokkaido, Scotland, Alaska, Iceland and beyond, bringing to life the tales of the surfers that call these places ‘home’.

Picture edited by Demi Taylor featuring images from the cream of international surf photographers.

Critically acclaimed, 280 pg full colour book

THE APPROACH

Chris Nelson grew up surfing the frigid reefs of England’s northeast coast, where winter water temperatures regularly dip below 5 degrees.

Cold Water Souls is a book of our times. It is an anthropological study of the world’s most inhospitable line ups – North East England, Scotland, Nova Scotia, Vancouver Island, USA, Alaska, Hokkaido, Iceland and beyond – and the surfers that call these waves ‘home’.

Chris’s international reputation as a respected surf and travel writer allowed access to communities whose stories had been previously untold. He travelled to inhospitable shores glazed in ice and beaches hidden beneath snowdrifts. He broke bread with biker gangs in Japan and talked story with nuclear engineers in Scotland, unearthing tales of communities across the globe whose surf culture runs counter to popular wisdom. Blending travel tales, history, and cultural references with never before heard tales of cold water surfing’s pioneers and photography from the world’s leading lensmen, Cold Water Souls is a critically acclaimed story of surfing’s final frontiers as told through its waveriding community.

A rich and beautiful book… Good reading and good looking – definitely one for the collection

The Surfer’s Path
Cold Water Souls in Search of Surfing's Cold Water Pioneers written by Chris Nelson Japanese surfer Taro Tamai image Richie Hopson
Image: Richie Hopson

THE REVIEWS – COLD WATER SOULS

“I’ve been captivated by (Chris Nelson’s) untold stories of weathered pioneers. A unique mix of historical and contemporary non-fiction, I recommend this book to anybody looking for peelers on roads less travelled” Cyrus Sutton, Korduroy TV

“The best surfing book to ever come out of the UK, it easily stands shoulder to shoulder with the best pieces of surfing literature on a global level.” Wavelength

“If you want to be regaled with inspirational tales of those on the vanguard of surfing’s latest evolution, start reading.” SBC SURF Pick of the Literature

“A genuine masterpiece of surf publishing that will whet your appetite for something different.” Drift

”Nelson has produced a beautiful read…grab a copy of Cold Water Souls. This book is too plain cool.” ESM

“Chris Nelson’s excellent book Cold Water Souls, (is) an exploration of the way the sport of surfing has spread from its warm-water genesis points to more frigid corners of the world.” The Scotsman

“A book of frozen treasures… championing the maverick spirits and unexpected beauty of these harsh environments.” Cooler Magazine

COLD WATER SOULS
READ AN EXTRACT

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