Chasing Waves

Book excerpt: Amy Waeschle shares her globe-trotting adventures and chronicles her evolution from a nervous newbie to a self-confident and skillful surfer: Cramming into a hot bus near Playa Linda, Mexico, clutching a beat-up foam body board. Quivering, blue-lipped, on a rocky beach after a session in Vancouver Island's icy swells. Braving explosions of ocean spray and hanging out with ski bums in Fiji. Discovering small villages and the essence of ''pura vida'' in Costa Rica. Finding a quick surf fix off the coast of Sicily ... For Waeschle, surfing is more of a feeling than a sport, a response to the freedom and grace of riding waves. And in the course of her surfing odyssey, she learns to balance love and family with her surf lust.