"Surfing In New Smyrna Beach" by Kate Cumiskey.

New Smyrna Beach is a lovely slip of island off of Central Florida's east coast, an inlet below the bustle of Daytona and worlds away. Legend tells us Ponce de Leon landed here before sailing to St. Augustine to found North America's oldest city. Bordered on the west by the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, the south by Cape Canaveral, the north by the notorious inlet of Crane's "The Open Boat", and the east by the Atlantic, New Smyrna is paradise found. The town has fostered more world-class surfers than any other on earth. Here surfing is not a sport, hobby, or pastime. Surfing is a way of life with its own rules, language, culture, and customs. Open these pages to meet the pioneers and the professionals, the grommets, and maybe a kook or two.

Kate Cumiskey grew up steps from the Atlantic with five surfing brothers and a sister who dispatched for the local lifeguards, and she learned to swim and body surf early. She married lifeguard, surfer and Surfari Club member Mikel Comiskey. They have four surfing sons. She holds a master's of fine arts in creative writing from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (another surf town).