Surfing is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are found primarily in the ocean, but are also sometimes found in lakes and rivers, and also in manmade wave pools.

Many variations of the sport exist and the definitions of what constitutes a suitable wave, what is a surfboard, and even what is a surfer, have been expanding and multiplying over the years. Bodysurfing involves riding the wave without a board, and is considered by some to be the purest form of surfing. Other variations that have existed for centuries include paipo boarding, stand up paddle surfing, and the use of boats or canoes to ride waves. More modern craft that are used include bodyboards, inflatable mats (surfmatting), and foils. As documented in various surfing documentaries (including "Fair Bits") other objects have occasionally been used instead of surfboards, including water skiis, wakeboards, desks, guitars, and doors. When more than one person uses the same craft to ride a wave together, it is known as "tandem" surfing.

Three major subdivisions within stand-up surfing are longboarding, shortboarding, and stand up paddle surfing (SUP), reflecting differences in board design, including surfboard length, riding style, and the kind of wave that is ridden.

In tow-in surfing (most often, but not exclusively, associated with big wave surfing), a motorized water vehicle, such as a personal watercraft, tows the surfer into the wave front, helping the surfer match a large wave's higher speed, which is generally a speed that a self-propelled surfer cannot match.

Surfing-related sports such as paddleboarding and sea kayaking do not require waves, and other derivative sports such as kitesurfing and windsurfing rely primarily on wind for power, yet all of these platforms may also be used to ride waves.

Recently with the use of V-drive boats, wake surfing, in which one surfs on the wake of a boat, has emerged.

Noun

Wikipedia employment (countable and uncountable; plural employments)

1. A use, purpose
   • 1873, John Stuart Mill, Autobiography of John Stuart Mill

     This new employment of his time caused no relaxation in his attention to my education.

2. The act of employing

   The personnel director handled the whole employment procedure

3. The state of being employed

   1853 Melville, Herman Bartleby, the Scrivener, in Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories, New York: Penguin Books, 1968; reprint 1995 as Bartleby, ISBN 0 14 60.0012 9, p.3:

   • At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby, I had two persons as copyists in my employment, and a promising lad as an office-boy.

4. The work or occupation for which one is used, and often paid
5. An activity to which one devotes time
6. (economics) The number or percentage of people at work

• employ
• hire

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• Surfing Waves
  surfing-waves.com
  Offers a beginners guide, surfing lessons, equipment and clothing resources, pictures, accessories and surf terminology.
• JellyFish Productions
  jellyfishproductions.net
  A collection of surfing photos, mostly from the San Diego area.
• WannaSurf
  wannasurf.com
  Illustrated atlas of surf spots worldwide with weather, wind, swell, and wave forecast maps. Add your own descriptions of surf spots and photographs to the atlas.

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