With 23 million surfers hitting the seas for the express purpose of catching whatever constitutes the perfect wave — and waxing rhapsodic about everything from board wax to the ocean itself — there’s a lot of passion for a sport that many surfers refuse even to acknowledge as a sport. And what’s that passion for? Very possibly for the glory of a caught wave and the standing ride on its frothy crest?

Maybe that’s it, for starters. For finishers? OZY hit those beaches where summer never ends to find out what’s so exciting and beautiful about a goofy-footed ride down the pipeline. Or something like that.