Saltwater in the Blood: Surfing, Natural Cycles and the Sea’s Power to Heal

I was interested in Saltwater in the Blood: Surfing, Natural Cycles and the Sea’s Power to Heal, by Easkey Britton, after watching the surfers in Hawaii. I taught a January English course on Oahu, and one of the nicest parts was walking by the water whenever I got a little break, and seeing the beach by the school at all different times of the day. After my classes, I stayed on to enjoy the beaches and food for an extra week.

One of my favorite Hawaii experiences was watching the surfers, especially at some of the beaches with intense waves. I’m not really an athletic person myself, I mostly lay comfortably on the sand or lava rocks and watched other people jump on and ride the huge waves.

Saltwater In The Blood is an interesting ramble of the author’s personal experiences, all connected to surfing and the sea, almost like the reader’s struck u a chat with a surfer at the beach. Easkey Britton talks about the physical and mental challenges of surfing, but mostly about how this activity connects her to the ocean and its seasons and cycles. These are accessible, enjoyable vignettes even if you’re not a surfer. (There’s a short section about her mom following the currents just as an observer and photographer, a memorable look at the changing ocean from shore.)  If you’ve ever enjoyed a swim in the sea or watched waves or looked at all the cool little creatures in a tidepool, you’ll be able to relate to these experiences. And if you’ve ever felt inexplicably better near the ocean, you’ll know just what she’s talking about.

Britton talks about famous surfers, competitive surfers, and just interesting people she’s met through surfing and traveling to surf. She also describes the practice of surfing as a way to connect with the sea, and with our inner selves, and with our history. I tried not to think about how cold surfing in Ireland must be, while reading about ancient Irish poets and the first waves that brought the ancient people to Ireland. Surfing also takes Britton to places not ordinarily associated with surfing, not just Ireland, but also places like Iran and Papua New Guinea. There’s a nomadic feel in the stories,  which just adds to the feeling that the whole book is a chat with a surfer on the beach.

Saltwater In The Blood is punctuated by lovely, simple sketches of sea life. These are just great, sometimes they’re realistic sketches of fish or jellyfish, like you might draw in a journal after a beach day, and sometimes they’re women becoming sealife or connecting with the ocean.

There’s an environmental theme throughout the book. Again, readers don’t need to be surfers to connect to this, we’ve all seen trash by the water. We’ve all heard about fish becoming scarcer to catch and less healthy to eat. Britton talks about ways to protect our oceans, from simple stories of how surfing inspires someone to pick up beach trash, to wider thoughts about caring for and connecting with the ocean’s changing adaptability to ensure that beautiful beaches will be there for future generations of surfers.

Thanks to Bookstagrammers and the author for the ARC. Opinions on my blog are my own, as always. For more books about Hawaii, I’ve collected my favorite novels set in Hawaii, and for more about the environment, my friend Yvette has a children’s book about protecting the oceans from everyday pollution.

Update March 2022: I released this book into the wild!