Slip on your flip-flops and slide on down to the Port Townsend Public Library (PTPL) on Saturday evening for the Second Occasional Surf Culture of the Strait of Juan de Fuca & Salish Sea Event. All are welcome for an evening of readings, art and music, 6-9 p.m., July 11 at the library's Carnegie Reading Room.

Justin Hocking, author of "The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld," a 2014 book about surfing, obsession and “Moby Dick,” is to read at the July 11 event, which is cosponsored by Northwind Arts Center.

"This is what all the hype's about," Hocking writes, "perfect, sun-shimmering sets of head-high rollers coming in smooth, sixteen-second intervals, the ocean an endless stretch of blue-gray corduroy, the waves scrolling in silver and then peeling evenly into whiteness."

Also speaking Saturday evening is author and surfing historian Drew Kampion, former editor of Surfer, Surfing, Wind Surf and Wind Tracks magazines.

Keith Darrock, technical services librarian at PTPL, coorganized the event with Michael d'Alessandro, executive director of Northwind Arts Center, bringing together a number of local visual artists.

On display are surfscape paintings by Jesse Joshua Watson of Port Townsend, acrylic landscape paintings by Stephen Davis, who is also a kiteboarder, and pen-and-ink drawings and surf cartoons by Erwin Dence of Quilcene, who is also the author of Northwest surf blog realsurfers.net. Todd Fischer displays his watercolor surfscapes, Peter Kinney shows off his scrimshaw, and Tim Nolan, a legendary surfer and naval architect, displays his custom paddleboard designs and construction.

Surf music rounds out the evening, compiled by Pete Raab of KPTZ-FM 91.9 radio in Port Townsend.

"There's a surprising connection between surfing and music," Nolan said. "After people surf for a couple hours, they're all mellowed out."

SECRET SPOTS

Where do people surf around here?

"The semiofficial line is there is no surf on the Olympic Peninsula," Dence wrote. "However, sometimes, with the right swell, from the right direction; with the alignment of tide and local winds and some unknown variable (some call it magic), sometimes (surf phrasing to follow) 'classic,' 'all-time,' even 'epic' waves appear."

Sometimes there are rideable waves at North Beach in Port Townsend. Surf reports are available online and by word of mouth.

Surfers often leave early in the morning to drive to their chosen spot, and can be found hanging out on the beach together, watching for waves big enough to ride, or watching another surfer test the waters. "You run into each other," Darrock said. "That's pretty typical. There's a good forecast, we're all standing there together."

Some places on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, such as Salt Creek and the mouth of the Elwha River, are well known and sometimes crowded. But veteran surfers like Nolan dislike too many surfers, so they don't tell anybody where they go. "We're sharing the culture, we're not sharing the waves," Nolan said.

"You're supposed to be vague. People figure it out," said Darrock.

"You want enough people to see your great waves, but not enough that it gets crowded," Nolan said. "Some spots are viciously guarded, where if you came in with a camera, you'd get beat up," he warned. "Surfing around here is pretty mellow, though."

Nolan, 67, surfs on a stand-up paddleboard (SUP). "It's easy to hog the waves" with a SUP, he said. Waves are also easier to catch with the bigger board. He had his hip replaced a few months ago, but was surfing again within weeks.

"There is nothing else that motivates a human being more than the anticipation of good surf," he said. "It's a dance with an unpredictable partner."