The author, recovering from an operation to fit him with a titanium hip joint, sets out to catch a tube—that evanescent space, inside the unfolding wave, of which the surfer's dreams are made. The ultimate experience for the surfer is to ride inside a tube as it closes behind them. Most rides last between five and 15 seconds; the record is 30. In 12 years of surfing, Iain Gately has never caught a tube, but, before he gets old, he yearns to do so.  The Secret Surfer is an alternative travel book; an exploration of an activity that attracts loners, obsessives and eccentrics; a lyrical evocation of places in Cornwall, Galicia, Portugal, Andalucía, Morocco and Ireland; and a rousing call to all of us not to give up too soon. Gately's quest, whether it ends in triumph or in failure, will offer a similar mixture of introspection and adventure, of a search for self-knowledge and of physical endeavor.