Of Wax and Sand and Peter Pan – Mike Davis

Author’s Note: Memoir

In 2016 I contracted a life-threatening respiratory infection on a flight to the U.S. to be inducted into The Surfboard Builder’s Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award for my contribution of the Tucked under edge and channel bottom innovations to surfboard design that left me bedridden for twelve months. Smacked by a direct hit by Cyclone Debbie on recovery losing most of my memorabilia, my daughters convinced me that it might be time to think my memoirs.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of magazine articles, photos and things that managed not to get soaked, washed or blown away. I had no idea how cathartic it could be to stumble upon a long-lost memory that triggered the chain-reaction of so many more on my Forrest Gumplike leaf-in-a-storm-drain life. It was the endless pranks that brought me the most fun because like my Gramps always said, “We’re the result of everyone and everything that’s ever touched us.” And if I’ve ever glimpse greatness – It was on the shoulders of the giants that lifted me there.  Holly North, editor of Sailboard magazine once summed it up thusly. “Mike Davis – Philosurfer”. 

It’s been an exciting ride that’s led to a lot of interesting and challenging projects. But most of all its been an opportunity to cite and thank those who’ve spent so much of their lives supporting me and making me look good.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed living it.

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🪶 400-Word Precis

Of Wax and Sand and Peter Pan is Mike Davis’s intimate, rollicking memoir of surfboards, grit, love, and the eternal chase for perfect form—on water and in life. From his beginnings as a sickly Iowa farm boy to the sun-blasted shores of California and the surf breaks of Noosa Heads, Davis charts an extraordinary journey through the second half of the 20th century, seen through the eyes of a restless craftsman, philosopher, award winning author and surfer and 2016 inductee into the Surfboard Builder’s Hall of Fame.

What begins as a tender, self-effacing recollection of childhood illness, love, and family gradually swells into a panoramic chronicle of innovation, counterculture, and self-discovery. Davis’s story mirrors the evolution of modern surfing: from the handmade boards and secret Californian breaks of the 1960s, to the birth of the sailboard era, to shaping the future of wave-riding design itself. Each chapter is infused with the same kinetic energy that defines his life in motion—seeking balance between chaos and control, between the foam and the deep.

Davis recounts his trials with honesty and humor: the death of his first wife Christine, the love of his daughters, and the anchoring presence of Jo, his “special girl.” Alongside his personal odyssey runs a deeper reflection on humanity, creativity, and belonging—colored by his Lakota Sioux heritage and guided by the words of mentors, shapers, and surfers who forged the sport’s golden age.

At seventy-three, Davis writes not as a nostalgic elder, but as a man still brimming with the wonder of a child staring at his first wave. His memoir becomes less a recounting of accomplishments—fifty thousand boards, eleven novels, world champions—and more a testament to curiosity, craftsmanship, and courage. Of Wax and Sand and Peter Pan is a love letter to surfing, to making, and to staying forever young at heart.

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🌐 Metadata (General)

Title: Of Wax and Sand and Peter Pan
Subtitle: A Memoir by Just Another Santa Barbara Guy
Author: Mike Davis
ISBN: 9781706288688
Publisher: Point Surfer Press
Genre: Memoir / Surfing / Adventure / California Life
Tone Keywords: reflective, humorous, nostalgic, soulful, philosophical
Primary Keywords:
surf memoir, California surfing history, surfboard shaper, Santa Barbara surf culture, Noosa Heads, surfing pioneers, Mike Davis, surfboard design, memoir of surf life, 1960s surf era, sailboard innovation, Lakota heritage
Secondary Keywords:
adventure autobiography, Santa Barbara shapers, surf industry history, surfer philosophy, California memoir

SEO Meta Description (160 chars):
A surfer’s life in full: Mike Davis’s vivid memoir of craft, courage, and the pursuit of perfect waves from Iowa to Santa Barbara and beyond.

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📚 Amazon KDP & Goodreads Metadata Package

Categories / BISAC Codes

• BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Sports
• SPORTS & RECREATION / Surfing
• TRAVEL / Australia & Oceania
• SPORTS & RECREATION / Water Sports / Surfing
• BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs

BISAC Codes:

• BIO016000 – Biography & Autobiography / Sports
• SPO051000 – Sports & Recreation / Surfing
• BIO023000 – Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
• TRV010000 – Travel / Australia & Oceania

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KDP Short Description (approx. 400 characters)

From Iowa farm boy to surfboard shaper to author, Mike Davis lived the golden age of surfing from the inside out. Of Wax and Sand and Peter Pan is a heartfelt memoir of waves, boards, and the eternal chase for balance, told by one of surfing’s most inventive craftsmen and storytellers.

Goodreads Description (expanded)

A lifetime spent chasing the next perfect wave—Of Wax and Sand and Peter Pan is Mike Davis’s candid, funny, and deeply human memoir of surfing, shaping, and survival. From Santa Barbara to Noosa and all points in between, Davis helped define an era of pure innovation and soulful living. With sharp humor, deep reflection, and wild tales from the line-up, Davis reminds us that growing older need never mean growing up.

Suggested KDP Keywords (10):

1. Surf memoir
2. Surfing California history
3. Surfboard shaping
4. Santa Barbara surf culture
5. Surf legends autobiography
6. Noosa Heads surf
7. Point Surfer Press
8. Australian surf design
9. Surf lifestyle
10. Inspirational life story