Recreation: Making Waves

"Surf's up!" The cry is universal, both exultation and invitation. It echoes through the meccas of surfdom like a call to battle, from Mar del Plata to Makaha, from Sydney to Tempe, Ariz. Tempe, Ariz.? Surfing?

Oh, yes. At Tempe's just opened "Big Surf," the nearest ocean is 350 miles away, the sand beach was trucked in from Phoenix, and the waves are manmade. Yet beyond any doubt, surfing it is. Every 40 seconds, a new wave cascades from one end of the 2½ acre lagoon, carrying as many as 30 boards and...