Highway Surfer
A person who owns a surfboard and racks, but doesn't actually surf. If they do in fact paddle out they float around, use surf lingo and kook-out if they even stand up on a wave. The whole surf scene is more about image for these people than actually surfing. Coined for the famous Ron N. in San Diego with his three hour long floating sessions, amazing surf stories about how huge it was when we couldn't paddle out and about how he was ripping when nobody was around.

Hindcast
The process of using past wind and wave information to re-forecast the wave characteristics for a past scenario. This is opposed to using the actual real time information to forecast wave heights and arrival time for a current or future forecast. Hindcasting is a great way to "reverse engineer" forecasting procedures when the end outcome of a swell is already known. This was the process Sean Collins of Surfline used to learn how to forecast in the 70's before more pertinent real time information became available in the 80's and 90's.

Hit the lip
An advanced move in which a surfer turns the surfboard up to strike the falling lip of the wave, and allows the board to be swung back down with the impact. Generally seen as an aggressive, powerful move requiring excellent timing.

Hodad
A beginner or non-surfer. One that has yet to master the art of surfing. Most surfers are hodad's to some degree.

Hodaddy
Someone who doesn't surf or is posing as a surfer to be part of a crew at the beach. Much like a poser, it's someone that surfers prefer not to associate with and tend to avoid once identified.

Hold Down
To be worked by a wave so big that it holds you under for what seems like forever.

Hokey
Originally coined Hocus Pocus; adopted later as Hokey Pokey; subsequent abbreviation to Hokey; Trickery, illusionary. In the surfing world, something unusual, not witnessed prior. Applied as good or bad event or circumstance.

Hollow
A wave state in which a tube or barrel forms underneath the lip or crest of the wave. When you get tubed on a hollow wave, you ride in the barrel.

Hollowboard
A type of surfboard invented by Tom Blake of the USA in 1932, which used redwood sheets to create a long, narrow board much lighter in weight relative to the solid redwood boards of the time.

Hoodie
Piece of fleece surf apparel that's long sleeved and hooded. Essentially a sweatshirt.

Hood
Generally made of super soft neoprene, as it needs to fit snugly; can cover up to just under the nose in ultra coldwater suits. Hoods can come attached to the suit (some companies feature snap on/off detachable hoods), attached to some kind of nylon or polypropelene rashguard, or on their own.

Hoot
Howling and yelling approval and encouragement to buddies.

Honey
A female surfer. Old school, but it's still hangin' around. Affection. it's a good thing!

Horde
A multitude, mob or crowd. Interchangeable for populace description in or out of the water.

Hot Coat
Resin applied during the laminating process, just after the initial coat of resin and glass. So named because the resin and catalyst are mixed to force a fast gelling (more catalyst equals faster cure time). The hot coat seals the glass-resin layer, fills any surface imperfections, and is later finished sanded.

Hot Curl
A surfboard type designed in the 1950s by Californian Dale Velzy.

Hotcoat
A coat of resin applied during the laminating process, just after the initial coat of resin and glass. So named because the resin and catalyst are mixed to force a fast gelling. The resin, also known as sanding resin, is also blended with wax substances to complete the hardening on the hotcoat's surface, thus permitting sandpaper work. The hotcoat seals the glass-resin layer, fills any bumps or holes, and is later sanded back to the original surfboard shape.

Hotdogging
Older term generally defined as surfing for flash rather than function, occurring in small conditions, with little regard for making the wave. Presently called getting rad, ripping or blowin' up, etc. For the most part, a state of mind is characterized by youth, as older surfers tend to grow increasingly conservative and set in their ways.

Hot Dog Budget
To head out on a surfari with little to no money.

House 
Consumption of a very large meal. 

Howlee
A kook in and out of the water. Another derivation of the Hawaiian spelling...Haole.

Howzit
A greeting exchanged among surfers when one pulls up to check a break and encounters another already assessing the situation. As in How is it?

Huey
The mythical god of surfing thought by surfers to be responsible for spawning waves.

Huia
An especially high wave formed by the meeting of two crests, said to characterize the surf of Kaipaloaoa, Hawaii.

Hull
A bottom shape reminiscent of a boat, in which the bottom swells out to the stringer from the rails. Common in longboards designed before 1967, and in some longboards today.

Humbolt Current
Also known as the Peruvian Current. It flows offshore northward along the western side of the South American countries of Chile and Peru.

Humongous 
Idiomatic suffixing of huge, for extra emphasis.

Hundreds 
Word meaning good, excellent, enjoyable.

Hurricane (Typhoon,Cyclone)
A tropical storm in which the maximum sustained surface winds are 64 knots (74 mph) or more. These tropical cyclones are called "hurricanes" when located in the Northern Hemisphere and east of the International Dateline of 180 degrees Longitude to the Greenwich Meridian of 0 degrees Longitude. Everywhere else they are generally called typhoons or cyclones.

Hurricane Advisory
A formal advisory issued by forecasters at the National Hurricane Center when they have determined that hurricane conditions are expected in a coastal area or group of islands within a 24 hour period.

Hurricane Season
When the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) moves to a point of 5 degrees or more North or South of the Equator, and other conditions favor the development of tropical disturbances. The hurricane season in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 to November 30. The hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific runs from May 15 to November 30. The hurricane season in the Central Pacific runs from June 1 to November 30.

Hurricane Warning
A warning issued by the National Hurricane Center that sustained winds 64 knots (74 mph) or higher in a hurricane are expected within a specific area in 24 hours or less.

Hurricane Watch
An announcement issued by the National Hurricane Center for specific areas that hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

Hut
Small roughly assembled cabin, generally constructed from indigenous materials with few, if any tools. Consists of one room. Utilized as a temporary dwelling.

Hybrid
Surfboards ranging 7 to 9 feet that give some of the flotation and paddling ease of a longboard as well as the performance of a short board.

Hydrodynamics
Branch of Physics concerned with the application of forces producing motion in fluids. As Surfers we are all students and practitioners of this science.

Hyrdroplane
The act of taking flight from the ocean surface.