August 23rd, 2009 by admin

It was the morning after my birthday and we all woke up way too early. (”Das Boot” made an appearance at my birthday party the night before, nuf said.)

Alex, Adam and I were in our truck and Kim, Shane and Steve jumped in the Bennet’s Jeep and we all headed for Chesterman Beach.  We arrived to meet up with Rich and Breanne who just walked back up from the shore and informed us it was flat. We caught a glimpse of Long Beach on the way by and it looked descent enough to give a second look.  When we arrived there was a pretty good swell and it wasn’t too terribly crowded so we suited up and hopped in.  There was an extremely dense fog but the surf conditions were pretty sweet.

Rich, Adam and Breanne peeled off to the right of the big boulder and the rest of us headed to the left.  To close to the big rock on either side and you will find yourself in a pretty strong side rip.  The conditions were perfect everyone was having a great time except for me. :(  The combination of nursing an injured front foot and in all honesty a bit of a hangover equalled a fairly lackluster day in the water.  The waves got bigger and better as the day went on but so did my fatigue as well as the pain in the ball of my foot.  There was no where else I would rather be than in the water, don’t get me wrong but it is a shame I was there under those conditions.  That’s ok, I fully made up for it my next day out once my foot started to feel better.

January 11th, 2009 by admin

Adam, Rich, Kelly and I left Nanaimo at 6 and got to French Beach around 8:30. The road to China Beach, Sombrio and Port Renfrew was closed. Apparently there was a giant sink hole that opened up and took the road right out.

The waves looked pretty nice at Jordan River A and B but there was a ton of giant drift wood and other debris floating around out there in the waves.

We all suited up and hiked down the path to Frog Beach, once we hit the beach we hiked along the shoreline and portaged across a couple of (freezing cold) rivers including the Strait of Juan de Fuca until we got to a real nice point break.

I sat on the beach for a while and examined the break, the best line to get out through the waves and the best spot to catch the swell for the longest ride. The waves were beauty, anywhere from 6 to ten footers probably the biggest waves I have ever surfed to date. I was a little intimidated to paddle out through the waves but once I got out and actually did it there was nothing to it, it was surprisingly simple. We stayed and surfed in this spot for a while, I got a few real nice rides out of it. Right before we decided to leave the break and venture further down the shore Kelly got cracked in the face with his board and instantly got a lovely black eye and a giant goose egg on his cheek.

We hiked down the beach a little further and portaged across another icy river until we reached China Beach. The waves were awesome! They were rolling in perfect sets, not too close together and smooth as glass there was absolutely no wind. Everyone was getting some real stellar rides in. It was nice to ride some decent sized fast waves, it took a little while to adjust but I could feel everything click once I did.

We surfed at this break for an hour or maybe a couple hours before we decided to pack it in and start the long walk back to the truck. We left at just the right time, the tide was coming in and if it was any higher there would be no beach to walk on and we would have had a hell of a time climbing over logs and pushing through the rain forest with our boards.

January 10th, 2009 by admin

Adam and I were hanging out and we had to make a pit stop in Departure Bay. We pulled in to the parking lot right on the beach and got out of the car. The South east wind was blasting in and was making some pretty decent sized waves right in Departure Bay. They were too small to actually surf but they were coming in nicely.

Adam decided that seeing these waves was enough of an incentive to go check out a few spot up the coast that could be paying off due to the wind speed and direction.

We arrived at the first beach and saw a lot of potential. The waves were almost there. We hopped back in the car and got to the second beach. There were 3 guys out there floating around on their surfboards.

There were about 3 to 4 foot waves and they definitely looked surfable. We stood and watched the guys who were already out there, it looked like they were having a pretty difficult time. Yes, there were waves that could be surfed but there was absolutely no rhyme or reason in which the waves were coming in and where they would be. So, it was pretty much a game of being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

By this time we were quickly running out of daylight by the time we went and grabbed our gear and suited up it would definitely be dark. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get to hit the water but more fired up at the idea of finding a brand new place to surf when the wind is just right.

December 6th, 2008 by admin

Adam, Bob and myself hit Jordan River by about 7:45 -8:00.  The waves were shaping up and looked promising but there were already a few people out in the water so we decided to go check out China.  We hiked down and saw there was only one guy out there.   We figured we could definately surf here but we would give one more look back at Jordan River before we committed.  JR was about the same so the decision was made, we drove back to China Beach suited up and hit the water.

The waves were not all that big (4 to 6 ‘ers) but provided for some fun rides.  There was barely any wind whatsoever and the waves were rolling in from the Northwest.  The tide was all the way in but just starting to head back out.  The waves were swelling up best right in the heart of Rock Piles so that’s where we rode for the majority of the day.  The Rock Piles may be one of my new fave spots.  When your out there you can easily identify the huge piles of rock that sit just below the surface, through the crystal clear teel green water.  You just gotta make sure you keep your head on a swivel and always know where the rock piles are when your charging through on a wave.

Adam gave me a few really great surf tips that made an immediate impact on my surfing.  He suggested I pull myself up higher on my board and then really lean back when getting up to my feet.  The reason why I have been further back on my board is because I have been nose diving when I put my front foot down, but when you lean back you eliminate that problem.  My pop up is all of a sudden beginning to feel very natural and less forced which also results in my footing being in exactly the right place on the board which makes my turns much more comfortable as well.  Thanks Triple-A.

November 23rd, 2008 by admin

Adam and I left around 5:45 and headed up to Port Renfrew.  This is my first time ever being to Renfrew, what an awesome spot, definitely coming back camping.

There was a pretty thick layer of frost covering everything it was a bit nippy but a beautiful day, not a breath of wind.  Unfortunately there were no waves either.

We could see the lines approaching in sets of 4 or 5 coming in from the Northwest.  They were sooooo close, they were breaking pretty much right on shore but you could see the potential.  We hung around for about an hour or so and watched the tide come right in with our fingers crossed but it just didn’t happen.  I talked to a man who was camping on the beach and he said the waves were three times the size for the last four days.  That was the last kick in the nuts with a frozen moccasin we could take, we headed back to Sombrio. SKUNKED!

The pic below is what the waves are supposed to look like at Port Renfrew.

At Sombrio the waves looked alright but as usual there were far too many people out there trying to catch them to be even worth suiting up.

China Beach was a mild lake.  The highlight was that some way, some how, someone got a car all the way through the narrow winding trail all the way to just before the steps to get on the beach and that’s where they left it.  I really have no idea how they got it down there or how the hell they will get it out.

Jordan River looked like it was going to be alright when we first past by at day break but when we got back they had died right off to the odd white cap.

The MagicSeaweed report called for 9.5 footers which was obviously way off.

October 18th, 2008 by admin

Adam and I left Nanaimo and got to JR point in real good time.  Tide was on it’s way in so we stayed in the truck and examined the waves while we were waiting for Lanny, who camped over at Renfrew but woke up to a glassy lake so he was on his way to meet us.

We checked out JR camp which also looked decent and then LilChina which looked to be shaping up but was breaking to shallow.

Lanny arrived so we did a recon on the beaches again before deciding JR point would be our best bet.  The waves had definitely begun to tame down, but Adam and I got suited up anyway hoping for the best.  After about another hour of sitting in the truck (sweating with our suits on)  the waves progressively got worse and worse.  There would be 1 set of 1 or 2, 4′ waves every 15-20 minutes coming from the Northwest.  Anger.

Oh yeah, we did see a whale though, that was pretty cool.

September 20th, 2008 by admin

Steve, Bob, Adam and myself headed up to Ucluelet to camp for the night.  We got to bed pretty late no thanks to the relentless Wombat attacks.

Killer Wombat

Got at it bright and early because our campsite turned out to be a road, so we woke up to move our tents so a logger could get through.

Great day of surfing 4-5 footers in sets of 3-4 every couple of minutes.

Razor, Ali and Lanny met up with us for the second half and the waves maintained all day.

Very first time surfing on my brand new Al Merrick Designed Channel Islands 7′2, M-13.  I LOVE IT.
Caught the first wave I attempted and never looked back.  Thanks wifey

September 2nd, 2006 by admin

Alex and I arrived to the campsite in Ucluelet Friday afternoon.  Cidey and Dana were already setup by the time we got there.  We quickly set up camp and the four of us headed for Tofino.  We arrived at Long Beach, where there were 3 - 4 footers that looked pretty clean.  We had an awesome day of surfing this was my second or third time out and by the end of the day I was catching every wave I was attempting.  Had a ton of fun, awesome group to surf with.

We headed back to the campsite and the rest of the crew started to arrive.  Brooke showed up first and the Kelly, then Adam, Rich and Ryan.  Out came the beer bong and the party was officially on.

We all woke up in fairly good time and headed back out to Tofino for another day on the water.  We once again hit Long Beach and the conditions were virtually identical to the day before, the only slight difference was that I was having a little harder time catching waves than the previous day.  This was the first time that I felt the effects that a good hang over has on my surfing abilities.  It was great beeing out there with so many friends at the same time.  Nearly every surfable wave turned into a party wave.  brooke was out a fairly long ways away from the group so Dana decided to go out to her to see what she was doing out there.  A couple of minutes later we noticed that both of them were quite a ways out now, so I decided to paddle out and see what they were up to.

As I approached I could see that they were both struggling to paddle their way in.  They were trapped in a rip tide that was sucking them straight out.  We formed a train, Brooke grabbed my feet and Dana grabbed Brooke’s.  I paddled and Dana kicked and we were able to angle our waythrough and out of the rip.  This was my first encounter with a fierce rip tide and from that moment on I will always respect the sheer force that a good rip can have.

All in all it was one of the best camping trips of all time fun times and fun rides.