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.
November 15th, 2008 by admin
Razor and I hit up Jordan River Camp. We got out there around 10:30 and it looked very flat and there was no one around. After watching for a few minutes we noticed there was actually some nice sets rolling in from waist to shoulder height coming from the Northwest. (MagicSeaweed called for 7.5-8 footers.)
We went in straight off the parking point and got some nice little fun ones right off the bat. It is quite shallow right off the point so we would have to bail off after a fairly short ride.
There was a graveyard of logs, drift wood and debris floating around in the water. We were a fair ways out from the point now and I was riding a wave in when I looked down and saw big jagged rocks maybe 6 inches below the surface of the water. I kept cruising and luckily a couple seconds later it got a little deeper again so I bailed off, “sacrifice the body and save the board” is what was going through my head.
After a short break we decide to venture across to the center of the bay. Razor stayed and surfed here, where he said he got some nice rides in and I continued past the bay to a rock bed break.
Great waves about shoulder height. My arms were feeling the burn from being out of shape and paddling so far but I stayed out for a few hours and caught some really fun rides. Fairly shallow on some spots and big boulders rather than the gravel that makes up most of the bay. Worked a lot on my turning and feel like I am getting a much better feel for controlling my board under my feet. There was no wind at all which made it very enjoyable no fighting against the white wash coming in, it was perfect.
It was a long paddle back after I had worn myself our catching waves. When I finally got back to shore Razor told me that there was a sea lion that tailed me all the way across the bay just a few feet behind me. I imagine that the flailing of my rubber arms and my out of breath grunting probably mimicked a wounded seal pretty closely.
November 6th, 2008 by admin
Raeghzer, Steve, Alex, Steve’s buddy from Edmonton (we’ll call him Ed) and I. Got to the beach in fairly good time. We were greeted with some beautiful 6-7 foot swells coming in sets of 2 and 3 in about 1:30 intervals. Tide was about 3/4’s out. We veered of to the right hand side. About 2 minutes in Al decided to hit her board with her lips (not good).
With all her teeth in tact she was back out playin in no time. This was my second venture out with my new 7′2 M-13 board and after nose diving the first half a dozen waves it was apparent that I have yet to find the sweet spot.
Break time, so we went up and waited for Brooke and Dana to arrive before going back to the beach. When Kelly and I cleared the bush and got out past the tree line it took everything we had just to keep the wind from blowing the boards out of our hands. Craziness, easily 100+ km/h winds. The swells had now turned to pure chop and this was clearly the end of the road for Chesterman.
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.
July 18th, 2005 by admin
Kelly and I decided to take a surf trip up to Tofino. We left Nanaimo around 7:30 and eventually got there around 11:00. Kelly has caught quite a bit of swell in California and had been out surfing on Vancouver Island a few times so he knows what he’s doing. I was glad Kelly new his way around a surfboard because I on the other hand had no idea; this would be my first time surfing ever.
I received some tips on the popup, riptides, technique and surfer etiquette while suiting up and by the time we hit the sand at Long Beach I was fired up and ready to hit it.
It is a pretty strange sensation walking into the ocean with a full wetsuit and boots for the first time. No matter how many times I have tried to explain the experience since, I don’t believe that one person has ever fully believed me that your really do not get cold. As a matter of fact I can’t think of a single time that I have ever even been uncomfortable out there, but like I said you probably won’t believe me either when you read this so you will have to get out there and experience Canadian Pacific Ocean surfing for yourself.
Alright, back to the story here. We got out and started paddling around. I watched Kelly get prepared turn, paddle and catch a wave. Looks easy enough, I turned around my giant beginners rental board and started paddling to catch the next wave but it seems that I wasn’t quite in the right spot or wasn’t paddling fast enough because the wave just passed right underneath me. I regrouped got myself in position and started paddling for the next approaching wave. I could hear Kelly yelling “Go Go Go , Take It” so I paddled hard got some speed up and then felt the force of the wave thrust me forward, at this point I hopped up to my feet and was riding my first wave. The feeling and the rush is absolutely indescribable.
We surfed the rest of the afternoon and caught many more waves and each time you catch a wave you get the same stoke but in a different way every time. This is the origin of my addiction to surfing.
Each time you are out there big waves or small it really doesn’t matter.
You get the stoke of being in the right place at exactly the right time in tune with mother natures flow. What keeps you coming back is that she never repeats the same chorus.
