Tofino Bound

[Faceplant]

South Chestermans was perfect side shore, but this meant any wave riding was not possible. Tacks in and out were at right angles to the wave. Wind was up and down. One minute I'm hanging on for life, the next minute I'm on my ass because not enough power to kite. 12meter Rebel was the kite. It was pretty tough. Constant battle to keep speed, deal with waves when wind dropped, blah blah blah. Total session was 24 minutes.
Took out the GO Pro but the footage is useless with a chest mount.
Self launch with anchor on log went great. packed up gear, hit north chestermans for head high perfect off shore clean empty waves with my surf board.
The SE winds are tough. 2 days out so far during this trip, and both times it is a little on the sketchy side.
Wind did ramp up later, but with huge holes in the wind, gusts lulls etc. I didn't even consider pumping up the smaller kite.
Wind is expected again in a day or two, and next time I'll try Long Beach. I think this will work, as it will be a little more side on shore, allowing for wave riding.

No pictures, as I was alone and on a mission. Wife didn't even leave the cabin until 4pm due to extreme weather.

[C36]

FP: Thanks for the update! Sorry to hear the wind direction and variability were not great. Sounds like your enjoying the surfing a kite session would just be the icing on the cake. Hope it steps up before you leave.

[Faceplant]

THanks C36. Can't be complaining too much. Life is good over on the island.
Today was pretty wicked. Woke up to the low quiet rumble of distant waves crashing on the beach. On small days the sound can be louder because they break close to shore. I strolled out with my Bailey's and coffee to witness the largest surf I have ever seen in over 10 years of visiting the area. I've seen huge waves off long beach, and cox bay, but usually Chestermans has always been a spot where I would never shy from paddling out. The waves I saw this morning were breaking 3/4 of the way to Leonard Island. There is a rock island with no trees in the middle of the bay that had waves breaking behind it. Usually its a huge day if the waves are breaking over the island but today was much different. It wasn't quite high tide and we had water making the way up to the path. I didn't get pictures of the monster sets rolling through because I was captivated by the moment. I stood for another half hour and didn't see anything as big as what I saw in the first few minutes. Surfline is predicting 5 to 6 times overhead surf again tomorrow. I'll be sure to grab some pics.
SW wind in the 20kt range showed up at 1pm as predicted, but I wasn't interested in playing in the surf. It was a nice wind that seemed very steady. Average set waves I estimate to be 12 feet with rogue sets topping 15 feet. Nasty full close out board snapping sand barrels were occurring in the 10 foot range regularly.

[Faceplant]

8 days comes to an end. Kited 2 days. Waves were huge and wind was marginal. bad combo for a guy with only 9 months kiting experience.
Surfed today in huge surf. Off shore. Took me 2 trys to paddle out North Chestermans. Finally got out after 15-20 minutes. Scored one wave. The regulars were making it look easy. For me it was survival mode. Pretty awesome to be out there and look at the waves as I was duck diving. I didn't have a tape measure with me, but I can promise a few waves were two and a half times over head. Crazy rips.

[C36]

...Average set waves I estimate to be 12 feet with rogue sets topping 15 feet. Nasty full close out board snapping sand barrels were occurring in the 10 foot range regularly.

Don't like the sounds of that (at all).
Thanks for sharing your experiences and amazing pictures! Absolutely awesome!

[Alton]

Those waves look wicked. Must take some massive balls to get out.

Other than today you didn't miss any local sessions within the last 8 days. 2 kite sessions is pretty good.

[AdrienGrelon]

Unreal pics!