SUP,Surf

[C36]

S10 - SUP - Cox Bay (2023 July 30)



Second session of the day. Afternoon slack low of about 1.7 metres at Cox Bay. Then took a look-see at Rosie Bay, but 10+ skilled shortboard surfers had that option pretty well covered. Sunset dinner at the Surfside Grill. Trying to make the most of the conditions!

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S11 - SUP - Cox Bay (2023 July 31)



Morning flooding low of about 1 to 1.5 metres at Cox Bay. Pretty modest at first, but then background south swell seemed to show itself at the north end of the beach. The cove and I seem to have made friends and I caught more than a few rights! Walked over for a look-see at Rosie Bay but skilled shortboard crew of surfers was even larger today and the set I saw looked a touch dumpy. Back to the cove at the north end of Cox Bay to prove it wasn’t an accident and scored a few more! Then paddled down and exited on a modest open right out in front of Cox Bay Resort. Fun morning!

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S12 - SUP - Long Beach (2023 Aug 1)



Dawn-ish zero flooding tide. Straight from PJs to wetsuit with only a banana for breakfast. Fog almost closed in once I took to the water, but it lifted, thankfully. The zero tide seemed to work better than a one metre low as the wave was out beyond the shelf in deeper water. No luck catching any right out in front of Incinerator Rock. Luckily the peak just north of Lot 5 had a little more umph! This combined with a melting away on the deeper water inside made for a fun combination and a nice change to the curtain wall shore pound often found on a one metre low. I returned up to Incinerator Rock for one more try, but no luck. I kept watching the group of longboarders up a Tinies, but it looked pretty poundy from what I saw so I didn’t paddle up. Finished off the morning with pancakes cooked and eaten with an ocean view from the parking lot!

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S13 - wavesailing - Long Beach (2023 Aug 1)





Homesteaded at Long Beach today after the morning SUP and watched the south wind rotated through to side-off NW. Vancouver winger on 7 m cruised the bay until it shifted NW (that made the winger come in and made me get ready to go out). Took to the water about 4:30 pm on an ebbing tide of about 2 metres. It didn’t look like there was much wind, but there was enough on the water, most of the time. Rolled off and missed some target waves due to small wave size combined with light wind, but caught others in the set for something most rides in. A mix of backside and single-hit frontside riding. After spending the whole day at the beach it was refreshing to take to the water and cool off. Warm water and shorty was a treat!

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S14 - SUP - Long Beach (2023 Aug 2)



Scored two blocks of ice in town just before the power went off and some stores stopped selling. Afternoon ebbing high tide of about 2.8 metres to 2.3 metres at Long Beach. Arrived to mid-day glass, but wind followed to make me a feel like I was a little late for the party. Still fun and decent.

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S15 - SUP - Long Beach (2023 Aug 3)



This was a two part session. Flooding afternoon high tide of about 3.2 metres then and ebbing late afternoon high tide of about 3.2 metres (same height in the opposite direction).

Part A saw the morning fog reveal modest swell as it burned off, but the south wind created tough conditions for SUP on the water. Even though I had resigned myself to downwinder from tinies to Lovekin, that strategy didn’t help – I was getting pushed around by the wind and bounced by the chop. I called this session short in frustration. Even the longboard surfers were saying it was a lot of work for what it was.

Part B was a second try to salvage some fun. The wind backed off enough to make positioning easier and the waves cleaner. It was definitely better, but not great.

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S16 - SUP - Long Beach (2023 Aug 4)





Perfect! Dawn-ish morning session of about 0.5 ebbing to slack zero at Long Beach (you could walk out Lovekin). Waves were open, forgiving (except in the last 100’), runners right and left. Tinies even setup as a bit of point break in reverse offering up rights with a channel to return out. Polar opposite of the punishment dished out yesterday. Even the waves that broke would reform into clean faces on the inside. Wave choice was the pick of the litter and wave count was WAY up! Beautiful morning and super fun! This one session would have made the whole trip worth it all on its own!

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S17 - wavesailing - Long Beach (2023 Aug 4)







Second session of the day at Long Beach. Afternoon flood of about 3 metres to high slack of about 3.4 metres ebbing to about 3 metres (it seemed like more of a swing in height than that). Intended to do a surf-check at South Chesterman but the sensors were showing light at South Chesterman and Long Beach was on already, so returned back to Long Beach to find fun-sized waves were still pumping. Later Jesse said this must have been that one day of the year when Long Beach had more wind than South Chesterman. Tide was already up to the backside of Incinerator Rock and continuing to flood. One person was out on a wing down at Lovekin (Squamish Johnathan). Sand on the beach was hot to walk on and I started to fear a heat bubble might shut things down and it seemed to be holding the wind off shore a bit making for a glassy looking inside. When I first went out it was really challenging getting out – felt like you were a sitting duck just waiting to be taken out in the impact zone. First try I crossed five pretty healthy waves just to be taken out by the shoulder of the sixth and final wave – long swim back to the beach from deep water. Kept trying with mixed results – both outbound (some rejections) and inbound (some missed waves). Inside wind filled in and outside wind eased a bit as the temps cooled off. Two other wings, Jesse (windsurfing), Ozy (wingsurfing), and Tasmanian Stephan who does rescue work for the PWA events (on my loaned gear) all joined in. Both Ozy and Jesse commented on the wave quality and both were putting them to good use slashing turns and throwing aerials! Riley launch a kite before the fog rolled in and shut the wind down. Fun to be ripping similar waves from the morning SUP session with windsuring gear in the afternoon! Super fun session of real down the line sailing!

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S18 - SUP - Long Beach (2023 Aug 5)



Window. Morning session of about 0.6 metre slack tide at Long Beach. Travel day so my window was small and made smaller by fog on arrival. The fog lifted and I got three rides before the fog filled in again thick enough that I lost track of where I was along the beach. With the tide being so low it once again felt like you were very far out in the bay when you were at the break – out past Lovekin! Waves were similar to yesterday and pretty forgiving, some offered long open rides, but were a little smaller and some were dumping a little harder. Time to start driving. Grateful for another trip to Tofino/Ukee!

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[MrChaud]

Thanks for posting the photos from Aug 4. These are the first photos of me winging. I was the winger on the light teal wing.

[C36]

Thanks for posting the photos from Aug 4. These are the first photos of me winging. I was the winger on the light teal wing.

Glad you saw the pictures and enjoyed them.

[C36]

S1 – windsurfing – Nitinaht (2023 July 27)



House guest. Had a 9 am reservation but made a delayed 8 am sailing at 8:30. Bonus 45 minutes as the 9 am was delayed by about 15 minutes! Saw orcas from the ferry and an elk in Youbou! Ethan was impressed by the elk! Road is was pretty sooth considering all the Highway 4 detour traffic that had been using it. Arrived about 1 pm to solid wind and a daytripper parked in our campsite. Had lunch and then took to the water – me windsurfing (4.5/92) and Ethan kitting (9 m/SB). I thought Ethan was going to have too much and I was going to have too little, but we were both pleased! Nice! Ethan ‘s jumps are getting higher (just board, no bar), he got a few nice long rides switch and some nice swell slashes! Just like riding a bike. Water seemed fresh at first (even with a full summer suit). After several tries I managed to squeak out a wet carve 360 – first on the 92! But struggled with my tacks in the puffy shoreline wind and chop/swell on either side. Enough power (even on the wave gear) to sail up to the river mouth. Riley took to the water just the fog was drawing down the lake. Sunset dinner on the beach. Wind blew into the dark. Some said frontal, but my guess was high temps on the eastside of the island were still pulling. Boats out fishing on the lake after dark. Dark, quiet night. A day well spent!

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S2 – windsurfing – Nitinaht (2023 July 28)







Thunder and lighter. Marine layer and thunder at dawn! Inflow started at 9:00 am. Group effort retrieving a kite from the trees this morning. Wind came in light. Thunderstorms on the east side of the island and you could hear one to the south. Surprised there was sailable wind. It was light and I needed big gear (6.1/116/29). Direction had some north in it and was puffy at first. Wings and kit foils were getting rides right from the start. Steadied out and provided some rides for the windsurfers too (some on foils and some on fins). Dinner on the beach and cards by the campfire.

Travel day. Monday brought wind again but it was light, cool temps and high cloud. We decided to start the trip out to Tofino via Port Alberni. Road was in good shape from all the recent work, but dust, traffic and road work made for tricky driving conditions.

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S3 – SUP – Cox Bay (2023 Aug 30)



Warm-up. Pancake breakfast and fresh blackberries (from the campsite) then off for surf checks at Long Beach (onshore wind, rolly and confused), North Chesterman (small and dumping right on the beach), South Chesterman (some wave in the cove, but not much), and Cox Bay (playful and clean). Cox Bay it was! Busy day on the water, but there was still room for to more. Flooding high tide. Paddled around and tried a few different spots. Waves were had and smiles made! Even the sun came out! Ethan and I called it when the waves got fat and hard to catch on the rising tide. Parking lot solar showers (as the showers and washrooms were closed due to water restrictions). Lunch at Aloha Bowl and gelatos for desert in town. Then off the driving range when the rain started. Fresh fish dinner of Halibut and Chinook Salmon at the campground! Fun first day back in Tuff Town!

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S4 – SUP – Long Beach (2023 Aug 31)



Solo. Errands in town. Surf checks between Tuff City and Ukee but nothing drew us out. Hiked Wyndansea. Locals were picking Evergreen Huckleberries to make jam. Stopped at Incinerator Rock to cook dinner beach side then took to the water for a sunset session on a 1 metre slack low. It didn’t look like much but it was workable on the zero tide. Nice to get wet! Day was capped with a blue moon!

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S5 – SUP – Cox Bay (2023 Sept 1)



Variety! Moved campsites. Surf checks at Long Beach, North and South Chesterman. Then took to the water at Surf Grove on arrival at Surf Grove. Slack high tide of 3.6 metres was serving up some decent clean waves – the water was so high there was hardly any beach left! Waves were calling so the campsite set-up could wait! We worked the south half of the bay. Some were too fat to catch, others had enough size and shape and there were a few bombs thrown into the mix! Good call to go when we did as the outgoing afternoon tide seems to work against the swell. Sunset dinner at the Surfside Grill!

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S6 – SUP – Long Beach (2023 Sept 2)



Nose job. Odd day of surf checks both morning and afternoon following the arrival of the south swell.

Cox Bay was closing out. Surf checked Rosie Bay and South Chesterman from Pettinger Point and there wasn’t much. Morning we opted to hike up to the Cox Bay look-out.

Afternoon saw second round of surf checks – Cox Bay (big closeouts and tons of whitewater, even skilled shortboard surfers were struggling to make it work), North Chesterman (small beach break), South Chesterman (swell limited to the cove), Long Beach (big, but workable for mortals), Florencia (super busy, round and only breaking just off the beach), Wick (huge and very unsettled) – Long Beach it was. Parking was tough to find, even at 4 pm. Finally got a spot in Lot 5. Looked like Jesse was out just above Lovekin Rock. Ethan and I walked up to launch at the rip off of Incinerator. As we paddled out a set of south swell came in. I held back a bit to wait until they had broke on the inside and on the last wave of the set got the board out in front of me and the wall of whitewater popped it up into my face and cracked me across the bridge of my nose. Thought it had broken my noise at first. Blood coming out of both nostrils and blood on the bridge of my nose. Hard to tell how much real damage with the all the blood in the water and blood on my hands. Paddled in and checked myself out in the bathroom. Blood has stopped from my nostrils and was now pretty sure I had not broken my nose. Walked back to the van the check the gash on the bridge of the my nose to see if it needed stiches – didn’t think so, so I cleaned it up, put on a couple of Steri-strips and got back out on the water. When we paddled out the second time we crossed the set of the evening and were surrounded by some huge peaks! Luckily we both made it out! Gradually I got comfortable again, after the first late drop that sent me to the bottom of the sea and caught several decent rides including one nice open right that keep on giving. Ethan was doing well, confidence, positioning and wave count were all improving session by session! Ebbing tide from 3 metres to about 1.6 metres. Ethan enjoyed his first sunset session at Long Beach! Ethan noticed later that it looked like the board also hit the corner of my right eye out past the contusion on the right side of my nose. Felt like I got off lucky and was glad to get back out on the water again! Twilight dinner at Surfside Grill!

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S7 - SUP - North and South Chesterman (2023 Sept 4)



Scotland. Was hoping for a Cox Bay session before leaving Surf Grove. Although smaller and somewhat cleaner it was still closing out and looked like way to much work versus reward. Decided on the Chestermans on the way into town. Surfed with Alice from Scotland who was here for a Surf Sisters camp and heard about surfing in Scotland. Low flooding tide of about 1.2 metres to 1.5 metres. Started on South Chesterman. South swell was cleaner than the last two days here. Some waves of size wrapped the whole bay – nice! A nit rolly and lots of water moving round at the south end of the beach. Good wave count with one close-out bomb at the south end of the beach!



Then moved to North Chesterman. Super clean, but smaller. Nice mix made for a fun mid-day session.

Set up camp at the new campsite and made it to Long Beach for the evening glass off. It was glassy, but the south swell was frighteningly poundy on a 2.2 metre tide - odd. Got into my wetsuit, grabbed my board and headed down to the water. Watched for an opening for what seemed like over fifteen minutes and all the lulls seems to have filled in. I finally decided the window was missed as the daylight faded. Chatter on the beach was it was and odd punishing set-up on the water, so that decreased my FOMO. Warm dinner and propane campfire back at the campsite!

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S8 - SUP - Long Beach (2023 Sept 5)



Lot 5. The parking lot a Incinerator Rock was closed for paint lining. Low slack of about 1.5 metres – which should have been thumpier that last night, but it was the reverse and the waves were softer but still a little poundy in the inside. They were a bit round and it took some courage to commit to the large ones but caught three – left to start to exit to safety, long clean right and my exit to the beach. Picnic lunch on the beach followed.

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[C36]

S9 – SUP – South Chesterman (2023 Sept 6)



Return. After a successful afternoon at South Chesterman a couple of days ago I decided to give it a second try as the other beaches were offering what looked like more pain than pleasure. Afternoon flooding tide of about 2.8 to about 3.1 metres. The south swell was still rolling into South Chesterman, but it was smaller and breaking close to shore with higher tide. Definitely felt a little harder to catch and rides were a touch on the short side, but still cleaner and more fun than the others looked. Happy with my choice!

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S10 – SUP – Wick (2023 Sept 7)



Soft. The Incinerator Rock parking lot was open again after being closed for two days for line painting. It was a short stop (more bone-crushing shore pound) and then it was off the Flo (clean, but curtain walls, no rights) and Wick for a look-see. Morning slack of about 1.9 metres. Wick was offering glassy soft rides on all peaks. I spent most of my time on peak off Lot B with a small crowd of SUPs and shortboard surfers had peak at Lot C and peak at Lot D). Mix of west and south swell made for some variety and all of it fun due to the waves melting away in the deeper water before the reform to make for soft exits! Good choice that made for a fun morning!

Later I ran into Bamfield Dave in town and he said the lack of summer swell has caused the sand to build up on all the beaches changing their profile and making them more dumpy. The change in beach profile combined with the increase in swell size would explain the big difference in feel July to August. He was hopeful that a few good solid fall storms will have all the beaches back to normal.

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S11 – wavesailing – South Chesterman (2023 Sept 7)



Nice try. Evening flooding tide to about 3 metres. Not enough wind and/or wave made for more rides lost than had. Osprey was out fishing! Patience, persistence, humility, and gratitude were all required and used by both the Osprey and me. A few single hit rides, but definitely less than I was hoping for. Still nice to get the windsurfing gear wet and a nice way to spend the evening! Curried chicken from Picnic for dinner fireside at the campsite!

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S12 – SUP – Wick (2023 Sept 8)



Orca! Decided on Wick again after a quick surf check at Long Beach (dumpy). Started in the Cove to take advantage of the clean punchy smaller waves on the 2.4 metre ebbing tide. That is when the Orca showed up well inside the cove. After seeing the Orca surface three times swimming into the rocks (about 100 metres from me), I saw two seals headed into the shallower water deeper inside the cove away from the Orca – unfortunately that would likely draw the Orca in closer to me. I took a quick exit as I decided it was time to take a break on the beach and wait for the all of the wildlife to head off. I returned to the water and paddled all the way down to the peak at Lot C, but unfortunately the swell melted away and the session was cut short. After the session I chatted with the surf instructor from Surf Junction who had been out teaching two students and had seen the Orca as well. He said that was the first time he had seen an Orca in 10 years of being out here surfing and teaching.

I stopped by Flo on my way out and there were clean lines of south swell pumping in and it looked super impressive, but the ridable section was pretty small and dumpy on the mid tide of about 2 metres. The surfers coming off the water said it had been better earlier on the higher tide.

Later that evening I did the rounds again looking for an option to get out again and try as I might I just couldn’t find one. Came close to trying a wavesail at Long Beach (then the wind backed) and watched Flo for a long time waiting for the rising tide to take the edge off the close-outs (but it didn’t happen). I did see one guy get barrelled a couple of times for a split second up at the rock garden and I learned the one rock located mid-beach is called Medusa!



Fresh Halibut dinner at the campground and then prepared in earnest for the trip home. Good trip despite all the close-out conditions and manages to surf all the main beaches except Flo, but sure miss the consistency of August/September trips of past years. See you next time Tuff/Ukee!

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[Ryan]

Thanks for the report and pictures Dave, looks great.

[C36]

S1 - windsurfing - Pipers (2024 Apr 13)











Swell! Early start at 4 am, 6:15 sailing. Ferry was shuttering pounding into the swell. Hit Pipers on landing. Fun session with a couple mutts! Udder, Scott, Tsawwassen and me had the place to ourselves. I enjoyed the lighter off-season boat traffic (still kept my head on a swivel keeping watch). Decent sized wind swell. Udder said we had chosen a good day at Pipers! Fun watching Tsawwassen flit from swell to swell like a big orange bubble bee collecting nectar! Great way to start the trip!

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S2 - SUP - Long Beach (2024 Apr 13)







Coast to coast! Bookended the first day with an evening glass-off SUP session at Long Beach with Red Baron, Riley and Tsawwassen (surf foil). Felt a little rusty at first but the muscle memory came back and my wave count went up! Great way to end the day! Sushi for dinner in Ukee.

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S3 - SUP - Long Beach (2024 Apr 14)





Team Canada! Quick morning SUP with team Canada (Lise and Red Baron). Got a few waves before the slight onshore breeze went NW and started to build. Great party wave with Tsawwassen! Time to start rigging wind gear!

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S4 – wavesailing - Long Beach (2024 Apr 14)

















Windy! Started off slowly and even looked a bit like it might not happen with a bit of bubble along the beach. Took to the water after watching the ‘testers’. Decent crew of about 10! Enough swell to hold everyone’s interest! Shared a couple of waves and smiles with Ozy! Wind kept building and hit overdrive around 4 pm! Lots of sand blowing on the beach! Some crazy Cape-like gusts! Full-on ripped from the straps on the inside once and was amazed no broken ribs, boom or board! New skinny boom was stiff and reduced arm fatigue! Gusts started getting a little much so sided down to the smaller board (92) and loved the loose feel of the new ride – Goya Custom 3 Thruster! Saw Paul throw a forward and both Ozy and Red Baron throw backs! Whales (and whale watchers) on the outside! Very thankful the sun had warmed my solar shower and I was treated to some warm water for rinsing at the end of the day! Simple pleasures!

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S4 – wavesailing - Long Beach (2024 Apr 14)





Work! Wind continued through the night. Earlier start. Big gear (5.3/116) was too big by the time I got it to the water. Took a few wave rides, then went in for 4.5/92. It was still a lot of work – start, stop – tough to position and catch waves, but that didn’t seem to slow Red Baron as he was putting on another clinic! Water seemed colder today (likely some upwelling from the wind overnight). Whales on the outside again today! Second half after lunch did the reverse – started on smaller stuff and returned to big gear which helped with positioning and my wave count went up. Saw Red Baron throw a highspeed back loop! Nice to see Tsawwassen catch some waves on windsurfing gear in the second half of the session before we hit the road!

Five for five, as the forecast promised! What a great trip!

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