BETTER THAN SEX
As the first few waves of frigid, salty Pacific Ocean water crashed over my braided head, the only thing I could think was that surfing was better than sex. Really. It’s been close to a decade since I last set foot on a surfboard, and even then I was no good. This time I wanted to do it right and signed up for an afternoon session with Tofino’s legendary Bruhwiler Surf School [website]. While there are a handful of schools on Vancouver Island’s West Coast, it seems to me that the Bruhwiler crew teach simply for the reason that they want to share their passion and way of life with others.
It’s all about the love of the wave.
We arrived at the shop a bit early in time to sign in, and were happy to hear that our wetsuits were already loaded onto the truck for us – one of the many advantages of sending in your body specs by e-mail prior to arriving.
Raph Bruhwiler and Dave the Moustache Man (who gets props for wiping the snot off my face) were our instructors for the day, and I can truly say that both did a stellar job. After a quick 15 (or so) minutes of chat on the sand – including important safety rules and basic theory – we grabbed our boards and headed out. In the words of Johnny Castle: “the best place to learn really is in the water.”
Snaking is definitely not allowed. Catching a “double up” is also not recommended.
Jenny and I hoped to ride another day without instructors, but due to less-than-favourable weather (more about that in the next post), we were forced out of our campsite earlier than we’d hoped.
To say that I can’t wait to head out again would be the understatement of 2008. The boys of Bruhwiler were phenomenal teachers and the encouraging vibe in our small group gave me the get-up-and-go that I needed. After about half an hour in the waves, I was actually standing up on nearly every other wave that I caught, and the feeling was simply euphoric. Like I said, better than sex.
I’d like to catch one of Bruhwiler Surf School’s two-day Roxy surf camps next summer with some girlfriends (and I think they know who they are). To find more information on the sport, the instructors, rates and camps, visit Bruhwiler Surf School’s site by clicking their logo in my sidebar.
To view all the photos from our ultimate surfing experience, click on over to my Flickr.
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Great place to spend the long weekend even if its cold and windy. In fact that is one of the best times to be there. My son spent 5 years living and surfing over there, and loved every minute of it. Nice to see that you were learning from the “oldtimers” of Tofino for surfing, best way to learn. Hope you have a great trip over there this weekend
Sounds like you had a blast despite the rainy Tofino weather. I hope the rest of your Island stay brings you just as much joy.
Before I moved into that big green house by Beaches grocer, I lived in staff accom for the Wick Inn right on Chesterman. Falling asleep to the sound of the waves every night was simply magical…
Gorgeous gals AND hot instructors
hey keira, this is dave the instructor.. I just wanted to say that I am glad you guys had fun, and thanks for the awesome write up….
hopefully we will see you guys in the future. take care, and have a good summer…
Looks like a great time. I really need to try surfing one of these days.
This is the post that i’ve been waiting for, surfing is one of my passions !!! I guess that if you caught more than one wave you’ll be getting back in the water sooner than the expected, its addictive!!!
You girls must be really courageous, surfing under that “extreme” weather conditions requires more than just the feeling, that is admirable.
Have fun !!!
I’m so happy that we got to have such a perfect surf day together! I can’t wait to get out there again with you!
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Oh I’d love to do that. I’ve been wanting to go to Tofino…I’ve never made it out there. Looks like you guys had fun.