Tofino, B.C., has been ranked the best surf town in North America by an influential U.S. magazine.

Outside magazine handed the Vancouver Island locale the top honour as part of its inaugural Editor’s Choice Awards for 2010.

Peter Devries, Canada’s number one surfer and winner of the 2009 O’Neill Cold Water Classic Canada, says Tofino is a great place to ride the waves.

Outsider has previously named Tofino’s Chesterman Beach, specifically the area around Frank Island, as one of the best on the continent for beginner surfers.

Tofino was chosen from among 20 beginner surf spots the magazine named across North America. (Westcoaster.ca)

Frank Island—Tofino, British Columbia
Surf Report: On the south end of Chesterman Beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island is one of the best beginner breaks in North America. Cold in the winter, cold in the summer (this is Canada, after all so pack your wetsuit).
Scene: Tofino is the Surf City of Canada, a shockingly beautiful hamlet that gets 118 inches of rain per year, so it’s craggy like Ireland, quaint like New England, and as green as Hanalei, Hawaii. Beach fires and family BBQ’s line these sandy beaches, the smell of fresh cooked salmon wafting into the line-up most summer evenings. Tofino is a mellow scene that some say is similar to that of California in the 60s. It’s an out of the way place very popular with Canadians and tourists from all over. Snow covered glaciers and 1,000-year-old cedar trees form the backdrop. Don’t forget to look ahead for black bears when walking down the beach trail. This part of the world gets huge surf half the year, but Frank Island knocks down all that fury allowing beginners to splash away like baby ducks on either side of the tombolo (spit of land) that connects the island to Vancouver Island.
Bonus: Great stream, lake, and ocean fishing; kayaking by river, fjord, and open sea; and sight-seeing that is a little bit New England, a little bit Viking, a little bit Paul Bunyan. A place most people don’t even know exists, but is one of the best, most unique beginner spots north or south of the border because of that weird little tombolo.
Wax Run: Surf Sister, 1-877-724-SURF, www.surfsister.com Live to Surf, 250-725-4464, www.livetosurf.ca

(Outside Magazine Online)

Large Rips or Tears

Materials: Wetsuit cement (glue), brush, waxed dental floss or good nylon thread.

If you have large rips or tears or a tear that’s along a seam or stress point, you should stitch up the cut first using

1. Clean and dry the suit.
*You can put a plastic bag behind the tear to prevent the glue from sticking to the wrong part of the suit.

2. Using your brush or the one provided in the can of wetsuit cement, coat both sides of the newly sewn rip with neoprene cement to make it watertight.

3. Hold the two sides apart and allow the glue to dry for 24 hours. (Don’t stick together yet)

4. Apply a second coat of glue and let it dry for a few minutes.

5. Squeeze the two sides together and let it set for 24 hours before using.

*Be careful to line both side up as accurately as possible.

Small Cuts

Just clean the suit and glue like above without stitching the suit first.

Thanks goes out to Pacific Sands for putting on a great fireworks show on New Years eve at Cox Bay again this year.

Merry Christmas from everyone at Live To Surf.