British Columbia, Canada

Exactly when the first surfers paddled out at Long Beach and Pachena is as obscured as an approaching swell in a fog bank, but it most likely occurred back in the early 1960s. Certainly Tofino surfer Jim Sadler was one of the pioneers; he was often seen with plywood paddles lashed to his wrists to improve horsepower. Vancouver Island had become a haven for alternative lifestyle proponents in the late ’60s. They were joined by draft dodgers from as far away as Hawaii and California; inevitably, there were surfers in their numbers. Timber shacks were constructed on the sandstone cliffs above Wreck Bay (Florencia Bay), and a subsistence commune enjoyed the summer waves until the National Parks Service cleared them out in 1973. Jordan River was pioneered in the mid ’60s by a core crew, some of whom can still be found riding there on occasion. By 1973, the West Coast Surfing Associates were well established in their clubhouse – with sauna and commanding views of the point. China Beach, Sombrio, and Port Renfrew had all been ridden by then, and Sombrio had become another communal refuge for open-minded individuals, keen to avoid mainstream existence. Early island shaping facilities were crude and rudimentary; Jim Van Dame, who lived at Jordan River, had a small lean-to on his barn, which housed a country-style shaping bay. Wayne Vliet, Chuck Dillon, Dave Maxwell, and probably Van Dame all tried their hand at shaping, crafting some interesting mid ’70s experiments. In the late ’70s, a small influx of South African surfers (the second wave of draft dodgers) joined the tightly-knit dozen or so in the JR line-up. The following decade was fairly static, until recent growth spurts, which have spawned the intolerant attitude that pervades the modern JR line-up as BC catches up to the global surfing reality and those who remember the good ol’ days try to hold on to them and each other. Moving north in 1976, LA surfer Don Leschuk was amazed to find such good waves and a laid-back crew of friends to share them with. He opened Redbeard’s surf shop in Sooke in the late 1980s, hoping to serve as a much-needed source of equipment; but lack of business combined with local resentment doomed the shop to permanent closure.