“We have a full-on surf porn episode with tons of waves and a special new feature called wipeeees,” according to an episode teaser on the show website. “Yes, we make you look good, but being good takes practice and practice means you eat it once and awhile.”

Episode 6 also features what has been dubbed a “cliff-hanger solution” at the tail end.

To see the video, click here.

The recommendation was approved by HRM council last week, according to District 21 (Bedford) councillor Tim Outhit, who supports the purchase. Details of the recommendation can viewed by clicking here (.pdf document).

The recommendation, which makes reference to an agreement between “the surfing community, HRM and advocates”, calls for the purchase of piece of property on Cow Bay Road for $211,283.

At the present time, the recommendation has only been approved; the land has not actually been purchased yet.

The Coastal Access Committee (CAC) has been lobbying HRM to fund the purchase of a piece of land near Minutes to ensure public access to the surf spot, which has been host to several high-profile surf competitions in recent years.

CAC has suggested the construction of a small parking on the property next to Cow Bay Road as well as a path leading to the shore. The property being considered contains a small pond, which could be crossed with the addition of a short boardwalk.

Access would be available to the public at large, not just surfers.

CAC’s lobbying efforts came after area resident Alan Gosley expressed his growing displeasure with surfers who have been using his property to access Minutes.

Last weekend, Mr. Gosley erected “No Trespassing” and “No Parking” signs on his property. He also sent ScotiaSurfer.com an email explaining his actions. To see the letter, click here.

Nova Scotia surfer Isaac Norman received a scholarship through this program last year.

For details on the ISA scholarship program, see the letter below or click here.

To formally apply for a scholarship, please contact John Fluke at the Canadian Surfing Association: canadiansurfing@yahoo.com

—————–

Dear Members and Friends of the ISA,

The ISA has begun to receive Scholarship applications due to your efforts; we thank you for your support with this program.

Due to the delay from many NGBs (national governing bodies of sport) and in an effort to further support your surfers, the ISA has once again extended the deadline for submissions to Tuesday, December 23, 2008.

Applications may be submitted in your language. Although appreciated, it is not mandatory to submit in English. Additionally, the ISA will work with applicants to finalize materials once the initial application has been submitted.

When encouraging your Junior surfers to submit applications, please remember this program has been created to assist underprivileged, young surfers who show a genuine need for financial assistance that could not be provided by their families, sponsors or local government.

We, the surfing leaders of the world, have an opportunity to assist those who truly need this assistance; do your part by enabling the today’s young surfers an opportunity they would not have without your support.

All may apply for the scholarship, even if they are not recognized by the ISA. For those in countries that are recognized by the ISA, applications must be submitted through the Federation. Details to apply for the scholarship may be found on the ISA website at www.isasurf.org.

Please do your part to make this scholarship program a success, together building a better surfing future. The ISA looks forward to receiving applications from your NGB as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

FDO signature
Fernando Aguerre
ISA President

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My name is Alan Gosley, I am the owner of the land that you use to access Minutes at 1857 Cow Bay Rd.

As of today, December 13th, I have posted NO TRESPASSING, PRIVATE PROPERTY and DO NOT PARK signs on my land.

I hope that you RESPECT these signs.

I have enjoyed watching you surf from my home for the last 15 years, but the time has come to deny you access to my land. There are many reasons for this:

1. Liability. I am liable for people using the land. The land  is eroding along the shoreline as you know.
As I watch people clamber up and down the bank at sunrise, sunset and in the dark (or at any time, for that matter) it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

In addition, you park at the end of my driveway; it is only a matter of time before there is an accident there.

2. Mess and security. The end of my driveway is a total mess from parking. In addition, there are times when it is very difficult to access the lane to our home because of inconsiderate parking. Also, this makes accessing Cow Bay Rd very dangerous as it is impossible to get clear sight down the road.

While I was away recently, there was a van left at the end of the lane for days. This was investigated by the RCMP, who interviewed my 12-year-old son! In addition to Tim’s cups and litter (like today), we also find liquor bottles, condoms and various other things as a result of this becoming a parking spot.

3. Respect and communication. After welcoming surfers for the past 15 years, the only communication I have received is accusations from surfers who overlook my land, generating visits from HRM “police”, CBC and costs to me when I had to stop grading the lot that I subdivided.

There have been two Red Bull championships on my land, tens of thousands of surfers have accessed my land, yet the only communication I have directly received has been negative.

There are those of you, who I have talked to who have been surfing Minutes for years who have thanked me for the use of the land, and I appreciate that.

Then there are the others. I talked to someone this morning who told me I cannot be vigilant all the time and I cannot stop him from using my land. So much for respect!

There have been dozens of surfers accessing my land today after seeing the no trespassing signs, including Surf Nova Scotia spokespersons.

PLEASE  respect the “No Trespassing” signs!

There was a viewing of Minutes recently held for HRM by your organization ON MY LAND! I wasn’t even informed, let alone invited!

I must also point out that no one has contacted me regarding access or purchase. I have left messages with the Coastal Access reps at HRM in the past, but received no return phone calls.

It would have been nice to have known about these plans before reading about it in the newspaper article.

4. I pay thousands of dollars in taxes for the land you use; the tax base is ocean frontage. This is the reason that the subdivided lot was graded to gain a view. I asked HRM for a variance to allow building within the 200-foot buffer zone so that it would not be necessary to grade the lot, I was refused.

This does not sit well with some people, but those people haven’t offered to buy the land and restore it to the way it was. I need to maximize my future sale of this lot for retirement so that I can hang onto the rest of the land for as long as possible!

In addition, the subdivision of this lot generated a $7,500 parkland tax bill for me to HRM. This, after the land has been used for parkland (with absolutely no revenue) for the past 20 years. Go figure!

The oceanfront and land is MAGNIFICENT!  That is why I live here and why I mortgaged everything and bought the land years ago. It is also the reason that there is not a subdivision here now, and the reason you have been able to access Minutes for the last 15 years!

The time has come for me to address situation; frankly, I’ve had enough!

I wish you all the best of luck with your purchase of land for access. Please contact HRM and RCMP regarding access, parking etc.

Please do not access the ocean through my land, or walk back along the edge after you have spent  “minutes” on your wave; it is truly dangerous!

Alan Gosley
Beautiful downtown Cow Bay!

In his first ever Halifax exhibit, Ouhilal showcases his rich talent at capturing surfing, sublime landscapes and personal portraits - all in some of the world’s most remote and inhospitable places.

Through hard work and dedication, Ouhilal has become one of Atlantic Canada’s leading visual artists. He has also gained the respect of his peers in the highly competitive world of surf photography.

His original and compelling imagery has graced the covers of Surfer Magazine (a first for a Canadian photographer) and the prestigious Surfer’s Journal.

According to Transworld Business Magazine’s Exposure Meter, Ouhilal was the seventh most published surf photographer in the world in 2007.

After more than 300 airplane rides, Ouhilal’s journeys have taken him to obscure and hard to reach destinations, from the Faroe Islands, a tiny archipelago between Iceland and Scotland, to the Lofoten Islands way up in Norway’s Arctic Circle.

Other exotic locales captured by Yazzy’s lens include the Galapagos Islands, Indonesia, Iceland, Morocco, Western Sahara, Hawaii and Eastern Canada.

Combining a passion for geology, geography and meteorology, Ouhilal has discovered and pioneered new surfing locations in never-before seen settings.

When not on the road, Ouhilal resides and surfs near Lawrencetown Beach on Nova Scotia’s eastern shore.

A portion of the profits from print sales at Saturday’s exhibit will be donated to the Coastal Access Committee.

“The purpose of this event is to show our customers how much we appreciate their business,” said owner Lance Moore. “Without them we would not be the surf shop that we are today.”

Dacane will be offering customers free beverages (both alcoholic and non- alcoholic), finger foods, special discounts and door prizes.

The Dacane Surf Shop is located at 5239 Blowers St. in Downtown Halifax. For directions, click here.

As you know, things are moving along as far as the city acquiring a property at Minutes for public access. At this point, we need to show the councillors that people in their riding surf and would use the resource.

The issue is going to council in the next while, so please write your local councillors and let them know how important this is to you. Below are links to city councillors’ email addresses:

Mayor Peter Kelly
Dist 1 - Steve Streatch
Dist 2 - Barry Dalrymple
Dist 3 - David Hendsbee
Dist 4 - Lorelei Nicoll
Dist 5 - Gloria McCluskey
Dist 6 - Andrew Younger
Dist 7 - Bill Karsten
Dist 8 - Jackie Barkhouse
Dist 9 - Jim Smith
Dist 10 - Mary Wile
Dist 11 - Jerry Blumenthal
Dist 12 - Dawn Sloane
Dist 13 - Sue Uteck
Dist 14 - Jennifer Watts
Dist 15 - Russell Walker
Dist 16 - Debbie Hum
Dist 17 - Linda Mosher
Dist 18 - Stephen Adams
Dist 19 - Brad Johns
Dist 20 - Bob Harvey
Dist 21 - Tim Outhit
Dist 22 - Reg Rankin
Dist 23 - Peter Lund

If you are unsure who the councillor is in your area, click here

Thank you.
Regards,

Iaian Archibald
Chair, Coastal Access Committee
Member at Large - HRM, SANS

CAC is lobbying Halifax Regional Council to fund the purchase of a piece of land in the area to ensure public access to the surf spot, which has been host to several high-profile surf competitions in recent years.

The tour was also attended by members of the media, including television crews from CBC and CTV, as well as about a dozen local surfers. Despite a decent swell, there were only two surfers in the water at the time due to strong onshore winds.

Access to Minutes has been in jeopardy since the shorefront property adjacent to the surf spot was purchased by a neighbouring resident, who has subdivided the land and plans to sell it.

The resident, who has done some initial land clearing, is apparently unhappy with surfers, who regularly walk through his property to get to the water.

To resolve the issue, CAC is asking HRM to buy a neighbouring strip of property, which runs from Cow Bay Road to the shore.

The plan would be to build a small parking lot next to the road and construct a path leading to the shore. The property contains a small pond, which could be crossed with the addition of a short boardwalk.

Access would be available to the public at large, not just surfers.

According to CAC co-chair Iaian Archibald, city council has set aside money for the project, and now must vote on whether to move forward with the land purchase. Council was expected to meet later on Friday to discuss the initiative, said Archibald, and a vote could take place within a couple of weeks.

When asked about CAC’s plan, Barkhouse was less forthcoming about council’s intentions. She wouldn’t say whether council was meeting to discuss the plan and suggested there were no immediate plans for a vote.

“Right now it’s on council’s wish list,” she said. When asked to explain, she declined to comment any further.

According to another CAC member who was in attendance during the tour, there is some resistance to the plan at council.

For more information on the CAC initiative at Minutes, email iarch@hotmail.com or surfridersns@gmail.com

Dear Council,

On behalf of the Surfriders Association of Nova Scotia, which represents the interest of thousands of surfers in our province, I would like to explain why SANS strongly supports the Coastal Access Committee and their work to save Minutes as an access point for the Nova Scotian public.

Second only to Lawrencetown Beach, Minutes is perhaps Nova Scotia’s premiere surfing location. As such, protecting surfers access to this place is to the benefit of not only for the surfing community but for all of HRM and Nova Scotia.

To illustrate why preserving a signature surfing location for Nova Scotia is absolutely essential, allow me to explain the economic, health and community development benefits of surfing:

• Surfing represents Nova Scotia’s fastest growing sport, and most definitely Nova Scotia’s fastest growing leisure-related industry.

• A rough approximation of the amount of money the surf industry brings to HRM annually would be 5-7 million, not including income from tourism for surfing.

• There is no other city in Canada with such prime access to surf

• The number of people surfing in our province has more than quadrupled in the last 10 years and is likely growing in numbers by about 30% each year.

• There are thousands of HRM residents that surf regularly (even daily!) and many who surf all year round. This is in addition to the thousands of people in Nova Scotia that will try the sport each year.

• The healthy, active living benefits of the growth of this sport has had a huge impact on Nova Scotia’s healthy living priorities

• Cow Bay, and especially Minutes, is used by surfers all year round at all times of the day. It is a hugely important centre of recreation for thousands of people in Nova Scotia

• Surfing has become Nova Scotia’s and particularly HRM’s signature sport. It makes HRM “cool” and is a huge draw in attracting young people and young professionals to settle here.

• The amount of surf schools, surf-related businesses and surf-related tourism opportunities has increased dramatically.

• Nova Scotia is now “on the map” internationally as a destination for surfing. This year the largest surfing competition in the world, The WQS Six Star, (equivalent to the PGA Championship in Golf) was examining Minutes as a location to hold this competition.

• Each year, hundreds of people visit Nova Scotia from all over Canada and the US to surf our, now famous, breaks. Hundreds of students choose to go to school in Nova Scotia so that they can surf

Council must recognize the tremendous benefits inherent in actively supporting surfing as a sport, recreation and community building tool in HRM.  HRM stands to reap huge economic and social reward by cultivating an enabling environment for surfing – of which access to Minutes, possibly Nova Scotia’s most iconic surf spot, is absolutely essential.

Council has the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to thousands of constituents who are devoted to surfing, and also to show its vision and leadership in supporting surfing - HRM’s signature sport and recreation. Public access to Minutes is the most crucial piece in Nova Scotia’s surfing future - the world will notice if Council demonstrates a visionary example. Our entire nation, province and HRM will forever be indebted for such a service to your constituency.  Please, do what is in your power, and save this important piece of land – it is crucial to the economic, social and active living development of HRM.

Sincerely,

Amy Schwartz
Vice President – Surfriders Association of Nova Scotia
Executive Director – The Nova Scotia Sea School

** I am a young professional who chose to move home to HRM from South Africa to have access to surf-breaks like Minutes.

Not so for Kevin Miller.

The 34-year-old Haligonian was not only focused on getting to the beach, he couldn’t wait to jump in the icy-cold Atlantic and test out the new surfboard he’s been building.

“It looks like what I want. Whether it works, I don’t know,” said Miller, while inspecting his freshly shellacked 5-foot, 8-inch surfing vessel. “It’s on my list to get it out before Christmas. I’m anxious to see if it works.”

Miller, a fitness and sports director at the CFB Shearwater gym, was one of eight - some would say crazy - Maritime surfers who took part in a surfboard building course at the Bloomfield Centre in North-end Halifax the past two weekends.

Surfers came from as far away as Cape Breton and New Brunswick to take part in what is likely the only course of its kind in Canada.

The course was put on by the Nova Scotia Sea School, a non-profit organization that runs sailing and boat-building programs. It was the third time the school has hosted the course, and more are being planned.

The driving force behind the course is Sea School Executive Director Amy Schwartz, an avid surfer who grew up in the Chezzetcook area, near several surf spots.

“I had a friend who was shaping his own board in his basement, and when I saw it I thought, ‘Wow, you can really make beautiful boards pretty affordably,’” said Schwartz, 28. “I was about one year in as Director at the Sea School and I thought, ‘Why not offer it as a Sea School course?’”

In an upstairs classroom at the Bloomfield Centre, eight boards lie on supports, drying in formation like beds in a hospital ward. Course instructor Pat Bannister walks among the boards examining them as if he were a doctor checking on his patients.

A 35-year-old master corporal in the Canadian army, Bannister has been surfing for years and represented Canada at the World Surfing Games in Portugal last month.

“I make all my own boards,” said Bannister, who is also President of the Surfriders Association of Nova Scotia. “I’ve done lots of trial and error.”

Over the years, Bannister has built about a dozen surfboards. Thanks to his experience, Bannister was able to help his students avoid the mistakes he made in the past.

“All the boards turned out a lot better than my first one, that’s for sure,” he said. “You won’t be able to tell whether they were bought in a store or not.”

The board building process starts with choosing a size and shape. There are plenty to choose from, from 10-foot longboards to short and fat ‘fish’, to thin and skinny ‘flyers’. Some students in the Sea School course used Bannister’s templates, others crafted their own.

The students then cut and carved pieces of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam (similar to Styrofoam) into their desired sizes and shapes. Bannister acquired the pieces of foam - referred to as ‘blanks’ - from Truefoam in Dartmouth.

Once shaped, the foam is then ‘glassed’. This is a process where the foam is covered in perforated fiberglass cloth and coated with a sticky caramel-like epoxy resin. When the resin hardens and drys, the boards are then sanded.

It’s during the glassing process when drawings and designs are added to the boards, giving them their distinctive character. Schwartz added some unique fabric to her board while glassing.

“The fabric is a traditional print from Rwanda. My mom works there sometimes. It’s green with black fishies. I was planning on making a dress with it, but I figure I will be able to admire the fabric more if it’s on my board.”

Jeremy Morris is building a 9-foot, 4-inch longboard. The 32-year-old consultant with Cisco Systems  has gone against the grain having moved to Halifax from Calgary a few years ago. Normally a shortboard surfer, Morris has wanted to build a longboard for some time.

“It’s what is missing from my quiver,” he said. “I’m really hoping it will be a good nose-rider.”

During glassing, Morris placed a large Henna tree design on the bottom of his board. On top, he added some black Henna tree flowers, which look kind of paisley-like.

“I like the artwork on the box of tea I drink, so I contacted the artist in Colorado and she put some designs together for me,” said Morris, who’s hoping to christen his vessel sometime in the next couple of weeks.

For the students who took the course, building their surfboards was a labour of love. And while the $695 course fee may seem a bit expensive to non-surfers, it’s a small price to pay for the rush that comes with catching a wave on your own creation.

“How many things in your house are handmade?” said Bannister, who points out that most boards nowadays are factory-made in Asia. “It’s a nice thing to have.”