The Surfing Association of Nova Scotia (SANS) will be hosting the annual Nor’Easter surf contest on Saturday, April 10 in HRM. Location to be determined. If there are no waves, SANS will try to hold the contest on Sunday, April 11.

If the surf conditions are not contestable on either the 10th or 11th, the contest will be called off. There will be no waiting period. By Tuesday, April 6, SANS will announce on its website whether or not the contest is on.

Registration is $20 for entry into one division. Entry into each additional division is $10. Surfers can register for the contest at your local surf shop. Registration is now open and will close April 4.

Here is the trailer for the documentary on winter surfing in Nova Scotia, which was broadcast on the CBC television show Land and Sea. The entire doc can be viewed on the CBC website

Taking time for himself

Sitka is proud to announce the addition of Maui local, Wes Larsen, to their Surf Team. Wes’s full profile and more photos are available on Sitka’s website.

Click to enlarge

While the debate about the causes for global warming rages on, renown Halifax-based photographer Yassine Ouhilal has proof positive that warming is indeed taking place in the Arctic.

On Friday, March 12, Ouhilal will be opening an exhibit of his Thawscapes collection at Halifax’s Argyle Fine Art, 1869 Upper Water St. On display will be a series of exquisite limited edition, pure pigment on watercolour prints along with select, unique edition pieces.

Thawscapes explores Ouhilal’s deep interest in Arctic geology. The landscapes which appear in the collection are new, revealed for the first time by rapidly receding glaciers.

“At first I was unaware of how quickly global warming was altering the Arctic landscape,” said Ouhilal. “Now, with the second warmest year in a row on record, the changes are accelerating exponentially.

“Some of the glaciers I visited are disappearing at incredible rates and will be gone in our lifetime. Upon this realization, I experienced mixed feelings of awe at the beauty of these ancient glaciers last dance and sadness at the stark reality that in a very near future, my images will be the only testament of where these glaciers once stood.”

Thawscapes is at once frightening for its bleak reality about our frail ecosystem and haunting in its capture of earth’s shifting natural beauty.

A opening reception for Ouhilal’s Thawscapes exhibit will take place on Friday from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Live music will be performed by Montreal’s thisquietarmy. A short film will be presented during the opening.

Ouhilal’s classically trained aesthetic has brought him worldwide success as a photographer with editorial work in dozens of publications, including Outside Magazine, The National Post, GQ and The Surfer’s Journal.

He has also received accolades for a recent short film titled Arctic Surf, a chronicle of an adventure of epic proportions in search of un-surfed waves in remote Arctic regions. The film was featured at the Atlantic Film Festival last September.

Ouhilal’s commercial clients include the likes of Eddie Bauer, Quiksilver and more. His artwork resides in private and public collections in over a dozen countries. (Join Yassine Ouhilal Photography on Facebook by clicking here)

Following the resounding success of the inaugural Cold Water Classic Series blending adventure, exploration, surf and competition, the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series makes a much-anticipated return for 2010.

Last year saw the series push the boundaries of surfing in a way never seen before with five ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) events exploring spectacular surf spots throughout remote corners of the globe with the word’s best surfers competing for the prestige of winning the O’Neill CWC Series and the $50,000 prize money.

“It’s pretty much the next best thing to winning the ASP World Title,” says World Tour star Jordy Smith.

It’s not only the prize money and accolade, but the integration of exploration and adventure into surf competitions that the surfers themselves relish.

“To bring that feeling of searching out waves with your friends into competition is amazing,” says Jordy Smith.

With each location on the series serving up some of the most challenging high quality waves on the tour last year, the CWC Series will once again return to the start in the wilds of Tasmania, Australia on March 23rd before heading to Scotland, South Africa, Canada and Santa Cruz, California.

“The inaugural year of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic threw up incredible waves in some of the most remote and wild locations you could ever imagine to travel let alone host a surf competition,” said O’Neill Global Event Manager Bernhard Ritzer. “These are locations where most of the professional surfers who spend their lives travelling around the world have never even been,” he said.

“And within each location the quality of waves was beyond anything we could have even wished for,” said Bernhard. “This year we want to delve deeper into each location. With the mobile event format we can discover more potential and share this globally with the live webcasts.”

O’Neill Coldwater Classic Tasmania March 23 – 28, 2010
Starting in the northwest corner of Tasmania – Australia’s Island state – the series will commence with all the ingredients of an explorative surf trip as Jarrad Howse – last year’s CWC Series runner up discovered:

“Landing in Launceston I had that grommet like feeling I used to get when my dad would take us camping as kids – excited about exploring, surfing new waves and happy to be off the beaten track miles from the city and out of phone reception,” said Jarrad.

Exposed to the savage weather and the abundance of Southern Ocean swell, the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Tasmania encapsulates all that this series represents. In the isolated town of Marrawah, both uncrowded on land and sea, the world-class powerful reef and beach breaks are fully exploited with the mobile format of the event.

Jordy who plans to return to retain his title said: “Winning the event in Tasmania was cool. I’d never been there before, so it was good to experience their waves and culture. The waves I got in Tasmania were some of the best waves I had all year.”

And are the cold raw conditions in any way a deterrent? “Yes, yes and yes,” says Jordy. “But with amazing waves you can definitely deal with it.”

O’Neill Coldwater Classic Scotland April 13 – 19, 2010
The cold is one of the defining features of this, the most northern event in professional surfing. Straight from Tasmania, the CWC Series heads to Thurso – the most northerly town on the British mainland. With the powerful reef breaks of Thurso East and Brims Ness, as well as a multitude of beach breaks available for the mobile format, the quality of the event is worth the endurance of the water temperatures which hover around 7 degrees celsius at this time.

O’Neill Coldwater Classic South Africa July 26 – Aug 1, 2010
A South African winter in Cape Town awaits surfers on the next stop of the Series. Last year represented the first time in 25 years that an event had been held in the Cape Town area. It was also probably the last time that a storm of that scale blew into the area to create a perfect final to the event, and also reiterate its billing as the wildest event in professional surfing.

O’Neill Coldwater Classic Canada October 9 – 15, 2010
Then it’s up to the northern hemisphere’s winter for the fourth stop on the series, on Vancouver Island, Canada. Better known for its snow than surf – and thus justifiably the coldest event in surfing – last year saw this series stop mark the first ever ASP sanctioned event in Canada. And in a fairytale ending it was local Tofino surfer, Peter Devries who won the competition.

O’Neill Coldwater Classic California October 19 – 24, 2010
And finally to Santa Cruz, the birthplace of O’Neill and the home of founder and wetsuit inventor Jack O’Neill as well as the perfect point break of Steamer Lane. Santa Cruz plays host to the final stop on the tour where the series winner will be crowned in October and awarded the $50,000 prize money.

www.oneill.com
www.oneill.com/cwc

The province’s Department of Health Promotion and Protection (HPP) has deemed the Surfing Association of Nova Scotia (SANS) eligible for government funding.

The decision was based on an application submitted by SANS under the HPP’s Recreation and Physical Activity grant program.

Having been deemed eligible, SANS will now apply for actual funding. If successful, SANS will receive core funding over the next four years.

Once allotted, funding will be used by SANS to fulfill goals outlined in its strategic plan. The goals include helping build the province’s surf community, supporting recreational and amateur surfing and promoting coastal protection.

“Basically what this funding would allow us to do is put the rad back in radical,” said SANS Co-President Graham Bondt.

With the eligibility decision, SANS has passed the most difficult phase of a long, complex application process that began more than two years ago.

In addition to HPP, SANS has been approved for full membership in Sport Nova Scotia, a non-profit association comprised of provincial sport governing bodies.

As a member of Sport Nova Scotia, SANS will have access to support services, such as fund-raising, planing and marketing expertise, which it can drawn on to help achieve its strategic goals.

Team Canada’s three surfers were in the water today at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Auckland, New Zealand.

The surfers include Nomme and Diego Mignot, who are competing in the under-16 category. Both boys live in Mexico and hold Canadian passports.

The third surfer is 16-year-old Jacob Albury of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, who is competing in the under-18 category.

Canadian Surfing Association (CSA) President John Fluke is currently in New Zealand with the team and sent back this report:

“Yesterday was the first day of the competition and the conditions have changed from sweet waves to a wind-blown mess.

Our boys in the 16 and under (Nomme and Diego Mignot) put in a strong showing but did not advance into the second round. They will be surfing in the repercharge this afternoon.

Jacob Albury drew two of the best surfers in the world in his heat – Conner Coffin (USA) and Dane Staples of (South Africa). But this did not stop him from putting in a strong showing. Jacob will be surfing today in the boys under 18 repercharge.

I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that the level of surfing Team Canada has shown has been the best in all the years I have been coming to these events as Canadian President.

That’s all from New Zealand.”

Taghazout. Click to enlarge

Surf: 4/5 = Great but seasons make a difference here.
Price: 4/5 = Cheap!
Party: 1/5 = Good luck. They’re strict on alcohol.
Localism: 2/5 = It’s not your wave, and don’t forget it.
Thieves: 1/5 = Pick pockets and car break-ins are common, very common.

Time Frame: Oct/Nov 2009

Where do I start on this short story of a surf trip? With the most important points I guess.

How to get there: I’d recommend using one of Europe’s low cost carriers once you already have a flight to one of Europe’s major airports (e.g. London, Frankfurt, Paris). Ryanair, Easyjet and Royal Air Maroc are pretty safe bets to get from Europe to Morocco. I flew return with Ryanair from Frankfurt for $120 CDN taxes-in.

Here’s a basic rule of thumb: A 100 km bus or train ride costs around 25 DH or about $3.50 CDN.

Also don’t give into the snake charmers; rumor has it, that they sew the snakes mouth shut from the inside so they can’t bite. This also makes it quite tricky for them to eat.

We went from Fez in the north to Agadir and Marrakesh in the south. If I could do it again I would recommend starting out in the south, Agadir or Marrakesh areas, and work your way north.

King Cobra

There are more places to get decent gear (boards, wetsuit, fins) than in the north if you didn’t bring your own, and Marrakesh is good practice for dealing with people down there, especially if your not familiar with Arabic or French.

Depending on how long you stay there you should be a bartering king by the time you leave.

So that's where goats come from?!

Having said that, a good place to start out is Tagazout just north of Agadir. It should cost you four to six Dirham’s (DH) or about 0.60 cents for the eight-kilometre bus ride from Agadir local bus stop to Tagazout.

Once you’re there, take a stroll down the only street in the town and see what you can find for a place to stay. Many faux guides will offer you a place to stay through their “brother” or “friend” or “his brother’s friend’s cousin.”

Sometimes it’s a hit and other times they are just wasting your time. Don’t be afraid to say no more then a few times. They’re persistent.

A few of the random people we met provided some of the funniest situations on the trip by offering us a well-argued deal. You’ve got to work for a deal there as I think deal-making is a national pastime.

Getting in.

In Tagazout there is Banana Beach, which is the main beach, and moving northwest along the coast from there you will find Hash Point, Anchor Point and Boilers (about 3 km north). These produce some of the most accessible surf in Morocco, although it’s more inconsistent then the beaches further north.

If you don’t have your own gear, and there’s a good chance of that considering what airlines are charging to fly surfboards, your best chances to rent gear, in all of Morocco, is here. It’s about 80 DH to 100 DH per day with a wetsuit. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.

You’ll learn quickly that prices are very flexible depending on the nature of the seller. So if you’re planning on visiting some other breaks further north or south, get your board here for a good price and take it with you. Like anywhere else, expect to leave a deposit or photocopy of ID.

Other places with surf breaks we went to don’t have any boards, or what they do have is so bad you’d be better off trying to surf the lid of a garbage can. At least it wouldn’t be beaten, buckled and brown.

Wave

Solid Surf

From here you could head south, but you’ll be getting into the Western Sahara, which isn’t much of a tourist destination. Could be due to there being one of the largest minefields in the world and the 45-degree heat, but we didn’t take our chances to confirm this.

Sunset in Taghazout

Your best bet is to head north to a few other surfing breaks near Essaouira, Safi, Qualidia and El-Jadida. If there’s swell you should have no problems finding waves. The local buses aren’t too pleasant but you can tough it out if you want to save a few bucks.

If you don’t have a lot of time, renting a vehicle would be best, but be careful of break-ins and other various other obstacles on the roads (e.g. sheep, mopeds, horses, people, children and taxis).

Longboarders heaven

However if you are there for a longer time and don’t want to rent a vehicle, use CTM buses. They are clean, affordable and usually on time. We used them with no complaints!

If you follow the coast you will eventually come across Casablanca. This large, dirty, yet very historic city is one of the few places in Morocco with a good nightlife. So get your party-on here while you can (Note: Hit up the Spanish bar near the central market; the party is in the basement).

Longboarders Heaven take-2

After this you can either head further north along to coast until you reach Rabat and cut inland from there or continue to the Straight of Gibraltar. There is surf from Rabat north but it is less developed and sometimes difficult to access.

Lastly, I would strongly recommend staying at least one night in the Medieval Imperial City of Fez. One of the oldest cities in the world and the world’s first city to have a university; it’s a very unique place!

World

Excellent leather products (make sure you see the Tanneries, they’re breathtaking!), great food and crisp mountain air makes Fez a great place to relax when there’s no swell in the forecast.

Big thanks to our friends at Surf Berbere for helping us with info and pics! Visit their site for amazing trips at unbeatable value.

Nomme Mignot

Nomme Mignot and his cousin Diego Mignot will be representing Canada in the under-16 division at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Auckland, New Zealand (January 20-28).

The two surfers currently live in Mexico but hold Canadian passports. Both surfers regularly compete in Mexico and are nationally ranked.

Canadian Surfing Association (CSA) President John Fluke announced on Thursday that Nomme and Diego would be joining Team Canada. Last week, it was believed that Nomme would be representing Mexico.

Sixteen-year-old Jacob Albury of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is the third member of the team. Albury, who was born in Ontario and has lived in the Bahamas and Nova Scotia, is in Grade 11 at Park View Education Centre in Bridgewater.

Albury took first place in the open boys division at the Shut up and Surf Classic contest in October at Cow Bay, Nova Scotia.

He will compete in the under-18 division at the World Juniors.