It's a dark night, we have been traveling for several hours on an unpaved path in poor condition, and we are exhausted when the van brakes and finally stops. Around us stand huge fir trees. We are in a small clearing at the end of a fjord. There is an old wooden dock where we see a semi-rigid boat. Two bearded Canadians take out their flashlights, and they dazzle us. These are our guides: Bobby and Phil.

After 11 hours of flight, 2 hours by shuttle, 2 hours by ferry, 6 hours by road and a few hours on an unpaved path, we finally reach our goal: Spring Island, our final destination. Now we must load 12 boardbags, 8 people, three drones, two cameras and a camera case onto the boat. And there's no way we will sacrifice the beer.

So we go in blindly and in an overloaded boat, slaloming between reefs and islands that we barely notice. It's cold, very cold, and it begins to rain a kind of melted snow. We are all hidden under jackets and hoods. Paul and David are wrapped in their sleeping bags in the front and we try not to freeze. We cast furtive glances around us. We can only make out the outline of large forests against the background of clouds, but a bright blue color attracts our attention: We are sailing over a school of plankton, which start to glow at the passage of the boat. The water shimmers around us. It's an unlikely spectacle that we take as a sign of welcome to Western Canada.

As we approach Spring Island, we learn two new pieces of information: The island is 2km², but is home to about ten wolves, brought here from the coast of Vancouver.

So for 8 days, there will be as many wolves as humans on the island.

The second thing we learn is that there is no dock, and we must jump into the water to help the boat maneuver and unload our things. With hard, icy feet, we walk up the pebble beach that leads to the camp, arms full of boardbags.

Spring Island is a stretch of lost forest on the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island, located between Brooks Peninsula and Nootka Island. The nearest village on the coast is Kyuquot, and is far from being a metropolis. There is only one grocery store for restocking, and it is only open three days a week, four hours per day!

The camp is located on the east side of Spring Island in a small sheltered bay. It has a common room made of wood and tarps: rudimentary, but charming and practical. We sleep in tents at the edge of the forest along the beach, three people per tent. After creating a strategy to avoid snoring riders, some realize that they have forgotten their inflatable mattresses, and so end up sleeping on piles of worn boardbags and wet ponchos throughout their stay.

There is obviously no shower, but two great toilets with 360° views of the forest. The only modern comfort we allow is a small generator to charge the batteries for the cameras and drones.

We spend a difficult first night: there is wind, it rains on the tent and jet lag makes sleep difficult. So we get out of bed early, eager to explore the surroundings.
Almost no humans come to the island, so the fauna is developed and tranquil: When the tide is low, the wolves come to look for seafood in front of the tents, royal eagles nest in the pines above us, and otters float peacefully on their backs in the camp's small sheltered bay.

This kind of trip requires a lot of patience and physical resources. Comfort is rudimentary, and you musn't expect a good hot shower after the session. We left with a small motivated team: Pauline VALESA, David TONIJUAN, Paul SERIN, Camille DELANNOY & Etienne LHOTE. For the media: Olivier SAUTET with the camera and Robin CHRISTOL for photos.

Our three guides each have a specialty:

Bobby is the boss of Wild Pacific Expeditions. He runs expeditions all over British Columbia, usually by boat. He knows the coast and the good spots, and takes us there in his semi-rigid boat. He's a surfer, and he easily understands how we need to shoot our images.

Phil is from Quebec. One evening when surfing was poor, he decided to go to the Pacific coast. The following day, he hitchhiked across Canada to reach Tofino. Passionate about surfing and wildlife, he helps us with the equipment and in our choice of spots.

Rowan is a pure local. He's been on expeditions in the Vancouver forests since he was very young. He knows the fauna, the flora and the island in general. He guides us ashore and manages the logistics.

Without cell reception, we have to listen to the weather reports on a specific radio frequency. The wind is predicted to be low and NW, but strengthening throughout the week. So we set off to explore the W/NW coast of the island to look for a spot.

The forest is an untouched ecosystem. We follow a small path crossing the island, and the many trees that have fallen across it make the walk challenging. We need about 20 minutes to reach the other side. Crossing through the last fir trees, we emerge onto a large sand beach, perfectly exposed to the predicted wind. Islands and reefs form a barrier around the bay, high enough to protect from the chop, but low enough not to break the wind. It seems very promising! The spot is beautiful. The beach and the islands are lined with huge pine trees. The sun sets and we see the Brooks Peninsula in the distance. We are just waiting for the wind!

4 days of exploration follow, searching for the wind. We wander between the Brooks Peninsula and Rugged Point, but there is nothing to be done. We will not put a fin in the water. The wind is blowing at around 5 knots, and the ocean is flat.

"This is the time to locate good spots in the vicinity, to cross paths with bears on the coast, to fish for dinner..."

We even build a slider: Vancouver beaches are filled with clean, well-cut logs, which at first glance seems odd. Rowan explains that the sawmills transport their wood by sea, and sometimes some trunks escape during transport, so they often end up stacked on the beaches. This makes it very practical to build a fire almost anywhere, very dangerous for the boats in the area, and seems not too bad for sliding over with a board. We spent hours setting up this trunk on a small island, only to never have the right tide with the right wind to use it. It will probably always be planted in the same place and fishermen will always wonder how the sea was able to set a trunk in this position!

At the end of the fifth day, we can finally get wet. A good sized swell is announced and it should wrap around Brooks far enough to reach a nice beachbreak. The wind should rise in the evening so we opt for a first SUP/Surf session. So we head out early in the morning to the Brooks Peninsula.

After a short boat ride along the coast, we arrive at a bay in the south of the peninsula. We are behind the peak. The swell looks small and we lose hope... But suddenly Bobby accelerates sharply to avoid a nice set that comes in. The swell rises, breaks and opens well! Five short minutes later, we are all in the water, at the peak, ready to surf our first waves in British Columbia. The water is translucent blue, and the waves roll right along a rocky cliff. We remain in the water a few hours, then a few gusts of wind begin to come in... This announces the start of the Kite session.

We sail to Brooks Point, where the wind and the swell hit the coast in full force. A group of unruly sea lions are waiting for us, and there is a right hander peak that looks good. The wind is light but navigable, Etienne and Camille rush to the water for a wave session... We will not be able to film because the boat can't approach the wave close enough to get a usable angle. After hours in the water and on the boat, we go back to camp tired, happy to have been able to surf, but frustrated by the Kite session...

On the 6th day the conditions seem more promising, with a much stronger wind expected, so we decided to camp all day on the west coast of Spring. We pack things for lunch and dinner, and we go through the forest. We make a big fire to warm ourselves and wait patiently for the wind, until the first gusts…

At 15-20 knots, irregular and cold, several crazed gusts pass over us and the wind tends to turn on/off. The riders take turns in pairs, David and Pauline then Paul and Camille. Two warm up around the fire while two are in the water. It may be our only windy day, so they do a series of sessions from noon until night.

"The conditions are rough but we wear smiles."

We are at the end of the world with friends, in the middle of nowhere and we have wind to ride and fire to warm us.

We cross the forest one last time to return to camp. The freestyle session is a wrap!

On the seventh and last day for us on the island, we look for strapless conditions. At breakfast in front of a map of the area, we talk with Bobby to find out which spot will get the most wind.

We choose to head to Rugged Point, a natural park just southeast of Spring Island. The swell is up so we pass inside the fjords to reach our destination, and we notice immediately that the wind blows strong: the Venturi effect is at work and Rugged's peninsula takes a full 20 knots established onshore on the beach on the North side. Etienne and Camille rig up and get in the water. The conditions are perfect, the wind is regular, it is beautiful and the backdrop is incredible.

The fjord's chop creates small kickers. Camille chains the double-front and Etienne the aerials, then the session ends on the beach to grill corn on the fire. This is our last night in the wilderness. Tomorrow we head off to Tofino, further south of Vancouver. The evening ends at the camp, around the fire, with beers in hand, to discuss these privileged moments in nature.

"We spent all our evenings discussing, debating, laughing."

We were a lonely group with no one for miles around, but we never had a lonely moment. Since there was no cell reception, no one had their eyes on a screen and the group moments were much more dynamic than usual.

We lived thoroughly in the moment, enjoying the luxury provided to us by British Columbia. We lived in tents, smelling the seaweed and defecating in the woods. This return to the quasi-savage state does us good. It rejuvenates and helps us take a step back from our everyday life.

It is noon on the eighth day. A seaplane lands and 6 of us embark for Tofino, a surfer village further south of Vancouver. Bobby, Rowan, Phil, David and I set out on a boat with all the gear. We head to our port of arrival, and we will drive for 6 hours to get to the others.

We are doing a three-day stop to Tofino because there are several very well-oriented bays for the wave conditions. When we finally joined the others with David, everyone was already under the spell of the place and tried to convince me to move the MANERA headquarters here!?!

Indeed, the village seems timeless. Surfing is very present everywhere and there is a kind of modern hippie atmosphere... We head to the beach in the back of our rented vans. But despite all our research, the wind will not meet us there... We spend time in the water surfing, waiting for the slightest gust, but nothing happens. It will be glassy every day.

We are surfing south of Long Beach when we see Olivier's drone passing over us, which is strange because we have not planned a surf shot?
Suddenly a powerful spray erupts from the surface of the water, billowing towards the sky... A whale! She was not more than ten meters from us, and we had not even noticed her. She moved around us, occupying the best peaks to the detriment of the surfers and stirring the sandy bottom to find something to eat. It was a great departure gift.

We will finish the traditional last evening on the premises of the Tofino Brewing Co, with some local salmon sushi and a Beer-pong table...

In the plane it is time to take stock and prepare the right answer to the question: "How was it?" Good, awesome, incredible... ?

"The truth is that it was indescribable."

We ended up on Rugged Point Beach, untangling our Kite lines over bear tracks. One morning Etienne found his neoprene boots devoured by the wolves. We surfed with a whale...

Even if the conditions are sometimes rough, changeable & unpredictable, we would not exchange our seats for a more classic destination. Cold weather, adventure & lack of comfort create lasting memories that only those who have experienced them can understand.

Our mind still shivers at the memory of these sessions,
Our hands are still shaking at the frozen memory of that water

Leaving this place is hard,
Home is no different, but we are.

Julien Salles