But as chill as Raph is, he had mentioned a remote surf break often enough for all of us to get the hint. Raph didn't want to control our itinerary and left it somewhat flexible so we could work around the weather and whatever the VSSL guys wanted to do. The water was like liquid gold! As we sat there in awe, drinking our morning coffee with the smell of breakfast being cooked for us below decks, the vibe was high. I scrambled out of my bunk and onto the deck and was floored by the amazing sunset lighting up the boat and the glass calm harbor we had anchored in. Waking up ain’t always easy, especially after a late-night celebrating the start of an adventure! There was an unmistakable orange glow flooding the cabin and, unless the boat was on fire, it could really only mean one thing the sun was coming up! I could hear the early risers’ voices escalate in volume as Mother Nature cranked the sunrise up to 11. The guys were STOKED! Or maybe they were just glad to get off the road :). When I was planning this trip out a few months ago I thought, "There's a good chance we're gonna want to kill each other before the trip really even starts!".īut my apprehensions were alleviated as soon as we boarded the Badger and met Raph and his crew. Then it's another 1.5 hrs plugging through rough waters to get to our home base in a remote bay (undisclosed location) at the western end of the sound. Once we hit Cougar Creek we still had to unload all the gear from the VSSL Jeeps, load everything onto the tender, then "commute" to the Mothership and unload, unpack and organize. The last few hours of the drive are on rough logging roads so by the time we got there, we were already pretty road weary. Just getting to Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island from VSSL HQ takes 6 hrs of driving plus a 2hr ferry ride. I was asking them to take some valuable personal time off right at the beginning of the school year (most of us have young kids), and also at the start of the very busy retail season to travel 8 hours to get on a boat we had only seen pictures of and to be away from families and totally offline for 4 days. These guys are kinda like the family you get to choose. In my mind it was just a matter of logistics and timing and, of course, the journey just to get there! Raph talked about what the trip would entail and he was pretty much listing off all my favorite things. "You should round up the VSSL guys and take them out on the Badger", Raph casually dropped when we were pulling up a crab trap. When we attach someone to our brand - sure, their experiences and expertise are important - but we strongly value WHO they are as much as what they can do. Needless to say, he checks all the boxes. To top it off, he's active duty Canadian Coast Guard. But not only that, he's also a VSSL Voyager because he's extremely competent in the outdoors: hunting, fishing, hiking, and boating. He's traveled the world and conquered waves with the likes of Kelly Slater and Shane Dorian for years. If you know Raph or follow him on IG, you know he's an old school master of cold weather surfing and was Canada's best surfer for a couple of decades (he might still be!). I didn’t realize it at the time, but that conversation led to one of my all time favourite adventures. Raph mentioned that he's partnering with a friend to do adventure charters off the wild west coast of Vancouver Island aboard a 74' former Canadian Navy training ship, built in 1955 (the Yag Badger). This past May I was in Tofino and Raph (VSSL Voyager Raph Bruhwhiler) took my son and I out on his boat to show us around and find some crabs and oysters.
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