We arrived in Ashville just in time for Chris Gratmans to sneak us into his dorm room for a dose of Anchor Man and a preview of what we’d be doing the next day.

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We made it to the Black River in New York on a cold rainy day with marginal water levels. It didn’t take long to realize that we were pussy Canadian’s that didn’t like the cold. So we skipped the Black and headed straight for West Virginia. Read more

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We were fortunate this year. The 2^nd annual Lawrencetown Surfdown took place and it was nothing but truly entertaining and fun for all.

Dustin Barker and Alex Liot goin over final preparations.

The waves were truly world class today. The surf varied from 3 meters (9.8 feet) to start and 5 meters (12.8 feet) at the end. 22 competitors from Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia hit the surf to compete to win the SurfDown.

Setting up the Red Bull tent before the event.

Red Bull really got behind our event this year. They set up their tent to keep spectators out of the rain and the Red bull staff provided kayakers with much needed energy between surf sessions.

Instead of going with heats this year we the event organizers decided to go with an expression session with all competitors entering the surf at the same time to compete for the title.

Surfers getting ready to compete.

This was by far the best way to run the event. Conventional competitions involve the participants surfing for short periods of time, with long cold waits between heats. The expression session enabled paddlers to surf for excess of four hours. Everyone left today with a big smile on their face, there were no complaints and everything ran smoothly.

Team Canada Manager Harold Cox catching a big wave.

This was my first experience surfing ocean waves as well as Erick Burleys. Burley and I paddled out to the point and ended up catching the same big wave, after styling dually surf we were hooked instantly.

Ocean surfing is another derivative of paddling that keeps things incredibly interesting.For a guy like Dustin to have this kind of whitewater phenomenon in his back yard is incredible. The NB paddlers will definitely be back in full force when the wave breaks again. A good feature is always fun to paddle but the people that surround it make the difference and thanks to all the Nova Scotia paddlers and surfers that made a good day on the water fantastic all around.

As far as the competition went today, it was utter sweetness. My school girl giggling whenever I got worked or caught a nice sized wave added some structure points to all the style I had on the surf, placed me third in the competition standings.

Me (Tim Cox) Styling.

Second place honors went to Alex Liot a true surfer. This guy can rip and showed us what classic surfing is all about.

The guy that made this event and fantastic atmosphere happen took top prize of platinum dog puke all over the floor at the after party. No, seriously this happened. Platinum dog puke and he got to clean up his prize too. This guy made the event what it was and also threw down like he can. He by far was king of the air, with a variety of aerial maneuvers and an epic air screw that dwarfed the rest of the air to be had today. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the man himself, Dustin Barker.

Dustin Barker Relaxing before the SurfDown.

It was great to see Team AtlanticKayaker place 1,2,3. AtlanticKayaker has been putting the Real East on the Map. Keep your eyes open for big things coming out of the East Coast.

Special thanks to Red Bull, Teva and CKNS (Canoe Kayak Nova Scotia) that supported our event.

Keep your eyes open for the online video coming soon.

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We made it to the Ottawa greeted with clear skies, 26 degree (Celsius) weather and a prime level for Garburator, what more could we ask for! How about a free house to stay in only minute’s from the put-in! All we had to do is feed the cat and leave the house as it was when we got their. Easy enough right? Read more

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