In a tiny little town at the end of the road on Vancouver Island, lives Pete Devries. The surf is good there, good enough to raise a local surfer like Pete who can ride waves for a living, but perhaps not quite good enough to justify the long trek for traveling surfers who are more likely to visit the jungles of Indonesia than to brave the freezing-cold waters of Canada. Nothing like harsh conditions to act as a crowd-deterrent.
Pete’s latest film: Born Pacific produced with his wetsuit sponsor, Manera (who make damn good wetsuits by the way), highlights his humble beginnings in Tofino, at a time when wetsuit technology was so rudimentary that the only season Pete could surf was during the summer, which is definitely not when Canadian waves are best. Pete, and the rest of Tofino’s surf population, can definitely appreciate the improvements in wetsuit technology since then, allowing them to tackle the freezing-cold winter near home.
Featuring old VHS footage of Pete’s younger years, along with his now spectacular surfing set against the rugged, snow-covered backdrop of coastal Canada, Born Pacific is well worth a watch. Or two.
