portrait of a surfer in Tofino
Ali Bernardi: "When I fist paddled out I had a moment where I thought there's no light at the end of the tunnel, but ended up pushing through and made it out. Once you get that first wave and you warm up you feel like you're getting in the groove of a normal freesurf (as compared to contest surfing). Cox Bay is so unpredictable most of the time, I try and surf here as much as I can. It helps to know where the (sand)banks are better. It was a short period swell coming from the west so it was definitely hard to line up but the left were more consistent than the rights."