One of our favourite experiences two years ago was our unplanned trip to Neah Bay to attend the Hobuck Hoedown. It was a last minute plan and we were blown away by the location, the waves and the incredibly welcoming festival group. The event went into hiatus last year and came back again this year as a non-profit event run by a passionate group of local volunteers. We knew we couldn’t miss a chance to attend a second time and luckily it fit perfectly with our fairly vague schedule!

We got to Hobuck a few days ahead of the competition and had a great time surfing and generally playing around on the beach and in the water…

On our last trip Hunter and Tim were zen surf masters in their kayaks – Tofino, Hobuck and California. I just didn’t find it that fun, mostly because I wasn’t crazy about the cartwheel crashes in my kayak, and opted to stick with my surf board most of the time. Two years later and I’m a stronger kayaker with a smaller boat – WOW… I get it!!! It was sooo much fun that I didn’t want to get out of the water and you couldn’t get the smile off my face. I would only quit each day because I was exhausted.

We have spent the summer talking with Hunter about competition and how it’s about going out and trying your best and just having fun, especially at his age. He has poked at both Tim and I to ask why we aren’t choosing to compete so I decided to enter the competition with Hunter as a fun togetherness thing. We both entered into the “skookum” class which was a mixed boat class for those that were not looking to collect points as part of the race circuit.

All week the waves had been around 2-3 feet and I was having a lot of fun. Saturday morning we arrived at the beach to see 3-5 ft waves in very tight sets. Getting out was the hardest part and probably consumed 80% of the 19 minutes that you get in the heat! My first paddle out I got pummelled twice with waves landing directly on top of me and just cartwheeling my boat backwards and upside down. If it wasn’t for all this “role modelling” stuff I probably would have bailed after the first 5 minutes as 2 other competitors did. I ended up third in my heat but had a fairly low score due to my lack of ability to get out to catch the green breaking waves vs the foam pile.

I got off the water feeling somewhat concerned for Hunter. The waves had dropped a little bit as the tide was coming in but were still quite a force to be reckoned with.  He got tossed around a fair bit but luckily did not end up getting pummelled as much as I did. Hunter had a couple of strong surfs in the last 2 minutes and came in 2nd in his heat. Top 4 went into the finals on Sunday and Hunter made it into spot #4!!!

Sunday was almost the exact opposite of a day. We had an offshore vs onshore breeze and the waves were few and far between, with most being in the 1-2 ft range. The difficulty in the finals was actually finding waves to catch! Hunter was against 3 adult men who were all paddling sea kayaks, which made it much easier for them to get some propulsion going to catch a green developing wave. We came up with a bit of a strategy by watching an earlier heat and decided that his play boat advantage was being able to catch the waves closer into shore just as they are about to break and this worked out well. He ended up 2nd overall which was pretty fabulous and well earned!

Overall it was a fabulous week at Hobuck. The campground is wonderful with both a general camping area (with washrooms, showers, drinking water & showers) for $20 and an RV area (with full services) for $30, both of which are a bargain. You are right on the beach and have amazing sunsets every night. We were lucky to listen to a Makah Elder storyteller on Saturday night and it was neat to see and hear how similar their culture is to the Coastal Tlingit that we know from home.

Although Neah Bay is fairly out of the way, we definitely recommend it as a stop for any paddlers or surfers that want a low key getaway with great amenities.