Surfing the Canadian Pacific Coast

It was 7:50 a.m. on a misty winter morning as I danced the can-can in an effort to wrangle my wetsuit over my limbs. Once I was suited up, I added a shot of Baileys Irish Cream to my coffee—for liquid courage—and stepped onto the sand for my 8:00 a.m. surf lesson on Canada’s West Coast in Tofino, British Columbia, five hours from Vancouver.