Perfect Stop #3 at "The Camp Doniños"
Surfdrive
Living in a country with no real coastline and only sporadic chances for waves, there was always an idea to expand our board search to other places. Being surfers ourselves and having spent much of our time on the European Atlantic coast, we naturally had dreams running through our heads. If we could already activate a number of boards and people at our place, what would it be like at surfing hotspots like "Les Landes", the Basque Country or Portugal?
By a happy coincidence we shared a film screening with Kepa Acero which was the first step towards our surfdrive#1 to northern Spain. Plans and contacts were made, transporters were rented and posters designed. Half a year later a board collection campaign took place over a 4 week period between Zarautz in the Basque Country and Ferrol in Galicia.
With the help of Kepa we had 5 fixed points of contact at surf stores and camps and were welcomed with open arms and hearts. Right at the beginning of the trip, the famous surf brand Pukas from Zarautz organized an event at the promenade of Zarautz in connection with a movie premiere. With almost 200 boards the trip could not have started better. The support and openness of Pukas was a huge help, they not only used their network but also helped very concretely with storage space for the boards and every free hand to help.
As the first stop was accompanied by Simon alone, Basti now joined as the second, but not only new member: a beautiful T3 from Salty Campers serving as sleeping and cooking place.
Our route lead us further to Sopelana and Edu with his Cabo Surf Shop. Eduardo is a warm, attentive person who immediately made us feel welcome. If you are in the area be sure to stop by and exchange a few words. Or meet him in the water, he is an avid surfer. In addition, we met our friend Alberto who had invited us to the Surf Film Festival in Bilbao in the beginning of 2022. He showed up wit another load of nice boards - collected with the surf club Bakio Surf Taldea
Next stop: The Camp Doniños near Ferrol. They were great hosts and invited us to stay with them as long as it suited us. The camp is located right next to Doniños and several other surf spots are in the immediate vicinity, plus PTS member Simon knew the area pretty well so we got to surf a lot in the area ourselfs. The donations here consisted mostly of bodyboards, donated by Yiyi Obenza a local legend who never wanted to sell them but then saw exactly the right sense in their new future at PTS.
Back we went via Salinas where we were once again well received by Carlos and his El Pez Escorpión Escuela de Surf. Besides some boards in really good condition, there were also a lot of accessories like leashes and fins. In the surf bar La Luna we had a common meal and so our arms were exhausted, our bellies full and we felt spoiled by fate. The fact that we collected our "basic material" here, surfboards without which our project would not work of course, loaded and transported these, felt nevertheless at the same time always like a gift, made it possible for us a view of the different communities like we would have never seen them otherwise. This opportunity was due to the great collaboration and good word of Kepa Acero! As in on the ground in the countries the boards reach local knowledge and networking is irreplaceable.
The last spot and another highlight was organized by our friend Stefan from kun_tiqi. Besides the fundraising he took care of the screening of our film Sere from Ghana, set up a bar, got a band ready and gave us all a picture-perfect evening. At the end of the tour, Kepa also managed to be there and rounded off the evening with a few words and the films he brought along.
After 4 weeks of collecting and a 2 weeks surfdrive we returned to Bern with almost 200 boards and could secure a perfect base for the next 3-4 deliveries. A thousand thanks to all donors, all supporters on site and in the preparation.
