Canadian military forbids surfing in Cow Bay point break

A left-peeling point break located on property owned by the Canadian military in the Cow Bay area is off-limits to surfers, according to a military spokesperson.

“It’s for everybody’s safety. Unfortunately, that’s the way it is,” said Geri Grychowski, public affairs officer with Joint Task Force Atlantic.

According to Grychowski, soldiers regularly fire “certified small arms” at a range on the property.

There is also “frequency radiation” in their area when military personnel is “working with different ships,” she said.

The military does not have any plans to announce when it will be conducting operations on the property. As such, the area is off-limits to surfers at all times.

“It’s on DND (Department of National Defence) property and there’s no trespassing on DND property at any time,” she said. “You could be fined.”

DND apparently owns the shoreline as well as the water where the point break is located.

“The water is part of the range there, so (surfers) can’t be there,” said Grychowski.

Recently, the military has had personnel along the shoreline preventing surfers from accessing the break. A couple of weeks ago, a group of surfers was ordered out of the water by soldiers.

The Coastal Access Committee (CAC) will address the matter at its next meeting.

“We’ll discuss it and decide whether any action is warranted,” said CAC Co-Chair Iaian Archibald.

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