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| Kei missions continued.. |
| 30 October 2009, 15:24 |
We missioned through some very rural Transkei landscape before dawn yesterday morning, negotiating the very, very bad roads, the swollen rivers and some makeshift bridges before we arrived at the secret point our surf guide had been telling us about. It took about 2 and a half hours to make the 100km journey and the X-Trail was not loving the trip! However, it was more than worth the mission and the toll on my car to get there.
This place is inside a reserve, and the accommodation was nothing short of a squat hut - with only rainwater, a gas stove and a generator to power it. We met up with some friends who had travelled through from the Souther Kei to join us - luckily they were good fishermen, because we had absolutely no provisions at all except what we could glean off a small roadside stall.
We immediately hit the surf and it has to be one of the most breathtaking spot I've ever been in. The sea was crystal clear and it was super glassy, with some fun little 3-4 footers peeling through. The amount of wildlife in the ocean was incredible - there were about 100 dolphins cruising around the bay, not in any hurry to move off, there were 3 pods of Whales going off, just a few hundred meteres from where we were, and they also pulled into the Bay for the whole day, there were plenty of fish and bugs crawling all over the reef - just a magical experience to surf there.
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| Kei missions |
| 28 October 2009, 19:47 |
As I type this, I can hear a chorus of Xhosa children singing just outside my room, the drums are pumping and their voices rise, melt and fall together in a vibrant, happy throng. We're deep in the Kei on yet another photo mission. We drove through mist and rain this morning, but as we meandered through the rolling green hills and valleys of the Kei, the afternoon sun broke through and by the time we paddled out at a fun, rolling point in the early afternoon, the light was perfect! After a really mellow session on the point, we surfed the adjacent beachie, a fun punchy left right into the shorebreak.
Our local surf guide showed us to another point, just one valley and a dodgy dirt track away, which was throwing clean little funneling right handers all the way down to the stony beach. We surfed it until it was dark.
It doesn't matter how many times you've been to the Transkei, or how well you know it - the beauty of the place is breathaking...and so are the waves.
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| The 2 biggest Mozam dangers... |
| 28 October 2009, 05:29 |
It's a dangerous business being on a surf trip in Mozam. And it's not the usual things that are dangerous either, like the dodgy cops, the Sharks or the Mosquitos that'll get you...though those things are definitely to be avoided too! Rather, it these are the 2 biggest dangers:
1. Should your boards accidently fly off the roof and into the bush...kaboom!
2. the RnR "aka" the TipaTinto Rum and Rasberry at Fernando's bar:
That is Fernando himself, pouring his infamous RnR with a flourish.
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| Guest blogger - Chris Bertish gives us an update |
| 27 October 2009, 16:05 |
With memories of a 5th place finish with Jeff Clark in the Tow event in 2007.
Chris-2007 Nelscott Tow in Event
Thinking that I was leaving on the 30th of October for the opening ceremony of the Mavericks event,
one email on Monday 16th at 1pm changed it all, in a split second.
It’s been a crazy past 5 days since I got that mail about the event going Green for a Thursday start!
Since that mail it’s been changing of tickets, then cancelling tickets and paying for new last minute ones eight hours before departure, with the help of True Blue...Trying to wrap up business, putting together and running a final fundraiser charter on a 60ft Catermaran sponsored by Cruise IQ, that same evening. After the charter I headed to the office till 3am, then appointments in the morning, pack some stuff on the way to the airport, pack the rest of it at the airport...
1x big wave board in a board sock, a paddle and I was booked, packed and gone...2xplane journeys later, 30 hours between home and San Francisco, 1x three hour flight delay in London due to an engine problem left me missing my flight from San Fran to Oregon.
1 x interrogation at San Fran Airport by customs for half an hour, with them ending up searching for me as a big wave charger on the Internet, just to prove I was who I said I was..
1x last flight of the evening to Oregon at 8:20pm, arriving in Portland Oregon, just before 10pm.
1x half hour wait for luggage hoping that I would have a board to surf for the event...
1x rent a car just before11pm, getting lost and droving for almost 4 hours to get to Lincoln City just before 3am.
1x 3 hours sleep, get up, fins in board, wax up and leash on to the background music of Goldfish & Prime Circle.
1x Starbucks soy latte and 40 hours later and 3 hours sleep and I am ready, ready for action.
Ready to charge 30ft surf and to represent RSA.
I get to the beach and its car’s, ski’s people, spectators, and surfer’s media.
People launching ski’s all over the place, to get through the heavy, heaving 8-10ft shore break that leads you a mile out to where the be heathen stirs...Nelscott Reef, Lincoln City Oregon.
I get a ride out to watch the last tow heat before the paddle event begins over a mile out.
The conditions smoothen out and it’s glassy like silk, a big wave wonderland, and big clean walls.
As I jumped off the back of the sled and paddled into the line-up I knew it was going to be a good heat, everything just felt right.I paddled deeper into the line-up, deeper than anyone else and the waves came to me, I was late and deep, but the waves came and there was no going back.
Pic Courtesy Richard Hallman
I think I got five waves in my heat, all pretty solid, late and deep. I only fell on one wave where I thought the wave was going to barrel, so I pulled up high to pull in and at the last second I realised the wave wasn’t going to throw out as much as I thought, I tried to pull straight, but was just too late and I got detonated by the lip.
One more late big one and the heat had ended...I was told by many that I had won it, but so is life...The next event I will make sure, just bring on the waves, bring them on early..Mavericks here we come.
Pic Courtesy Richard Hallman
Great waves, great surfing and a great day of top level big wave surfing was had by all and so the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere begins.
The result...Third place, missing 1st and second, by less than a 6th of a point.
1st Anthony Tashnik-California
2nd Kealii Mamala-Hawaii
3rd Chris Bertish- South Africa
4th Travis Payne-Oregon
5th Greg Long-California
6th Gary Linden-California
7th Mark Visser-Australia
8th Shane Desmond-California
9th Mike Parsons-California
"I was just stoked to have made it over in time for my heat, after travelling for over 36 hours. I just wanted to catch a couple waves to make the long journey worthwhile and I ended up third that was just an added bonus. As long as I make South Africa proud, I'm happy."
After the paddle heat had ended I ended up borrowing Naish paddle board missing one fin to become the first person to ever SUP Nelscott Reef, which was a little scary especially at that size.
Pic Courtesy Richard Hallman
I only ended up getting one wave, as it grew dark but got caught inside by the biggest wave I have ever yet to face, while on a SUP. Every now and again you deserve a good beating, its character building.I'm glad that one is now done and ticked off the list.
Pic Courtesy Richard Hallman
Now I can sleep and chill a little as I take a slow cruise down the Oregon coastline.
Check in with all of you again next week.
Thanks for the support
Aloha, Chris |
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| Crossing BACK into SA |
| 27 October 2009, 15:08 |
We just crossed the border back into SA...for those of you just tuning in, we took Matt Palett, Chris Leppan and Donovan Zoetmulder up to Mozam to surf the Alaia boards. These guys were SO quick to get the hang of it and in no time were riding these finless, super slick planks and having a jol - fighting over who's turn it was! Will be amazing to check these youngsters after a few more sessions. Got some cool pics for the mag...not going to ruin the surprise I'm afraid...instead I'll show you what our overworked photographer for the trip looks like as I type this...
Mister Rich Hambloch ladies and gentlemen!
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| Crossing the Border |
| 26 October 2009, 08:23 |
| I love this border post. It is full on laid back African style. You could walk through here without a passport and no one would notice. We've got a little crew together and we're going to test drive some of the Alaia's we've been shaping and riding over the last couple of weeks. We're hoping to score some Mozam perfection on one or two of the super fun long points.
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| The Things we do |
| 25 October 2009, 12:03 |
Friday was a typically busy day in BOMBsurf land. We hit the beach early, and even though the wind was crazy and the ocean on it's head, we put in another session on the Alaia. That's 5 sessions in a row this past week on that bad boy. We've learned a lot by riding it this week and also by watching videos of Dave Rastovich and Tom Wegner riding them. With each new session we are learning so much about riding these beautiful finless, wooden boards.
We're heading into the next deadline for the Summer issue of the mag - so post-Alaia surf, we charged around seeing advertisers, collecting material, made a ton of phone calls to contributors and uploaded a bunch of things to the website in between. Around lunchtime we headed over to Simon Nicholson's factory, where he and his wife, Jess, have their clothing business to see how it all goes down. Then we charged across town to Clayton's where he was busy shaping another Alaia for us. This one is beautiful - a much deeper concave, but sheesh, it's tough work! Clay is not one to have you stand back and watch - in no time, I had the sander and this other dangerous circular saw-thingie going flat out, getting stuck into the wood - man, it's not easy!
By the time our day ended, I had sawdust in every orifice, an Alaia photo shoot planned and organised, some cool new content on the website, a bunch of siiiiiiick ads ready for the mag and had learned the difference between a Dischage print, a water based screen print and a wax transfer onto a tee shirt!
In all a good day!
Iain
Simon, Jess and their team...except the tall skinny guy on the right. That's me.
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| Inside update from the Rip Curl Pro |
| 22 October 2009, 17:06 |
North Beach local and BOMBsurf subscriber, Greg Pearson, is in Portugal hanging out at the Rip Curl Pro with Greg and Davey. He sent us this update and some pics.
Greg writes: Hey BOMBsurfers, I'm at the rip Curl Pro in Peniche at the moment after an eventful taxi trip from Lisbon Airport.
Nothing like the driver shouting at his mother on his cell phone doing 180km an hour down the freeway, we tried to get him to slow down but then he started flooking us as well.
The waves have been really uncontestable since the weekend, with little to nothing to ride. On Tuesday Peniche was hit by a mother storm which pulled in monster surf, but again all over the place and not really contestable. The contest area was washed away and the locals were calling the biggest storm in 12 years.
This morning was a little different, there was a fun wave against the harbor wall which is pretty much like a Vetchies set up, this was the only place the contest could run as it was not exposed to the elements. The first heat in the morning was not to bad with a few waves on offer, Jihad got lucky in the last few minutes to nail two 6 point rides and take him through to the next round.
The second heat of the Moring saw Davey and Hetor head to head, once again Davey’s heat was skunked for waves, in the first 15 mins only 1 wave was ridden for a mere 1 point ride that being said the contest was put on hold after the 3rd heat as the bowl that was on offer had completely disappeared.
The set up of this place is pretty sick as the point of peniche has a 270 degree coast line, if its on shore on the east coast you drive 4 mins to the west coast and off shore winds, probably one of the best beach break set ups I’ve seen with spits every where along a 5km bay.
Going to do a bit of a mission this afternoon with Davey out the contest and Greg’s heat not in the water till tomorrow. I'll kepp you posted.
Greg.
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| The Perfect day |
| 21 October 2009, 23:46 |
The Perfect Day
Many people often come up to us and tell us how blessed we are to be doing what we're doing. Most times we agree, and today was a pearler. Sell a couple of ads, deal with some admin, head down to the beach around midday for a surf. We hit The New Pier, arguably SA's most crowded, localised and polluted surf spot in vogue today. It was deserted and firing. As we arrived the new New Pier locals took their lunch break. The west cleaned out the easterly bump, the tide came in just enough to make it fun and the sun shone on some 22 degree water. Iain paddled out on the Alaia and I found a 'magic' Hutchison stashed under my house. Sporting some 16" Insight boardies we were on it. Dunno when you last surfed in boardies cut above the knee, but it basically feels like you are skinny dipping. I'm converted. From now on this summer I'm rocking short, porno boardies. I don't care what anyone says they are frikken amnazing to surf in. Steve Price just organised me some pink 16" Quik boardies with checkered speed stripes and all I can say is 'bring on the weekend!'. Today Iain and I figured out some of the intracacies of riding an alaia and we explored the pleasures of the old school 16" boardie. After that we went for lunch at Vrushiks (best veg curry in DBN), followed by best coffee in DBD at Bean Green before I ended the day with some yoga at Sandy's. Flip what a day, not always to be repeated. Wherever you were hope you scored. The worst that could happen is you procure yourself some short short boardies and find a jackuzi...
John
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| SA Surfing's heritage |
| 21 October 2009, 07:32 |
Yesterday John and I bumped into Max Wetteland down at the beach. If you haven't heard of Max, and you're a Surfer in South Africa, you need a history lesson. Max was the first South African ever to compete Internationally and back in 1964 he, Baron Stander (Snr) and Harry Bold built the first Safari surfboards. The three of them drew straws to see who would travel to the 1st ever World Surfing Championship in Manly beach, Sydney...and Max drew the winning straw. The event was won by Midget Farrelly. Max has been an integral part of South Africa's surfing community ever since.
 I learned a lot listening to him yesterday and the point of this blog is to illustrate that as surfers, we often just want to go surfing without any regard for where our sport came from, how it evolved or who played a hand in shaping the laws, environment and the facilities that we take for granted. Yesterday Max was telling us a story that in the early days in Australia, you could get arrested for swimming in the sea on a Sunday! Thankfully times have changed.
Local Durban surfer and waterman, John Whittle, is currently looking to set up a South African Heritage Foundation to preserve the history of our sport for other, younger or just interested people, like you and me, to have a museum and an archive, so these stories, pics, old boards and other evidence of bygone eras is restored and preserved for us to learn from and build on. Keep an ear to the ground and let's support John and the other volunteers that are strying to make this happen. And if you see Max at the beach, give him a high five and a wave.
If you have any comments on this, let's hear 'em. Do you BOMBsurf fans think it's important to preserve the heritage of surfing in SA or should we all just leave it in the past and just go surfing?
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| First time on theBOMBsurf's Alaia! |
| 18 October 2009, 21:04 |
If you're a regular to our site, you'll have noticed we've been very interested in the Alaia movement that has just started to penetrate the SA surf scene. While there are not that many being ridden at the more prominent surf spots, there are a couple out there, and it's amazing to watch them being ridden. John and I just had our Alaia shaped by Clayton and we rode it for the first time at New Pier on Friday. "Why you riding an ironing board" the little black kid asked me as I bailed off the pier and into the line up. It was a fascinating experience! My first wave was a nice little 2 footer, a nice fast right. I paddled into it (now you've gotta understand that this board is very thin, wooden, has no fins and no leash!) and weighing 90kgs, I was more then 3/4 submerged while paddling in, but as the board felt the energy of the wave, it sprang out of the water and I was on my feet, sliding down the face of the wave. With no fins, the back slid out behind me and I did a 180, riding the wave backwards and then finally, I managed to spin it around again and get my inside rail into the wall, before I nose dived it and had to swim all the way in to get it! My second wave was bigger - 3 foot and perfectly shaped. I was a little later and a little deeper on this one, but managed to thrust myself and my wooden plank down the face on a late, steep drop This time my ride was over a lot quicker, because as I buried the inside and back edge of the board into the wave, it just accelerated like crazy! I wiped after a second or two, and started the long swim for the beach again, but had enough of a taste to know that this is potentially something really, really fun and is going to open up another whole dimension to my surfing. I have flowboarded quite a bit, which is similar in terms of not having any fins and having to shift weigh heels-to-toes to move, but a breaking wave is another story! I can't wait to have another go tomorrow!
If you see us at the beach with the Alaia, come and have a go. It's a bizarre but truly intriguing surfing experience!
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| Bluff Bru! |
| 16 October 2009, 16:16 |
The Office
We say we work from the boot of the car and while this is often true we also have an amazing network of coffee shops that we like to frequent and which we use as temporary work space. No rent, no office park instead we've become default coffee experts while sampling brews from all over the country while trying to get our work done. In Durban there is a place which we've become increasingly enamoured with. Run by Peter and Mel, The Bean Green Coffee Co makes an incredible cappuccino. When we're in town we find ourselves increasingly drawn to this groovy little coffee shop in Davenport Road, Glenwood (opposite Woolies). They have a special blend of Ethiopian coffee which Peter roasts on the premises and they mix into a delicious concoction called 'The Bluff Bru'. Warning it's frikken addictive but its right up there with the best gourmet coffee you can buy in SA right now. In the photo you can see Iain (tripping out of his mind on Bluff Bru), Mel adding some spice and Peter the man behind The Bluff Bru. Behind Iain is a record player on which they play non stop tunes all day off old vinyl records.There are far worse places to call the office.
John
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| Breakthrough surfboards |
| 16 October 2009, 15:33 |
Breakthrough surfboards
These are the boards that take your surfing to a whole new level. Somehow they find you at the perfect time and the next thing you know you are surfing on a whole new level. I've just seen this happen to Iain. He got a new board from Spider this week and in the last two sessions his surfing has jumped up a couple of notches. This arvo I was trying to ride my new Alaia at the New Pier and he was on his new stick. Brendan and I were getting smashed and he was owning it. The new New Pier locals were laughing at me for trying to ride 'the ironing board' but it was fun. Half way through the session we swapped boards so Iain could try the Alaia. In short order I had 4 waves on his new board and I couldn't believe how well it went. To put things into perspective Iain weighs around 90kgs while I clock in at 75kgs. The board couldn't be more wrong for me yet it went so well. Just a magic board I guess... damn I wish I had one right now.
John
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| The subjectivity of surfing contests |
| 14 October 2009, 12:19 |
The subjectivity of surfing contests...
So Mick now takes the lead in the ASP world rankings knocking Joel into the current no 2 slot, wow from a boring year on the CT with threats of rebel tours suddenly we have a title race on our hands and the prospect of a revamped tour next year.
Interesting times.
I felt for Kelly in his semi against Adriano, I think The judges blew it, but I'm not a judge. Judges out there what do you guys think? If I analyse the judging criteria and then apply it to the webcast of that semi Kelly should have won by 2 points at least.
That's the way the year seems to be going for Kelly though, all the breaks are going against him. No matter how hard he tries or how well he surfs it seems like this year is just not his year.
John
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| Crime sucks |
| 13 October 2009, 12:20 |
Crime sucks. Especially when it happens to you. Yesterday John and I had just had a lunchtime surf at New Pier, grabbed a chow and were doing our rounds when disaster struck. We came out of Safari after I collected my beautiful new board, and drove a few hundred metres down the road to Clayton's. We parked the trusty X-trail just across the street from Clay's shop and went inside. On our return 20 mins later, this is what we found:
My first thought was "Oh shit, my brand new board!" But before I could utter the words John beat me to it : "Oh shit, my laptop bag!"
The thieves didn't touch anything else - not my brand new sunnies in the cubbie hole, nor my MP3 radio/face, the wetsuits, boardies, 3 boards (including my new one) and a bunch or other semi-precious stuff. Just the laptop bag and everything inside it.
So I'm blogging from PG glass today while my window gets fixed. John is trying to organise another Macbook and we're both trying hypnotherapy to remember all the story ideas, photo leads and other intellectual property that was going into the next issue that some street thug now possesses.
So, if a dodgy looking dude tries to fence you a Macbook and a black RVCA backpack, stall them, call us and we can get our stuff back...and you'll get your December issue on time.
Iain
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| Still Filthy |
| 11 October 2009, 21:19 |
Last night we went to the Premiere of Billabong's latest flick "Still Filthy" at IMAX in Gateway. After a week in JHB in no surf I was already surf starved and frothing and this film just kicked me into overdrive!
Before we even went into the IMAX to watch the film, the good folk from Billabong had made my day by ordering in a ton of tasty pizzas and organizing a full on bar in the Cinema area! Gotta hand it to those dudes - they know how to throw a function!
Then onto the film...as far as Surf Porn goes, Still Filthy is Jenna Jameson meets Debby Does Dallas. There are some ridiculous video sections from all of 'Bong's top riders.
My favourite sections were actually from some of the lesser profile surfers, not the AIs, Parkos or even Taj, though these guys still absolutely rip in the film. I though Torrey Meister, Shane Dorian and Wade Goodal had the best sections and the best music to boot. Some crazy ass tubes in some beautiful locations, and the way these guys are pushing and pushing and pushing in terms of technically exciting surfing and just plain charging is inspiring.
My only gripe about pure surf porn like this is that there's no narrative to link everything together and no depth to the movie - but that's just me. I get a bit numb after the first 15 minutes of close cut, wave after wave, crazy turn after crazy turn, barrel after barrel etc. I think I'd almost enjoy it better if I could watch 15 minutes, then get up, walk around, air-surf a few walls and then go watch another 15 minutes.
NIce to see Dooma, Shaun Joubert and Twig sneaking in a wave or 2 of their own...wish there was more of the SAFFAS!
If you like pure, unadulterated, full on filthy surfing to some hard-as tunes, you'll love "Still Filthy".
Iain
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| Bikram Yoga Jozi |
| 7 October 2009, 21:20 |
Bikram Yoga Jozi
What do we do when we can't surf? Good question and one that faces every surfer from time to time. Personally I go a bit crazy. Surfing is such a part of my life that I pretty much surf everyday regardless of the conditions. But what do you do when you can't? I mean when it's physically impossible either because there are NO waves or you are too far from the ocean to go for a surf.
Case in point we're stuck in JHB doing one of our twice a year missions up here. It's a good week because there is not much good surf on the coast this week but it still sucks not being able to paddle out somewhere. In desperation Iain and I contacted a friend of mine who lives up here. Her name is Sally Flanagan and she owns and runs the Bikram Yoga studio in Jozi.
After a day of dodging traffic and rushing from meeting to meeting (sheesh these ous live fast up here!) we needed some relief and Yoga seemed like a great idea. So into an hour and a half of Bikram yoga we went. I do quite a bit of Hatha Yoga which is quite mellow, but Bikram is full-on. They heat the studio up and then off you go. Iain and I were sweating buckets in no time but somehow it got us into the present and loosened us right up. At the end of the class I was kieshed and just lay on my back breathing. My mind was so clear after the yoga. It had slowed my thought process right down. I just closed my eyes and pretty soon I was visualising myself paddling out at Supers on a perfect 6-8' day.
I could clearly see the board I was riding, the conditions. My wave when it came to me. I paddled hard took the high line then faded into the first barrel section, two swift turns off the top and then the car park section loomed wide and promising. It didn't dissappoint I got shacked as only your mind can imagine. Out I came to finish with a death floater which I landed calmly and then back I paddled... I was stoked. I couldn't believe the frame of mind the yoga had got me into and I really felt stoked after riding that one wave even if it was all in my mind. Here's a thing though if you are ever stuck in Jozi and in need of a surf go and do some Bikram yoga, then when the class is over just imagine yourself catching a wave. I swear it will blow your mind. Go check out www.bikramyoga.co.za
John
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| Helloo Karoo |
| 6 October 2009, 10:04 |
We've been on the road for so long now living and working out of the boot of the car is starting to feel normal. We've got a full routine going to pack the car which now takes a fraction of the time it did before we left Durban.
We also have a very important accessory we acquired, a 150W power inverter which we plug into the cigarette lighter. This allows us to keep our laptops charged while driving. This means we can keep working from anywhere. Usually I do the driving while Iain bangs out proposals and updates content. I'm happy with this arrangement as I get car sick if I have to read a laptop for too long while driving.
This morning we left CT very early. Iain got the first driving session though so he could be online when the rest of the world wakes up. Our mission is to drive straight through the Karoo to JHB in one hit today. We've got some meetings set up for tomorrow and besides surf wise it looks like a good week to miss if you gotta go sell ads. So as we're driving we're dreaming up content for the next issue. It's funny how driving through the vast, barren landlocked Karoo the ideas are flowing. It's almost as if just being here has piqued our imaginations. We've barely left CT and we're already planning our next trip back there...
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| Sarah-Jayne |
| 4 October 2009, 23:08 |
I got the chance to ride Sarah-Jayne (the Alaia surfboard) at Earth Wave on Sunday. What a trip! For starters Robin Fletcher Evans has outdone himself by shaping this board, she's a masterpiece to say the least. Earth Wave itself is an amazing experience for any surfer, but I must admit that having the opportunity to ride this board on that day was awesome. The whole vibe on the beach and in the water was amazing, but riding this board was a really unique sensation. You can actally feel the water rushing through the concave under your feet and the rails engage in a super sensitive manner that negates the need for fins. I'm not a fish loving, hippy retro guru surfer at all. I like my 6'0" thruster. That said this was a revelation to me, something like a mixture between surfing and bodysurfing... definitely something you want to try. If you get a chance to ride THE Sarah-Jayne Alaia grab it with both hands because it will change the way you think about surfing.
Click here for more on Sarah-Jayne and how you can ride her and maybe even win her for keeps.
John
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| Sin City |
| 3 October 2009, 14:21 |
Sin City. That's the nick name we're giving to Cape Town. As the summer days start to become more and more regular, the vibe here just gets more and more festive. At 2pm on Friday afternoon, we got a message from our good buddy Seth Rotheram at 2oceansvibe.com "Hey boys, heard you were in town - I'm having a small get-together on the Roof of the Cape Royale Hotel - pull in". This is what we found:
Sponsored by Olmeca Black Tequila, Goldfish on the decks, beautiful people at the Pool party and one of the most gorgeous days ever, and it was game on! We hooked up with big wave charger, Sammy the Roofer and surf photographer Ant Fox at the jol...and then Sin City revealed itself to us in all her glory. We moved onto the next spot for some dinner where we bumped into BOMBsurf photographer Craig Kolesky and his girlfriends' mates (Kerry McGregor and Lyndall Jarvis, AHEM!) and they were starting to get festive. Before we knew what was happening, it was off to a fancy Dress pirate party in St. James (Happy Birthday Kai!) where the atmosphere went from chilled to off the Richter scale as the rum flowed and finally to the Polana hotel in Kalk Bay for a massive dance off.
This place is insane. The dance floor is right on the edge of the ocean and has glass windows which basically open out on to the rocks with breakers detonating right on them. At about 3am, two young party goers decided it would be a good idea to strip and dive into the freezing waters of Great White Central smashed out of their minds. After about 20 minutes of treading water, and the entire party watching these guys about to drown, John and Sammy ran to the cabbie, John suited up, paddled out and rescued the dronk ous. After giving each one a good klap, he loaded them onto the board and paddled them in. In true BOMBsurf style - he returned to the dance floor and celebrated another glorious day/night in Sin City.
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| Gordon's Bay |
| 1 October 2009, 08:06 |
As we came over Sir Lowry's Pass, I thought the South Easter was going to tear the car off the road and gooi it into the Bay. We crawled down the pass and pulled into Gordon's Bay in time to meet up with Tim, from Ocean Minded, and his crew at the Tavern in the harbour. With rocking tunes, cold beers and a warm atmosphere, it was a very welcome change from the squall outside. While John helped Tim design a new shaped board on the back of the waitresses order pad, I chatted to some of the local crew, who were really friendly and cool. In a few short hours we met Alex the weaver, Robin the physio and the guy who makes the best Schwarmas in town...I can't remember his name, but he reminded me of a character out of The Simpsons.
We were supposed to drive through to Town, but it was late and we needed to be in Muizenberg early, so we ended up crashing at Tim's place. Hows this for a view out of your bedroom window!
One of the best parts abut being on the road is tapping into the communities of surfers all along our coast - and one thing is always the same - the people we meet are PASSIONATE about surfing!
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