Author: Sean Lange

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Wavepools with waves a reality

Wavepools with waves a reality

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Perfect or WHAT?

The first wave pools were a bit of a joke but they certainly inspired some great thinking, and along the right lines.

There is a bit of debate as to who thought up the foil idea. The first I heard was Kelly Slater dragging one behind a marlin boat and jacking up a huge wake that was well surf-able.

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The circular shaped endless wave wavepool that Kelly Slater Wave Company is punting

But a chap named Webber in Australia has been conducting experiments for years and seems to have thought up the circular shaped pool with foil generated waves that continue around it forever!

This version just travels in one direction, producing two waves. (c) Wavegarden

The foil is dragged along by machinery on a rail and the wave can be customised in many ways. Speed, and then most importantly, size. At the moment the waves are breaking absolutely perfectly at about 2ft or less, which translates to about a metre face in normal speak. Coupled with a tailor shaped bottom that doesn’t shift or change with the tides, a super fast and hollow breaking wave is created. It’s enough to launch the likes of Gabriel Medina in all directions and with more horsepower, the waves will just get bigger and bigger, and the airs higher and higher.

So far there has been one built in Spain and a smaller one in Snowdonia.

Here it all is on video…and the official Wavegarden website.

And the Kelly Slater project…here.

Click here for older story with the BBC…

Or watch this newer piece of spin…

Watch this video featuring three pro surfing chicks ripping it up…

So at the end of 2015, Britain’s installation in Wales, will be producing2 or even 3 metre waves!!! All day long! And all night too hopefully!

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Catch ‘n Cook: Flatfish

Catch ‘n Cook: Flatfish

Shawn Harris went fishing with ultra light tackle under the cliffs of the Uvongo Estuary this week. Using tiny prawn baits he had a blast catching little strepies and blacktail, until he hooked into this tasty flatfish.

Flatfish are commercially hauled out all over the world, but in southern African waters the fishery is not feasible. They are hard to catch and bury themselves in the sand out of the way of nets. But every now and then you will catch one of these tasty critters in the surf or an estuary…and they are delicious.

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Shawn ‘Killswitch’ Harris caught this flatfish in the Uvongo Estuary this week. Note both eyes on the top side of the fish! Evolution hard at work. In this pic you can almost see the line down the middle, where you would place your first cut, before opening each side to create pockets into which your stuffing goes.

It’s easy to split open the sole from head to tail, along the backbone and then cut into the two fillets onto the bones, creating a pocket each side that you can now stuff with whatever you like. Crayfish, mussels, clams, shrimps…whatever you can get ahold of!

Slice a bunch of onions and green peppers, and place them all around a baking dish. Place the stuffed flatfish on top of this base, and go for it with all your favourite seasonings. Crushed garlic and olive oil sprinkled over the whole thing wraps it up.

Into a hot oven and in about 15 minutes take out and serve…

We made this dish in a pizza oven and it came out perfect. Any oven will do, you just have to variate the timing according to your available temperature. 180 Degrees is the right heat.

There are two types of flatfish we get in our waters, very closely resembling each other but differing in spines, scales and fins. They are both called Mancopsetta, and then Lepidosetta and Milfordi being the two variants. The Milfordi model being named after a certain Milford, who worked at I&J and contributed greatly to marine conservation and science, in the 60’s.

 

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Surfers Rally For A Good Cause As Movember Heads For Llandudno Beach

Surfers Rally For A Good Cause As Movember Heads For Llandudno Beach

Llandudno, Cape Town – On Saturday the 1st of November surfers of all kinds will congregate at Cape Town’s Llandudno beach for a fun day out at the Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam. This event, which is hosted by Quiksilver and the Movember foundation, is aimed at creating awareness as well as raising funds for men’s prostate cancer, testicular cancer and other men’s health issues. Surfers participating in the event are encouraged to dress in seventies surf gear, alter-ego’s welcome, use surfboards from the seventies era and don freshly shaven upper lips to mark the start of a hair-raising month for creating awareness for the Movember movement.

The event will see eight six-man heats take to the icy Cape waters with the traditional beach start in practice. Unlike traditional surf competitions, surfers will be judged on their style, flow and creative approach to each wave. Judges will include South African surf legends Tich Paul and Gavin Rudolph. Various fun awards such as “Vert Alert”, “Spin To Win”,  “Wave Waster” and “Best Dressed Mo In Character” will be handed out to surfers and spectators alike. Various single and twin fin surfboards from the seventies era will be on hand for surfers to test drive, old school rock ’n roll surf tunes will be the order of the day which will culminate in a six-man final to crown the eventual seventies surf master. Action gets underway at 10.00am with the finals expected to be held at 3.00pm.

All proceeds raised on the day through the compulsory R100 participation fee will be donated to the Movember foundation and their men’s health partner, CANSA. All surfers, families, friends and members of the public are welcome to come down to the beach to join in the fun and support a good cause. Quiksilver’s Dane Patterson is excited for the event and hopes to see it well supported, “We are very proud to be associated with Movember and such a good cause, we really hope that the surf community can pull together to support the event. It promises to be a fun day out with some classic traditional surfing.”

For more information about Movember and to register and start your fund raising visitwww.movember.com. To purchase Movember merchandise and support a good cause visitwww.boardriders.co.za/movember.

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Dan Redman flying in sunglasses and moustache at Llandudno! (C) Nick Ferreira

Press release disseminated by:

Olivia Jones Communications

Email: media@oliviajones.co.za

Landline: (031) 303 9341

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Catch ‘n Cook: Flathead Fish Soup

Catch ‘n Cook: Flathead Fish Soup

Admittedly, these fish jump on anything that moves. Flatheads are aggressive ambush predators that promise a lot of fun on hookup.
As did this one pictured below, on a recent trip to Pomene. It ate a carefully worked green MYDO Luck Shot Mini # 1, with a puke green jerkbait. These wily hunters hide in the sand, semi buried – and charge upwards, even right to the surface for a fly or spoon. They love dropshots!

Flaatheads are prized table fish all over the world. Grilled on a fire they are delicious, with flaky white flesh that you can peel off the fish from the top. Filleting is only for the bigger ones – fried flathead in butter.

But the smaller ones, like this, are best transformed into fish soup – recipe adapted from the locals around here…some western modifications.

Flathead Fish Soup
Our guests on this surfing trip to Pomene, all the way out from Australia – Lucy and Anna – well impressed with the lunch menu…Flathead Fish Soup.

Ok, pop out the guts and the gills, give it a good scrub and a solid rinse…and boil the fish for an hour maximum.
In a pan, fry a bunch of onions until caramelised. Chuck in chopped garlic, grate some ginger in, and any other available peppers or crisp vegetables. Leave some bigger but thinner slices for effect and colour, but for the most part, finely chopped.
Then if you have tomatoes…and fresh herbs, in they go. Cook so that the tomatoes break down. You should have pasty mix ready for step 2. Keep stirring.
The fish will be done now so remove it from the boiling water. Put it onto a big plate and pick it clean off the bones. All the white meat. And back into the water it was boiled in.
Scrape the contents of the pan into the broth. Slice a 2 inch by 1 inch piece of orange skin – the rind, and chuck it in (you could have put the rind in the fry earlier). Cook for a while longer. Stir it up and eat when you like, although the longer you cook it all, the better. It should be really watery as the tiny pieces of fish flesh make up the bulk, so add water if you have to. Salt and pepper to taste, a bit of peri-peri/chilli.

This is a really wholesome dish and can be put together a lot faster than what I just outlined. (That was the social version!)
It can take 20 minutes if you practise. And any white meat fish will do…

Flathead
A proper sized Flathead…this sized fish can be filleted and fried or grilled…smaller ones for the pot…this was caught on the Umzimkulu River in Port Shepstone
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Danger!

Danger Elliott hefts a huge barbel caught on the KZN coast

Danger Elliott from the KZN Lower South Coast, shows us a real barbel,  caught and released on a live bait, at a secret spot somewhere.

Danger Elliott hefts a huge barbel caught on the KZN coast
Danger Elliott hefts a huge barbel caught on the KZN coast

The Flathead Barbel is a tough and versatile fish that seems to survive and prosper anywhere. They love the conditions on the south coast and are caught here all year round,  in rivers and damns – salt or fresh. Also known as Sharptooth Catfish and Vundu, they also grow to massive sizes and eat almost anything… even a basketball reportedly!

Very Nice Fish Danger!

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