“Surf Launching in Southern Africa” – NEW YouTube Channel
“Surf Launching in Southern Africa” – NEW YouTube Channel. We have taken the deep plunge and have fired up a new channel that will feature as many surf launches as we can find. You as the viewer can watch and analyze each launch over and over. And learn a little each time.
If you have any surf launch videos that we can use for this purpose, please let us have them! Email to umzimkulu@gmail.com or WhatsApp +27793269671. Each video received will be rewarded with a R200 voucher that can be used at Umzimkulu Adrenalin, or Spillers House. Both are in Port Shepstone.
We have fired the all-new channel up with launches from our area, down here on the KZN south coast, so far. At Shelly Beach – the Sonny Evans small craft harbour. And the Umzimkulu River mouth, in Port Shepstone. We have published 8 videos so far, and plan to upload once or thrice a week until our library of launches runs out. And then we will have to go and get some more!
Future launch vids are coming from Pomene in Mozambique. And closer to home, here at Sodwana Bay.
So put your lifejackets on and hold on tight…this video will lead you to the others. This is Digby Smith with a textbook beaching at Shelley Beach, KZN, South Africa.
Digby Smith hitting the beach right – Shelly Beach. KZN. South Africa. Click HERE to go the channel where you can Like, and more importantly, Subscribe. It’s FREE!
You can also easily click the following link to the channel, where it’s easy to Subscribe and look around at the other videos already available.
At the risk of repeating myself (apologies in advance), it’s a hell mission to get to 1000 Subscribers. At which point, we as creators on YouTube, only just start to count. So please help us beat the algorithm back into its cage and chase that Subscribe button.
Fish eagles busted on camera:How do you get really up close and personal with a juvenile fish eagle?
Use a camera trap! We have a bunch of GoFish Cams that we use for fishing non-stop. On this day, when we returned from sea – we left a bonito carcass, and a bunch of sardines – plus two of our cameras, for the fish eagles rather. Not knowing what to expect, when we retrieved the cameras – we were blown clean away! The interactions between the three featured fish eagles from the Umzimkulu Estuary valley – the two parents, and one of their triplet offspring, was downright animal crazy.
The movie
Enjoy the picture show…
Well, that juvenile fish eagle ain’t interested in sharing a thing. Especially after the first featured adult completely blew his landing and wasted nearly all the sardines into the drink. And that mid-air collision – well what a dogfight, when it’s slowed right down! My 60 frames per second cameras could hardly keep up with the lightning-quick action, and reaction, of these majestic birds.
The triplets
As it turned out, the juvenile fish eagle took over the whole scene and just kept eating and eating all the fish. Even going so far as to grab some guts right from out of the second featured parent eagle’s mouth! The parents hardly got scraps compared to the voracious serving that the young fish eagle swiftly devoured.
The triplets never took very long to reach the enormous size of their folks. But their mottled brown colours stayed like that for ages. And then when the triplets grew into maturity, their fish eagle feather coating stood out brightly in the sun. Tints of red in the dark brown against the bright white of his head and the crisp yellow of his face and beak.
This is when they are kind of booted out of the valley, and they have to go and find their own stretch of river, or a damn, to set up home at. Meet a mate. And repeat the process so that we can always be wakened by the magical sound of a cheerful fish eagle.
The adults
Sean Prytz took these smashing shots of the adult fish eagles’ pre-mating cleaning and pruning session…that resulted in the triplets. These guys have mated for life. We have been living with them down here on the river, for two decades and more. They have given birth to many babies here, over the years.
Umzimkulu Adrenalin
Come and join us here at Umzimkulu Adrenalin. For the day. Or for a few days. Immerse yourself in nature. Learn all about the Umzimkulu River and its vital role in the ecology of the marine systems here on the lush KZN South Coast.
And you can dine in style at The Port Captain. Featuring Garlic n Naan Egyptian cuisine, right here on the bank of the river.
Check back with The Sardine News as we move closer and closer to sardine season. And winter perfection.
Zululand Yacht Club Summer Fishing Competition 2022
by Morgan Smit
All the stars, the planets & the moon stood in a line for this one!!
This year’s Summer Fishing Competition was such a wonderful weekend that it feels like the fishing gods were trying to make up for all the fishing days and competitions we were forced to miss in the last 2 years! The weather was excellent: Hot, sunny Zululand Summer conditions with just enough wind to keep the temperature from getting too ridiculous.
The turnout of members and their guests was fantastic, and there were crowds of smiling faces, on the water and in the Club pubs and restaurant… and the fish. The fish came to the party. Which was nice!!!
Members took full advantage of the fantastic conditions and fished hard, several families & members camped at the Club for the duration of the event, which is always a nice touch, allowing one to spend maximum time on the water.
We know that time on the water brings results, and it did.
The winning fish was caught by Dale Robinson. Dale’s family always make a family outing of Club fishing events and always feature well on the podium. Dale’s excellent 57cm Greenspot Kingfish outshone several other excellent catches as the clear winner of top spot. This fish also took the prize for Best Fish-Bay.
Best Junior was Evan Jacobs, with an impressive 41cm (38cm Fork Length) Bluefin King Fish, this special catch was also the best fish from Club banks.
Best Young Guns went to Gunter Jacobs with a Queenfish of 47 cm (41cm Fork Length). Both of these young men submitted great catches which included several other excellent fish.
There were many other meritorious catches, with all the common summer species being well represented, Giant Trevally (Ignoblis Kingfish), Greenspot Kingfish, Yellow-spot, Malabar, Ferdau and Bluefin Kingfish, Pick-handle Barracuda, Grunter, and several Rock cod species, all featured prominently among the fish that were entered.
Special mention goes to Jason Olivier who caught a nice King Mackerel in the water right in front of the Club and Clint Anthill who got the best of the GT’s, at 45cm, both of these gentlemen also entered an impressive list of other species.
The formal Bragging Rights that go with winning the “Pro’s Challenge” go to Gunter Jacobs, who ‘weighed’ the best fish among those who entered our special “Competition within the Competition” Gunter’s name will go onto the floating trophy, and until next competition Gunter has the right to proclaim himself unchallenged as “The Best of the Best” of ZLYC Fishermen.
Congratulations Young Man!
Offshore prize was not presented as there were no fish entered by vessels going offshore.
The prestigious ‘Bananana’ award went to Darius Bezuidenhout for his hilarious story about fishermen getting hooked in the seat of their pants and fishing rods breaking, much fun was certainly had by all! Next competition will be the Zululand Yacht Club Autumn Fishing Competition, dates for this will be announced in due course.
I would like to thank the sponsors who made this event possible: Oceanic Images, Basil Manning, Richards Bay Print & Sign, Mydo Lures, and Fleet Maintenance Office.
I would also like to thank everybody who worked so hard helping to present this event, our Entertainment officer Michelle Banwell, Kirsten, Joe and the Club bar & kitchen staff for keeping the entrants hydrated & fuelled. Thanks also to Martin from Coastal Radio for the cool vibe and great music.
Tight lines until next time. Fish smart, fish safe, fish for the future.
Yours in Loving our Club Morgan Smit Rear Commodore Fishing.
Diving Diva Christal Botes and a delectable KZN garrick
The first-ever female spearfishing initiative in South Africa. Yes! Spearfishing was once seen as a man’s sport but more and more women have become interested in it and are excelling at it. Diving Divas SA was established by Christal Botes in 2016 and is a proud social initiative including experienced female spearfishing athletes from all over South Africa.
Our aim is to grow the presence of women in the sport of spearfishing and our focus is to upskill more women by offering support and training in diving capabilities, diving equipment, gear knowledge and safety aspects of diving.
Training and courses
We also offer one-on-one Freediving Training Sessions and we’ll soon be running Freediving Courses too! Freediving is the foundation of spearfishing which is why we recommend courses to all our divas! It gives them much more confidence in the water and they enter the water feeling relaxed and calm. We share knowledge and tips on underwater hunting techniques for different species of fish including where they can be found and suitable methods for spearing them, spearfishing fitness & readiness, boat diving and blue water spearfishing, shore diving and surf entry, reading the weather conditions correctly and we show ladies how to handle the fish when it has been shot, how to clean and gut the fish and how to prepare a delicious meal from it.
Safety
Spearfishing is a dangerous sport and we take safety to the next level so we make sure all our divas understand and is fully aware of all the dangers of spearfishing. It is the duty of every diver to dive responsibly and to be alert to what is happening around them, they should also know how to act in a case of emergency. Shallow water blackouts usually occur on the surface and happen completely unexpectedly and without warning, many spearos have died this way. It can be avoided by knowing how to react in such situations. We also educate our divas on the Regulations and Protective measures of spearfishing, with SA having a remarkably high number of marine species we need to know how to care for the environment and to leave it in a better state than we found it so that the next generation of spearos can also be able to benefit from sustainable food harvesting.
Gallery
If you would like to join the Diving Divas contact Christal on 073 390 9374 today.
Some history behind the old boat down at Spillers House: since the mining operation upriver pumping sand discovered the 100-year-old ferry type boat that was buried there since the 1959 floods, a flood of old photographs have all of a sudden started to surface.
Gallery
This gallery is a collection of as many of those old pics that we could we can find so far. If anybody has pics that are not here, it would be greatly appreciated if you popped them to us at umzimkulu@gmail.com. With any information or details.
And many visitors now come to see this magnificently built, and well-preserved relic of the past. Down here at the historical Spiller’s Wharf, in Port Shepstone.
The recovery
With a concerted team effort, the boat was carefully relocated to its new home, at Spillers Wharf, here in Port Shepstone. Where she has been protected and cared for on display. KuluCrete, and Natal Recovery Services supplied the heavy lifting equipment and machinery. And many people pitched in to help. Including the traffic police!
Whilst we were offloading, a lovely older lady told us that she remembered going on that boat, back in the late 50’s. She was a very young girl then, 10 yrs old. But clearly recounted the story of how these boats were all up and down the river. Used as ferries and transport for goods and people non-stop. None of the boats had engines. They were all just pulled along, all tied bow to stern and so on, by a little tug steamer. Imagine driving that lot up and down the rapids!
The steamer would catch the incoming tide, and drag the boats all the way up, through the rapids (navigable at higher tides), to St. Helen’s Rock. Where right now, another of these magnificent Norwegian built, is embedded into the mountainside, at water level. Where it has been since the 59 floods too.
This was the loading area, for mined material, to be hauled back to Durban, to be made into cement. This is also a hundred metres from the confluence of the Umzimkulu and the Umzimkulwana. The current lime works is just about a few kilometres up the Umzimkulwana. There are old rail tracks and sidings still clearly visible. And there are many ruins from the old riverside settlement, that we still need to explore.
This place was trade.
It was the portal to the hinterland. And the supply and trade link with Durban. There were no roads. No railway lines. Just St. Helen’s Rock, connected to Durban, via these barges, that little steamer, and some intrepid ships. Like the Somtseu and The Snipe, that came in through the wild waters of the Umzimkulu Mouth, each spring tide.
St. Helen’s Rock was the source of supplies for settlements like Harding, and Kokstad. And all the growing little towns further into the Transkei. And towards the Drakensberg. Even if you come up there with us now, you can feel it. And you can hear the sounds of people doing their business. Ox carts. Horses. Trade.
The boats were also dressed up and used and ferries. To simply get people over the river to work. From the south bank to the north bank where the very old lime works used to be set up. Just around the corner from St. Helen’s Rock.
So pop on down to Spillers House at Spillers Wharf and check out the old boat. The forged nails, and aluminium cladding, plus huge bolts and fittings, can be clearly seen and examined. Whilst you wait for a meal at one of the many restaurants down here on the south bank of the Umzimkulu River, in good old Port Shepstone.
An island of boats
Hearsay is all we have at this stage, but many people from those times, have told stories about the island of boats. The Norwegian Settlers brought with them their Viking shipbuilding skills. And put them to work, on an island, in the middle of the river. Back when it flowed in a different direction into the ocean. More to the north.
As I said, this is all hearsay. But please, if you have any pics or stories, let us have them at umzimkulu@gmail.com, to enhance the historic tale, and legacy, of the grand old boat, now moored forever, down at Spillers Wharf.
