Pomene surf stories
Yes and just as we thought we knew all the places, a new one pops up hey? Surely this is a finite factor and if so, how special are these treasures?
When Roosta and I strolled across what they call the African Kirra, it was 2 ft and alarmingly perfect. Badger and Fever did some camerawork, wish I knew where that tape was?!
Then we found more and more un-named waves. And some with names. Culminating in a magical place called Pomene. Well, once it’s been printed in the mags, that’s it, supposedly – although I still don’t encounter crowds when there, even though the setup was painted with a double page spread in the Zag.
So what’s it like? Well, I don’t really know, even though I have surfed it for decades now. The last time I was there it totally shocked me by breaking underwater?! Seriously underwater. And with an onshore all over it, and a strong east swell delivery…really fast…sometimes you would just disappear into spray and foam and come out the other side like 50 metres further down the point! Sooo hollooow and powerful.
When I first took Roosta along, whilst putting together a movie with Brucifire, the first day was super perfect winding hollow sandy waves at about 3 or 4 feet. Surfed silly. The next day 5ft solid, and the next day 6ft perfect conditions – light offshore, hot as hell – April cyclone made late appearance. Then it got 8ft plus and the sight of these magnificent beasts ploughing down the sandbank like dredgers started to become surreal. After a few hours of the tide dropping and all waves blurring into one, I lost it and went mad, shouting obscenities at Roosta and Bruce, they back at me, and it became a shit fight. Over-perfect waves will drive you crazy – watch out, you have been warned.
Then I have surfed it with Khimal Obardien, John Fever and St.John Alexander, in a week of howling westerly winds in mid winter. The south swell waves just kept peeling around the headland and onto the sandbank, day after day…rides definitely being measured in kilometers. Mellow, south swell – just peeling smash-able perfect waves.
A huge swell also just hits that sandbank and unloads. But, it’s not quite like that Donkey place for technical perfection, which Donkey seems to be. Although on some days…
And consistency. Well, we got cyclones that also fire these north facing waves up. Every year this time and well into winter. Whenever the east is howling down here on the south coast. All this last three weeks while we have been getting hammered by these easts, old Captain Gallop and crew up in Tofo have been creaming waves day after day – all on their own?! Yep, the sand bars that normally lie lazily about doing nothing, really come to life with strong east swells – very short period and loads of waves in a set, invariably an offshore blowing as the tail of the cyclone whips around hitting very hot land and veering off in a light offshore breeze?! The same system that paints us black with the easterlies in KZN!
Mozambique is where it’s at, in these difficult times for waves…
Check out Paradise Beach Lodge on the northern bank of the estuary. You will need a boat to get to the waves but you will catch a few fish on the way there and back that’s for sure!
