Flashback: Brucifire and The Roosta surfing the Kei
Flashback: Brucifire and The Roosta surfing the Kei. This clip from the movie Shaloha.
A good 10 years back, Roosta had just gotten quite a nice deal going with a corporate bunch making baggies and shorts and things, when we decided to kidnap Brucifire and take him north, to make a manovie, in good old Mozambique.
We had a long way to go, so decided that a few days in the good old Transkei might be needed, to fuel us with waves, before hitting that two-day drive to Pomene. We tried some acting on the way – Bruce got some great lines in…
But it’s all about the surfing and this session depicts Brucifires gung ho attitude as hollow waves unloaded harshly on a shallow bar, at a secret spot near St. Nowhere. Roosta does a great job of mimicking Bruces outlandish but flowing style of surfing, on one or two of the steep drops.
And stick it out for some ‘big as it can get’, Saint Mikes…with a bunch of kamikaze’s on it, including our very own Heather Clarke and Louis Wolmarans! And lots of commentary from the peanut gallery. Bruce on camera – thanks Bruce!
Never thought it would get to this but there are shark attacks going down all over the globe, that are being kept secret!
Makes you wonder what it is that turns the media, from sensationalists, to economists, in a blink?
Two in Moz, two in the Kei, and one in the Cape. Those are just about all the details I can give, since they are still deemed secret shark attacks. All this month and last! And that is just Southern Africa.
Protecting and nurturing an embattled, and injured tourism sector is the obvious reason. But surely there is a way to turn this all around.
SUP’s!
Yup, SUP’s are big bad surfboards about 10ft long and 5ft wide, which you drive with a skippers ticket and a paddle. And you can surf them in shark infested waters without a fear in the world. Paint it Orca colours and any great white within a mile will head for Seal Island!
It is with this idea in mind, that Brucifire and thesardine.co.za team will be heading to Port St Johns this week, two SUP’s and two dogs on board, to surf the classic sandbars in complete safety. And pave the way for the SUPping future!
Fearless SA Big Wave Surfers in Contention for Striped Horse Challenge Trip to Hawaii
In a little over a month, one fearless South African surfer will be handed a return ticket to Hawaii (plus R20 000 in cash and over R30 000 in prizes) for winning the Striped Horse Challenge presented by Zigzag in association with RVCA, Twig Surfboards and Hurricane. The search for SA’s most committed big wave surfer closes at the end of September, so there’s still time to enter, but already there are some serious contenders.
Top entries include Mike Schlebach (Kommetjie) who caught some incredible waves at Sunset and Dungeons on 6 August, Andy Marr (Kommetjie) who rode a huge barrel at Dungeons, James Lowe (Kommetjie) and Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) who rode some heavy tubes at Bayview in Hermanus. Jeremy Johnson (Llandudno) a goofyfooter who rode some massive waves on his backhand at Sunset and Dungeons on 6 August and Juria Muller (Vlees Baai) who caught some bomb waves at both Sunset and Dungeons are also in the running for the trip to Hawaii.
Andy Marr at The Dungeon: Photo credit to Grant Scholtz
“A pilgrimage to Hawaii for the winter surf season is a crucial rite of passage for any surfer wanting to make a name for themselves in big waves. But Hawaii is both far away and very expensive and therefore out of reach of the budgets of most South African surfers. That’s why we at Zigzag are so stoked to be presenting The Striped Horse Challenge, supported by RVCA, TWIG and Hurricane,” said Andy Davis Publisher: Zigzag Surfing Magazine.
“This competition is going to give a hard charging South African big wave surfer the chance to spend a season on “The Rock” chasing big waves and rubbing shoulders with the sport’s elite. It’s a truly magnificent prize. And judging by the calibre and quantity of the entries, it’s pretty obvious that every waterman in South Africa is eyeing this prize very closely.”
The judging panel, which is led by 2013/14 Big Wave World Tour champion Twiggy Baker, are going to have a tough time determining the winner from over 20 rides by 14 different big wave chargers that have been entered so far. They’ll be taking many things into consideration; not just wave height, but commitment level, the technical aspect of the ride, as well as what exactly constitutes ‘making a wave’ – which is always a highly debated subject, because these giant waves often don’t allow a rider to make it all the way to the channel to kick out.
On top of the massive reward for the winning big wave surfer, the videographer or photographer who recorded the standout ride will also earn themselves R10 000 cash. There’s also a chance for visitors to the stripedhorsechallenge.co.za website to win great prizes too. Once you’ve watched all the entries and determined your favourite, you can drop a comment below the ride and the best-rated comment each week wins an epic hamper from sponsors Striped Horse Craft Beer, RVCA and Hurricane.
Go to stripedhorsechallenge.co.za to view all the entries so far, or to enter your own mind-blowing big wave ride.
Jbay comes alive! Before the sun was up, the count reached 100 clones/clowns all out there. With so many guys grappling for the sets, it could easily be that many of these clones never even got one wave through the session?!
This clip was shot during last weeks swell, a week after the Fanning incident. It goes to show how freaky it was that a white swam into Micko’s leash, when he was the only dude out there! If that same white was there during this session, he woulda gotten tangled up in all those leashes and drowned?!
Arriving in Cape Town gave a stern reminder of the harshness of winter in the Cape. But with the crazy north westerly comes not only freezing cold wind and rain, nope, the swell comes too making the whole episode worth the endurance and rubber required to surf these Cape waters.
It was five minutes into my reunion with Khimal Omardien in Hout Bay that he let lose his war cry… “Let’s go to Ebay!”. In another five minutes the car was reversed out for packing, which took a lot longer than the next five minutes. But soon we were blazing northwards perpetuating the endless chase for waves that we have found ourselves on.
Soon we were through the towns and on that last beautiful stretch of the journey. It’s about here where my stomach turns as my soul realises what’s guaranteed around the headland. Ebay is one of the very few waves where a guarantee is kinda possible. As long as there is swell and a southerly it’s on.
The swell was decidedly from the west and a bit to big for the little sister of Jbay. But the next morning was all time as a small band of waterproof soldiers took it on. Glassy and slightly smaller, the waves move onto the high tide ledge and started screaming. It was barrelling on the right ones and everybody got waves in the calm and pleasant line up.
It was really good catching up with old surfing mate Ian and his girl Linda on the beach. We were invited to stay and enjoyed the West coast hospitality at its finest. Eating under the stars and around a fire with good mates is what its all about.
