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Chasing the goose – surfing the KZN South Coast in summer

Surfing the KZN South Coast in summer

Chasing the goose – surfing the KZN South Coast in summer

Surfing the KZN South Coast in summer…Onshore, offshore, side-shore, cross-shore day to day. Bluebottles, sunburn traffic and brown water, dawn patrols and of course chasing the proverbial golden goose. I woke up way too early the other morning again to a sweet and very uncharacteristic offshore careening down the river. A little after dawn I am staring at the sea with a coffee and of course no-one to surf with- again, it get’s a little ‘Groundhog’ around here sometimes especially out of season, I find myself scrambling madly through my phone trying to conjure someone to surf with- no joy, everyone’s stuck in the real world- a curse and a blessing this existence…and no one is answering the phone. Plan B I hunt my evergreen older brother Shonalanga, and phantom Nephew Buzz down and an anxious hour or two scratches by until all three of us are in the car with the camera charged headed to a brand new surfspot! You see I have been hunting new waves- especially slabby reefbreaks my whole life. A little bird told me about a particularly chunky little wave the boogieboarders love to ride, and I had been on a mission to find it. Turns out the wave I thought was ‘Flintstones’ turns out to be just another perfect little bend of reef peeling into a rocky bay just around the corner!

To cut a long story to smithereens Sean drew the short straw and was elected as filmer and we got to finally start shooting for our project in collaboration with Gazo and Justin at Wedge surfboards to film and test these crazy new sleds they are making. Quite literally building chassis into surfboards with crazy concave and Modern Planing Hull technology. Stay tuned for more in this video I am riding the latest C-Link model 5’5 and Buzz is riding the Air-Bender 5’5 as well which is one of the fastest and most responsive boards I have ever ridden- you just have to be completely on your game to ride them properly…

If you see us lurking the KZN South coast surfing this Summer- come check these boards out, if you are interested in buying one we will set you up and you can try a test board for a couple sessions-no more!!!

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Chad Leavitt at Pomene

Chad Leavitt at PomeneChad Leavitt takes the drop at the point in Pomene
Chad Leavitt takes the drop at the point in Pomene (c) Branko

It’s not always screaming hollow at Pomene – often it’s just windy old walls just like Supers, mellow and fun, but warm and clean water. This day Chad Leavitt was out there on a 6’4″ fish and flying. South swells like the ones that fire up Jbay and the like, also make it up to Inhambane Province, where many, many un-named sandbanks await. Crowds are so not a problem, everywhere, except the named spots like Tofinho, where every geek seems to end up struggling for a taste of what the dorky print magazines have been centre-spreading all over the planet.

See you nowhere!

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Jay Steenkamp in the barrel at St. Mikes

Jay Steenkamp in the barrel at St. Mikes (August 2014)

Repost from August 2014: As we move into the south coast winter conditions we have all been waiting for here is some motivation to get onto the press ups and sit ups routines. Jay Steenkamp proving that it does actually barrell at Saints, sometimes…looking forward to Jay’s GoPro antics again this year…”

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Now this is how you take a selfie pal! (c) Jay Steenkamp

GoPro cameras have certainly changed the way we view surfing. Jay Steenkamp has mastered the tricky take-off to holding the camera behind out behind him as he negotiates some solid pits at Saints this winter.

A sand dredging tuberide view from the inside...
A sand dredging tuberide view from the inside…(c) Jay Steenkamp

And then while sitting around in the line up, if you have a GoPro, you can film the gamefish hammering baitfish around your legs…like this profile shot of what seems to be a Greater Barracuda…yeah, the ones with TEETH! Toes up Jay!

What could it be?
What could it be? (c) Jay Steenkamp

Thanks for the photos Jay, keep ’em coming!

Jay is also our sardine spotter in the air as he works for the Natal Sharks Board…who fly a plane up and down the coast in the sardine season, reporting on the action. Unfortunately, there is still nothing to report, it looks to be another bleak run for our sorely missed sardines.

You can keep up to date with the marine life and activity by visiting our Sightings section…an interactive map with markers reflecting the positions of marine animals, like whales, sardines and dolphins.

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Cyclones! Amazing waves at Barra…

Cyclones! Amazing waves at Barra…

The first tropical storm to be upgraded in early January – Bansi – was graced with the accolade of being a Level 4 cyclone! She is moving away from Madagascar where she was hovering a while, and now has a newly born sister in tow!

Tropical Storm Chedza is right in the channel, our side of Madagascar, and also been upgraded to a tropical cyclone, but is also headed away from us – the two together have produced some epic conditions.

The water is super warm, around 27 degrees, and the airflow has steadily moved from onshore to side/offshore, and it’s finally raining. The light during the day is silvery blue, and as I write this, thunder is forcing it’s way overhead giving us even more to think about.
Surfing waves that can clean cut you in half can be fun once you get used to it, but the purported twin of The Donkey – a shifting superbank in Barra, is by no means easy. The drop is straight out of the sky and 6ft waves disgorge themselves onto a two foot deep sandbar that runs for hundreds of metres. When it’s perfect it can almost be easy, but the last few days at Barra have registered only about a 4/10.

It was lumpy, mean and yet still super hollow. Young Sung Min Cho was the star of the show – he was seen disappearing deep into pits that are easily heavier than any KZN South Coast break can be. The wave literally empties out on itself, is so fast, yet so perfectly difficult. And at 6ft it’s insane stuff.

And! It’s all captured, by Min himself. He and his two brothers, Sung Min Cho and Tae Sung Junior Cho only started surfing a year ago and the level they have achieved is astounding. In fact, Tofo is now littered with groms ripping up anything they can paddle into.

Enjoy the clip!

 

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Dylan Stewart Wins Annual Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam At Beach Bums

Dylan Stewart Wins Annual Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam At Beach Bums

 

Dylan Stewart cuts back into the seventies in grand style...
Dylan Stewart cuts back into the seventies in grand style…
Photo by Fabian Coetzer

Beach Bums, Tongaat – Dylan Stewart of Umdloti, KZN emerged the best of the sixty surfers who participated in the annual Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam which took place at Beach Bums at the weekend. The event, now in its second year, is a retro seventies fundraising surf event hosted by Quiksilver and the Movember foundation. Surfers and spectators were invited to Beach Bums on the KwaZulu Natal north coast to relive the glory days, show off their well manicured Movember moustaches, dress in seventies surf gear and ride single or twin fin surfboards from the seventies era.

Continue reading Dylan Stewart Wins Annual Off The Lip Movember Surf Jam At Beach Bums

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