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Chris Leppan and Hate Speech surfing Mozambique

Chris Leppand and Hate Speech surfing Mozambique

Chris Leppan and Hate Speech surfing Mozambique

Surfing Mozambique in a trilogy of video collaborations shot at three of the best point breaks that Mozambique has to offer. Which means that Africa has to offer. The conditions were far from epic in any of the sessions, but Chris and friends made the most of it. This day however, shot at the picteresque Ponto do Ouro, right on the southern tip of the fabulously long coastline, was pretty much cooking. Well dredging at least.

The highly talented Kate Lovemore was on the camera, which made it an absolute pleasure and a breeze through the studio process.

You can see the first in the trilogy at the following link…

Chris Leppan meets Napalma – shot at Tofinho, a bit further north in Inhambane province.

The final instalment will be coming soon. I’ll leave you guessing as to where this sojourn will take us next.


The cyclone season will be firing up pretty soon – February is coming fast. Balmy hot days and east swells marching in. Offshores to match. Well it’s a dream, but when one day, you do catch these very same point breaks, in these conditions, you shall never forget.

Bruce Gold experienced this phenomenon. Of east swells just appearing out of nowhere. Not predicted on any charts. And it was in August! Painted clean with Offshore winds, the current wasn’t even currenting. But the waves were mean!

Some sets peeled through with not a single surfer making the drop. As the tide dredged out it got meaner. Some of the best barrels were had. For two days the waves just poured through. Goofy foot renegade Craig Els was up from JBay. And fell into an amazing rhythm right off the bat. Thwacking the perfect rights until they finally stopped coming.

Luckily Bruce grabbed a camera and shot off some clips right in the heat of it all. His running commentary and the waves he filmed formed the core content for the surf film Shaloha. A Bruce Gold epic. Featuring many of the hotter surfers up and down this coastline, the compilation starts in Cape Town, and ends in Mozambique. In the most perfect waves.

Bruce ended up staying in Tofinho for a whole four months after the huge trip. And fell right in with the palmy lifestyle around here.

Enjoy the day…

If you want to come surf these waves with us…check out the options in the menu above, or follow this link…

https://thesardine.co.za/product-category/surfing-experiences

Catch us on Facebook at…

http://facebook.com/thesardine.co.za/

 

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KZN Winter waves with Chris Leppan

KZN Winter waves with Chris Leppan

KZN Winter waves with Chris Leppan

Chris Leppan, when he isn’t catching and releasing marlin off his kayak, can be found surfing. A lot. Especially in winter time!

Steven Michelsen put some hours into the following video – “Gone Surfing, Leave a Message”- featuring Chris at an undisclosed KZN location. The waves are typical early winter stuff – hollow, warm water and westerlies prevailing.

Got to love KZN!

See more of Chris while he is not surfing here…

Chris Leppan marlin on Kayak

Chris Leppan sailfish on Kayak

Chris Leppan 32kg Couta Pomene

Chris Leppan 29kg Couta Pomene

And one more to follow – Chris releasing a marlin from his kayak…stay tuned!

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Chris Leppan shoots huge couta at Pomene

Chris Leppan and his huge couta at Pomene

Chris Leppan shoots huge couta at Pomene

Watch this cool underwater and highly authentic video shot by Asha Irvine, Chris’ able lady – as Chris puts the spear in a huge couta at Pomene recently.

The fish was deep down, swimming the bottom as Chris descended above and behind to plant the perfect shot. The couta swims off like it would, and Chris gives chase, with Asha right behind him, camera rolling.

The reel gun must have been smoking underwater but luckily it was well spooled and the 32kg fish soon got dragged up kicking and screaming.

Chris’ antics have been nothing more than spectacular…we had to run a series on him to keep up!

More Chris action right here:

Marlin on Kayak

Couta off the beach at Pomene

Just btw, we somehow have two Chris Leppan’s, and they are both smoking hot anglers…

This is the other Chris Leppan…

And more about his fish right here:

https://thesardine.co.za/2015/06/03/chris-lepan-huge-kob-in-the-umzimkulu/

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Chris Leppan marlin on kayak

2022 marlin season

Chris Leppan marlin on kayak

Chris Leppan again with an authentic Durban marlin taken from his Kayak. Unfortunately the fish was wounded so Chris tied it to his waist and paddled the 80kg estimated fish in through the surf.

The fish took a modified StrikePro hard plastic bait which Chris was towing around off Durban North, quite near the backline. Whilst hunting for snoek (queen mackeral). Quite ironically, a marlin fishing boat was trolling right next to Chris when the black marlin decided to jump on the tiny white lure.

Quite a performance Chris, we cannot wait to see what you get up to next?!

It’s been a great billfish season so far with the sheer numbers of baby black marlin making the news most times. Although Chris’ fish was not that small at 80kg’s, some cute little guys in the twenties have been getting snared by anglers up and down the East Coast of Africa. Including two taken off Margate Pier, along with a bunch of dorado?! And quite a few more on the north coast. Wether or not this proliferation is good news for the future, or that they are the known small guys from the Pemba area, will only be found out when the tags say something.

Use a MYDO Baitswimmer #2 with a little mackerel, drag it along the backline in the blue water somewhere, and catch and release your own baby black! They really perform at these young ages, outperforming their parents for a real spectacle!

Cameras ready!

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Chris Leppan Couta at Pomene from the beach

Chris Leppan Couta at Pomene

Featuring: A great reality clip of Chris’ croc couta at Pomene, caught from the beach, on a recent adventure up to ‘this paradisical place.

Meeting Chris Leppan down here at The Umzimkulu Marina for a weekend and his entourage of enthusiastic ocean people was game enough. But seeing his collection of amazing fishing stunts pulled off lately, takes things to a new level. I thought he was just a surfer?!

Not only will you read about here in upcoming weeks, and see videos of, huge king mackerel taken from the beach like the one featured in this video below. But also of even huger couta Chris shot at Pomene in Southern Mozambique, in fact muuuch huger! Wait ’til you check that fish! Which Chris shot all the while being filmed by his highly capable camera expert girlfriend!

And pretty soon, we will run the video Chris got whilst taming an 80kg marlin, from his surf ski! Right in front of where he stays in Durban North?!

So enjoy this first instalment of how a waterman has fun in the afternoons…with much more to follow…

The Sardine team have been doing trips to Pomene and surrounds for a decade now. If you, or anyone you know, would like to know a bit more about the place (like the lodge is soon to be closed btw), or conditions/logistics, buzz me on umzimkulu@gmail.com. We can also arrange to get you up to Pomene – to stay in our rustic facility on the beach at the point, buzz me too!

The place is sure to be blown up, literally to smithereens, as cruise ships start their tenure in the bay later this year. No more secrets. The cat has left the building. They are doing a bunch of trips, carrying a few thousand at a time, to be dumped on the serene and unspoilt peninsula, for a day. November through April. Fortunately, these cruise ships seem to move around a heap, hopefully they will go back to Inhaca Island, where they came from, which is a far better suited venue. We did some work for the cruise ships captain when they were scouting, finding channels and parking spots for the huge ship, which is how we know this all to be true. It also has been advertised in their brochures already since last year. An alarming note is that the estuary could be closed off to access for the public. Periodically or not, we are not sure. And, there are plans to build a hotel, in the place of the old and romantic Pomene Lodge. Sad way to go…paradise found and lost.

Further waves on the horizon are reports that even more cruise ships are starting from the north. Coming down from that way, since the piracy guys have been collared. The commercial fishing fleet are also back on the water, operating out of the Seychelles and Mauritius, and so the mill keeps turning.

Bring back the pirates!

 

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