Yeeuw, we finally got some waves last week. A short-lived swell, but definitely enough to get everyone wet and happy after a 3 weeks surf drought.

Dave Randle grabbed some shots of the action at Pipe, so you can check them out here:
www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/pipe-2-april-2021

Pipe sucked in most of the swell, but there were fun slides to be had at Millers. Big Eddie even hooked a wave right from outside Millers all the way through to the beach at Hobie. The guys got smashed a bit at Fence, with wild peaks slamming heavily into the sand and making it hard work to reach the backline without a nice rinse and spin cycle for your troubles.

The rest of the week was pretty much same old, same old. Small and onshore with the usual dedicated bunch of ou's out at Pipe for the dawnie. Guess that's the secret to surviving as a PE surfer - set your standards lank low and you'll be happy for anything that the ocean spews up. Probably an admirable attitude to have. 

Wildlife is notoriously difficult to photograph. Most of us have tried to catch a whale leaping up or track some dolphins surfing a wave, and by the time you have your camera all ready to go the afore-mentioned critters have buggered off not to be seen again. JBay's Deon Lategan puts the hours in though, and snagged this lekker one of the Supers locals doing a family wave.

No surf means that surfers actually got to get some work in instead of bunking to get a few waves. JBay kneel Stevo has been getting some great art out during this lull period. If you have a empty wall in your house give Stevo a shout and he'll get you something lekker to colour it up. Better yet - give him your brand new stick to colour up, he does awesome board sprays too.
www.facebook.com/stephen.vanderwatt

The flat spell has made the swimming crowd happy - the oceans been like a giant pool for a while. Kiff shot of them short-cutting through the 6 pack.

Summer days mean boardshorts and zinc. Always cool if you match your zinc to your board colour. Fonzi keeping it real. When asked if his micro-grom was a goofy like dad or a regular footer, pop says at this stage he is still hanging on his back like a lil limpet so no news on what stance he is gonna be as yet.

On the subject of groms - great to see plenty of second generation lighties splashing about. But dad's, please remember to educate your kids in the important art of line-up etiquette, and how to wait and take their turn and not just paddle straight back to the outside expecting the next wave to be theirs.

​If they have the usual zero-patience-and-more-energy-than-a-6-pack-of-Red-Bull attitude then shuttle them off to a quiet peak away from the main surf zone where they can catch any and every wave they want without irking the other ou's in the line-up.

​You know those Youtube video's of ou's when they see massive spiders and jump sky high - this shot of Frans has me wondering if he saw something like that to get him going with that foot-in-the-air-I'm-outta-here action? Probably one of the few uses for a SUP Paddle - great to moer a crawly flat!

On the topic of big boards - anyone looking for a decent condition longboard - not always easy to find but Chris Taljaard has one up for grabs if you looking. Tune him at the surf shop.

Most of the last few weeks have looked like this. Perfect if you a 6 inch mini-me-grom, but otherwise you outta luck.

The grom games took on a different approach this year due to covid, and were held on a regional basis. PE hosted the NMB surfriders and Buffalo City Surfriders, with NMB taking the wind. Well done lighties.

The Boardtalk hosted a Art of Surf event which was well attended. Some of the best photags from the Bay and JBay had their work on display. A number of these awesome prints are up for auction, to raise funds for charity as well as the Faulkner family (who lost their son, a well known and well-liked EP surfer, in a shooting tragedy). 

Check the video out below to see which prints are available and make your big. They are large A2 size, so will go great on your wall.

Normally the Easter period gets it's fair share of good swell, we got one short taste of it last week but hopefully some more early season swells start rolling in soon. 

Bit of a mixed bag week, some waves, some flat spells, some wind. Least the water is still staying fairly warm. Just need a new swell to roll in.

Early mornings seem to be yielding the best chance of a slide. Pipe has been sucking in most of the swell, but Fence has also had it's days.

Ou's and their kites been capitalising in between the calm periods. 

Lekker to see the yachts cruising about the bay. JBay local Trevor Hansen has just left Cape Town on their yacht to sail over to the Caribbean. Surfboards and fishing rods in tow, so expect to see some shots of unknown waves and huge fish when they finally make landfall again.

The wildside is still the place to go hunting when the surf's too small in the bay.

And even if you don't score any waves you can hang around and score some great sunsets!

The bay hasn't been too shabby either when it comes to the sun doing it's thing - sunrises at Pipe always manage to look pretty, even if the surf's chunky.

Speaking of chunky. That's Avo's new name. Chunks. The Spot Renaming comp was won by James Ruthven-Smith's who named it that cos you either lose chunks outta your feet from climbing out over the rocks, or chunks outta your board it after washes up on the rocks after blowing a take off.

​Seeing as James has just had to relocate to the wave paradise of Muizenburg, he is gifting his prize to his mate Andre Clarke, who also had a pretty good entry of "Musselcrackers", so named cos if you fail to time your exit well before the ledge right at the bottom section - you may just have the delightful task of picking mussels out your crack. So Andre scores a R100 voucher from Surf Centre Humewood and beer from Richmond Hill Brewing Co. Thanks to Dave Lippie for judging.

​New comp out tomorrow- watch the Facebook page for details.

The Boardroom will be presenting a cool event on Sat 27 March - The Art of Surf. Pull in and check some amazing surf imagery from the bay and surrounds, taken by some of the top local photags. There will be live music from DJ Munro, and there'll be some fires on the go, so just bring and braai. Alcohol will be available for purchase. Everyone welcome, so pull in for a jol.

Port Alfred scored some fun surf this past week.

A firey start to the day, but not so much a fiery start to the week. Bogger all on the charts again, so it will be a scratchy one for those wanting to get wet.

Bit of an arb week as far as surf went, Thursday threw out some fun one's, but besides that there wasn't much to get frothed on.

There was however rare photographic evidence of CarPark John going for a wave. Ballie is getting his stoke back and is starting to spend less time in the car park and more time on his board.

The morning crew always seem to find something surfable, to make their early get-up worth their while. Early birds get the worms and all that.

Most of the week it was just blerrie flat though, like this.....

The next Surf Spot Renaming comp was for Humewood, and happy to announce it's now known as Gdbsaxprietha, or something like that! Kent Catterall's entry was chosen as the winner by Dennis Ellis, cos he felt it was a good reflection of the unpronouncable name given to PE recently.

James Ruthven-Smith got an honourable mention with his name of "Gogos" - Xhosa for "grandmothers". Cos James reckons even if the weather is miserable, there will be one around to tune you that you shouldn't be surfing there. And if you squint really hard with salt crusted eyes the old pillars could look like grannies

Pity Humew...I mean Gdbsaxprietha...didn't look like the above this week, but rather like the below.

This week's Rename the Spot comp is Avalanche - so get those entries in via the Facebook page (comp will be posted online on Tuesday) or as a comment down below. Entries close this Thursday midday.

The Wildside always offers an option when it's flat in the bay. And even if you don;t score a surf it's always just worth a visit for a lekka day on the beach.

Plenty of cool shells to collect if you go walking there too.

Dave went dumpster diving and found some beat up old boards which he reckons will keep him out of mischief on the easterly days.

Here's a few more shots from the surf this week...

Even if the surf doesn't deliver, the sunrises do. Pipe at it's prettiest in the morning.

Some wind around for the yachts. Nice to see a few back in the bay for the Wednesday evening sails. Used to be a big thing back in the day, with upwards of 15-20 yachts going for a Wednesday sail. These days there are 2-3 regulars who head out.

Nothing much on the charts for this week again, so the summer flat spell continues unfortunately. Roll on Autumn!

Bogger all waves this week. Either flat, or east, take your pick. So if you dig onshore you were fine, but for those mere mortals who are a bit more fussy and like their wave faces clean, um, not much of that on offer.

The kite boarders were happy enough. See, life is all about perspective. All we need to do is get kite boards then we won't bitch as much when the east wind pumps.

If you were wondering why there was a siff miff smell near the beachfront lately, it's due to all the seaweed that's washed ashore lately. That stuff is hell on a leash. After about 2 waves you'll feel like someone has the handbrake on on your surfboard. 

The big news of the week was the renaming of PE to whatever the hell they calling it now. It meant the perfect opportunity to go about renaming our surf spots. First up was Fence. Plenty of great entries but CarPark John who was Judge John for the comp, chose "Qdolos" by Julian Bray. Daryl Garner with "iFenci" got an honourable mention. Julian scores a mixed 4 pack from Richmond Hill Brewing Co and a R100 voucher from Surf Centre.

The spot up for renaming this week is Humewood. So head over to the Millerslocal Facebook page and get your entries in. Or if you aren't on FB just comment below. Entries close 12pm midday on Wednesday.

Stevo Kneelo from Jbay has to be one of my favourite local artists. I wish I had more walls in my apartment to fit more of his paintings. If you have a bare looking wall and would like to funk it up, tune Stephen van der Watt via his FB page. 

If you know of anyone that could do a good job of designing a mural for soon-to-be renamed Humewood beach, then get those entries in. Humewood is of course the surf spot up for renaming in this week's competition!

One of the Pipe morning surf crew, Jacques, has opened up a coffee wagon which is operating down in the beachfront area. So if you spot Piccola Italy then pull in for a brew, bru.

Doesn't look like a lot wavewise this week either, so just get cracking on all those DIY jobs round the house and school and varisty assignments - so when the waves finally arrive you don't have to bunk anything to get on it.

Life's all about perspective. So instead of getting pissed at the PE name change, let's take the piss instead. Gonna be running a tongue-in-cheek competition where you'll have the chance to "rename" PE's iconic surf spots. Best name (and reason for it) wins. Follow the Facebook page for details.

If you don't have Facebook and still wanna enter just comment below. Spots up for renaming are gonna be Fence, Humewood, Millers, Avo's, Pipe and Rincon (just write the name of the spot you are renaming, followed by your new name for it, and if you like add in a reason for your choice).

CarPark John will be Judge John and make the call as to who comes up with the best name for each spot. Winner scores a R100 voucher from Surf Centre and a 4 pack of mixed beers from Richmond Hill Brewing Co.

Will update the results for each spot on this page as we go along.

Comp 1:
Fence. Now known as Qdolos (Julian Bray)
Honourable mentions: iFenci (Daryl Garner), Draad (JP Mulder), Stressles (Peter Lawrence - cos you worry about your car in the car park!)

Comp 2:
Humewood - now known as ​Gdbsaxprietha, or something like that! Kent Catterall's entry was chosen as the winner by Dennis Ellis, cos he felt it was a good reflection of the unpronouncable name given to PE recently.

James Ruthven-Smith got an honourable mention with his name of "Gogos" - Xhosa for "grandmothers". Cos James reckons even if the weather is miserable, there will be one around to tune you that you shouldn't be surfing there. And if you squint really hard with salt crusted eyes the old pillars could look like grannies

Comp 3: Rename Avalanche and win R100 Surf Centre Voucher and a mixed 4 pack from RHBC. Get those entries in by 12pm midday on this Thursday.
Remember, anyone can enter, but if you don't live in PE (or somewhere close by), you'll need to donate your prize to your mate or the ou in 2nd place. Cos we can't ship prizes.

One of the original PE surfers, Rick Field, commented on a recent post about the renaming of PE, and the chirp about they can't rename our surf spots:

"I grew up at No 1 Seventh Avenue Summerstrand and was born in 1951. I was the first person to surf Avalanche when I was 15 so 1966. Chomps was called Robin Els Rock after the bait the fishermen found there.

My brother, Stan Field, and I were probably the first surfers when I was 15, so 1967 to surf the Lighthouse. It was about 10 foot. In 1964 I came 2nd to Mush in the first competition ever at Millers.

I broke my nose 3 weeks before my Barmitzvah at Fence end of 1963. Mush and Car Park John can verify all this is true.

In 1967 I surfed Pipe with my dog Simba and there was a pic of us in the EP newspaper The Herald.

Millers was a great right but Rob McCaskill surfed straight into my face 1967 and broke my nose for the 2nd time !

The 3rd time I broke it was 2005 surfing at Puerto Vallarta in Mexico with my nephews 
Jess Field and  Ari Melmed.

We always thought Pollock beach was named after the great cricketers from my school Grey High around 1969.

My brother Stan, now 77, and a World renowned Architect lives near Mavericks just South of San Francisco and still surfs weekly. I live in Denver and go to surf with him when I can.

Please would you put this comment on your Website as I'm now officially a Baalie and am kak on computers tho I'm still racing Vintage Motocross all over the USA.

Best regards and God Bless to all you surfers,

Ricky Field now just Rick Field"

Lekker to hear that an old PE surfer is still in the water after his 3 score years and 10. Nice one Rick!

Typical feast or famine PE surf missions. The week before cooooked. This past week? Not so much. Still some scraps to get wet on. It did mean ou's were frothing on the dawnies to avoid the onshore breezes. When last you see 20 ou's in the water at Pipe before sunrise!?

The light onshores did mean there was some air time to be had. Lighties just have to work on spotting their landings a bit better as one of the Pipe regular morning crew collected a grom on the head.

William Vietch has been doing lots of swimming lately and been hooking some lekker shots. Try not to ride over Williams head. Remember the golden rule of surfing - where you look - you go. So don't eyeball the poor photag as you bearing down on him. He'll get out the way - his pip depends on it!

There were actually enough waves to get CarPark John in the water. Happy to report he is finding his mojo again and caught some!

That's one of the cool things being back home. Back to my daily chats with John. For the last 20 years this is how it goes:
Ring ring ring
John: "Keeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy"
Me: "Howzeeeeet! What's happening!?"
John: " As you can see, nothing!" (sometimes alternating with "As you can see, it's kak!")

Pretty much the exact same opening to our daily phone call every day for 20 years. I can probably count the number of times he's said "It's cooking" on one hand! But then again, John doesn't throw out the "it's cooking" description too often. He has pretty high standards!

Where it was cooking this week was Maldives. Wish I was still locked down there. Certainly wouldn't be out there in this size, but know enough hidey holes where it bends round the reef and becomes friendly size. 

It was also cooking in Gauteng. Actually it can cook there pretty much every day of the week. You somme just have to flick the switch. Ex-Millerslocal and Sun City GM, Brett Hoppe, just loving the fact that he doesn't have to worry about crowds or tides or onshores or sharks (or SUP's! Brett "loves" SUP's...)

​The only variable is the water temp, and it can get frigging cold up there - I remember surfing the pool eons ago and just as we were packing our stuff  for the trip I thought "hey, maybe I should throw in a suit" Just as well we did, was about 14C!

If you looking for some super funky tables, chairs or cushions, pop into the Locally Yours Market at Moffet Retail Park. Surfer-girl Margot Saunders has her awesome range of goods there. Or just tune Margot direct. Like whilst waiting for sets at the back of Pipe, you can buy a cushion!
​#buylocal #Supportsurfers

Haibo. Skollie alert. Fence locals  - keep your eyes peeled for this vehicle, as the driver is suspected of breaking into Craig's car this weekend. Whilst he was changing into his suit this car pulled up and parked in front of him, the guy then lay down acting as if he was gonna take a nap.

After walking a lil way down the beach Craig decided the ou was too suspicious and came back to find him snooping around the cars. So Craig moved his car into the main car park. After his surf he got back to find the lock popped, but thankfully he hadn't left anything worth taking inside.

​Also watch out at Loch Ness, a car was broken into there last week as well.

Not much on the charts for this week. Lekker long period swell on the weekend - but heavy easts. So if you know a spot that can handle that, then you in the money.

Back in the 'hood after a year locked out north of the equator. Lekker to be back to my front yard, although missing my "other" front yards already.

Thankfully lockdown restrictions got amended last week and we could get back into the surf. Everyone and the kitchen sink was out there on their boards. Luckily Neptune decided to give us a break and dished out some really fun swell.

Waves from Rincon down to Fence, and plenty to go round. The photags were also out and about, so plenty of shots to check out - just go over to The Latest Shots page and take a scroll.

Even CarPark John made the transition from car park into the water. Did entail some nagging from all his mates to get him motivated, but he had a few good sessions. Not too shabby when you the other side of 70.

The ou's are only to happy that the "Closed" sign has been removed from the beach. Although based on the crazy behavior witnessed on the first weekend of open beaches, for a brief moment everyone was like, hmmm, maybe they should close them again! Was a bit like watching a live reality TV show.

Somewhat ironic that a lone surfer the week before would have attracted 5 cop vans, a police boat and a helicopter and an arrest, yet blatant disregard for the bylaws of No Drinking etc barely a few days later and not a cop to be seen. Go figure.

Speaking of arrests. Big Dave - currently known as Medium Dave (thanks to a successful diet plan), had his summons dropped thanks to some sharp work by surfer-lawyer and SA Surfing prez Johnny Bakker. Dave was arrested at Seals during lockdown for having a surf, but thanks to Johnny's hard work and some common sense on behalf of the prosecutor it got chucked out.

Pipe PE generally only bears similarity to the real Pipe in name alone. But William Veitch decided to do a Clarke Little impersonation and got a whole heap of sand in holes he didn't know he had whilst capturing some cool shoredumps - and making Pipe look more like Pipe than normal.

The crazy hot weather saw some interesting cloud formations - Andrew captured this one out at Schoenies.

Blast from the past - nice old shot of Humewood surfaced during the week. Just the slipway in place, and hardly anything built in Summerstrand. Nice wedges visible at Fence of course. 

The big oil tanker permanently anchored near Koega harbour has some locals of it's own. The seals have taken to climbing up the bulb on the nose and hanging out. 

Plenty of gorgeous sunrises and sunsets to enjoy during the week. Summer never disappoints in that department.

Surfer and funny-man, Gino Fabbri, started doing a Saturday evening show during lockdown and has kept it going ever since. This weekend he interviewed Dennis Ellis from the Boardroom.

Check out the show here.

The good swell during the week saw a lucky rider score a wave from Chomp all the way through to Hobie, a ride of approx 500m. He had to negotiate a drop in from Big Dave en route, but managed to round him successfully (an achievement in itself!) and wind up all the way down near the beach. 

After a good run of swell, the ocean is taking a break for a while until it wakes up later in the week again. Gives everyone's arms a chance to rest up.

Waves, waves and more waves. And cold. And wind. And a few nice days. Just another lekker winters week in Africa. No complaints about it though as long as there's waves.

JBay was pumping. Properly pumping. The locals were getting shacked off their pips, and even the visitors were scoring. 

PE also had some waves. Just the usual wind issues plaguing matters. But still some decent sessions to be had.

Millers also had some slides coming though. Check the Latest Shots page for all the pics from Millers.

The wild side was also an option for those that made the trip. 

Did mention it was windy. 

Sometimes the wind decided to take a breather though...

And there were some beautiful mornings to be had.

As much as we hate wind, it does make for for interesting seascapes and landscapes.

And the local yachts weren't complaining that there was some wind to fill their sails.

Millers local paddle skier, Kenny Bateman, does a good job of looking after the car park area. Always encouraging the car guards to do some clean up for a few extra bucks. 

Ever wondered why Bird rock was called Bird rock?

The Coastal Water Rescue guys were out on the wild side in wild conditions. Good to see guys practicing in conditions that are similar to what rescues normally have to be carried out in.

It wasn;t only the East Cape lighting up this week. Indo was going mental. The PE boys stuck at Nias aren't complaining too much. Dean Basson and Josh Saunders scoring more barrels in these few months than most get in a lifetime.

My temporary front yard also been on fire. Sheet glass too. 

Sometimes you gotto play to play. Ducky's all smiles nonetheless.

You know the tag line of the MasterCard advert. Never leave home without it. Well, who knew a little plastic gizmo could be the difference between heaven and hell! The Jiqs Leash Fix sure saved my bacon. Earlier this year, and only a week in to our trip to Maldives and my leash snaps. Haibo. 

Normally i have a few spares with me but in the packing rush I didn't bring any. Which meant i was stuck at a remote wave without another leash. And the waves were perfect.

Thankfully on a previous trip I'd left one of my Jiqs in the fin bag. And there it was, going "Aren't you so bloody happy I'm here!" Damn right I was!

The leash break was a tricky one as it snapped off at the attachment to the leash cuff. No problem for the Jiqs. It's designed to fix a break anywhere in your leash. I just looped the cord through my leash cuff, screwed the bust end into plug - and good to go!

​Cos you don't wanna be missing this....

Turns out surfboard leashes in Maldives are like buying small strings of gold. Firstly you can only get em in the capital city (which is normally nowwhere near where you are) and then when you finally find one, the ou's want R1000 for it! Not a chance! So the Jiqs stayed in place, and so far so good. Hopefully I'm not gonna jinx the Jiqs.

Handled some pretty decent size so far (above). The same sesh saw rashie pulled over the head and off. So some power for sure.

I did an article about the Jiqs leash fix a while ago when I first got mine. You can check it out here:
​http://www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/fix-ya-leash-in-a-flash-with-a-jiqs

It's an absolute essential for surf travel. Especially if you plan on being somewhere remote or on a boat trip. 

Tune Carey to get your mitts on one. It's the best R100 you will ever spend. Carey is the CT surfer who invented this clever device, and you can get him via a direct message on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/jiqs_leash_fix_/
(or drop me a message via the MillersLocal FB page and I'll send you his deets).