Nup, that isn't PE. But it's just to show that even when we dead flat, somewhere else in the world is pumping! Aus is getting smashed with some insane cyclone swell at the moment and the East Coast is going off it's pip.

The bay, on the other hand, was flat as a lake mostly. Usual story, head round the corner and you could get a few. Head further west and get some more. Head to the end of the road, and by then you've spent so much on fuel you may as well get in for a surf. Luckily it usually has something rideable. Just depends on how far down the beach you wanna walk.

This awesome vintage shot came up during the week. Ou's on their ox wagon on the beach at Seals oblivious to the fact that it's absolutely pumping!

Ex-PE/Uitenhage local Lance Pearson dropped me a message about the shot, he remembers way back in the day chatting to an old tannie, Tannie Landman, at the caravan park at Seals. She and her husband lived on the wildside of Seals and bred budgies. She told Lance about when she was a child that their family would travel to PE by oxwagon, and it would take them 2-3 weeks to get there!

Alfonso Peters is a regular fixture of the Millers line up these days, but he can also surf left when he has to. Like this classic shot of an "I'll-be-visiting -the-chiro-tomorrow" soul arch.

Alfonso runs the Waves for Change program in PE and is instrumental in helping less fortunate kids get their lives back on track through the gift of surfing. So if you see a bunch of lighties out at Hummies learning to surf, throw them a shaka. Cos surfing keeps us all sane, and even more so when you life is really challenging.

Plenty of cool events coming up soon, so get out your diaries. First up is a great charity surf event next Saturday 2nd March at Pipe, everyone welcome! The Community Surf Clinic is a fundraiser for Animal Welfare & Waves for Change. Surf lessons R250 pp or R350 for 2 peeps. Great goodie bag with your lesson. Kids yoga, family swim, fun run, all sorts happening. Just a kiff day at the beach in aid of a good cause. Reserve your slots asap. Dennis Ellis making sure they have lekker sticks for the event. 

​Big wave surfer Greg Bertish will be PE and hosting a showing of his movie The Little Optimist on Wednesday 6th March in support of NSRI and local children's charities. Come grab a sundowner, watch a movie, be inspired, do good! Bring the family it’ll be fun! The documentary is super inspiring and is about Greg's 200km journey in a teeny sailing dinghy (an Optimist) around the Cape Point marking the 200 days he spent in hospital overcoming life threatening bacterial infection in his heart. He met some amazing kids in hospital who reminded him to fight for his life and have a DREAM. He now goes to children's hospitals and shows them his video and reads them his book and inspires very sick children to have HOPE and dream. Definitely worth supporting. PE Deep Sea Club, 6m, tickets R75 adults, R45 kids.

From lekker things to kak things. By now, unless you've bene living under a rock, you should know the fish farm project is back on the cards. Please register so you can object, and take note that the Public Participation meeting is on 6 March at City Hall (18h00). All the deets in the link below.
Get involved peeps. No good moaning about it if you just sit back and let it happen!
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/fecking-fish-farm

If the flat spells are getting you down, don't forget that it doesn't take long to drive to the other side of town to find a few lil runners. Normally something to get wet on out that side. Good chance of bumping into Jorg on the Sards sand dune. Maybe SandDune Jorg as opposed to CarPark John!?

Those who have been spending big on their fuel cards at least have been able to nab a few at the end of the road. But with the proposed fuel hikes, expect your surf to start costing a bit more.

SANDF did their annual military invasion exercise on the beach at Muizenberg this year. Cos of course we all know that we have a very likelihood of getting invaded by sea. Or not. But nonetheless. (On a side note I think the tanks could provide an effective deterrent to SUP's!) Heavy things and sand don;t always play nice together, so as expected there were a few getting stranded moments.

SA Interclub Champs held at Muizenberg after the army had finished getting stuck. We had 2 teams from PE flying the bay flag high, Grom Blitz - the crew that Annie van der Merwe and William Van Rijswyk mentor from MIssionvale, and Sunset Surf Club, PE's oldest surf club.

And then there were the usual lekker sunsets. Never seems to be a week that goes by without one!

Nup, the charts aren't forecasting something like this for the week, but it does look a lil better than what we've been suffering through for the last while. 

Arg, Look who's back! The fecking fish farm. Just when we thought it had been buried back in 2016 thanks to the overwhelming public outcry, they have raised their heads for Round 2. 

Algoa 1, the area just off Pipe is still on the agenda, albeit this time slightly smaller. But the fact that it is a kak concept remains. Why situate a fish farm just 2k's off of one of our main recreational beaches, and in full view of all the tourist beaches? Genius, really!?

The pre-application phase public meeting for the proposed project has just been announced:
Date: 6th March 2019
Time: 18:00 - 20:30
Venue: City Hall Auditorium in Port Elizabeth. Vuyisile Mini Square, Govan Mbeki Ave, Port Elizabeth Central, Port Elizabeth, 6001

The objective of the pre-application meeting is to provide an overview of the proposed project and to present the preliminary results of the environmental impact assessment. The commenting period will be opened at the public meeting and will be concluded on the 5th April 2019.

So..............................

It's really important that everyone objects again. We beat it once, we can beat it again. But you have to get involved. Being a bystander don't help nought. Pitch up for the meeting, and also please register as an Interested & Affected Party (I&AP) and that way you will be kept up to date with all the news in it's regard, and can submit an official objection as opposed to just ranting and raving on social media. Which might make you feel better, but doesn't actually count in the overall scheme of things. Got to be registered to have your objections acknowledged. 

To register: Email the consultants on [email protected]

Tell 'em you would like to register as an Interested & Affected Party for the Algoa Bay Aquaculture Development Zone Project. Make sure you get a reply!

Get prepared for another fight to save our Bay! Cos it is worth saving!

Another scratchy summer's week. Travel a bit outta town and you were fine, but if you were trying to get wet at the town spots you would have been calling it a swim with your surfboard vs a surf. 

What was really impressive this week is that Lippie managed to get a clear pic of the surf with his phone. Normally it looks like someone has smeared vaseline over his lens. But he got it right for once. 

In the face of teeny waves, you could always just body board! The boogers always get to surf overhead waves, so if you can't beat 'em join 'em!

One of the advantages of having to head round the corner to search for surf is that even if there isn't much wave action the beaches out there are pretty stunning and worth hanging out on even if you don't get wet.

Although late a late Sunday arvo walk at Maitlands revealed some weird brown sudsy stuff in the water, and a whole bunch of dead marine life on the beach. Penguins, fish, all sorts. Michele de Vos snapped the shots. Not to sure if red tide, or what the yucky stuff was. Michelle said it didn't smell like red tide though. Nonetheless it seems to have killed a whole bunch of stuff. Eish.

Speaking of yucky stuff in the water, don;t forget to get yourselves registered as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP) for the Fish Farm project. It's back on the cards again so everyone needs to sign up to make sure our protests are heard.
To register: Email the consultants on [email protected]
Copy and paste the following into the message body:
I would like to register as an Interested & Affected Party for the Algoa Bay Aquaculture Development Zone Project. 
Gotto be signed up for your moans to count! Else you just moaning and it means nothing.

Surfing has to be the greatest gift you can give your kids. Keeps em off the phone and in the water. Always cool to see pop's teaching their lighties the ropes. Just remember though, besides teaching em to stand up, make sure you teach 'em the surf etiquette at the same time. If you get that wrong at the get-go it's a hard habit to change, and you'll have sneaky snaky lil groms thinking they can just paddle up the inside each time - until one of the ballies gives em a tongue lashing.

With the lack of waves the ou's were all making wildside missions over the weekend. Even CarPark John had to move carparks from the Pipe to Noordhoek for the day. Deno was spotted strategically hiding behind his board as he didn't want anyone to see the 6-pack he's been working on.

Summer is made for sundowners at sunset, and no better place to enjoy them than at Sards. All the sand on those dunes will eventually find it's way across the peninsula to the bay - once the municipality get it right to move the water treatment plant in Cape Recife and allow the natural dune fields to move unhindered. Sure would help the beach erosion issues we face - and improve the surf at the same time. All the bay's spots could sure help with some more sand, other than Fence. Pity we can't get a sand bypass system like they have in Aus. Turn Pipe into the SuperBank? Hmm, maybe not.

If you're in kak for losing your wedding ring/wedding band, Karin Anker might just save your a**. She found a guy's ring this weekend in the sand at Avo's. So if you lost one gimme a shout and I'll pass you on to Karin to see if it's yours.

​Not a whole bunch of swell on the charts, so dust off the skateboards to keep your glide going. And in the meantime just sit back and enjoy the lekker sunsets!

Or if you an early bird, the sunrises are pretty darn good too!

Definitely a summer's week as far as surf goes, with not a whole bunch of action in the bay. The usual howling east straight into howling west kinda gig. If you didn't mind a bit of a breeze then you were fine.

If you were really frothing to get wet then round the corner never fails to deliver provided you aren't all that fussy. If you paddle out at Noordhoek you at least know you're going to get plenty of exercise even if you don't get plenty of waves.

Usually the swell runs in cycles so at least one day of waves a week, but didn;t really happen this week. Even a drive out to JBay and Seals over the weekend would have cost you more in fuel money than what you would have had in waves.

If you needing your hit of surf froth and the waves aren't co-operating, then just pop down to the Boardroom for a visit. Nothing like the smell of fibreglass to perk you up, and you can check out the kiff old sticks hanging from the rafters. Plenty of history on dem walls.

Speaking of history. This old shot of Dave Lipschitz and Glen D'Arcy popped up this week. Some things never change. Surfers collected quivers back then just as much as we do the same today. Although these two guys were responsible for making their own! Shaping under the Faith and SeaFlight labels back in the day.

Matthew Botha was one of the lucky winners of an enlargement of his shot from the Pipe Shoot Out last year, and got his print from Katz this week. Poor Matt's been outta the water for quite a while after losing a battle with a chainsaw. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Always something on at King's Beach over the weekend. Nippers were out this past weekend. The crumpled heap of crane still lying there in the background in the harbour. 

JBay artist and board spray master Stephen van der Watt doing his bit to keep the locals safe from sharks with this cool anti-shark spray, Not sure if it works, but it looks lekker anyway.

In between wind blasting left and right there are alsways the peachy days that throw out photo worthy sunsets. So even though you might not have got wet, you can still enjoy the sun setting over the ocean. 

Take some time to delve in the rock pools and you might even come across one of these amazing guys. Called a Heart Urchin. He isn't the type that attaches to rocks, but rather buries himself in the sand, but sometimes washes loose and does end up in the rock pools. This one was found at Schoenies.

Arg, Look who's back! The fecking fish farm. Just when we thought it had been buried back in 2016 thanks to the overwhelming outcry, they have raised their heads for Round 2. 

Algoa 1, the area just off Pipe is still on the agenda, albeit this time slightly smaller. But the fact that it is a kak concept remains. Why situate a fish farm just 2k's off of one of our main recreational beaches, and in full view of all the tourist beaches? 

It's really important that everyone objects again. We beat it once, we can beat it again. But you have to get involved. Being a bystander don't help nought. Please register as an Interested & Affected Party (I&AP) and that way you will be kept up to date with all the news in it's regard, and can submit an official objection.

To register: Email the consultants on [email protected]

Copy and paste the following into the message body:
I would like to register as an Interested & Affected Party for the Algoa Bay Aquaculture Development Zone Project. 

Then, make sure you put on a delivery/read recipient if you can. And then make sure you actually get a reply from them to tell you you have been registered! I had to chase up my email to them twice before I actually got a response......

Will keep everyone up to date with developments, but at this stage it's a case of register so long, and public participation process looks to start in March some time. 

We have a beautiful beachfront, and to again have to think that they wanna ruin it by putting a fish farm in our bay is just beyond belief. 

Thankfully no-one has tried to build a sky-farm yet, so our sunsets and sunrises will remain in tact for the near future at least! Enjoy some shots from around the bay and out west from this past weekend,

Better late than never! Back from an extended stay in Indo - with a bust laptop. But am now back to my usual front yard of Millers instead of the above. Sure, it certainly ain't Indo, but home is home! And after a 6 week absence "The Week that was..." is back in action.

The usual yin yang week of summer. Flat, with a side order of some waves, and a very large main order of wind. Always a silver lining, so you know after enduring humping east that the wind will do a 180 degree faster than a schizophrenic soon enough and there'll be something to ride. Which is pretty much what happened mid-week. 

What the beasterly easterlies do besides make it impossible to see out your windows, is bring plenty of critters into shore. So lots of things washing up on the beach besides bluebottles. Also some lighties about, like baby oyster catchers. These furry lil bundles will panic if you approach them, so give em a wide berth if you spot them (and keep your dogs far away).

If you're gonna surf in summer there's a good chance you gonna get stung by the lil floating blue bubble of misery. Don;t let your mate in the car park con you that he has to piss on it to make it better. That old wives tale is just that - an old wives tale. 

Best bet is to run it under water as hot as you can bear - without compounding the sting by burning yourself! Heat denatures the protein of the sting. Make sure you try peel all the tentacles off. No hot water - vinegar is your next best option - so mission over to Something Good and grab a packet of slap chips with extra vinegar on the side.

Coupla storms over the course of the week. Common convention is that if there's lightening in the area you should get out the water - cos lightning regularly strikes the ocean, and since water conducts electricity, a nearby lightning strike could kill or injure you. But yah, ignoring all that Ashely snapped this great pic of a lightening bolt whilst out having a surf.

Over the weekend there were some funky cloud formations about, and at least we registered a few drops of rain. 

Weird sightings in the sky were matched by weird sightings on land. Local shaper Dennis Ellis doing his best spongebob impersonation. Turns out not only can the shaping guru make boards, he makes diving masks too.

PE peeps end up all over the show (given that PE isn't quite the centre of the universe and it's not too hard to get motivated to go explore elsewhere!) Andy Rother has just been scoring some surf in Tahiti, whilst surf couple Brad and Hannah decided to swap tropical waters for some chilly Canadian swell on their honeymoon.

Summer time means Sardinia Bay missions are always an option.  Sometimes you don't even need to drive that far - just around the corner is enough. Seek and ye shall find. Definitely worth seeking at the moment to try avoid the usual influx of Euro first years that decend on Pipe all keen to learn to surf. Thankfully a few of the Pipe locals have been politely explaining how the line-up works.

A few midweek waves at Pipe as well, Heather Nel got some shots - check em out in the Latest Shots gallery.

Managed to grab my first surf since being back and first thing anyone mentions is the "Big Day" at Millers - followed closely on the heels with "did anyone send some shots in!?"

Yes they did, so check out the Latest Shots gallery for pics from Petronel Posthumus, Howard Briscoe and Kody McGregor. 

Millers coooooooking - as Car Park John would say.

As much as I do hate missing out on a cooking front yard, my temporary front yard was cooking too, so wasn't too fussed.

Surf report looks like a bit of  a mixed bag this week. Certainly offers a chance to get wet but nothing super flash. Still, a paddle about on your board sure beats going to gym as an excuse for exercise.

That was my front yard for Dec/Jan, so many apologies for the extended absence. It wasn't actually intentional, but my laptop decided to die on Day 4 of our trip so I was stuck in the middle of remote Indonesia with only a phone, and wasn't able to keep the website updated.

​So here's a summary of what went down in the PE 'hood during the hols. For the most part it was flat. Like really flat. Like for a whole month flat.

Well, the bay at least. If you went around the corner things looked a bit better...

As usual for the Dec/Jan period there was plenty of wind, with PE living up to it's name of the Windy City. The kiters didn't mind! We actually only just just pip Cape Town to take out the Windy City claim - you can read more here:
​www.millerslocal.co.za/are-we-the-windy-city.html

In between the wind there were plenty of lekker days to just chill out on the beach. 

Or in the pool....

Or at the point....

Opening of the season went off with it's usual bang, with some kiff fireworks lighting up the beachfront on the 16th December.

Playland at King's Beach also added it's bit to light up the night sky. Possible to hook a quick ride on the Big Wheel after coming back from a late sesh at the Fence!

Plenty of wildlife about as usual. Always happy to have them cruise past you in water - but only after you've seen the second fin. Never lekker to just spot one. As normally if it's just one it ain't friendly!

It isn't a proper summer vacation unless you've leapt off the pillars. It's kinda like a rite of passage for PE lighties. The ballies would probably love to do it to, but just can't climb up the pillar...

Everyone did jump for joy when the big January swell pulled in. From zero to hero literally overnight. It pumped. Properly. Millers was off it's mielie.

So was JBay...

Water so warm you could trunk it.

You can check out Howard and Kody's shots from the Millers Madness here:
www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/monday-mayhem
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/millers-going-mental
​

After a few days of killer surf it was back to the business of being flat again, and life in the bay returned to normal.

​Just the usual awesome sunrises and sunsets to remind why we live in Africa!

Back to my normal front yard now, and back in the land of wifi and laptops, so the page will be back to normal again. Thanks for your patience!