Another really scratchy week as far as surf goes. Fluctuating between dead flat and clean to a bit of size but really messy. For those that have slightly higher standards than "wet and moving" meant it wasn't worth the effort.

Those that do subscribe to the "wet and moving" mantra did manage to get a few humps and bumps. A couple of particularly ambitious sessions went down at Millers when for all intents and purposes you wouldn't really qualify it as a wave and yet the ou's managed to sneak a turn or two in. 

PE doesn't mind about the swell size though - it throws out beautiful sunrises no matter what and this week there were some really lekker one's for the early birds.

Did mention it was pretty flat this week, hey? The predicted 18 second swell was more like 18 inches.

Wildside had a few though. Water on the chilly side. 

Wildside was wild for other reasons too. Unbeknown to them, a rather sizeable local come swimming nearby the guys out at Padi in Cape Recife at 10ish on Saturday morning. The guys from the Heli school happened to be flying over and got the footage.

So a heads up if a heli starts circling you and dipping low - uuuum, it means you have company nearby!

Wildlife of the far less mundane variety at Pipe during the week with some otters enjoying the lake-like conditions.

Light offshore breezes don't only make the surfers happy, the sailors get to enjoy them too. 

Humewood might not have had much in the way of great sessions lately, but the nearby rocks are always good for a few backwash shots.

Another pipe at Pipe? Seems like the new telecoms submarine cable they laying around the southern tip of Africa will make one of it's 3 landfalls in PE. Specifically Pollock beach, coming right through the line-up at Pipe. Not sure if there will be any impact on the surf break, but cable size is apparently pretty small and should be buried a metre under water, then trenched into a ditch along the beach where it will hook into a manhole in the carpark. Public comment on the project has closed, but you can still lob them an email if you have any comments.

You can read all about it here:
www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/another-pipe-at-pipe

Nothing much on the forecasts for this week. Hasn't exactly been a stellar April so far, so hopefully it pulls finger and comes up with something useful soon.

​Poor Pipe is always in the wars. First it's the ou's trying to site a fish farm right on top of it, and now we getting a telecoms submarine cable coming up outta the sea right at Pipe. Like literally right at Pipe, through the actual line up!

My initial reaction was nooit, bogger off with your pipe peeps!

But before creating an outcry about it I wanted to know all the facts. First up was reading the Draft Scoping Report to find out more about the whole story. You can check that out yourself here:
https://acerafrica.co.za/current-projects-5-2/ (then click 2AFRICA/GERA (East) Port Elizabeth)

​Or click the icon to download:

​Here's the "in-a-nutshell" version:

Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has been contracted to supply and install the proposed 2AFRICA/GERA (East) Cable System, with one of the three South African landings at the PE, specifically Pollock beach. Right through the middle of the Pipe line-up. Literally.

It is a submarine telecommunication fibre optic cable, that will be a branch off the main line coming around the bottom of Africa, and will come ashore through the beach at Pipe and into a man-hole next to Summerseas. From there it goes to the Telkom Exchange building which is a coupla blocks behind the Summerstand Village shopping centre. 

They propose coming ashore just to the north of the Lifesaving Clubhouse as a plan B. Right through the line-up at Clubhouse. 

Obviously the planning peeps aren't locals cos what are the chances of Plan A and Plan B being precisely through the middle of 2 of PE's most popular surf spots. Haibo!

Will any anchoring system be required to secure the cable in the nearshore area where it is surface laid? eg if it has to pass over reef

If burial is not achievable then there are options to stabilise the cable. These include the use of stainless steel clamps which are anchored to exposed rock and the cable attached to it

If the cable is to be trenched through any areas of the nearshore area and to the beach, what is the magnitude of the excavation required? width of cable trench dug? Concern being cable pathway passes directly through the surf break, and disturbance of the bottom topography will alter the characteristics of the wave shape given it is a beach break and relies on a specific formation of sandbank to create the wave shape.

The trenching is minimal and there will be no significant changes to the seabed topography or beach profile. In the nearshore environment the cable is buried using water or air jets and no excavations will take place under water. On the beach the cable trench is approximately 1-1.5 m wide

How is the cable trenched in the nearshore area? what device does the trenching, how is it done? Of particular interest would be how it is done from shore line to approx. 150m out to sea.

Depending upon the chosen methodology based on site specific information, this may be using a self-propelled jetting sledge, diver hand jetting or air lifting.

What is the anticipated time frame of laying the nearshore cable, for how long will access to the surf spot be restricted?

One day for the actual cable landing, and a further 1-2 days for the burial; out to 150 metres, as stated above. NB: The weather and sea state conditions required for these operations are such that they are outside good surfing conditions.

​So looking at the above, according to the project consultants, there won't be any detrimental affect to the surf spot or the beach, and beach use will just be restricted during the cable laying process, a few days.

The cable itself doesn't sound particularly big (max 20cm diameter), but still not sure what influence on sand migration and sandbank formation it would have if it lay on the surface in areas where burial wasn't possible?

I totally appreciate the need for an upgrade in our fibre infrastructure, but I'm still not sure why the cable has to come ashore precisely through the middle of PE's most popular surf spot. I do get that there are not "meant" to be an detrimental affects to the sandbed or surf, but not everything always goes as planned.

In addition to the issues around the effect on the surf spots, there are of course other concerns around subsea cables. Dredging up the seabed being one of them. I would assume the cable trajectory would be laid such as to avoid reef areas?

Also wondered about whether the cable itself would result in any acoustic, electromagnetic or electric current that would disturb sea life, but the scope report says none of these occur. 

​Personally think that the consultants should investigate a Plan C which would look having the cable make landfall other than right through the middle of our surf spots. Maybe further south  - towards Black Bottoms. Or bring it through the middle of Chomp and Bird Rock to the North. Neither area would have influence a surf spot.

If you'd like to comment or oppose the proposed siting of the cable, or the project in general, just email ACER a line here:
[email protected]

You can just email them with your concerns/suggestions, and also ask to be registered as an Interested & Affected Party (I&AP), so you will be kept up to date on development. Just give em your name and contact details.

Make snappy though - as period for public comments closes on 20 April 2021.

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.