 © Robbie Irlam Lekker weather - tick. Lekker waves - not so much a tick. Pretty much sums up the week that was. Although at least the sunsets and sunrises made up for what we lacked in surf. Africa just does those the best. For all our issues we still live a flipping good life down here at the bottom of the continent.  © Heather Nel As usual, if you were prepared to suck up the hike in the petrol price and still travel west - there were definitely some options to get wet.  © Clive Wright If the petrol price doesn't scare you, then book a ticket and travel north of the equator. CarPark John and the gang did just that and scored some super fun waves in Maldives on board Sail Shantaram.  © Sail Shantaram  The PE gang © Sail Shantaram  Confusing for PE ou's to go left © Sail Shantaram Johm , together with Greg, Barry, Dieter and Carl hooked some lekker waves, lekker weather and good laughs whilst sailing about the crystal clear waters of the Maldives. It musta been good cos John didn't moan once in 10 days! Plus he caught some good rides. A trip report of the guys charter coming soon.  Brad Beck © Jason Childs Ex-PE local Brad Beck still living the tough life surf-guiding in paradise. The perks of the job seem to be pretty good as evidenced by the shot above of him getting shacked off his pip.  Luc Hosten has an interesting tale to tell his insurance company. About how a giant penguin head-butted his car window. You can kinda imagine the look on the agents face as they read that email! Luc was transporting one of the large fibreglass penguins from Sanccob in Cape Recife, when it decided to let gravity win and take out some glass in the process. Moral of the story? Buckle those birds in!  Pipe local Andre Clarke gave his boet (and local logger) Gregg a kiff birthday present. How rad to get a painting of yourself surfing done by your own bro.  Props to Sean Coppin and Boardtalk for ditching the plastic cover and going for the brown paper eco-friendlier approach. So watch out for your mag in it's new undercover camo look. To end off the weekly wrap - what's a week without a ride on a pink flamingo....? CarPark John and friend.   ©Robbie Irlam A few waves about during the week, and some on the weekend too. A short drive down the N2 and you could have hooked some cooking waves. Stayed in town? Waves, just not so cooking. But at least waves!  © Mervyn Goddard If, however, you had jumped on a plane with the PE boys - you could have been surfing this! Sheet glass, warm water peelers in the Maldives! CarPark John, Greg, Barry, Dieter and Erhart are busy surfing themselves stukkend on board Sail Shantaram.  © Sail Shantaram CarPark John hasn't wiped the smile off his dial yet, and might be suffering from carpark withdrawal symptoms, but has found that the cockpit is also a good possie to watch the waves from - so upgraded to being Cockpit John!  One happy ballie © Sail Shantaram  CarPark John with a Car Park John © Sail Shantaram The ou's are still doing the boardies and palm trees stint until the end of the week. Rumour has it that there's even some drone footage of John on a lekker set. Thanks to Matt Repton from the Richmond Hill Brewing Company (makers of CarPark John Pale Ale) and the Beershack for sponsoring John's flights to paradise. One uber-stoked ballie - that's for sure. Full surf trip report and pic's once the boys get back.  Yip - this is Day 3 of the trip © Sail Shantaram Local JBay photographer Robbie Irlam puts in plenty of long hours on the beach shooting the guys out at Supers. You're able to buy full res copies of your cooking surf pics from Robbie, and he was stoked when surfer Adrian Beylevelt had him sign this lekker shot he had got enlarged.  From pictures to artwork. JBay is such a special wave that it lends itself to some special art as well. Local artist Stephen Bibb with a canvas he has just painted for a client in the US.  Art is good. Specially when you get some done on your new stick. Deno at the Boardroom is getting some freshies ready for summer. So get your orders in quick.  Props to our local PE NSRI, who assisted in the rescue of the lady surfski paddlers who got into difficulties out near the Bell Bouy on Saturday morning. You can read the full NSRI report here: https://www.nsri.org.za/2018/10/2-surf-skiers-rescued/  Italo Ferreria won the Meo Ripcurl Pro in Portugal on the weekend, beating Jaon Duru in the finals. It means the world title race goes to the Billabong Pipe Masters in Hawaii. It's all for Medina to win, and for Julian to try pull a rabbit out the hat n steal it from him. Full comp report, wrap, results and shots here (as well as the world title permutations) http://www.millerslocal.co.za/comp-news/italo-wins-rip-curl-portugal  The drizzly weather during the week saw plenty of rainbows about - this one seeming to end in the sand dune in front of Millers. Unfortunately no pot of gold found in the bush - just a hobo's overnight shelter.  Sometimes you're just having one of those days. Like this lil dachshund captured doing a pretty impressive face plant at the beach at Supers. Always good wipeouts to watch there - whether in the surf or on the sand!  © Ralph West Folks - please dip into your wallets to donate a few bucks to help get Alfonso Peters, local PE longboarder and all-round lekker guy, to the World Longboard Champs in Taiwan soon. The team have to sponsor all their own costs, so anything you can lob Alfonso's way would be super appreciated. You can check the funding link here: http://www.millerslocal.co.za/comp-news/get-a-millerslocal-to-world-champs  Breitling (the fancy-ass watch company) have released their new Surfer Squad ad feauturing Kelly and Steph - turns out it was filmed at Seals, Cape St Francis, recently - so take a watch and see for yourself.  Long-time Fence locals (as in the ballies), will always tell you how much better Fence was back in the day. It isn;t their selective memories causing that - it really was. Check how much the sand has accumulated during the years - this old pic is from 1924, and shows the sea being right up against Humewood Road. You can see more details on how the beach has built up over the years here: http://www.millerslocal.co.za/why-fence-was-all-time.html  Still some good sunrises and sunsets to be had - altho the sunrises are getting quite a bit earlier these days! Clive Wright being the early bird who catches the worm.  © Clive Wright  © Ray Truter Another mediocre week as far as waves went. One decent day and a few scratchy one's. Humewood had some good ones, although according to Car Park John it was actually kak and everyone else just didn't know what they were talking about.  © Clive Wright Still lotsa whales about. They good at leaping up and making you go grab your camera - only to refuse to then jump out again. Until you pack the camera away. There were a couple who cruised past Bruces in St Francis - obviously had heard it was quite a good surf spot and thought they'd check it out.  © Luc Hosten It was African Penguin Awareness Day and there was a penguin release at Sanccob in Cape Recife. Quite a few of the lil fellows got to make a dash for freedom.  © Alison Kuhl Mullets vandalised the Surfers Memorial in JBay during the week. Ripping off all but the first name on the memorial board. Pity they didn't get caught in the act by one of the JBU boys and taught a lesson.  © Marcus Ducker Much as one mumbles about the lack of consistent waves in the bay, there is always something if you drive round the corner or up the road. And even if you do a bit of wildside tripping and come up short - there's always the sand dunes to go climbing up instead for some exercise.  © Ashley De Pontes JBay's Stephen van der Watt is one of the best board artists about, and is known for his instantly recognisable surfboard sprays, and awesome artwork. But he has a really wide repertoire and can do whatever you like on your board - like this piece below. Not sure anyone gonna be dropping in on this dude with a spray like that!  Once upon a time, local boardshaper Dennis Ellis from the Boardroom did actually have hair - as evidenced by this old pic of him ripping Nahoon back in the day. Front deck grip might be making a come-back given how expensive wax is getting these days....  Dennis Ellis © Mike Knott The Boardroom got a bit of a spring clean last week - with all the boards lying about getting mounted up on the ceiling. There are some classic old sticks on display - so worth checking em out next time you pop in.  © Mervyn Goddard Julian Wilson won the Quik Pro in France over the weekend. Taking our Ryan Callinan in the finals - Ryan had earlier beaten Jordy in the quarters. Jordy is lying 5th on the world ranking at the moment. You can check out the full comp wrap, results and shots here: http://www.millerslocal.co.za/comp-news/julian-wins-quik-pro-france  Definitely looks like we're settling in to the summer weather patterns - not much surf and plenty of onshores. Best bet for waves is after the wind switch. So keep sharp.  © Luc Hosten  Fence © James Medcalf | Just James Photography Not a helluva lot happening this week. Wind, lots of it. Waves. Not so many of those. Summer doldrums seem to be setting in. The lots of onshore and no waves conundrum. Still, there was the odd rideable one of you weren't too fussy.  © Allan Bezuidenhout  © Marietjie van Niekerk The lighties had the Sea Harvest SA Junior Champs at Point in JBay - and Nelson Mandela Surfriders got a 4th spot, with Kai Woolfe winning the Girls u/18 and Angelo Faulkner getting 2nd in the Boys u18 and Zia Hendriks 3rd in Girls u12.  © Surfing SA  Staying on the topic of comps - don't forget to get your entries in for the Something Good Surf Classic - everyone welcome, heaps of good prizes and just a lekker day for the whole family on the beach. Entry form available online here: https://sites.google.com/view/somethinggoodsurfclassic/home  The SA Photographic Society was in town for the week for the annual Congress. One of their shoots was a surf shoot arranged for Thursday arvo - but unfortunately the east was pomping and their wasn't much swell - so there were about 20 expectant photags lined up on the beach...and only one surfer out in the water. Nothing like a bit of pressure to perform!  © Marietjie van Niekerk  © Marietjie van Niekerk Super stoked with my new ecoboard - a collab between Dennis Ellis and Brendan Basset. Recycled blank, eco-friendly resin and jute cloth for the deck, with some carbon rails for good measure.And some epic board art by Robyn van der Merwe. No just need some waves.... Eco-boards are a really interesting subject - as although they're certainly better than normally produced boards, they aren't quite perfect yet, as the end-of-life conundrum hasn't been solved - as they aren;t actually recyclable unless you split the board back out into it's component parts. Read about the Yin & Yang of Eco-boards here. http://www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/the-yin-yang-of-eco-boards
Cool new product in stock at Surf Centre - called the Rinse Kit. Basically a portable shower you can pop in your boot and gets you all nice n sparkly after your surf. Much better than having to use the 2L coke bottle of water poured over your head mission.  Much as we mumble about there not being waves, there always is something to ride if you just make the effort to look about a bit - whether it's the edges of the bay, or round the corner, seek and ye shall find.  © Ashley De Pontes Local logger and Millers Local Alfonso Pieters is still looking for funds towards his trip over to Taiwan for the World Longboard Champs. If you're able to help out with a few bucks that would be awesome, as the guys have to cover all their own costs - which are pretty substantial. You can read about Alfonso's inspirational story here, and it also has deets for donations. http://www.millerslocal.co.za/comp-news/get-a-millerslocal-to-world-champs  If life gives you a lemon - make lemonade. And no-one does this better than smiley Millers Local Star Campbell-Douglas. When the ou's stole the VW logo from the front of her Caddy, she has the guys who do the beadwork in from of the Walmer Builders Warehouse make her a flower to fit the gap.  If you're keen to check out the next penguins release, it will take place on Saturday October 13 at the SANCCOB centre at Cape Recife.  © SANCCOB Not too much to get excited about this week - as still plenty of easterlies in the mix. There are a few offshore days where you might get a few bowls with the east swell - but nothing to get too frothed up about.  © Stuart Gillmer  Everyone loves a surf shop. Nothing beats the smell of fresh sticks and suits, and bubblegum wax. And even better if it has stuff in it you won’t find elsewhere. And that’s what makes Relic, the new kid on the block, unique.  Think of it like a curated surf boutique. Threads you won’t find elsewhere, one of a kind custom painted long board fins, super cool suits, lekker local leggies, Brazilian wax, natural sunscreens, kiff logs and hybrids. Just different stuff, not same old same old.   What’s cool is that they’re aiming to focus on trying to keep stock as #localislekker as possible, so keep an eye out for fresh local talent. Even all the brand-named stuff they stock isn’t what you’ll find anywhere else, and has been specially selected by the Relic crew.   So, if you’re looking to stand out from the crowd, definitely pop in to Relic - Authentic Ocean Store, situated in the Old Valley Trucks building in Lower Valley Road. The crew are always ready to chat and share a coffee or beer! There’s also Plenty of secure parking out front. And right near Richmond Hill Brewery if you feel like grabbing a Car Park John Ale after your shopping!
 © Luc Hosten As much as the previous week delivered, this past week didn't. Neptune had blown it's bolt and was taking a rest. The wind however never seems to feel the need to take a break!  © Luc Hosten Still plenty of great imagery around from the big swell, with JBay's Deon Lategan capturing some amazing shots, which got featured on both Surfline and Magic Seaweed. Lekker!  © Deon Lategan  © Deon Lategan Also had a few more shots from PE drop in - so check out the surf at Millers the previous Sunday in Neil Rowtee's gallery here: http://www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/millers-23-sept-18  © Neil Rowtee The Billabong Junior Series presented by Bos went down at Seals over the weekend. Zoe Steyn and Matt Elkington took the titles.  © Ian Thurtell  © Etienne Venter There's a new surf shop on town, so go check it out - in Lower Valley Road next to the Baakens River. Relic is run by local logger Ryan Anderson, and features curated surf wear that you won't find anywhere else in PE - plus some local labels.  Also available at Relic is Fu surf wax - the famous super-sticky-stay-stuck-to-your-board Brazilian surf wax. It smells flipping epic - so if it works half as good as it smells it's a winner. Got a block to try out so will report back soon.  Local logger (and also a regular Millers local) Alfonso Peters has been selected for the Longboard World Champs in Taiwan in November. He needs to raise funds to pay his own way over there, so please extend some Friendly City vibes his way and donate a bit of cash - even R50 helps. You can find the funding details here: http://www.millerslocal.co.za/comp-news/get-a-millerslocal-to-world-champs  PE is a really tight lil surfing community, with pretty much everyone knowing everyone. It's always been like that. And back in the day even more so, as there were less guys surfing so you literally did know everyone! This classic shot was taken at Pipe in 1985 - for the first longboard comp held there. Tony le Roux, now living in Aus, has the original photo and has had it scanned into a high res digital copy for anyone would like to get a copy of it so that they can to print it. Shoot Tony an email on [email protected]  Starting with the ou on the left that's half cut off: Micheal Mee (now in NZ), Nick Taylor (PE), Turtle Morris (UK), Nick Pike (EL), Dave Collins (PE), Brad Wanwig (PE), Tony Le Roux (Aus), Steve McKechnie (US), Justin Erasmus (PE), Brian Knolls (deceased), Martin Heines (PE), Mike Castingnani (PE) The Something Good Surf Classic has become the Eastern Cape's biggest surfing competition, featuring the biggest number of sporting codes - long board, short board, body board, SUP and skateboard divisions. It is the only surfing event in the Eastern Cape that offers all of the different disciplines of surfing and is open to the novices and the pro’s. Date: Saturday, 27 October 2018 Time: 7am Venue: Pipe Beach, Marine Drive, Summerstrand Entry forms available at Surf Centre in Humewood as well as Something Good Roadhouse. There will be a prize giving and after party at Something Good Roadhouse after the competition. For more information contact Dianne on 0652686140 or e-mail [email protected]  Speaking of comps - shot to Slummies local and lensman Bruce Viaene, who competed for the SA team in the World Waveski Champs help in Portugal - and scooped a 3rd spot in the Senior Mens division and a 9th spot in the Open Men's. Well done!  © Dalton Burton On the few windlass days we had during the week there were some teeny weeny waves to be had. Lekker just to float about when the weather is so nice. One session was rather entertaining. Had a huge whale surface nearby the line-up. Next thing the lifeguard is sprinting down the beach waving his flag and blowing hard on his whistle. We all looked at each other rather confusedly as wondered what all the fuss was about. He must have thought it was a shark as it swum past Hobie en route to us and was coming to warn us. Not too sure how whales resemble sharks, but we appreciated the effort nonetheless.  The charts don't look too flash for the week ahead, so plan to get your glide on by hopping on your skateboard - or the shopping trolley! Always get a few strange looks when I run down aisle and then jump to stand on the back of the wheel covers as it cruises down past the spaghetti and noodles.....  @mattlewis516 |
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July 2021
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