Hawaii went off it's 'nana. PE? Not so much. Twiggy hooked some monster sets despite "only" ending up with a 5th. Watch the highlights. It's worth it.

In the trend of Saffa's going big this past week, JBay's Steven Sawyer won the Longboard World Champs in Taiwan. Proof that nice guys can win! And that #localislekker!

Coupla ou's who are more familiar with turning for a quick single than bottom turning rented some boards form Surf Centre this week. Faf du Plessis, Ryan McLaren, Chris Morris and Heino Kuhn were in town for the cricket during the week. I reckon there were more guys in the line-up at Pipe than there were watching the game unfortunately. Giants vs the Rocks? Back in the day St George's used to get packed out for the Benson & Hedges night games.

On the other hand, someone who knows a whole lot more about whipping tail than whipping the willow is Rickey Bassett. See anyone flying down the line at Seals and doing crazy stuff? Most likely Rickey. Worth taking a seat on the fence and watching the show.

If you spotted a fancy-ass looking cruise liner in the bay it was the MS Europa paying us a short visit. The German owned ship has been voted Best Cruise Ship in the World. 

Least they missed the usual howling east followed by howling west cycle that this time of year is known for. It does mean if you're watching the wind like a hawk and can time the wind switch perfectly you at least have a chance at snagging a few bowls before they're blown flat.

Hawaii also got pomped by the wind (the wind chop at the Jaws event was bigger than a good day at Pipe). The guys at the Van's World Cup at Sunset Beach have also been scoring some kegs, and JBay's Matt McGillivray is in the 4th round.

Skollie alert again. Last week a surfers car was diefed from Pipe car park. Nothing worse than coming back from your surf and staring at an empty parking bay. As usual the "car guards" where nowhere to be seen. Not too sure what options one has these days for trying to keep your cabbie safe whilst you getting a wave. Battery operated pythons on the dashboard maybe? 
Cos face it, you'd also cry buckets if your car got nicked.

SAVE YA TAIL!  A noteworthy head's up from shaping guru Dennis Ellis from The Boardroom SA. Deno pointed out that todays boards have leash plugs sitting much closer to the tail. Meaning most leash strings are now too long, and will thus chomp a hole through your tail if your board yanks too hard in a wipeout. Reason for this is the advent of future fins. The longer fin box meant that the leash plug was forced further back (cos both the fin box and leash plug extend quite far down into the deck of the board so can't be over each other). Fin placement is standardised so the leash plugs were just shifted back on all boards. So. Now you know! Save your tail and shorten that leash string up, and make sure the leash rail saver actually touches the rail - and isn't off the back!

The red tide is still pretty thick out towards JBay and St Francis, Whilst looking siff during the day it shows off at night. St Francis photag Clive Wright got a lekkerphotograph of a photographer taking a photograph of the bioluminescence in Cape St Francis Bay. Quite a light show.

For those lighties keen to take their surfing up a notch or two, there will be a high performance clinic at Seals during the hols. Chad du Toit (who has coached Jordy Smith amongst others) will be teaching the groms how to improve their technique and other tricks of the trade.

Always great to see old pics of the beachfront. First thing I always check for is if there was a wave - and in this case looked like Millers had a good one! Once the surf check is complete then one can suss out the rest of the shot. No Shark Rock pier yet. Taken some time in the 60's or 70's.

Not too much on the forecast this week. But pretty sure everyone should still be able to have a bit of a paddle. Luckily PE surfers have pretty realistic standards about what's gonna be on offer in the bay during the summer and adjust their expectations accordingly! Paddle out with the mind-set that you'll be stoked if you get a wave. Then be double as stoked when you get two!

Don't you hate it when your wax melts on your car seat? Or messes up your expensive boardies? Or looks like a glumpy dirty mess covering up your epic spray job? Or you're at some remote jungle spot and you've run out of Mrs Palmers and the closest to wax you're gonna find is a candle?

Thanks to the guys at RSPro, the problem is solved. Say goodbye to wax, hello Hexatraction.

After sitting for an hour in the boiling tropical sun cleaning surf wax out of the grooves in the non-skid deck of a yacht with a toothpick I was pretty much over wax in general. So that evening I sat googling to see if there was an alternative. And up popped RSPro. A Barcelona company who was making transparent deck traction. Boom! I was onto it!

My box of goodies arrived from Deon Bosman the South African RSPro rep, that included not only the Hexatraction but some cork front deck grip as well. Hexatraction are these awesome transparent grippy lil pads that you just glue onto your stick. And throw the wax away! They're super thin, but stick to your board like sh*t to a shoe. 

You just stick em on where you'd normally put your wax. I use a back deck grip so I stuck em on from just above that to about 2/3rds the way up my board. Took a bit less than a pack of the stickers (for a 6ft board).

It doesn't take too long to apply (depending on your level of OCD). I'm pretty finicky about stuff so it was a 30 minute process of carefully placing and gluing the pads down. Cos obviously the more care you take sticking em on the better they gonna stick! Air bubbles are your enemy! Using a spray bottle of water and getting some moisture on the deck also helps minimize the air issue.

Your board looks as good as new with em on - so if you want your stick to look just like the day you bought it, this is the way to go. I love bright board sprays and this is the perfect way to not obscure any of your board art with cruddy wax.

The feeling of the pads is like a fine grade sandpaper, just lightly rough. Giving you good grip without that "foot stuck" feeling. I surf with booties so feel like it gives me plenty of traction. Another Millers Local, Gavin Rother, has a full deck of Hexatraction, and he surfs without booties and says he has never slipped on it at all. So it certainly does the trick either way.

I've only surfed on it with a wetsuit so far, so not sure how it'll feel on bare skin from a paddling perspective, although the RSPro peeps say it's "non-aggressive" - meaning it shouldn't chomp up your chest. Off to Indo soon so gonna get to test that aspect out.

Now prior to this I'd thought front deck grip was for air guys like Ozzie Wright. My attempted airs were more like Noah the Ark than Noa Deane, so it had never entered my mind to try some - plus am not convinced about black front deck grip - just don't dig the aesthetics. But cork? Well, that looked flipping cool.

I'd just bought my brand new eco-board shaped by The Boardroom and glassed with hemp by Brendan Basset, and the natural cloth fabric was just the perfect canvas for the RSPro cork deck grip. Time to unleash my inner Noa. Or not really.

​It's a really rad grip - super duper skinny at only 1mm think, so a heap better than normal traction. Normal deck grip tends to be over-grippy and lock your feet up (and tear up your skin), whereas the cork almost feels like you're not even using grip. Your feet don't slip anywhere, but it's still easy to adjust foot placement without feeling like you're glued to the ground.

And of course cork is renewable, recyclable and energy efficient. It's the bark stripped from the cork tree and the trees can live more than 200 years. So - great grip and it's pretty darn eco-friendly too.

I'm so frothing on the hexatraction that I'm gonna be converting all my boards to it over time. 

So, should you buy it?

• sick of wax on your car seats (or your board sticking to your boardbag) - GET IT
• hate getting wax stuck to your lekker expensive boardies? - GET IT
• got a kiff top deck spray and don't wanna obscure it? - GET IT
• going to the tropics and don't wanna apply wax before every sesh?  - GET IT
• don't want to worry about whether you need warm, cool or cold water wax? - GET IT

When you consider how much wax costs these days (and factor in the bars that melt in your car or what the guys in the parking lot scam off you) then at R699 a pop for a box of the Hexatraction it actually isn't expensive at all. About the cost of 10 blocks of wax. Do the math. It makes sense to go Hexa.

The cork front deck grip is R899 a pop. Which isn't too much more expensive than traditional rubber front grips, which look iffy and chow you stukkend. 

It's awesome when surfers come up with a cool product that works, then make it locally and at top quality. None of this Made in China junk (One day good. Two day good. Three day no good!). This is made in Barcelona with love. By surfers for surfers. Am super stoked to be part of ​#teamRSPro. ​

Wanna grab some for yourself? - cos you silly not to! Tune the SA rep, Deon Bosman:
 ajretailers@gmail.com or on Facebook

​If you give the surfer in your life this for Christmas they gonna love ya!
​#saynotohankiesforxmas

​PS - got a white stick and wanna funk it up - you can get black Hexatraction too. 
PPS -they also do rail protectors for SUP and surfboards, grip tape for SUP/kayak/surfski paddles

The summer doldrums continue, and the trend of small days repeated itself this week. Some lekker weather, but really not much in the way of waves. Coupla nice banks if you know where to look (both locally and down the drag) - but you gotto go find those yourselves, cos everyone hates a rent-a-crowd.

It's the time of year to be busting out the logs, the retro sticks or the foam boards. Anything to make the mini-mee days a bit more fun. Else even grab a hand-plane and do some body-surfing - as then everything is overhead! It's all about perspective! 

Unfortunately another dead whale washed up on the wild side. Between Mangold's Pool and Willows. Probably a good idea to avoid surfing in the nearby area. The oil slick from the carcass attracts the finned friends as if it were the local McDonalds drive through.

Some lucky peeps grabbed the chopper flips on offer from Mangolds Pool over the weekend. Coupla hundred bucks for a quick flip, but always cool to see the coast from a birds eye view. 

The NMBS Closed was held at Seals over the weekend. Least some super fun waves out that way. The results of the comp will be announced at the NMBS AGM coming up at the end of the week. 

Sanccob held a Moon Walk on Friday - with the chance to watch the sun set at Cape Recife and then the full moon rise. Sanccob will be offering a full array of events coming up over the holiday period so give their Facebook page a Like and keep track of whats happening. Penguin releases, rock pool explorations, all sorts.

The big swathe of plankton continues to lurk about off our coastline, as evidenced by the green bits in the image below. Local surfer, and scientist for SAEON, gave me the link to a cool website which lets you check out live coverage of all the algae blooms along the coast. You can suss it out here:
https://eo.meraka.csir.co.za/hab/app/#

Local logger Alfonso Peters is currently competing in the World Longboard Champs in Taiwan - looks a lot like a good day at Pipe, so he should be right at home!

Latest edition of the local EC surf mag, The Boardtalk, is out. Grab your copy at Surf Centre or Relic. First 100 copies you score a fee surf DVD and a voucher for a free block of wax. 

This weekend saw the first Surfboard Swap Meet held by Loggers Union, hosted by The Relic Store. The guys had a great turnout with guys bringing all sorts of boards to sell. Everyone made a bunch of new friends and the good vibes flowed. Many boards were left at the store to sell, so if you're looking for a good deal, pop down to Relic in Lower Valley Rd, Baakens Valley, and go take a look.

Even when there no waves it helps to do something surfing-related to help with the misery of no surf. So when Sunday dawned looking like the Vaal Dam it seemed the perfect time to apply my new RSPro Hexatraction. I'd added their cork front deck grip and some Hexatraction to my new eco-board. But now was the time for a full deck of the Hexatraction - cos when you have epic boardsprays like this from Stephen van der Watt, thenn you sure don't want to go putting grubby wax all over them! You can check out my full review of the RSPro Hexatraction here - this stuff really is flipping awesome.
www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/goodbye-wax-hello-hexatraction

Of course there were the obligatory "we're so lucky to live in Africa" sunrises and sunsets. They never fail to disappoint. Although the sunrises are starting to get a wee bit too early for mere mortals. But the advent of summer and the late setting sun means at least the guys get to grab a quick after-work surf these days. 

Well at least there was big surf somewhere in the world this past week - it certainly wasn;t in PE, but Nazare in Portugal dished up the good for the WSL Big Wave event , and Saffa Twiggy Baker walked away with the win.

Back in the bay it was just another mediocre summers week, with a few lil bumps n lumps to have fun on. The bumps to the north of the bay seemed to be better. The secret to surviving summer is to have really low expectations!

The hiccup with summer being back is that the critters are back. A huge swathe of bioluminence was visible in the sat photo's off Wilderness this week, and may well be making it's way eastwards towards us. The plankton often appears in summer, and it's thought that all the ash from the devastating wildfires near George recently has fueled their bloom.

So keep your eye's peeled at beaches away from the city's bright lights, as you might be able to spot the cool blue glow in the waves.

Despite the lack of quality in the surf there were still the odd thumping shorey to clear the sinuses. That's the joys of the east wind swells, lotsa peaks all over the place. 

Small swell plagued the bay over the weekend, which saw the Something Good Classic have to change venues from Pipe over to the Wild Side. The shortboard division was held at Loch Ness and the loggers were out at Noordhoek. Full comp report, results and shots coming soon.

The flat sea conditions were perfect for the penguin release at Sanccob at Cape Recife though, the tuxedo-clad dudes were quite happy to make their way back out into the ocean after a period of R&R at the Sancobb "hotel". 

Summer time and east swells means Humewood is often the place to be. Just remember that the lifeguards can kick out the surfers at any time, so do play nice with them - and just smile if you end up with a malibu sharing the wave with you.

Also, if there are peeps swimming don't be a mullet and ride the wave right til it's death and end up right in among them - cos of course the lifeys are gonna boot the surfers out the water then. Use some commons sense and stay clear of the bathers, and then hopefully you still get to surf.

Super stoked to get my mitts on some RSPro Hexatraction.for my new eco-stick. Had wanted to go fully eco as possible as the board was made using a recycled blank, and glassed with hemp/flax, so it made sense to look at a waxless alternative. Got some cork front traction also from RSPro, and then applied the transparent grip stickers below and above that. They both work like a bomb. Full review coming up soon!

The Port Alfred surfing community said a sad goodbye to one of their favourite locals last week. The Kowie Boardriders Club held a paddle out in honour of long-time local surfer Jannie du Preez. RIP.

The crazy Christmas season is nearly on us - so if you looking for #localislekker gifts, last week I featured Igoti cushions and stools by local logger Margot Saunders, and this week how about some local art?

JBay artist Stephen van der Watt has some awesome pieces, and can do custom work as well. So give him a shout if you keen on brightening up your space - the perfect Christmas pressie! Anything from lighthouses to line-ups, skulls to sunsets, his range is diverse. And of course his surfboard sprays are next level too. Tune him via FB at ​www.facebook.com/stephen.vanderwatt or email ​Stevosprays@yahoo.com

To end off - just some lekker summer sunrises and sunsets. Can never get enough of the African sky. Not a helluva lot on the charts this week - so start spinning those skateboard wheels.

Summer is here and it was a summers week. Coupla slides about for those who wanted to get wet, coupla lekker days to just laze on the beach. Water temp has warmed up a bit so it's even possible to get the shorty's out.

Mostly it was flat though. But even on the "look-like-the-Vaal-dam" days you can still head out for a swim with your board and maybe luck into something lil. Just have to adjust your expectations, and then there will always be something to ride. Might just involve a drive to the wild side.

Port Alfred manages to never be flat even when it's flat elsewhere. The kneelo's were stoked cos at least they had contestable surf this past weekend for the SA Kneeboard Champs. Legend Gigs Cilliers took the open men's title. 

The weekend saw lekker weather to just hang at the beach. Local logger Alfonso Peters has a new lightie who he is quickly making sure gets used to some sand between the toes! Alfonso is off to the WSL 2018 World Longboard Champs in Taiwan this November, so wishing this Millers local the best of luck.

The early bird might not be getting the waves at the moment, but they are getting the worms! We're lucky to have a pretty decent size population of black oyster catchers along our shores. Despite their name they mainly feed on mussels, limpets and worms found in the intertidal zone. This means they do most of their foraging at low tide, so that's the best time to spot them along the beach. The African black oystercatcher mates for life and some pairs have been known to live together for up to 20 years. I love random facts - never know when you might need them for a Trivial Pursuit game.

CarPark John spotted with a CarPark John Ale in hand. CPJ is a local legend and has surfed in PE since anyone can remember. He has also been fortunate enough to have a beer names after him, by the Richmond Hill Brewing Company. Pop in to RHBC or the BeerShack to try a Car Park John out, and you might even bump into the man himself whilst you there. 

The Something Good Surf Classic will be held on the 17 November - this coming Saturday. Everyone is welcome, plenty of various categories and divisions (long board, short board, body board, SUP and skateboard) .Lotsa prizes. More deets here:
www.facebook.com/events/251002375772158/

Looks like the proposed upgrade of the water treatment plant at Cape Recife will allow for a relocation of the settling ponds out of the way of the dune field. That means that at long last the dune system that has been artificially halted just before the settling ponds will be allowed to take its natural course over the point from the wild side, and be able to reach the beach on the bay side - meaning that in about 10-15 years time (once it finally gets there) we'll have some decent feeder sand being deposited back into the bay - will sure help our beach nourishment out.

So the bays been small - but Indo has been pumping. Seals local Brad Beck scored some epic pits at G-Land last week. The goofy footer was in goofy heaven! Gonna be quite a big drop back down to earth when him and Hannah return to SA next month to get married. PE and St Francis summer surf isn't quite up to Indo standards! 

Local logger Margot Saunders is making some awesome cushions and stools. The perfect Christmas gifts. So if you keen to avoid the usual socks-and-hankies-boring-as-hell presents then give Margot  a shout to get your mitts on some of these. 
You can check them out on www.facebook.com/imagocreation/
or email Margot on igotisew@gmail.com

Heads up peeps. PE's first Surfboard Swap Meet, hosted by Relic - Authentic Ocean Store on 24th November from 10am. Pull in to trade, sell, barter unwanted equipment. Bring your old surf craft to trade or sell! One or plenty, new or old, long or short, retro or modern. A fun family morning out, with food and coffee served by Frederick & Sons.
Free registration to secure your trading spot. 
Email: relic@loggersunion.co.za or call 083 260 7264
https://www.facebook.com/events/330407511103251/

Not many waves, but sunrises and sunsets still keep delivering. Just gotto be up a bit earlier to see the sunrises now though....

The huge fires along the garden route last week made their presence felt in PE - plenty of soot and ash washed up along our beaches, and the sunsets were even more fiery than normal. 

Novelty waves are always fun. The Hole in the Wall in Transkei would definitely fit into the category! Needs a big swell to push through the hole, and then there can actually be pretty fun lil reforms on the beach side.

Not a whole heap of swell on the charts for this week, so it might be more beach brolleys than surfboards. But still stick to the rule s- never leave your board at home, cos who knows when you could strike a lil sneaky swell that the charts don't show.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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....

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!