The week that was...

Image Gavin Rother

The eagerly anticipated swell didn't quite deliver as the forecasts suggested it would. It was fun for sure, but not quite what we thought it'd be. Unfortunately again it rained on our parade. An overnight downpour did it's bit to dampen the swell's energy and chop it up so it got a funky wobble on it. There were some good sets, you just had to wait (an wait) for them. For those that took the day off work, and those that cancelled ear surgery, it probably wasn't worth it.

Tough being a PE surfer. We don't get much to start with, and super annoying when some good surf's predicted and it ends up not delivering. Of course it did deliver if you traveled west. As it always does.

It's official, the mighty bald one is now a 70% shareholder in Firewire. They were a company looking for direction, and he was at a loose-end, so it makes a good match. By his own admission his clothing brand Outer Known is not going to be positioned as a player in the surf market. There'll be some cool threads coming outta there for sure, but with one of it's core principles being sustainability, mass production for the surf market is not a comfortable fit.

Maybe Kelly's purchase of Firewire was pre-ordained? How's this shot of him surfing a door - which if we're honest is not unlike the Firewire Vanguard - with it's blunt nose and tail shape. Life imitating art?

Wondering what he'll be riding at Bell's? Rumour has it that it'll be a Tomo shaped beauty that has Firewire founder Nev Hyman in a froth. 

The PE crew who hit the Maldives this last week have had some fun surf. Hard to complain about uncrowded waves in paradise. Nothing beats a boardies sesh. They've had to mission around a bit due to some funky winds at times, but hooked into some cooking 4-6ft lefts at the end of their trip and are totally surfed out. Wish they could pack a few of these waves in their bag and bring ém home.

©Donovan McLagan

Teeny conditions earlier in the week inspired some belated spring cleaning. Safe to say own more wetties than shoes. About 16 in this pile, and those just the one's living in my spare room. OK, not all mine, coupla hubby's in there too. My theory is surfing is like golf. If they're allowed 14 clubs in their bag why can't we have a bunch of boards and wetties so we can pick and choose according to conditions? Plus, am all for not having to wear a wet wettie.

Gonna pass on a few to good homes, including the Billabong "Surfers helping Surfers" campaign. It's a great initiative that encourages all surfers to donate their old wetsuits and in exchange, qualify for a discount on a new Billabong suit  - and then Bong pass the suits on to local surf outreach programs. So anyone with old wetties - don't just chuck em out - drop em off at a Bong store near you.

Sunday saw the Ironman event go down in some pretty decent weather. Luckily no surf in the bay so all those who woulda been stressing about trying to get to the beach to grab a wave via all the road closures didn't have to worry. The potential of missed surf on the wildside was another story.....

Speaking of the wildside - Ryan Allen spotted this classic sticker. Seems like the Wildside crew aren't gonna let the Pipe crew be the only one's with their own sticker.

The new Boardtalk mag is out, so go grab yours at Coffee's Up or Surf Centre. Great shots, and some good words. Local is lekker.

Good luck to all the local lighties who'll be surfing for the EP team at the Billabong SA Grom Games that starts this week. The comp will be taking place at Pipe, so head down to cheer on our kids. Froth levels will be high cos these kids just love to surf. And when you just about knee-high to a grasshopper then almost everything is overhead!

Local surf photag Dirk Erasmus got bust on a SUP recently. We'll forgive him cos he takes lekker pics ;-)