The week that was....

Baked Beans looking very un-PE'ish

Bugger Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The only day that mattered last week was Thursday. Cos Thursday was big. Some serious south swell marched into the bay by midday, making most spots unplayable, and the remainder challenging - thanks to a longshore current that could take you from Rincon to Fence quicker than you could say the alphabet.

You can check out all the line-up shots from the big day in the Big Thursday blogpost here or check out the Latest Shots page for the surfing pix.
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/millerslocals-blog/big-thursday

Joshe Faulkner. Considering. © Robbie Irlam

JBay was closing out right across the point, with massive rogue sets breaking out in the middle of the bay. The guys had all come to town cos the call had been made to run the JBU Supertrial, but it was called off cos no ways could anyone get decent waves out there. Joshe, Remi and a few other brave souls took the plunge into the abyss, but mostly just got a free freight train down to Point.

© Robbie Irlam

Friday saw conditions "moderate" a bit, with sheltered spots out west managing to make sense of the swell. Killers woke up for the first time in ages, and if you were able to vaporise the harbour, 69's woulda been off it's pip. 

© Greg Christy

The surf dished out it's fair share of beatings, with Jason Kalo taking the prize for his "pit-to-wipeout-to-bust board-to-trip through the pier" - and back! And still had a smile on his dial.Check out his story here.
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/millerslocals-blog/pier-pitstop

© Marc Jucker

Storm surges coupled with the spring hide tide saw water running up the beach to places it shouldn't - like the Bluewater Bay Lifesaving Clubhouse. An unfortunate side effect of a solid days surf is that it tends to cause some major erosion along the coast, often stripping away tons of sand. Thankfully it looks like Avo's sandbank survived the onslaught, but Hummies looks more like Brighton Beach in the UK (that one that's just full of pebbles) than a Blue Flag beach at the moment.

BWB © Emile Hallaby

Earlier in the week the surf had klapped Slaapstad, with False Bay getting some solid size - like this shot of Kalk Bay Harbour. Not sure if the Brass Bell - the pub right next to it, has any windows left after this?

© Mike Wrankmore

Plenty of guys made the trek up the Skeleton Coast to Donkey Bay. Including quite few PE locals, like Grant Beck and Etienne Potgieter. Grant reckons he got the wave of his life up there. Easy to see why from this framegrab of his!

© Grant Beck

Granville West, ex-PE ripper and now CT resident, showed the ou's that PE breeds 'em tough. He fell onto his board and cracked his ribs in the early morning sesh - but just gritted his teeth and kept surfing for the rest of the day. Pain is just weakness leaving the body, Granny!

Granville West. Bust ribs & all © Grant Scholtz

ET looking casual. All that Fence training © Grant Scholtz

Ntando Msibi - a young grom from Surfers not Street Children in Durbs getting shacked © Grant Beck

So next time you see a synoptic chart that looks like the one below (from Tuesday), and you see that nice lil 964 low pressure cell, you make plans to pull a sickie, or bunk, or whatever you need to do to make sure you at the beach and not behind the desk. 

But if you like your charts in pretty colours and not the boring black n white synoptics, then make sure you check out the Forecast page to play with the kiff new animated forecasting tool I've added. Pick whether you wanna see winds, pressure, clouds or whatever, zoom in where you wanna go, and see it all unfold before you. Real-time and forecasting options. Too much fun.

Wonder if the big swells were responsible for this poor dude washing up on the beach near Mossel Bay. Always sad to see these beautiful creatures on the sand instead of in the sea. 

Wasn't just big down our part of the planet, everywhere's been getting smashed by swells it seems. Here's a bit of Portuguese action with Eric Riebere and Benjamin Sanchis testing out the limits of their ski, and their sphincter muscles....going over the falls backwards with your board is one thing. Doing it on a ski is on a whole other level.

Ex-St Francis ripper Dale Staples grabbed a third in the recent Quik compo in Durbs, but not before throwing in a mid-heat collision that looked likely to break a board or leg. Ou's are competitive hey! He reckons he had right of way.

© Dawn Rouse

If you see a Logger's Union sticker around town - it ain't one of those new craft beers, it's the local PE log riding club. Chatted to Ryan Anderson to find out more: "The club is open to anyone who wants to ride a single fin longboard. People can contact me for info or advice on rising logs etc. We will be running the Cobbles Classic in September with board demos by local shapers etc and will be doing LU clothing and decals exclusively for the club members at this stage." 

Eish, yet another shark attack in Reunion. A well known local surfer, Eddy Chaussalet, was surfing one of the islands premier big wave spots La Follette, when he was attacked. He ended up with a badly wounded arm, but should make a full recovery. Since 2011, this is the 17th shark attack in the island's waters, and the third this year.

la Follette © Rafael Fredefon

The first WaveGarden is underway in Snowdonia, North Wales. Gonna be interesting to see how the concept delivers at full scale. The test site in Northern Spain produces some fine, fun lil waves, but the full scale version is meant to be able to jack up the size considerably. Rumour has it though that waves might cos ya 25 quid a pop.....

Was kinda funny cos just after seeing the post about the new WaveGarden I spotted this shot on my FB newsfeed from Rhino Group (a PE crew who do plastics and other stuff) - it's a pic of their dam liners. Which looks like it would make a pretty schweet wave pool. C'mon Rhino dudes....give us a WaveGarden in PE! Please!

For all those who spend time out at Sards, take note that there's gonna be an EIA conducted for development of a new parking lot and ablution block after the sand dunes claimed the old one's. If you'd like to have your say, or keep up to speed with the development, then register as an Interested & Affected Party (I&AP). All the details in the blog post here.
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/millerslocals-blog/new-parking-planned-for-sards

© Jonker Fourie/FireFly Africa

A heads up on a lekker compo coming up soon - check out the Something Good Classic on 27 June. Merv's the man behind the kiff idea - and it's to raise funds for the EP Masters going to surf SA Champs in Richards Bay - which is moerse far from PE so the ou's need some cash to get there!

The comp's open to everyone, and all forms of wave-riding. Plenty of rad prizes and lucky draws, and lotsa stuff happening at Something Good - including some kiff live music and some of PE's top DJ's. Will get more info out next week, but pop the date in your diary so long - don't wanna miss it.