The week that was...

© Lindi Whitfield

We didn't get any waves, but at least console yourself with the fact that somewhere else in the world they were. Like the Maldives for instance. We did however have some pretty cool thunderstorms this week. 

© Clive Wright

For once they also brought a few drops of rain. Not enough, but better than nothing. And of course the cool thunderclouds mean we get some impressive sunsets. Pity our waves are not as impressive as our sunsets - then we'd be styling.

© Luc Hosten

Wanna guarantee a flat spell - then order a new board. Fresh sticks and surf seem to be mutually exclusive entities. My better half got a lekker new stick from Greg Smith, with an epic spray job by Stephen van der Watt in JBay. A mate from the US also got a stick done at the same time.

Always cool to see surfers doing their bit for the environment - Pipe local Allan Bezuidenhout, owner of Muse restaurant, is now using 100% bio degradable and waterwise napkins, cardboard straws and corn starch doggy bags. If you a surfer you have a duty to be environmentally friendly - small price to pay for enjoying what it gives you. Just wish other restaurants in PE would follow suit.

From the good to the not-so-good. Some weird stuff in the water at Cape Recife. Luc Hosten spotted it during his walkabout there yesterday "There was a strange cream soda float/lime milkshake tide at Cape Recife today, it could also have been something toxic escaping from the water reclamation works (unlikely as their record is good). I think it was probably some algal bloom, interesting colour and I did wonder what it tasted like....."

Gavin Snow, a local aquatic ecology expert, said it is probably microalgae in the discharge from the Cape Recife Waste Water Treatment Works, as the colour is that of a harmless green algae (chlorophyte).

© Luc Hosten

And from the not-so-good to the downright bad. Dean de Klerk found this shark fin washed up at Millers on the weekend. Am guessing the dodgy Chinese fishing vessels which skelm along our coast have been up to no good...

© Dean de Klerk

Well done to all those who attended the Bushy Park beach clean on the weekend, organised by concerned local Andrew Stewart. A whole bunch of trash was collected and that stretch of coast has been returned to it's pristine state. Nice work!

In the absence of any waves, photags are having to resort to cloud pictures of Pipe instead of surf shots. Anyone with good connections to Neptune please drop him a line and ask him to send us a few lines.

© Gideon Brunsdon

Local is lekker, and what's not to love about some home-grown wax. Made out in JBay by the Cooper bro's, Max Wax is just what you need on your board. Made specially by Saffa's for local conditions, it's also a whole bunch cheaper than the imported stuff.

Check out the interview with Alan Cooper of Max Wax to find out more, and stand the chance to win yourself a kiff hamper of 5 blocks of wax. Enter here:
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/localislekker-max-wax

If you're a surfer you have a bucket list of places you wanna go. And this possie is on mine. Known as Double Island Point in Oz it's a long long long right sand point with crystal clear water situated in a National Park. It lit up last week during the cyclone swell that smashed Oz.

This is what JBay looked like almost the whole week. Varying between 0-2ft. So you can only imagine how flat PE was. Small bump in the swell over the weekend saw the opportunity to get wet.

© At the Beach

In the absence of any waves to surf at least PE has plenty of benches all along the beachfront that you can park off and stare out to sea and just wish for waves! Keep wishing - cos not much on the charts for this week either.

© Luc Hosten

Friday morning © Frans Gerber