The week that was...

3/6/2018

A weekend wave bonanza. Cry into your coffee if you didn't get wet - cos it was fun. Provided you could wrap your head around the crazy crowds. Pipe was firing, Millers was fun, and a few of the other spots were getting some good one's too.

You can check out Petronel's shots from Sat and Sunday here:
www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/pipe-sat-2-mar-18
www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/pipe-sun-3-mar-18
Vaughans water shots from Sat here:
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/latest-shots/pipe-sat-2-mar-18-water

There is always the pay to play side of things though when there are waves about. Andre Venter had to bid farewell to his trusty pink n purple sled, as Pipe claimed another victim. Luckily all it claimed was a board.

Local chiro and surfer Mare′ Moolman had a nasty experience at Pipe on Saturday morning. Got wiped out and hit the sand with his head. His neck got bent pretty bad and he was paralyzed. There wasn't anyone in the water at the time to help him and luckily he just managed to keep afloat with his face just above water gasping for air like a guppie, and got washed in to shore by the surf. Elvis the carguard ran into the water to pull him out onto the beach and called for help. Thankfully it was just a temporary paralysis and he was discharged later from hospital. Thankfully a happy ending to what was a gnarly situation.

Also a few drama's at Cape Recife too, where 6 people had got into difficulties after taking a swim and the NSRI and Coastal Water Rescue were called to assist. Thankfully everyone was rescued and some of the victims taken to hospital. Moral of the story - always keep you eyes peeled if you taking a walk along the beach or if you're out in the water - you never know when someone might get into difficulty.

There were waves down the road as usual, although surprisingly it sounded like PE had more crowds than JBay. Can't say that happens often.

Coupla beaut weather days in the bay as well this week. The last few days of summer maybe? Water temps have been almost balmy, and the water super clear. Although still some miff red tide hanging around deeper in the bay.

Pencil this into your diaries. Cool initiative by local surfer Lewellyn Whittaker. The Waves School of Surfing seminar is designed for the whole family and will cover wave riding technique (what your board and body are doing at any given moment whilst doing a turn). So don't miss the opportunity to improve your surfing. Entry is free, and it will be held at the Bridge street Brewery 29 March at 5pm.

Sign of the times and a tight economy when the morning Surf Report on Radio Algoa gets the axe as part of a cost cutting drive. Pretty sad day when something iconic like that is lost. Sure, everyone can check on their apps what the surf is "meant" to be doing, but nothing beats an actual real live surf report from the beach that morning. So no longer will you have CarPark John's surf report pop up on your radio. Feel free to tune Radio Algoa if you think it's a swak move. You can WhatsApp them on 0617 940 940.

CarPark John did a lekker interview with Charl Leslie on his Sunday Sitdown show. Charl had a kiff chat with John about surfing in PE. You can listen to it here:
https://www.algoafm.co.za/article/charl-leslie/92391/sunday-sitdown-4-march-2018-john-scheepers-car-park-john

The sun is still getting up early enough in the morning for those who feel so inclined to get a swim in before work. Mornings always a lekker time to be on the beach. Ou's taking a swim, peeps walking dogs, peeps running (or trying to run), ballies walking. We are lucky to live in a town with such an easily accessible (and mostly safe) beachfront.

Not so safe for a visiting seafarer though. Mid-week a Turkish crewman took a walk from the harbour to the Boardwalk. He wanted to pop in to the Boardwalk to play the slots but didn't have his passport with him so couldn't change money there. So he stopped a random dude on the boardwalk just after Hummies to swap what he had for some change - and being Africa that went badly wrong and the ou just stole all his money & stuff at knifepoint.

Poor dude ran all the way down to the Dolphins Leap Centre for help and the guys at Surf Centre calmed him down, put him in touch with the police and arranged for a taxi to get him back to his ship. Welcome to Africa.

Plenty of new sticks coming out the Boardroom - Deno on a mission. Good news is that Dennis has taken over doing all the glassing of the boards himself, so expect em to be as tough as nails going forward.

Howard Briscoe is the lucky winner of the 5 blocks of Max Wax in last weeks comp. If you dig to learn a lil more about the story behind this #localislekker surf wax made by some ex-Pe locals now living in JBay check it out here:
www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/localislekker-max-wax

So that's the wrap on a pretty eventful week. Waves, drama and the usual lekker sunrises and sunsets. Possibility of a few waves this week too. Monday was really fun - which is why the blog is a day late.

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