The week that was...

Andre Clarke being the pot 'o gold at the end of the rainbow © Willian Veitch

Another really scratchy week as far as surf goes. Fluctuating between dead flat and clean to a bit of size but really messy. For those that have slightly higher standards than "wet and moving" meant it wasn't worth the effort.

© Dave Randle

Those that do subscribe to the "wet and moving" mantra did manage to get a few humps and bumps. A couple of particularly ambitious sessions went down at Millers when for all intents and purposes you wouldn't really qualify it as a wave and yet the ou's managed to sneak a turn or two in. 

PE doesn't mind about the swell size though - it throws out beautiful sunrises no matter what and this week there were some really lekker one's for the early birds.

© Dave Randle

© Zelda Gerber

© Dave Randle

© Dave Randle

Did mention it was pretty flat this week, hey? The predicted 18 second swell was more like 18 inches.

© Amber Hoffman

© Dave Randle

Wildside had a few though. Water on the chilly side. 

© Gareth Gibson

Wildside was wild for other reasons too. Unbeknown to them, a rather sizeable local come swimming nearby the guys out at Padi in Cape Recife at 10ish on Saturday morning. The guys from the Heli school happened to be flying over and got the footage.

So a heads up if a heli starts circling you and dipping low - uuuum, it means you have company nearby!

Via Justin Romer

Wildlife of the far less mundane variety at Pipe during the week with some otters enjoying the lake-like conditions.

© Frans Gerber

Light offshore breezes don't only make the surfers happy, the sailors get to enjoy them too. 

© Dave Randle

© Dave Randle

Humewood might not have had much in the way of great sessions lately, but the nearby rocks are always good for a few backwash shots.

© Annamarie Wentzel

Another pipe at Pipe? Seems like the new telecoms submarine cable they laying around the southern tip of Africa will make one of it's 3 landfalls in PE. Specifically Pollock beach, coming right through the line-up at Pipe. Not sure if there will be any impact on the surf break, but cable size is apparently pretty small and should be buried a metre under water, then trenched into a ditch along the beach where it will hook into a manhole in the carpark. Public comment on the project has closed, but you can still lob them an email if you have any comments.

You can read all about it here:
www.millerslocal.co.za/blog/another-pipe-at-pipe

Nothing much on the forecasts for this week. Hasn't exactly been a stellar April so far, so hopefully it pulls finger and comes up with something useful soon.

Maitlands © Lilian Zeelie