Bryan "Retro" Moulang

Anyone remember 'Sha-na-na'??

Age: 34
Local Spot: Pipe, eish! But actually wherever the surf is best for the day.
Weapons:  6ft1 Fishstix, 5ft4 homemade "pod" for shitty days, 6ft6 Dennis Ellis channel bottom for bigger days, and a green single fin by Al Brown.
Wheels: Astra 1.6i
Graft: Consultant, and part time wood crafter
Favourite surfer: The person having the most fun, or the one just getting out as I arrive!
Favourite spot: Super's
Local Crew: Jakes, Barry, Josh, Etienne, Casey, Wally - I do surf on my ace a lotta times too
Achievements: Surfed 15 consecutive years for EP! My first SA's was back in '89. Got a 3rd in the u/18 in '93 - had Jevon Le Roux and Byron Howarth in my final. Got SA Schools and SA Students colours.

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Bryan's one of PE's hottest surfers and an avid proponent of the alternative surfcraft movement. Provided it sort of floats, and has some sort of fin, Bryan can ride it - and often better than most peeps ride their conventional thrusters. During the cooking lil swell that came through at the end of last month, Bryan was getting barreled at Pier on his big green single fin!

Take us back to when it all started‌

I grew up on the beach as a little toddler with my mom catching some rays at Denville and me eating sand and getting washed by the gentle shorey. It progressed from there when my old man built us a swimming pool and at three was already doing laps! We used to hit Kings Beach in the early 80’s with body boards and get pulled into waves.

My brother being the older of us two got into surfing before I could get a board small enough to handle my skinny little frame (a 5’4 twinny was a beast of a board back then!). Wetsuits were not made for little runts and I wore a windbreaker as a suit for the first parts of my fledgling surf career!

So I digress, Surfing is in my blood –my dad was one of the crew who surfed the empty lines of J-bay in the 60’s, camping on the beach! At about 7 years old after mastering the floppy body board stand-up thing and when the waves were manageable I got my first taste of the real thing, probably Millers at a foot with my whole family. Millers holds some great memories for me, all that nostalgia floods me each time I go surf there!

What was your first stick‌

As I said, my body board got me to understand the waves and read the ocean without too much damage inflicted. Once I hit it with my twinny, a 5’4 Shaun Tomson with pink and white checks on the bottom deck (my birthday present bought at LifeStyle Surf Shop in the Main Street before all the name changing) it was kind of like a homecoming and I’ve never looked back!

When the waves got too big the booger would come out and the smaller days the twinny attack was the order of the day! Actually many years later Ryan Anderson unearthed the self same board from some girl’s garage and I got to ride it again!

Above: Me and my bro Ralph. Not sure if I'm doing some warm-up exercise here or not!? Right: Bro and I again. Check the windbreaker I had to surf in cos there weren't small enough wetsuits back then. Also note the red suit Ralph's in, as you'll see this in later shots when I inherit it as a hand-me-down. Check how he's had to roll the cuffs and legs up!

Who were your crew back in the day‌

Well, I was inadvertently thrust into a multi-layered cross section of surfers from all ages from the beginning! My peers ranged from the handful of lighties surfing at the time; Nolan McSkimming, Gavin Perino, my Brother Ralph, Waxy (Nolan’s boet), Donovan Rabi, Arno Lane, Jason van Greenun, Jean Pierre Degomouis, Ricky Styles et al to all the ou’s hanging at the notorious Wall at the Beach Hotel, funny smells and melting wax, half loaves and coke for lunch, lumo sunscreen that didn’t wash off!

There was also the older crew who guided me as a young surfer, some by pure observation and others with a more verbal influence – Nick Pike, Kurt Buchner, Craig van Greenun, Johnny Bakker, Andre Venter, Clint Bradfield, Joe Van der Linder, Sandon van Vyk, and Dennis Ells to name a few.

I look back now and realize the camaraderie with us all and how that has shaped my life. Nothing has changed, the lighties are still coming through the ranks and now it’s us who are the custodians of surfing – shaping the future, the next link in the chain. My peers are important from the 12 year old grom to the 65 year old grom they all play their part in my life!!! Some have departed this world, others remain but the common thread that holds us all together weaves our fabric and has created a unique sub-culture of which I’m proud to belong!

What sort of kak did you used to get up to‌

Ha ha, well some of the stories are obviously innocent ramblings of youth and others are sinister in their actions but I do remember getting up to mischief! I think this one happened in 1988. My brother and I were staying at Donovan Rabi’s house right at Point in J-bay over some or other school holiday. The waves greeted us early one morning and the three of us legged it to Supers, crisp off shore and firing. So after having our fill of morning screamers we made our way down to Point. There were only 4 paddle-skiers in the water and we all know that it doesn’t count if you don’t stand up!

A set approached and one after another we got the bombs, in the process snaking the egg beaters! They still swore at us as we rode past and I being the youngest and on the last wave of the set rode down to lower Point only to realize that it was SA Paddle-skiing champs and we had hijacked the first heat of the day! The ou on the loud speaker was tuning us dik, but with scant regard we in procession went into the gully at the bottom of Point, ran up the sand and into Dons house – The Stronghold! Naughty little buggers giggling and writhing in mirth over the audacity of our innocent actions!!

Another story much later in my life at high school we ended up inadvertently chucking wet toilet paper onto the bald palate of the deputy head master from the top of the stair well. We escaped punishment but to this day I still don’t know how! Funny the sound it made when it hit his pip though!

Yet another fun road trip in the Ford

Check the vellies and socks and mooi hat - surf rat attire back in the day.

Did you ever used to bunk school to surf‌ Ever get bust‌

Many times!! It was a treat for us as brothers when the bay was cranking my old man would leave for work and on seeing the surf would u turn and tell us we were off to J-bay! We lived around the corner from Pearson and when the bell would ring for school we were heading in the other direction to educate ourselves – outside of the school curriculum mind you! Those were special times, with permission to bunk, shackles cast off – surfing the quintessential counter culture of our times!!!
BLESS MY FOLKS! They created a monster. . .

We used to drool over the empty lines that unwound down Rincon’s Point from the Science Lab at Pearson only to be greeted by ridiculous Westerly’s as school ended, don’t even get me started! I was a pretty straight laced kid so my cutting school was afforded to me through the right channels!
The other guys used to disappear after register class and return just before school ended looking so burned and surfed out. The ominous voice over the intercom used to spell out the names of those caught in the lewd act of Surfing, then not clearly defined as a Sport, but more the gate way to Hell!!

Any grom abuse back in the day – given or received‌

Let’s just say abuse was a right of passage for which we as kids ran a gauntlet through the ranks of the establishment on a daily basis. Some of the older crew was nurturing and others gave us stick just for talking! Well, I did have the highest pitched voice in the water back then!

From lessons on not paddling for the shoulder, twin fin bruises across the back of my legs, to being tied to the lamp post, to sand baths, to Vaseline on the wax, to being sent out as guinea pigs on the biggest of gnarly days. The list goes on. I’ve had boards shot at me, been ridden into and over, held under, manhandled and sworn at but I never viewed it in a bad way, there was always some kind of weird interpretation on a lesson to be learned! Besides as a little tike I always had my Dad on hand watching proceedings from the beach!

I personally am not into dishing out grom abuse. Lessons can be learned from mutual interaction. I do think that there is a lack of respect from the younger crew, if you give them a finger they take the whole arm! I find a stern look does the trick, the less said the better. Remember the rungs of the ladder lead both ways!!

Pearson's all conquering team from '91. Top from left: Nolan McSkimming, Bobby Ellis (Dennis's bro), Jason and Adin Erlank, me. Bottom from left: Donovan Rabie, Ralph Moulang, Arno Lane, JP Degoumois, Bruce Rabie. (double click to enlarge)

Winners of SA Schools champs in 92. Beat the Durban ou's on their home turf nogal

How’d you rate the surf now versus back in the day‌

Definitely better in days gone by. Altering weather patterns, retardation and stabilization of sand migration, more and more surfers and a dwindling frequency of swell has all lead to me saying that as I get older the surf gets less and times when I have to surf are greeted with shite conditions! Growing up in PE was awesome. Small waves and perfect set-up’s.

I do however feel that it really isn’t a town to hone your skills as a competitive surfer after a certain age. I see for example young Matthew Mcgillavray ripping conditions to pieces but there will come a time when he should seek more consistency in surfing to improve and move into the next level of surfing I’m sure he is capable of producing!

It’s cool that when I was his age we used to buy surfing stuff from his Grand Parents surf shop under the Elizabeth Hotel! The largest selection of second hand flippers and massive displays of stickers (Mush Hide had a few awesome stickers he made back in the day!). Also the wetsuit range with that new rubber wetsuit smell, olfactory sense conjures up the earliest of memories!

Today with technology at our fingers and forecasting leading us to greener pastures we still don’t get the swells filtering into the Bay and the window allowing swell to pass into our narrow and poorly angled point diminishes as the last of the refracting sand bars move into the deep, never to be replaced!

There are those days when all the ingredients are perfectly mixed into Neptune’s pot of tricks and the surf is firing!

Bryan at macking JBay during the Billabong Pro-Am.

What’s the story behind this pic‌

This was shot during the Billabong Pro-am, think it was in about ’97. It was a 5^th round heat against Justin Strong, Jason Ribbink and Shawn “Barney” Barron from Santa Cruz. I ended up placing 24^th out of the 160 surfers that year, getting knocked out in the round before the quarter finals! Shaun Holmes and I were the highest placed juniors in that one.

The Billabong Pro am back in the day was a very special contest where the likes of me could surf against the best in the world on home turf!

I surfed against and beat some of the top 44 back then and in one heat surfed against Rob Machado!

Having home crowd backing was the most awesome feeling.

Flying the EP flag at Seals

Me and Ralph on our EP kit

You must have a few funny stories from back in the day!

We were at another terrible day for surfing an EP contest (ED – and not much has changed since then!) Pipe greeted us with feeble 1 foot onshore slop. We had a gunslinger for an EP Chairman, who was the self appointed contest director – so the call was for outside the Bay – Beachview! As we drew nearer to the set-up venue we could see massive green crested giants obliterating on the outside sandbars! It was far from easy and they decided to send the Boys division out first (U/13, and me being a few years younger)!

My Mom was hiding her mounting fear rather well and coolly my Dad pointed out the channel and the safety of the back line to all the little ones! With vests firmly tied at the back to hug our little frames me and three other groms were first. We seemed to make it out ok but on looking back to shore we were about 500m out to sea in a growing and angry swell!

The heat had started but we never heard the siren, just a little lolly pop showing GREEN. It was easy 8 feet and for us a huge step up from the shelter of the Bay. Next the lolly was showing that it was over, but we had only been out for about 10 minutes. No one had caught a wave and on seeing us stroking over the waves they decided to call it quits!

The gun-slinger Chairman and the Masters Division were gonna show us how it was supposed to be done. All of the boys ceremoniously caught a wave together; we didn’t stand but like corks were spat out onto the glorious beach and safety.

Attention was now on the Manne, who in front of the whole EPSA (Association before unification to EPSC) proceeded to have the living daylights smashed out of them. The beach was awash with glee at how the boys got off scot free and the men got it handed to them. A very bedraggled bunch of ou’s crawled up to the top of the hill and with the quietest of voices announced that the contest was moving back to the Pipe!

Another particularly compromising story had all the boys cutting into the kook who had drifted into the contest area; we were rough and scathing in our approach, escalating from pure mischievousness! As the next rounds of comments split our sides at the poor souls expense a bystander could no longer contain herself. A mild voice, although somewhat irritated, voice said “Hey guys that’s my brother!” We were horrified to realize the voice belonged to none other than our teacher, who wasn’t very impressed! The look on my brothers’ face was priceless and we laughed even harder from the dress down afterwards! Tears!!!

Heading out in my windbreaker to surf an EP compo, with my bro behind me.

'Upgraded' to a hand-me-down wettie. Noordhoek beach for a comp.

Any classic surf trips or sessions that stand out‌

I have had so many road trips, contest locations and epic sessions, is hard to pinpoint, but there are exceptions! 8 to 10 foot Bruces Beauties – sandy, windy and heavy with 6 guys on it and every wave a deeper, longer and rounder tube than the one before!

I was stuck on the upper reaches of the Kromme River with my brother and his then girlfriend (now his wife and mother to their children). It had been raining for two days and the road from the bottom of the hill was super slippery, no chance of escape, no signal, but with an overwhelming feeling that something was happening in the sea and I needed to be there!

Somehow we managed to get word that there were in fact some mud chains in a shack across the river but with one hazard! The shack had not been opened for a few years and it just so happened that that was where a population of about 1000 Golden Orb Spiders had made nest between me and my gut feeling for waves! Nothing, not even webs stronger than cotton and stickier than a melting ice cream could stop me.

My brother watched in amazement at how ruthless I became. Like a rabid dog I savaged the nest and Indiana Jones style ran in a retrieved the treasure as the next wave of spiders’ descended. I fought my way back out leaving a myriad of twitching Orbs in my wake!!

With the chains firmly attached the car flew up the impossible hill and off to freedom. I even considered paddling down the river to St Frances hours earlier but it would have been longer than missioning with the spiders (it was like 8 km to the canals!)

So I hit the surf with about two hours of light left and instincts confirmed it was on like Donkey Kong!
My last wave before dark was this innocuous little wedge but it mutated as I took off and dredged into an 8 foot square with no back and no escape but through its innards! I got the barrel of my life that day, well actually three on that one wave and came out hands aloft caressing the beast like a little tickle under the chin, tame and conquered!

Sessions down the beach at Dunes with Andy Marr and Simon Lowe and Mickey Duffus is like getting a whole schooling in one session, barrel masters and hell men to boot! Surfing 9’6 rhino chasers in 6-8 foot waves really cleans your lines up and margins for error are highlighted. Getting blown out of one in front of applauding friends like that is an amazing and humbling experience, till the next one klaps you for thinking you are boss, clearly not, and seeing them chuckling gives you a chance to try again and again!!

Road trips to Elands or a quick trip to PA’s all mean one thing: friends and adventure with the chance to surf somewhere different and get away for a while!

I had an epic road trip with Stan Badger and my mate Dave from Scotland up to North Coast KZN. We stopped along the way and surfed some great lineups with just us and the crew we met along the way. Staying at Green Point and eating mangoes and pawpaw from the back garden growing wild, surfing with legendary SA ripper Frankie Oberholser in Scotbough, surfing the Piers in Durb’s in baggies and dawn runs to Ballito with the morning land breezes!

CYOH are doing some awesome road trips of late and it’s a great way to get away and hang with the boys…

Any day that J-bay is firing is like a road trip! I love to run up the point at Supers and feel the sand between my toes, wave at the people on the boardwalk and pick the spots in the lineup that are good for that day. I get all nostalgic when I stare into the waves from ground level, watching the guys streaking along as the wave chases them. It’s funny to think that surfing is such a young sport in the history of the world and that the waves have been there all along, displaying their beauty since time began, and so it will continue! The wave itself is not bad either!

Bottom turning at Supers. By Steve Walsh

Barreled at Supers. By Steve Walsh

Have you surfed overseas at all‌

I’ve lived in Newquay, England for a while whilst doing my part for the English Labour Force. I think it’s pretty underrated, but the real juice is further up North with England’s neighbors’.

France was also pretty fun, beaches and wedges!

I went to Indo 10 years ago now which was my first time abroad and it was amazing! Perfect waves, a cultural melting pot and “Pucking” Good Times!! Damn I gotta get back there soon! Lakey’s, Perriscopes, Desert Point, Shipwrecks, Ulu’s and those are the ones I can tell you about!

I ended up going to Morocco a few years ago and scoring some of the most memorable surf in my life! I traveled there alone and ended up meeting some awesome people both local and foreign. The place is steeped in history and shrouded in mystery, a real cultural experience. We had this one day that went absolutely mental. I ended up getting into the water 45min before another soul came to share the empty line-up with me. Think Western Sahara with all the sand and lunar landscapes jutting points into the ocean at will! Sand bottomed freight train rights alone! Not too many turns’ just deep, dark barrels. . nuf said!

It out there for us to find and ride, just need to hit the jackpot!

Any scary moments surfing‌

Eish, from the top of my crown to the tips of my toes somewhere along the line I’ve been injured! Inadvertently doing something dumb: breaking my rib before a crucial SA Students Champs at Seals, acid drop floaters over the dry sand at pipe with no speed and less control (left and right medial ligaments “popped”), concussion from whiplashing myself almost unconscious and not really knowing what’s up. The next wave I sliced my bridge of my nose off with my fin!

I snapped my Tibia and Fibula at Clubhouse on a double up rebound from the backwash on a full high tide and whilst midway through the turn my front leg spiral fractured, flopping in the white water, grotesquely bending and bones knocking! Thank God for the Doctor and his bag of “tricks”! Crutches for 4 months and 8 months to recover before venturing into the water again! It still bugs me.

Oh also nearly broke my neck when impaled into the sand at the Seals beachie after a particularly grueling feud at another SA students Champs! That was after the quarters and I still made it to the finals and placed second behind Andy Marr but that’s for another story!

A Great White resembling a Submarine breached about 100m from me at very windy and rainy Supers about two years ago. It was so surreal, with this enormous creature revealing itself to me – stark white underbelly and grey trim on the pectorals! I was at the bottom end of the point after getting a nugget and was the only soul for about 200m. I kind of just kept paddling and expected the beast to come get me but it didn’t happen and when I got to the next chap in the line-up and told him what had just happened he said “Well you are still here aren’t you‌” It diffused the situation and I carried on surfing because it was cooking! Dolphins used to scare the crap out of me so I’m definitely not talking about this lightly.

Floating at Avo's

Chucking some spray at Avo's

You’re known for riding “alternate” (i.e. old!) surfboards, how’d that start‌

I’m traditionally “old school”, I guess it’s in my blood! Watching the old surf movies and guys like Gerry Lopez casually turning under the guillotine lip at Pipeline, getting blown out whilst clearing his nose.

I still want to get into logging and cruising on the nose with all that length behind me. Alternative craft is also borne from a slight disgust at the prevailing conditions in the Bay – like a silent protest to not do turns when it smaller than 2 feet! Added to that the regimented contest scene I was once so ardently addicted to, its completely different to how I feel now about contests and for me cruising and taking it all in is where I’m at right now.

Still it will never replace fast hard surfing of the highest order. The old and new complement each other and drawing out turns on a single fin will inevitably assist modern surfing and help iron out all the bumps.

I found a really banged up single fin, at the time fin-less, and fixed it up. She’s been with me now for about 15 years and I’ve surfed her in all conditions and many locations. Its golden tinged from sun damage and it’s got a rainbow on the top deck so it’s like I’ve found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow each time I surf her!

I’ve made a few boards before too; one is the “disco biscuit”. At 5”6’, 20.5’ wide and 2.25’ thick, it’s the call when the surf is bad and you wanna surf and have some fun. Its got appreciably little rocker and kind of spooned in front so it’s cool for hanging 5 or jiving from the tail!

Gregg Wood Saunders is making some amazing prototype wooden boards, full on craftsmanship. I saw him and his son Josh ripping on their sticks on Sunday morning.

I also enjoy the rush of body surfing, it’s the essence to everything that we as surfers are! To get a good one to the shore from out back just using your body is an amazing feeling – like flicking the switch from off to on!

Saw you get barreled at Pier recently on your single fin – how different is it riding one of those‌

Hey that was a really fun session as it turned out! The whole day was banging but I had commitments to work so I got in late.

I could see the end of the harbor mouth grinding into deeper water from where I was working – my imagination was running amok! That was actually the first real surf I had on the board (Al Brown shaped) so I was surprised to see how well she handled in the barrels. I got flogged on a few but all told more tubes than pearls! It seems really good for setting your line and driving for the opening – same but different.

Styling through a Pier barrel on a single fin. Image by Luc Hosten

Same wave, setting the trim. Image by Luc Hosten.

The homemade 'pod', 5ft6 'disco biscuit'

The disco biscuit out at Millers

Do you still ride “normal” boards at all‌

I go through phases of surfing only weird craft and other times when all I want is to smash the lip and really step up my own game for myself. What all the pros are doing now we were only dreaming of when I was a lightie, so I never purposely tried airs and stuff.

The best boards today are ‘normal’ boards so I’d be kidding myself into thinking that I’d progress with all the other stuff I ride. There is nothing better that a crisp fresh stick to get the pulse raised!

Conditions also play a big part in what I’m riding, not too keen to surf the biscuit when the surf is great, I would be wasting my time.


You’ve got a wood crafting business now, how’d you get into that‌

It’s my little child that was born out of the recession during which time Consultancy (Working with my Dad at QP Consultants) went through a really bad patch. I wasn’t really working too much so I thought about what would be a cool thing to get into. I love to create and develop new ideas and an opportunity arose for me to work at a shop down in the Valley that Gregg Saunders has.

It’s a great location, a few minutes from home and the beach so I started to play with some ideas and make some furniture out of reclaimed woods discarded from renovated buildings around town. It’s more a passion than work now as the consulting seems to be moving in the right direction again.

You learn as you get older that sometimes following a whim is not always the correct path, my passion has not diminished but my bank balance was, it was a real tough decision to move away from full time crafting but its there on the back burner, simmering gently and happily so!

Speed chack at Avo's

Bout to hook the top turn at Avo's

What sort of stuff do you make‌

I look for inspiration in all aspects of life, what the needs in society are, and practical applications to everyday issues. Space constraints, low income house-holds, reading, and brain-storming. I’ve made some really interesting pieces from reclaimed wood – dining tables, chairs, trolleys, an office cupboard, butchers blocks, reclining chairs.

The thing is its all unique with no piece being the same cause of the woods we use. Some woods lend themselves to being used in certain ways to accentuate the grain or its finish. I have a whole stack of Art Deco furniture I need to restore, I’ve done one piece but it’s really time consuming!

On one think tank session with a few mates we came up with the answer to an energy saving, low-cost, multi-functional piece aimed at those living on and below the poverty line. Keeps your food cool in one section, saves on cooking time and energy and allows you to store and clean up from the one unit. There is also an add on which utilizes methane and is as close to a perpetual motion machine as one can get!

Time and inclination are the ingredients that are missing to set the project in motion – oh and some development funds!


Anything interesting bout you peeps might not know‌

My passions run into many areas, from other sports – golf and fishing to gardening to wood to art and food. Travelling is something I’m yearning to do and would love to travel and document it along the way, experiencing different cultures and immersing myself in the customs unique to the regions I want to go to.

I also enjoy aspects of consultancy that allow me and my organization to teach and develop people in skills required to fulfill their job tasks and give a little extra in what they do! There is an understanding in our society that hand-outs are expected and hard work and pride for ones job is secondary to the monetary rewards so easily dished out! It’s a dangerous situation to dangle the carrot in front of the poor like that. Remember what Bob Marley said “A Hungry Man is an Angry Man!”

Spraying at JBay - pic by Greg Saunders

Kung fu at Avo's

Last words‌

Giving people the opportunity to think for them selves and not telling them what to think is the greatest gift one can give.

The children are the future, guidance and communication is the key in uplifting another person. Peace in out society is becoming a rare occurrence and life is scantly regarded.

We got to ask ourselves what we want in our lives and try to achieve that as a conscious decision. Thought is energy and energy is everywhere, what you think will inevitably lead to what you are.

I am blessed with so many wonderful friends and that has and will shape me into the future. Thank you, and may we all find what we seek!

See ya all in the tube yo!

Check out my board (far left) - you'll note the 2 feet painted on it. When I started getting up I was a goofy, but my dad was like - "No ways, all the best waves around here are right - you have to be a natural footer!"

So he proceeded to paint the feet on my board, so I knew which way I had to get up - toes matching the painted toes!

Always wonder what would have happened if I'd stayed a goofy!?

Thanks Bryan!

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