Summer is Over

Winter is creeping closer by the day. The days have become ridiculously short and the temperature has dropped over the past few weeks. The sand is starting its annual trek from Caves to wherever it disappears to in the winter months. Nobody knows.

The waves have still been good though. Caves has been really fun. A bit wobbly, but good. The shower bank has returned and is getting better and better each week. The crowds are getting a bit rough though. The Strand ballies have been taking over at Caves, hassling for the little waves coming through.

Here are a few frame grabs from last Sat:

                                         Me inside a gem

                                  Adin setting up

                                       Me

                                  I found another good one

                           Adin flaring

10 Days

Summary of our short holiday:

I can't even begin to explain how good the waves have been these past few days. The Boland has been going absolutely bananas, dishing up some of the best waves we have seen all summer.

I got home from a road trip up to Noup with Marthinus on Tuesday. Noup is a amazing place. We went diving for crayfish everyday and did a bit of exploring around the coast. The braai's and beers were much needed after a tough first term.

On Wednesday, Andrew Smith, Peder Christensen and I surfed some flawless barreling waves at a secret spot. Within the first five minutes of our session all three of us had made it out of multiple barrels. The waves just kept coming. They were quite heavy though. Andrew snapped his board and I messed up my shoulder after being smashed into the sand on a closeout.

Thursday and Friday were spent at Caves. The banks were amazing and we got some of the best waves of the year (so far...), with only a hand full of guys out on both days. There were way too many barrels. Davey Gouws got too many barrels. I got too many barrels. Kyle Cabano got spat out of one of the craziest, wedgiest, thickest pits ever. Mathew Lombard was also going crazy, flipping out all over the place. We spent way too many hours in the sun surviving on only a bit of water and a pack of cookies.

On Saterday I surfed da Pipe. The Strand ballies were hassling, the longboarders were snaking. Andrew was busting out, Mikhail was throwing buckets. I was stealing all the set waves. It was a really fun session.

Today I went back to the little slab I came across last time. It was grinding. See the pics below.

Here are some photos of the last 10 days:

                         

                        Grondpad

                          Marthinus

                    Hondeklip Baai

                   Hondeklip Baai little setup

                       Marthinus met sy kreef

                 

                     Boland boude

                            Caves going off!

                     Caves at Caves

                     The slab

                    Draining below sea level

Tomorrow we hit the books again. Term 2 here we go. Now we become weekend warriors again.

Kicking up kelp

This past week was intense. Well not really intense, but pretty intense. I just wrote my first engineering test week. So after studying a stupid amount of hours and writing some difficult tests, I made a mission around the coast in search of something new. I then found something new.

With the NorthWester up, I drove to Betties side. I didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised. There were some shoulder high waves to be surfed. I drove around trying to figure out where was best. Everywhere had some good, clean peaks. I had a fun surf and then went exploring afterwards.

So today I drove to one of the places I had not yet explored entirely and I found something fresh.

 And no, this is not that other heavy, lekker left that guys like Johann de Goede and Gunter Shultz charge. It's a completely different heavy outer reef. All I can say, is that while all the other reefs were too small to be surfed, this place was quite solid and grinding. I only had my 55mm lens with me, so these photos are pretty terrible, but i'll go film it again real soon.

We are heading up the WESKUS again this friday. This time we're going far up. Way up. 8 hours up. Will report back soon.

Feb

I started studying Engineering 3 weeks ago. So far the course has been pretty intense and it was really tough to start studying after a gap year of doing nothing but surfing. I feel like I have lost quite a few brain cells after so much time on the beach.

Even though I am busy studying, I am still managing to surf really often. The waves have been so fun this whole month. There has been plenty of barrels and fun bowls to smash.

Coetzer Cooke has been tagging along with us taking photo's. He's been nailing some really sick shots.
Here are a few photo's from the past few weeks:

               Caves. Photo by Marcel Habets

         

                  Photo by Coetzer Cooke

                           Rooi Els

                        Wedge