We have upgraded the webcam to refresh every six seconds, which should help decide on the ‘is it worth it drive’. In case you forget to close your browser down (in your rush), the refresh will degrade to every minute after about two minutes. Should you wish to ‘restart’ it again, simply click the Reset link on the top right.

Please let us know if you have any issues.

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Our wheels for the trip: Ian's Trusty Land Rover Defender with snow covered Mountains in the Back Ground

VIC BAY

We left Monday morning after the World Cup final with Vic bay being our first stop.  There was heavy snow on all the mountain tops which should have been a tell tale sign for what was waiting for us. We pitched our tent waxed our boards and went for a lekka warm up surf. Ian was using his brand new 6’ Gerathy board while Charlie used Ian’s  6’4 while I used my brand new epoxy long Board.  The waves were a fun 3ft and hardly anybody out.  Needless to say we had a joll. The temperature dropped close to freezing after sunset, and we really froze our butts off during the night.

Vic Bay:Freezing but fun.

The next morning we had to go for a surf to thaw out.  We were in a rush to get out of the cold Cape Town winter and cold water,  and was really looking forward to the warmer temperatures and warmer water of Natal and Mozambique.

Next stop J-Bay.  Arriving there Ian and Charley went for a fun surf at Boneyards. I ended up watching Jordy surfing at Supers. I was really impressed at what I saw, because he was surfing so fast and were so controlled, I thought that he was going to be tough to beat during the up and coming Billabong Pro.  My prediction was right because he went on to win the contest and headed the pack in the championship rankings.  The preparations for the Billabong were in its final stages and it looked really impressive. I thought to myself. What a great country we are living in. The world’s attentions were on SA for the soccer world cup and now the attention of the worlds surfing fraternity is back on us for the 2010 Billabong Pro.

That evening some of the locals gave us some suggestions and tips of spots on the coast. We really got amped  up when we heard  about the epic surf at Mdumbi (Transkei). This spot was supposed to be better than J-Bay, but it came with a warning. Johnny long fin country, but after  quite a few beers everybody was brave enough to surf, even if there was a whole pack of sharks in a sardine run in the line up.

The picturesque Port Alfred was our next stop, were we had a fun 3 foot surf with 2 or three very welcoming locals. I understand now why all the locals are so friendly. Having some other people in the water just make your odds a bit better when Johnny come around.  That evening we stayed in East London where we had a braai with a very interesting couple. Peter and Kim Van Kets. Peter is an adventurer who has just finished a race across the Atlantic Ocean.

Peets rowing boat he used to cross the Atlantic

No not in a sailboat, but in a rowing boat.  Yes he rowed across the Atlantic.  The boat he used looked like a very small sailing boat, with oars on it. His stories were just incredible and awe inspiring. He also told us about Mdumbi but also warned us of the possibility of sharks in the Transkei especially since we were going to be smack bang in the middle of the annual sardine run. We left East London in high spirit in search of the fantastic and uncrowded waves of the Transkei.

TRANSKEI

Driving through the Transkei is an adventure on its own with the tar roads being bumpier and holey than the gravel roads and you have to dodge everything from goats, sheep, cows and people, but we were on a mission to get to these amazing waves of Mdumbi so we weren’t going to let these things slow us down.  We finally arrived at Mdumbi with a howling offshore and a fair size swell only to hear. “You should have been here two years ago mate, it was going off its face”. We found out that the wave hasn’t really worked for the past two years. The river has washed away the sand at the point so the waves weren’t really breaking properly.  We were really bummed because this place had so much potential.  So we had to go back to the drawing board.

Mdumbe line up with loads of potential

We checked the point out again in the morning but with no luck, so we decided to leave and to look for some other waves in the Transkei. The road was even worse than the previous day but the scenery was absolutely amazing. We stopped at Port St John’s hoping to get a surf to wash the dust off, but we were warned by the locals not to risk it, and if we did we were guaranteed to loose a limb or two, if we were lucky. Someone was bitten by a shark just a few days before we got there.  Sanity prevailed and we decided not to risk it, and moved on.  It took us 10 eventful but interesting hours to cover the 300km from Mdumbi to the South Coast.

SOUTH COAST

The Natal South Coast is blessed with loads of great waves, with a number of points, reefs and some beach breaks to choose from.

We stayed on the South Coast for a few days were we had some good sessions at South Broom and St Mike’s.

Indo? No South Broom

South Broom is a right point break that packs a good punch but there were a killer rip pulling you away from the point, on the days we surfed it. I used my long board here and thought I broke it on a few occasions. It was time to take my short board out again after about one and half years of long boarding.  Next morning we went to St Mike’s.  It is also a right point break. The sun was shining and the waves were 3-5ft and running down the point, with a added bonus. Warm water… I made the mistake wearing my 4/3 wetsuit for the morning session, and was boiling after half and hour and had to go in to change into my shorty wetsuit. It was great to surf in warm again after so long. It had a bit of an Indo feel to it with the warm and clear water . We had a cool surf until the wind picked up, and normally you will be bummed when this happens,  but we were prepared for it and had a ace up our sleeve.  Kiting time. Heeeha….Ian and I had a great kite at Scottborough after which we traveled to Durban were we stayed for the night. Next stop Mozambique…

Mozambique.

The road to the border is quite good, but it disappears as soon as you go through the border. The road turns into soft sand tracks and there is absolutely no sign boards for directions. Ponta da Oura is about a hour’s drive from the border, and we would have landed up in Timbuktu if it wasn’t for Ian’s GPS on his phone showing us were we had to go to

Mozambique Autobaan...

Ponta Main road

Ponta Da Oura is a amazing spot offering a wide range of opportunities to all visitors.

Jacques Cousteau and his appi

There is a world class right hand point break for surfers, great snorkelling and Scuba diving, fishing, excellent beaches for families and a great party vibes for the party animals. We did not score the best Ponta, but we still had fun waves. We made the best of the non favourable surfing conditions by partaking in all the other activities on offer. The snorkelling was a amazing and one of the highlight of the trip for me was swimming with a whale shark for about twenty minutes and while I was with it, a big tiger shark arrived on the scene.  I had to wait two or three minutes for the boat to arrive before I could get out of there, but wow what a great experience.

The beginning of the end.

Partying here can be quite dangerous because the local drink is the R&R(Rum and Raspberry) . They serve the R&R in a beer mug and it consists of half rum and half Raspberry.  The red colour should have warned us already. RED for danger…needless  to say that the next morning we missed three hours of cooking surf because we spend the morning looking for the lost car keys. We looked everywhere and started planning a way to get a extra set of keys send up to Ponta.  Charlie and myself realised that we could not do any more and went for a surf. Man the surf was so cooking. The water was warm, crystal clear and glassy with 3-4ft glassy waves running down the point. Happy days…  Ian joined us later and told us he found the keys in the fridge. We were so stoked.  We screamed and shouted like we just won the world cup.

Moz glassy sunrise conditions

Moz Culinary local

The waves picked up the next day, but the wind was not great for the surf, so Charlie first had a quick kite lesson. He had good kite control and started body dragging after about 30 minutes. I am sure the men in grey suit were very interested in this lunch dragging through the water like a rapala lure. The wind picked up and a local invited Ian and me to do a kite down winder with him. Charlie and another local were the designated drivers. It took us about an hour to cover the 20km to Malangaan in Ian’s Landy.

20 km Kite downwinder Malangaan to Ponta da Oura

We used big kites because the wind was quite light, but the waves were glassy 4-5ft and peeling. The water was a turquoise colour and warm, and the coast line was amazing. Flip, I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. Charlie and his local navigator had an adventure of their own. Warrick’s directions was not much of a help to Charlie  since he was so stoned and did not know the way himself so Charlie had to try to figure out how to get back by himself.  Warrick would just tune. “HEY BRU, JUST KEEP GOING, ALL ROADS COMES OUT AT THE SAME PLACE MAN.” (and eventualy they did). Well they made it back before dark… We had a great time in Ponta da Oura but the time had come for us to say our good bye’s and started heading south again. We realised that we would be going into colder water and temperatures  the further South our travels was taking us . Not a nice thought after enjoying the warm water and weather of Mozambique.

Sadwana Bay

We stopped over at Sadwana Bay but it was nothing like I imagined.  I thought it was a small spot with only a few people scuba diving, but boy was I in for a surprise. The beach was a hive of activity and was full of diving operators, their clients; fisherman with their 4 x 4’s and loads of other beach goers. We stayed over for the night and went out on one of the scuba boats in the morning. We had a great snorkel seeing all sorts of species of fish in all shapes, sizes and colours, some Morey Eels and turtles to name but a few amazing things we saw.  After the dive we had a cool surf at the light house after which we made the call to carry on with our journey.

South Coast

South Coast line up

We stopped off in Durban but the waves we pretty small so we decided to check the South Coast out again. We ended up surfing South Broom again. The waves looked pretty mellow from the beach so I decided to use my Long board again. The waves were  3 – 4 ft  and was predicted to pick up.

Charlie's arm after being clapped by a powerfull wave

South coast casualties

The three of us had some fun waves, but you could see and feel how the sets started picking up in size and in power.  I was caught out of position on one of the wider sets. I had to make a quick decision whether to duck dive or to bale the board. I decided to duck dive the wave. The wave hit me with some power and I could feel the board snapping under water. Bummer… The onshore started blowing again and we decided to head south through Transkei to East London.

Coffee Bay.

The golden rule for travelling in the Transkei is NEVER DRIVE IN THE TRANSKEI AFTER DARK. So what do we end up doing?  We only entered the Transkei at dusk and had to go through Umtata at night. Shu you think the taxi’s are bad here in Cape Town. It is survival of the fittest or the most forceful here. I think the Umtata traffic gives the indo drivers a good run for their money. Charlie had the dubious honour to drive through the Umtata madness, and I think each of us said our own private prayers.  We finally made it out of there in one piece.

The tar road has more holes than the gravel road!

Transkei quick spar

Going through this cauldron we decided to check out Coffee Bay instead of going to East London. The road down to Coffee bay was terrible but it turned out to be worth our trouble. It turned out to be a fat joll. We booked into Coffee Shack. The Coffee Shack is a backpackers run by Dave Malherbe and his wife. It is a very impressive organization and people from around the world get together and become an instant family overnight. The place was pumping when we got there. We had a few drinks and met people from all over the world. The next day we went on a nice hike with quite a few of the guests and that night the party was even better than the previous night… Beware… You can pick up Pondo Land fever here, and can get stuck here very quickly. I think I would still be there If it wasn’t for Ian and Charlie. Man, I was so bummed when the time came to leave.

Hiking to Cofee Bay

East Coast surf Genie

Just loved this place

Morgan Bay

Morgan Bay was our next stop. It is a beautiful sleepy coastal town on the border between SA and the Transkei.  The swell was still too big and washy, but I must say it also looked pretty sharky to me. No surfing and I was still pretty bummed that we left Coffee bay, but I got over it.

East London
After Morgan bay we drove to East London were we pitched camped at Yellow sands. This is also a very beautiful place with a beautiful campsite right on the beach with a river mouth just next to the camp site. It can have some great waves on the low to pushing tide. Charlie and I went for a surf in the river mouth. The surf was 2-3 foot and crap. I don’t think I have ever been so uncomfortable in the water. EVER. The water was murky and it was in a river mouth with the sun was setting. Just a perfect time for a shark to have a snack time.  The waves ware crap and I thought to myself, is it really worth risking life in limb for these waves. Both of us were grateful to make it safely back to the shore. The next day we went to the famous Nahoon Reef were we got great 3-4 ft waves. It was warm and sunny with only a few locals out.  Needless to say we had a great time.

Plett

The swell and wind forecast for the last week of our trip wasn’t great, but we were hopeful when we pulled into J-Bay. Maybe the phantom swell might hit and we would get 4-6 ft Suppers with just us in the water. Ja right. Supers was 1ft and onshore, so may be, just maybe Seal Point would have a wave…. So we raced there hoping the wind got influenced by the contour of the Bay and be off shore. Ja right again…One foot and onshore. Bummer. We were so keen to get some good waves around here. We weren’t ready to go home yet but by the look of the swell forecast and the mood of everybody I thought we would be sleeping at home that evening.

It was pretty quite in the Landy when we left Seals. We decided to check out Plett on the way down. Plett was always a place to grab a bite or a drink, and never really as a great surf spot, so I wasn’t holding my breath for surf at all. Our first sight off lookout was mind blowing.

The super bank doing it's thing.

3-4 ft glassy waves reeling 200-300 meter down the super bank with a only a few locals in the water. Some of the locals were a bit miff when the out of towners paddled out, but there were enough waves for everybody. We just smiled because we could not believe our luck. We drove 4000km to Mozambique and back and got the best waves of our trip just a few ours out of Cape Town in one of the most unlikely spots. The water was very cold for Plett so most people stayed in the water only for about an hour. I had so much fun I could not get enough. I thought I would go in after 2hours but everybody left the water and there were only 3 of us left in the water. So I decided to take a few more waves while the going was good.

Stumbling out after marathon Session

Eventually after about three hours I decided to catch my last wave in. I got a set wave raced down to the end of the wave and sat in the current to pull me back to the side. Then I thought ok just one more wave. Got one another cooker and thought, just one more, after the next wave I thought, Just one more, Just One more…I eventually crawled out the water after a marathon 5 hour session. We finished off a fantastic day by having supper and sundowners on the deck watching wave after wave reeling down the bank. We stayed in the backpackers that night. The next day it was more of the same.

Eventually we had to head back to Cape Town.

It was more an adventure than a surf trip and on the trip we realised again how lucky we were to live in one of the most beautiful and diverse countries in the world. The trip was also extra special for me because my travel buddies, Ian and Charlie. They were so chilled and easy going and we had loads of good times and good laughs.  We met some great and interesting people, saw amazing places, and surfed many different spots. We got our best waves at the most unlikely spot, and swimming with the whale shark was definitely one of the many highlights for me.

I suppose all good trips must come to end, but I just booked my tickets for Bali and Sumbawa where I hope to find my next adventure with and some waves for surfing and kite surfing.  HEEEHA

THE SEACH CONITUES



Wowees

What or who is the WOWees?

It stands for Woman on waves. The Wowees is a group of ladies who have never surfed or bodyboarded before but decided it was time to brake the shackels and to get into the water. They started off catching waves in waist deap water, but now some even venture to it into the backline catching some of the bigger waves shouting and hooting as they drop into the waves. Together the ladies are having fun while facing their fears and pushing their boundries.
The ladies meet every Monday morning, rain or shine at Big Bay for their weekly fix.

A while ago I had the great privaladge to be invited to a WOWees sessoin and boy was I impressed. It was great to see how the ladies have progressed in a short time, as well as the  inthusiasm and stoke of these ladies.

This is a perfect group to join if you are a lady and would like get out into the waves.

Contact caroline@wowees.com to find out a bit more about this fun group.

Pictured: Mick Fanning Credit: © ASP / ROWLAND

LOWER TRESTLES, California/USA – The Hurley Pro Trestles will host the world’s elite ASP Top 34 from September 12 through 18, 2010 for Stop No. 6 of 10 on the ASP World Tour.

North America’s sole permanent ASP World Tour event, the Hurley Pro Trestles boasts one of the most high-performance venues on the planet and will host a red-hot ASP World Title race as well as the newly-approved 36-man competition format.

Mick Fanning (AUS), 29, reigning ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 6, has remained one of the most explosive and consistent performers of 2010, constantly netting high heat scores through each event. However, aside from a Runner-Up finish at Bells Beach in early April, the fleet-footed Australian has yet to achieve a breakout result.

“I am feeling great and it’s been a little frustrating at times having close decisions not go my way,” Fanning said. “I still have all the hunger and hope things can turn around. If I can get some momentum built up, anything is possible. I feel I have improved my surfing and still having high average heat scores,” Fanning said. “The first few events, I made a couple of mistakes in wave selection and they were the things that I would lose the heat with. I felt in Tahiti everything was going well and I didn’t make mistakes, but was just pipped by an in-form Andy Irons. You have to keep your chin up and stay positive.”

Despite his current ASP World No. 6 position, this season poses an eerily similar scenario to last, which saw Fanning rampage the back half of the year, starting with a win at the Hurley Pro Trestles.

“I love surfing Trestles as it is such a high performance wave,” Fanning said. “It allows you to really mix up your surfing. I had a really good session there during the US Open so hopefully I can hit that form again. I think Jordy (Smith) and Dane (Reynolds) as well as Kelly (Slater) will step it up. A.I. (Andy Irons) would have gained a lot of confidence after that last win so he’ll be dangerous as well.”

Patrick Gudauskas (USA), 24, 2010 ASP Dream Tour rookie and current ASP World No. 22, is coming off the best result of his career, an Equal 5th in Tahiti last week. Gudauskas was the sole surfer to go from outside the ASP midyear field reduction at No. 33 to blast into the safe zone at No. 22 in Tahiti, and will look to carry that momentum through to this week.

“Surviving the cut was for sure a challenge for rookies,” Gudauskas said. “It was tough not thinking about the result of missing the cut, but I tried to block it out as best I could.  It was more of a mental challenge to overcome, and just focus on surfing well and making heats. To make it from behind the bubble and jump into the higher ratings was really exciting. I felt good at Teahupoo, and was stoked that it translated to a good result.  It seemed that I’ve just been missing out on getting on a roll all season, and so I was happy when it came together for me in Tahiti. My goal for the rest of the season is to use this momentum through to events I feel really good about and put up more good heats. Lowers is my home, and I pretty much live for Europe.”

The last remaining San Clemente local amongst the ASP Top 34, Gudauskas will look to utilize his years of experience at the venue as he does battle against the world’s best.

“Everyone on tour surfs so well that it’s really anyone’s game at trestles,” Gudauskas said. “Surfers I’ll be looking forward to seeing surf are for sure Dane (Reynolds) and Jordy (Smith). I’m also psyched to see Brett Simpson out there along with Dusty (Payne). I think the young crew’s going to be flairing. I can’t wait to bring the heat. I think for myself, the local knowledge will just give me extra comfort to go big. I grew up surfing it, and have a lot of passion to do well at home in front of my friends and family. It’s kind of like everyone coming to your stadium to play the Superbowl. You want to give the home crowd something to froth on, kind of like Simpo (Brett Simpson) at HB.”

Taj Burrow (AUS), 32, current ASP World No. 3, has been one of the most innovative and progressive surfers in the world for well over a decade, and the upcoming leg of events suits the Western Australian’s style perfectly.

“Very excited about the events ahead,” Burrow said. “It’s a strong leg of the tour for me and I’m planning on doing the best surfing of my year. I don’t want to leave close heats in the hands of the judges. I want to win convincingly. Trestles is absolutely the most high-performance wave on tour. Everyone surfs their best out there. It’s the perfect canvas to unleash your whole repertoire on.”

A perennial threat to the ASP World Title, Burrow held a strong lead throughout the first three events before dropping back to his present position at ASP World No. 3.

“I want to win the World Title of course but my immediate goal and most important one is to surf my absolute best in every heat at every location,” Burrow said.

For the first time in the history of the sport, the ASP will unveil its new 36-man format at the Hurley Pro Trestles.

ASP WORLD TOUR 36-MAN FORMAT:

Round 1: 12 three-man heats, 1st advances to Round 3, 2nd and 3rd to Round 2
Round 2: 12 man-on-man heats, 1st to Round 3, 2nd is Equal 25th place
Round 3: 12 man-on-man heats, 1st to Round 4, 2nd is Equal 13th place
Round 4: Four 3-man heats, 1st advances to Quarterfinals, 2nd and 3rd to Round 5
Round 5: Four man-on-man heats, 1st advances to Quarterfinals, 2nd is Equal 9th
Quarterfinals: Four man-on-man heats, 1st advances to Semifinals, 2nd is Equal 5th
Semifinals: Two man-on-man heats, 1st advances to Finals, 2nd is Equal 3rd
Final: One man-on-man heat, 1st and 2nd

The Hurley Pro Trestles will be webcast LIVE via http://www.hurley.com/hurleypro/

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

Pictured: Mick Fanning Credit: © ASP / ROWLAND

Pictured: Current ASP World No. 1, Jordy Smith (Durban) in the Billabong Pro Tahiti Credit: © ASP / SCHOLTZ

Quick explanation of the new WCT tour format.

The 2010 WCT has a new format. Previously the top 45 surfers would compete in all the WCT events of the year. This year’s tour is different with ten events making up the WCT tour.
After the fifth event the bottom 13 surfer will miss the cut, after which the top 32 surfers plus two wild cards will compete in the last 5 WCT events of the season.
The last event at Teahupoo was the fifth event on the WCT calendar and the bottom 13 surfers were eliminated from the rest of the tour.

SURFERS DROPPING OFF THE 2010 ASP WORLD TOUR

Drew Courtney (AUS), 31
Neco Padaratz (BRA), 34
Tanner Gudauskas (USA), 22
Mick Campbell (AUS), 34
Kieren Perrow (AUS), 33
Tom Whitaker (AUS), 30
Kekoa Bacalso (HAW), 25
Blake Thornton (AUS), 25
Dean Morrison (AUS), 29
Jay Thompson (AUS), 28
Nate Yeomans (USA), 29
Ben Dunn (AUS), 24
Marco Polo (BRA), 29

These surfers will have to join the WCT(World Qualifying Series) to re-qualify for the 2011 WCT tour.

How do surfers qualify for the WCT?

The only way to qualify for the WCT is through the WQS (World Qualifying Series). By accumulating points in WQS events around the world, the WQS surfers are then rated giving them the chance at qualifying for the WCT. The points of a competitor’s best 7 results are used to determine their rankings.  The top 15 surfers from the Men’s WQS are awarded seeds into the Men’s WCT while the top 6 surfers from the Women’s WQS are awarded seeds into the Women’s WCT.

What is the WQS?

The WQS is the World Qualifying Series (also affectionately known as “The Grind”). It is open entry and is the second tier in the ASP’s two-tier system. The WQS has both Men’s and Women’s Divisions, and the series of events determines which surfers qualify for the WCT. There are approximately 45 WQS events around the world per season. The events are rated on a star system with ratings from 1 to 6 stars. The Star rating coincides with the prize money offered for the event and also determines the amount of ratings points offered to surfers. The more prize money the event has the higher star rating it will carry, which will give the competitors more ratings points. Surfers compete therefore for both prize money and valuable ratings points in an attempt to qualify for the WCT.

How many people are on the WQS?

There are thousands of WQS surfers around the world. Because the WQS is an open-entry competitive circuit, anyone who pays the ASP membership fees (men’s $200 and women’s $130) and the competition fees ($175 for 1-4 Star Events and $200 for 5-6 Star Events) can compete in WQS events. Although anyone can enter a WQS event, if there are too many entries, the higher-rated surfers will get preference in the make up of the seed list. WQS 5 and 6 Star rated events have restricted fields of 192, and Super Series events have a restricted field of 144. The remaining WQS events are open entry with the highest rated surfers receiving preference.

The top 32 surfer on the WCT plus two wild cards will compete in the remaining 5 events of the 2010 tour.

CURRENT TOP 32 ON THE ASP WORLD TITLE RACE (After Billabong Pro Tahiti)

1          Jordy Smith (ZAF)              30250
2          Kelly Slater (USA)                30000
3          Taj Burrow (AUS)                 25250
4          Dane Reynolds (USA)        23750
5          Adriano De Souza (BRA)   23250
6          Mick Fanning (AUS)                       23000
7          Andy Irons (HAW)                19750
8          Bede Durbidge (AUS)         19250
9          Adrian Buchan (AUS)         18250
10        Owen Wright (AUS)             17500
11        Bobby Martinez (USA)        17000
12        Jadson Andre (BRA)           16500
13        Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)  16250
13        Tiago Pires (PRT)                16250
15        C.J. Hobgood (USA)            16000
16        Joel Parkinson (AUS)         15250
17        Damien Hobgood (USA)    15000
17        Michel Bourez (PYF)           15000
19        Jeremy Flores (FRA)           14250
20        Adam Melling (AUS)           13250
21        Chris Davidson (AUS)        12750
22        Patrick Gudauskas (USA)  11000
23        Taylor Knox (USA)               9750
24        Luke Stedman (AUS)          9500
24        Dusty Payne (HAW)                        9500
24        Matt Wilkinson (AUS)          9500
27        Roy Powers (HAW)             9000
28        Kai Otton (AUS)                   8500
29        Daniel Ross (AUS)              8250
29        Luke Munro (AUS)              8250
29        Brett Simpson (USA)           8250
29        Travis Logie (ZAF)             8250

WILDCARDS FOR THE BALANCE OF THE 2010 SEASON

1          Kieren Perrow (AUS)
2          Gabe Kling (USA)

The remaining events on the WCT is:

Event 6

Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley
Sep 5-14
Trestles,California-USA
Sep 5-14

Event 7

Quiksilver Pro France
South West Coast-France
Sep 19-28

Event 8

Billabong Pro
Mundaka, Euskadi-Spain
Sep 29-Oct 12

Event 9

Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro
Santa Catarina-Brazil
Oct 28-Nov 5

Event 10

Billabong Pipeline Masters
Banzai Pipeline,Oahu-Hawaii
Dec 8-20

For more info look at http://www.aspworldtour.com/

This is the story of Chris Bertish winning the Mavericks Big 2010 wave competition against all odds. Everything was stacked against him even being at the contest with work commitments, financial difficulties, delayed flights, his boards being lost, to name a few and then taking a huge wave on the head in his first heat that nearly drowned him. Most people would have called it quits long ago but against the ods he paddled back out.

Against All Odds

The dream could have ended with an air hostess in Detroit. In her mid-thirties, long brown hair, attractive in a milfy kind of way, let’s call her Joyce. In front of Joyce is Chris Bertish, his only baggage is a wetsuit slung over his shoulder and a laptop bag. Apparently his board has been checked straight through from Cape Town to San Francisco. He’s totally broke. On the verge of financial ruin. All his credit cards maxed out, his overdraft too. He has just R450 to his name. He borrowed money from his brother Greg for the airfare, a further R5000 from one of his mates to pay for the rebooking fee. For the last three weeks he’s been on standby, waiting to fly out at a minute’s notice. It’s the busiest time of the year for his business. He’s drained, jet-lagged, dog tired. And now Joyce is telling him that his ticket to San Francisco, the final leg of the journey, has not been confirmed, the flight is full, there are another 10 people on the waiting list, and the plane is boarding.

“Please, you’ve got to help me.” Chris begs. Those big, wild eyes bulging out of his head. “You don’t understand how far I’ve travelled and how far I still have to travel to get to this event.”

Joyce is all like, “You’re just like everyone else sir, you just have to wait.”

Chris is almost crying now. “No, no you don’t understand. This is different. I’ve been trying to get into this event for the last 10 years. I’m so financially screwed right now that, believe me, you don’t want me here. Have you seen the movie The Terminal? I’m going to be stuck here for the next 10 years, because I can’t afford to get another plane out of here…. Please help me out. Please…”

Seeing that he’s nearly in tears, Joyce softens her heart and magically finds a seat.

“She bumped me up. Found me one of the seats reserved for the air-hostesses, just to get me on plane. She was beautiful, like an angel. She knew I was for real…”

But Joyce the air hostess was just one of the players in a series of events that led to Chris Bertish being crowned the Mavericks champion, against all odds. Let’s keep going. He arrives in San Francisco and heads to the baggage carousel. No tooth brush, no razor, only the clothes on his back and his wetsuit over his shoulder. But the one thing he couldn’t carry on was his favourite 9’1 Jeff Clark Mavericks gun. After standing around looking for his surfboard for a while he goes to baggage claim and asks about his board. The Asian guy who works there says, “Sorry about that, sometimes these things happen if we miss the connecting flight. But don’t worry we’ll send it to you in a couple of days.”

Chris, as calmly as possible, explains that he’s surfing in a major international event in a couple hours time.

“Oh no I’m sure it’ll be cool.” Says Baggage Claims guy. “You can just rent a board at the beach.”

And why would the universe go easy on Chris now. His luck has been hard ever since he started surfing big waves competitively. A litany of unpaid prize money, lack of sponsorship and dodgy judging decisions, mixed in with some of the biggest waves imaginable, and a fearless, almost psychotic dedication to riding them. Now if you don’t already, there are a few things you should know about Chris Bertish in big waves: he rides ridiculously short boards, lives to paddle and he wants to get barrelled and do big swooping grab rail cutbacks. As he puts it: “When you draw an 80 foot arc, its pretty rad.” You see, Chris believes in high performance big wave surfing and he is always pushing the envelope of what’s possible. In so doing he has notched up a few notable firsts. He was the first person to paddle into Jaws in Hawaii, when everyone else was saying it wasn’t possible and that you had to tow. He was the first to win the XXL Paddle award, for the biggest paddle wave in the world, ridden over the winter of 2000 & 2001. He then single-handedly reinvented big wave surfing in the UK, by paddling out to the fortuitously named Cribber break alone. He was one of the first to paddle Ghost Trees in California. He was also the first person to SUP at Dungeons. And despite being a stand out at almost every session he’s surfed in waves of consequence for the last 20 years or so, Chris has never tried to make a living as a professional surfer. He just refuses to do that dance. He’s always worked for his money, and pursued the big surf in between, first as Billabong’s marketing guy, and now with his own company that has the agency for O’Neill, Ocean Minded and Crocs in the Western Cape. But it’s no easy road. Especially when you’re one of the chosen few who keeps getting invited to surf in some of the most prestigious big wave surfing events on the planet, and has the compulsive desire to be in the mix every time. Money is not a god Chris Bertish worships; it’s really just the lube that gets him from A to B, from experience to experience, but over the years it has taken its toll and ravaged his finances.

“When I got back in January I was pretty much done.“ He admits. “I was over it, they should have run the event on two occasions and they didn’t. I’d been over for two and a half months. I had to come back for work, I had no money left. Then I surfed the Nelscott event in Oregon and was told by everyone that I should have won it, but ended up coming in third. People were telling me there were protests because they were so pissed off. And then I had the contest director email me two weeks later and say that they made a mistake and that I was actually meant to win it. But they couldn’t publicise that, and they couldn’t give me the prize money, but they really wanted me back in the event next year.”

Apart from the insults, he’s had his fair share of injuries. Torn MCL ligament in his knee the previous year. Two cracked ribs this year after an SUP wipe-out. “Literally five days after breaking my ribs, I ended up surfing that huge Thanksgiving day swell, I had to wrap myself with cling rap and stuff.” He laughs. “I had to pop so many Advils and anti-inflammatories, I was seeing stars, all because I didn’t want to miss the biggest swell of the season.”

Now back in South Africa, his big wave dreams all but dusted, he launched headlong into work but three times in three weeks, like a junkie, he ended up at the airport at midnight, ready to jump on a plane if the event went green light. Compulsive. Obsessive. Delusional.

“I borrowed 13 grand from my brother Greg to buy the ticket so I could be on standby, but every time you change the ticket it’s a thousand rand. So the costs are mounting.” Eventually the swell looked so good, he was pretty sure they would call the event. And with the final costs covered by a close friend, like some kind of obsessive surfing bergie, he squeezed onto a flight at the last minute, after an hour of anxious waiting on standby.

“As I was boarding, I sent all the invitees and the contest director an email, saying screw rationality, screw the wind not being perfect, this is the best swell of the waiting period, we’ve already missed four swells that we could have run the event on, this is the swell, if you don’t have the balls to call the event, I’ll call it, this event is going green, this contest is going to run, I’m stepping on the plane right after sending this email. I’ll see you in the water tomorrow. This is Chris signing out… And then I just pushed send.”

“It’s like going over the ledge,” he rationalises. “it’s like paddling into the biggest wave you could ever find, with a howling offshore blowing into your face so you can’t see anything and just going, going now.”

“If I hadn’t gone, I would have just faded away.”

Finally, on the other side of the planet, at 1 in the morning, Chris gets picked up by his old friend Jeff Clark, the now marginalised ex-Mavericks contest director and pioneer of the spot now locked in litigation with the company that took over his contest. It’s pretty apt that Jeff, the Mavericks legend, puts him up for the night. After sorting out his back up board, a 9’2 Jeff Clark original, Chris lies down to sleep.

“Always the night before a big event I try and visualise stuff. I go through this weird visualisation process. And I saw myself taking off on this wave and it was a bomb, and getting halfway down and then hitting this bump lump stroke suck-out-section and I kept seeing myself falling. And if that ever happens, I won’t go to sleep, I’ll just keep replaying it, so many times in my head, until I can see myself making it over that lump. I never go to sleep until I can visualise myself making the drop… And I just kept saying to myself, rubber man rubber man, you can do it. You can either wiggle your body or you can get stiff. And if you get stiff you fall. And if you can stay loose, if you can be the rubber man you can get through it. So I was just trying visualise getting through it and not falling. And only when I could visualise that, I went to sleep.”

The next morning he’s at the contest site, in his wetsuit, headphones on, preparing for his heat. It’s a huge circus; podiums, tents, 50 foot screens and thousands upon thousands of spectators.

“Contest mode, slow everything down and just focus. As I’m thinking that, I see this huge wave come rolling along the beach comes over the wall and takes out about 30 spectators. I’m trying to get calm and the site gets hit by a tsunami. I’m just seeing people, scaffolding, competitor’s tents, podiums disappearing in front of me. I’m in my wetsuit running, kid over my one shoulder, some woman over my other shoulder, trying to grab people and pull them out.

(Check out this link to get a idea what it looked like when the wave hit the spectators)

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Spectators-Injured-As-Huge-Waves-Hit-Mavericks-Surfing-Competition-In-California/Article/201002215548707

The perfect environment for getting ready for your heat. Calm, relaxing. Couple broken legs, fractured arms, head injuries, chaos. So I called Jeff Clark who was out on the ski and he came and picked me up. I watched the whole heat before mine from the water.”

“When my heat came, I was in a weird space. I was just looking and going fuck bro, this is big. And then I thought, fuck bro, this is your day. It’s fucking huge and I’m actually in the water, in the event. I’ve made it.

“And it was so big that day; we were literally sitting 150 meters further out than I had ever sat out there. I got one wave, just an opener. Nothing fancy, took off, got in quite nicely, got to the bottom, drew the line, it wasn’t super heavy or super big, no fireworks, just a solid opening ride. I went back out, waiting around, saw a set on the horizon and thought, hmmm that’s a really big set. I started paddling out for it and then I looked around and thought, you know what, I’m so far out, there’s no ways a wave could possibly break out here. I look to the horizon and I was like, that’s a very big wave, maybe I should paddle further out. Now I’m starting to paddle and I’m going holy shit, this beast is freaking huge, it’s going to break, and I’m scratching. The wave came in and drew like three quarters of the ocean into it and apexed about 50 feet plus of raw untamed, heaving power and broke literally just in front of me. And I just thought to myself, what the hell have I done to deserve this?

“All I heard was this loud crack like thunder and lightning above your head and the whole world shook and everything went black as I got instantly pushed so deep light had no chance as a guest appearance. Imagine being caught in a small square box with Mike Tyson, Bruce Lee and 8 of their ninja buddies kicking the living hell out of you all at the same time while you’re being dragged backwards underwater at high speed in pure dark blackness. Feels like it’s going to rip the limbs off your body. I travelled 1.2 kilometers underwater in the space of under a minute. I came up 300 meters inside of Mushroom Rock. And then I remember seeing  the light, it feels like you’re just about to see God, like the universe is about to open up. Then the water safety got me. Put me on the back of the sled and he asked if I wanted to go to the paramedics and I was so fucked I couldn’t even get a word out. I was literally hanging on face down. And he kept asking me. And I remember lying there thinking, I’m done. I just didn’t have the energy to tell the guy. And while I was trying to build up the energy to tell him, I remembered this little picture that my dad had on his wall in his office. It was a picture of a stork eating a frog, and this frog is halfway down the stork’s throat but the frog’s arms are sticking out of the beak and he’s throttling the stork and underneath it says, ‘never, ever, ever give up’. And it’s the most inspirational picture for me. So, I remembered that, and I thought I’ve finally made it, I’m in my first heat, I’ve just got a 60 footer straight on the head, and I’m going to call myself done? And that’ll be it, I’ll go home and it’ll be all over. And I thought what was it all for? To prove you weren’t good enough? And you know what I thought? I’m gonna make that frog proud. That stork’s going down.

“I told the rescue ski operator to take me back out. It took major concentration just to paddle. And I thought to myself you know what, even if I don’t catch a wave, if I paddle out, at least I’ve  tried. And when I got back into the line up I looked at my watch and there were 4 minutes left in the heat. And there was a set coming, and all the other guys were pretty far across. Wave came through and one of the guys caught it, and then the next one was pretty solid, and broke and caught everyone off guard and I thought, wow, I could probably go for this, then I thought, holy shit, I’m actually in the right place. I turned and took literally three strokes and managed to drop in and get the wave. And that’s what got me through it. It wasn’t fantastic. I didn’t even paddle back out. I just flopped on my board and lay there until the end of my heat. I was so done.”

“In the Semi-Final I got one sick bomb, right from the back, pretty late, pretty deep. I ended up coming off the bottom and thinking I’ve got this covered, and then I saw this section up ahead and I thought, I don’t care if it’s not going to throw… I’m pulling in! I’ll make space in that barrel for just a glimpse of heaven. And I remember pulling in, riding for a while before it got frothy and then just getting hammered.

After that wave I thought to myself, wow, you know what, I could paddle in and go home right now and be totally happy with myself. It was enough.. And I remember thinking to myself I’ve done everything I ever wanted to do here. The only thing I haven’t done is won the event. And you know what? If I can pull into a barrel at Mavericks on a day this big, I can win this thing“

“For the first 20 minutes of the final three sets came through and no one caught a wave. Then another big set came through, I took off on the first wave of the heat and I was dropping and I was about a third of the way down, and I was still looking down at least a 15 foot face, but I could see a really big lump in front of me, sucking out.

A monster lump and I thought I know I’ve got the first wave of the heat, but if I go over this lump there’s a chance that I won’t make it because it’s going to suck out into something frightening, and I remember skirting it, and going nope, not yet, and pulled off. And everyone I’ve spoken to about that has said that it was the best decision of my life. Because what was lurking underneath that initial 15 foot face was another 25 foot drop. Like a 25 foot wave, inside a 40 foot wave. And you know what there is like a 3% chance I could have made it…  So I pulled out and then waited another 10 minutes for another wave. And I remember taking off on the second one. It wasn’t a bomb set or anything. But I remember stroking in perfectly, just on the side, right on the bowl, on the main section and it was steep. Clean entry, nice bottom turn, clean exit. The perfect opener.

“I saw Carlos Burle catch a monster wave. And then I saw Dave Wassel get a bomb. Tashnick  caught a big one. And then Carlos snags another bomb. But what I didn’t realise was that Tashnick and Wassel only got one wave. Carlos had two so I figured he had won. And these two guys had super solid waves, way better than mine. So I figured I was in 3^rd or 4^th position. And then this big set came, frothing at the top, and I just managed to sneak into the side and I had to push myself over the lump on top before I could even drop late over the ledge and start dropping in  with this frothing thing lurching behind me. I made half the drop before getting halfway down the face and there was my bumpI had seen in my mind the night before, the elevator, I went into my rubber man, just like my visualisation and just managed to hold it together, regained at the bottom as it all came crashing down behind me. I went into the bottom turn and as I was coming around it just exploded around me and detonated me into oblivion. So I made the drop, made the bottom turn, and then got obliterated. I got held down for a really long, long time. The turbulence was so heavy underwater it pushed my lower teeth right through my lip. The ski tried to get me, but couldn’t, came in again after the next wave but again couldn’t get me. As it came in for third time I was so finished, I actually went down and pulled the release on my leash, because the thought of being pulled off the sled by my tombstoning board and getting another two on the head, was too much. And I just didn’t have the energy to go through that. And he pulled in there, threw me on the back of the sled, it was a really good pick up, with white water breaking all around us, right on my back as he slung me out of there. It was actually a really good decision as I was finished. Industrially spent. I knew if I had missed that pick up, I was in serious trouble.”

“So I go back to where my back-up, back-up board is and take a really slow paddle into the line-up. But I had forgotten that I was never going to use that board, as I was meant to have my two others and I had taken the screws out of that board to use in another board a few weeks earlier. As I paddled back out with 4minutes to go, at the end of the day of days in big wave paddle in history blissfully unaware, the fins had dropped out of the bottom of the board. If I had taken off on another wave I probably would have died, after doing a donut 360 at the bottom of a monster wave.”
And the rest, is like they say, history. Interviews, stardom, respect, awards, kudos, an outpouring of love and respect. Everybody loves the underdog, especially when he wins. But Chris says it best.

“It was like the universe was testing me for 10 years, just to see how far I’d go before I quit. It’s like I’ve been shafted for 10 years straight, just to see if I would really go the distance, to test if I really had the determination, perseverance and resolve to sacrifice everything and finally, on one magic day it all came back to me, it all came together on a day that will go down in surfing history forever. A true testament to something I live by and that is that if you truly believe in something and you have the courage, heart, focus and determination to follow it through, if you truly believe it, anything is possible. ”

Epilogue. The next morning Chris is sitting at the airport and his phone rings. It’s the contest director. He’s blabbing on about how they’re going to take Chris on a, “winner’s tour”. Interviews in LA, TV in Vegas, more interviews, radio and TV in Washington, New York, back to San Francisco… –

“Hold on a second.” Says Chris. “I’m at the airport bud, I’m flying home… I work for a living and I’ve got a business to run.”

This is the story of three friends who made the most of the 2010 World Cup, so much so that we did not surf enough during it. A decision was made to get back to our surfing roots and to go on a five week road trip from Cape Town to Mozambique. So the day after the World Cup final, we packed the Landy and headed North.

We had loads of very good times ….

and very few lows ….

or bad times …..

but we did get rid of our blues in all sorts of interesting ways …

and all in all we had an absolutely fantastic trip ! We saw many amazing places in the wonderful country of ours, surfed fantastic waves and loved every minute of our trip.

A more detailed article to follow soon in our next newsletter and on the website

We left Monday morning after the World Cup final with Vic bay being our first stop.  There was heavy snow on all the mountain tops which should have been a tell tale sign for what was waiting for us. We pitched our tent and went for a lekka warm up surf. The waves were a fun 3ft and hardly anybody out.  Needless to say we had a joll. The temperature dropped to close to freezing after sunset, and we really froze our buts of during the night. We went for a surf in the morning again to thaw out.

Next stop J-Bay.  Arriving there Ian and Charley went for a fun surf at Boneyards. The preparations for the Billabong were in its final stages and it looked really impressive. I thought to myself. What a great country we are living in. The world’s attentions were on SA for the soccer and now the attention of the worlds surfing fraternity is back on us. We were amped up at that evening’s braai by some of the locals about some Epic surf at Umdumbe (Transkei). Supposed to be better than J-Bay but it came with a warning. Johnny long fin country, but after  quite a few beers everybody was brave enough to surf even if there was a whole pack of sharks in the line up.

The picturesque Port Alfred was our next stop, were we had a fun 3 foot surf with 2 or three very welcoming locals. I understand now why all the locals are so friendly. Having some other people in the water just make your odds a bit better when Johnny comes around.  That evening we stayed in East London where we had a braai wit a very interesting couple. Peter and Kim Van Kets. Peter is an adventurer who has just finished a race across the Atlantic Ocean. No not in a sailboat, but in a rowing boat.  Yes he rowed across the Atlantic.  The boat he used looked like a very small sailing boat, with oars on it. His stories were just incredible and awe inspiring. He also told us about Umsumbe but also warned us of the sharks in the Transkei since we are going to be smack bang in the middle of the annual sardine run.

Tofo, Mozambique – Durban surfer Sarah Baum has clinched the fourth annual Roxy Invitational surfing event in Mozambique. After two days of waiting for decent surf, the contest directors of this unique invitational event decided to run the final heat on the last day of the six-day waiting period in the three-foot contestable surf on offer at Tofinho Point, Tofo.

Baum got off to a slow start in the extended 40 minute final, while fellow Durbanite Kirsty Delport was quick off the mark and posted two solid scores in the six-point range. It wasn’t until halfway into the final when Baum hooked into a great looking wave and stylishly surfed her way to a 6.5 score. Taryn Chudleigh from Cape Town struggled in the testing conditions and didn’t manage to post scores to match the on-form Baum and Delport. Baum sealed the heat and win with six minutes to go when she cracked a good looking set wave from the outside, ending with a massive floater on the inside to score herself a much needed eight point ride.

“I am so stoked with the win! This is an event that I have been wanting to win for a while now and it feels good to finally do it. It is such a good event and really good for women’s surfing. Roxy really goes all out to make it a cool event, it’s definitely the event to look forward to every year” said Baum after receiving her winners cheque.

Baum took home R10 000 for her win while Delport and Chudleigh earned themselves R3 000 and R2 000 respectively. Faye Zoetmulder of Port Elizabeth received the “Resolution Wipe Out Award” and R1 000 for the loss of her toe nail and a heavy encounter with the Tofinho reef in her round 1 heat.

Another activity that had spectators clapping and screaming on the beach was the “Quiksilver Locals Surf-Off”. Six Tofinho local boys hit the surf eager to impress but it was Pedro Da Silva who impressed the most with his stylish surfing to be deemed king of the point. All the boys received a Quiksilver backpack, wallet, cap and t-shirt for their efforts.

Roxy is committed to the conservation of the area and competitors and event officials have left nothing but their footprints behind.

The event will be aired on an upcoming episode of Boardriders TV on SuperSport within the next two months. All results, photo’s and blog posts can be found at: www.roxy.co.za/invitational.

The Roxy Invitational is presented by Saltwater Girl, in association with Resolution and is supported by SuperSport and Liqui-Fruit.

The winners of 2009/10 O’Neill Raw Courage Big Wave Awards presented by theBOMBsurf.com were crowned in dual ceremonies at Long Beach and the Rioja restaurant in Cape Town on Wednesday with legendary big wave charger Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker capturing the premier Biggest Paddle Wave award and R20 000.

The annual awards honour and reward the courage, passion and commitment of South African watermen who take on the country’s biggest waves using only paddling power and more than R40 000 was presented to the winners and the photographers who recorded their feats in categories including Biggest Paddle Wave, Biggest Barrel, Balls to the Wall, PsychoFreak and Grom Charger.

“O’Neill as a brand is really passionate about big wave surfing,” said Paul Canning, Sales & Marketing Manager for O’Neill South Africa. “I really feel that South Africans are at the forefront of the sport and it’s great that we can present the O’Neill Raw Courage Awards to honour them.”

Baker’s winning ride was made at Dungeons in Cape Town and was photographed by Kimi Stewart who picked up R2 500 for the epic image.

The Biggest Barrel award for the surfer riding inside the most spectacular tube between 1 May 2009 and 30 April 2010 went to Sean Holmes while Frank Solomon won the PsychoFreak category for the surfer who produced the WOW factor on a huge wave.

Matt Bromley, 18, was recognised as the Grom Charger of the year, an award designed to foster and encourage big wave surfing amongst youngsters, while the Balls to the Wall title, decided by a poll amongst all the nominees in the Raw Courage Awards, went to the hard charging Simon Lowe for his commitment in every big swell that hits the SA coastline.

The unique awards ceremony started with a memorial paddle-out at Long Beach, Kommetjie for Cape Town big wave pioneer Pierre du Plessis who tragically passed away while swim training at a local gym last Friday. More than 100 friends made their way through the two metre waves to form giant circle behind the break where Pierre’s contribution to the sport was commemorated and wreaths were placed in the ocean in his memory.

The winners of the Raw Courage Awards were then named by MC Ross Lindsay with a medal and a flower lei presented to each by well known surfing personalities Tich Paul and Jonathan Paarman.

Everyone then moved to the Barocca Lounge at Rioja where the crowd enjoyed a Corona Happy Hour, a video show of the winning rides and over R10 000 in prizes, including two top of the line O’Neill wetsuits – a Psycho 2 and a PsycoFreak – were given away in lucky draws. All the nominees received poster-sized copies of their rides and the winning surfers and photographers pocketed their earnings. The revelry continued into the early hours.

All the results for the 2009/10 O’Neill Raw Courage Awards can be found at www.thebombsurf.com/pages/1437/

The O’Neill Raw Courage Awards has its roots in paddle-in surfing and while all awards besides the Biggest Paddle Wave also accept tow-in rides, the judging criteria favours paddling as the method of catching the wave. It takes more courage to paddle into and ride an 18 foot wave than it does to tow into a 25 footer.

A full account of the ceremonies for the O’Neill Raw Courage Big Wave Awards can be found at www.thebombsurf.com/blog.asp?blogsettingsid=1&title=raw-courage#450

2009/10 O’Neill Raw Courage Awards

Biggest Paddle Wave Award –

Surfer: Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker R20 000

Photographer: Kimi Stewart R2 500

Biggest Barrel Award –

Surfer: Sean Holmes R5 000

Photographer: Jeannie Holmes R2 000

Balls to the Wall Award –

Surfer: Simon Lowe R5 000

PsychoFreak Award –

Surfer: Frank Solomon R5 000

Photographer: Kelly Cestari R2 000

Grom Charger Award –

Surfer: Matt Bromley R2 000

Photographer: Kelly Cestari R1 000