Hi all and welcome back to Cintsa in the Eastern Cape. We’re about half way through this TTRide South African adventure, but things have by no means been winding down.
On Saturday we got our first taste of the Cintsa surf. The conditions were just perfect! The light westerly breeze kept the swell well-groomed and clean as the waves came running into the bay. By now most of the guys are fine tuning their basics and beginning to work on some more of the advanced techniques. After a long morning surfing we headed back to the hostel for some lunch. We didn’t hang about though, and decided to make the most of the conditions and headed back down to the beach. Before the surf the group completed another run-swim-run. This time we had to contend with the long-shore current which is something quite unique to the east coast. The guys had to learn the hard way that the current can be quite unforgiving, but it was still good to see the watermanship levels going up.
On Sunday the wind remained offshore which was perfect for another session in Cintsa Bay. The swell was slightly bigger than the previous day but just as good. Another full morning in the sea with loads of waves being caught by everyone, it was a no wonder then that we needed some time off, so we all took the afternoon to relax.
Yesterday the onshore came up quite early and turned the sea into a mess so we headed to East London pools for a timed swim. The timed swim is part of the surf coaches course whereby each rider needs to complete an 400m swim in under 9 minutes, so lots of training is needed to make sure you’re ready on the day.
After the swim we spent some time in the town exploring a few of the spots and attractions before heading home to enjoy the evening on the beach.
This morning the wind was in our favour again so we headed out for a surf at Nahoon Beach in town. The waves were small but fun and we had another epic session all to ourselves. After the surf we all headed up the road to the famous Nahoon Reef to watch some of the locals ripping it up. We were lucky enough to see WCT contender Greg Emslie in action showing us all how it’s done. From our perch up on the boardwalk we had a good view of all the action.
The wind is still bolwing offshore here in Cintsa so we’re going to head out for another session soon. We can’t help but feel really lucky with this run of swell we’ve been having!!
Till next time though,
Take care,
Bevan and Jill.