Well it’s amazing to think we’ve been in J-Bay almost a week now. Whilst the waves have been small it has still been good and we had a little pulse today that was nice. Surfing a reef-break has been both a challenge for everyone, and also a great learning playground as the wave breaks in the same place every time. Everyone has been getting great rides going both left and right on the clean open faces.
Etienne is the coach here and everyone has really enjoyed the lessons and complimented his attitude, support and criticism (constructive of course) in the water. His focus is on the technical aspects and he is really good at picking up the little things which make the difference. In order to control for the size of the group we only go out in small groups at a time to ensure the best coaching from Etienne and to not ‘crowd out’ the line-up. Kitchen Windows (the spot in front of where we are staying, see pics) is a right and left A-frame reef. The right runs for longer than the left but the left still offers enough to allow for the group to get good practice going both ways. Most people find it easier going on their forehand (when there stomach faces the wave) but all the group have been getting good rides on their backhand here too.
Island Vibe backpackers has lots going on, and whether it be football games, helping clean the beach, or sitting on the deck watching the pod of 200+ dolphins that sometimes swim by in the evenings, everyone is getting the perfect balance of surfing, chilling and having fun. Jeffreys Bay is also home to some of the cheapest surf clothing in the factory shops, so I better include shopping as well on that list! Yesterday we also did a small tour of Mikey Meyer’s surfboard factory where Tom Allport’s board was in the process of being built. Being a surfer it is always good to know how the thing you are riding is actually made and the effort that goes into a handcrafted shortboard. The group will in fact get an opportunity to shape a board when they are in Ballito if they so desire.
On Monday we helped Tom (the bar/kitchen owner/manager here at the backpackers) in a project of his teaching the streetkids how to surf and some lifesaving skills. They are literally the children who we see begging and sleeping on the streets, but seeing them surf and the excitement they get out of it is both sad and exciting. It is exciting to see the potential these children have, but sad to know it may all go to waste for reasons out of our control. We have a busy time ahead of us here in J-Bay with lots of helping out in the community; helping fix up a school, doing a massive beach clean up and serving up some nutritious food at a local school in the township. On the surfing front we are going out to the famous Cape St. Francis in the search of its perfect waves. Whether we score waves or not we can’t tell but it’s always worth the search…
We’ll keep you posted. Check out the second video too, done by Rob and Jeremy of Plett!
Signing out,
Chris