Hi all
Well today is our last day here in J-Bay and so it is with mixed feelings that we prepare for our long journey to Coffee Bay tomorrow morning.
On Tuesday morning we woke up to a stiff berg wind which is not too good for most of the surf spots in J-Bay as it blows cross-shore and tends to chop up the waves. Fortunately though, Ettiene knew of a secret spot (aptly named Secrets), the angle of which is far more suited to the mountain breeze. As we got there, the waves looked really good from the parking lot as a very decent looking right-hander broke towards a deep channel. Etienne had everyone out for a little over 2 hours, catching wave after wave into the channel. The highlight though, had to be when the guys were met by another huge pod of dolphins who joined them for a few waves. At one point I counted 30 on one waves alone. Talk about dropping in!! It was probably one of the moments of the trip and one worth being out in the water for.
On Wednesday, we all got involved in some community work. In the morning, we took the young kids from the Nelson Mandela Bay Pre-Primary School out on an excursion to
African Dawn Animal Sanctuary near Gamtoos. This shelter looks after a number of injured animals including Cheetah, Caracal, Duiker, Crocodiles and a whole host of indigenous African birds. The little kids really enjoyed getting to see the animals and listen to the parrots talking – which they found most fascinating – and it was just awesome to be able to share in their special day.
In the afternoon the guys got involved again with some of the street kids in the Joshua Project. This initiative was setup to introduce some of the kids to surfing as an alternative to life on the streets. The program is run by Rob who was also once on a Ticket To Ride trip himself and now does some work with the surf school in J-Bay. Our guys helped out with one of the lessons by pushing a few of the kids onto waves and helping them get back out again. The waves stayed good all afternoon, so after the lesson, we all headed out for a few waves of our own.
On Thursday a big swell hit J-Bay, The waves were absolutely pumping at Kitchen Windows with beautiful, rolling, right-handers powering their way down the reef. While the waves might have been a little bit more punchy than what the guys have been used to, I was very impressed to see them all out there. Ollie earned himself a classic wipe-out story, which seemed to get worse and worse the more times he told it. Haha, How big was the wave again, Ollie? It was a hard-fought session and not the easiest by any means, but I was very proud of the guys for committing themselves to being out there. That night, as a bit of a reward for all the hard work, we all took a break from out diets and got stuck into some South African-sized rump steaks for dinner. A delicious way to sign off the day!
On Friday the plan was for us all to head down to Cape St Francis to visit the home of one of South Africa’s most legendary waves – Bruce’s Beauties. Unfortunately though, the wind came up early and chopped up the sea. It looked like we were going to have to give it a miss. We decided to get some shopping done instead and prepare for the trip to Coffee Bay. Midway through the morning I got a call from Ettiene telling me that the wind was swinging offshore again. We were back on!! I gathered all the guys after lunch and got them and their boards into the van. The drive to Cape St Francis is only about half and hour but it does seem to take forever when you’re dealing with the prospects of good waves when you arrive. We stopped off at Seal Point to check out the beach break but decided that Huletts was going to be a much better call. Hullets is a reef break that sits right at the very end of the famous Bruce’s Beauties section. It is well known for its steep, barreling lefts, but today, it was the mellow rights that we were more interested in. Still a little ruffled from the morning onshore, the wave looked very gentle and fun, perfect for our guys to get back into the swing of things after the big waves of the previous day. With no one else out the guys managed to catch a whole bunch of waves and have a really good time before paddling back to shore just before sunset. We drove back to J-Bay with the evening hues radiating from the closing cloud-cover. It was a perfect end to the day – and as it was my turn to cook, it was a big old bowl of Mac and cheese for everyone.
Tomorrow we make our way deep into the Transkei as we head for our penultimate stop in Coffee Bay.
So till Next time…
Take Care
Bevan