Good morning. It was Tuesday morning, the sun was out and there were some 2-3ft waves rolling in at kitchen windows. The group had their second lesson with Ettiene early that morning to get the best waves. I took a few minutes after the lesson to hear how Chris has been finding the lessons with Ettiene.
Chris: We’ve had 3 lessons so far with Ettiene – two at Kitchen Windows and one at the Point. The lessons were, on average, an hour and a half in length and involved a pre-surf briefing, then surfing out the back for the duration of the lesson. The pre-surf briefing involved both individual and group advice/instructions for the lesson. For example, my individual advice from Ettiene for one lesson was to work on hand positioning when surfing on my backhand, while the group advice was to concentrate on constantly studying the waves and where they are breaking and to hunt them. While surfing out the back Ettiene is constantly providing advice, encouragement and constructive criticism on pre-wave positioning, paddling technique and the riding of the wave itself. Finally in the post-surf debrief, Ettiene informs you about what was done well and what to work on next time. I personally really appreciate his no-nonsense coaching technique as it provides me with specific goals to work on while surfing. My backhand surfing has definitely improved as a result of his guidance and I’m extremely grateful. I no longer surf only lefts!!
It was a lovely day. We had lunch and relaxed. That afternoon we had a touch rugby game and a soccer game against the Island Vibe crew. We were all over them and didn’t give them a gap, beating them 8 tries to their two in the touch rugby, and running circles around them 8-1 in the soccer.
Wednesday the crew had a free surf early, the swell was small, but still some waves on offer. They split the peak, which means some going left and others going right, it’s the one thing that’s so awesome about kitchens. Being able to take off on the same wave with your mate, both going opposite ways. After the surf it was time for some fitness. We did some beach training, Josh has been training hard, so I got him to just give a brief run down on what we do at training and how he has been finding it.
Josh: In Jeffrey’s Bay there hasn’t been the option to go swimming, so all our training has been on the beach. The training mainly entails shuttle runs, where we run defined distances doing different exercises along the way. Each training session gets increasingly difficult, as we have to run further distances and do more exercises. After each session everyone is really tired, but you can really see the increase in everybody’s fitness from session to session. Personally I really enjoy the beach training as it gives me the opportunity to push myself to my limits to make sure that I am ready for the courses later on in the trip.
Our weekend started off with a bang, Nicola, Sarah, Manuela Sam, Ryan and I went sand boarding. It was a lot of fun. Sarah and Manuela caught on quick and were flying down the dunes. You have to wax up the bottom of the sand board on every go, you use floor polish which helps the board to slide better on the sand. Manuela showed us up and was turning on her board.
After a light snack we went to Mikey Meyers surfboard factory where he showed the group all the materials that are used to make surfboards. Mikey is one of the few shapers around who does everything by hand when making boards. He showed them all the different stages that a board goes through until it’s done. From shaping the blank, glassing it (when the blank gets resin put on it), sanding and putting the plugs in (plugs are where your fins go into). Everyone really enjoyed it and had a very different view about surfboards, a couple even wishing they could shape their own board one day. It was Friday braai day, so we had a braai. There was a great atmosphere in the bar, everyone was dancing and playing pool. The crew has a song that’s become our group song when we are at the bar. When it plays the whole group sing and dance together.
Island vibe always has a fun party-vibe on weekends and there are always new people to meet and to get to know. Saturday was a really relaxed day and not the best weather at first, but that evening the weather got better and the group was ready for another great night. Island vibe was full and it was going to be a great night. The group had an awesome party and meet lots of new people.
On Monday the crew woke up to cooking kitchen windows. It was clean and 2-4 ft. Perfect conditions for the group to have a lesson and work on their top to bottom surfing. Top to bottom surfing is when you use the whole wave, linking the power sources of the wave (top and bottom). Dayne, Chris and Josh all had some great waves and some long rides. Sam was really in the zone and had some bombs. It was really good to see Nicola and Sarah have some good waves and see their hard work and time in the water pay off. Ryan has been putting a lot of work into his surfing and got some good rights which are harder for him as it’s his backhand (his back is facing the wave). Tobias has been injured and resting, but doing loads of stretches to get his shoulder better, he had a few fun waves. The group had two surfs to make the most of the great waves.
That afternoon we went and helped out at the Supertubes Foundation, we helped them with their recycling project in the local township. It’s a really amazing project where kids get points for rubbish they collect. Its focus is on plastic bottles, glass and cardboard. Everything is weighed and the kids earn mula (points), which they use to get basic food products like tinned food, cereal, milk or rice. They also have the option of schoolbooks, stationary, basic washing materials, clothes and even bicycles on offer. The group helped with separating the recycling, helping the kids carry their loads and helping them choose what they wanted. Sarah was really enjoying herself and was making new friends with the kids. Manuela had a few kids not wanting her to leave. Its an amazing project that helps keep the environment clean and help the kids set goals, they also have the privilege to see how their hard work is cleaning their local streets. The Super Tubes Foundation has many projects helping the local community keep Jeffreys Bay as beautiful as possible and preserving the ecosystem. We went home and had a great dinner that evening. It was curry and rice. We relaxed and recharged for Tuesdays swell.
Till the next blog
Klee Strachan