The Bluff is our new home. Anstey’s beach is where the backpackers is situated and we are just South of Durban now. We are just a half hour drive from Durban’s famous piers, but with really good waves right out in front we will be making the drive more to focus on our lifesaving course than for the waves. Yes, the lifesaving and surf coaching courses are officially underway.
The thought of sitting in a classroom for three days after the trip we have had scared several of the group and feelings were mixed about doing the courses. Fortunately once they had met the instructors and been given a briefing on what the courses would be like, attitudes changed and they realised that whilst a good portion of the course is done in a class it is still all based on practical stuff and very interactive. Having done the courses myself some time ago I am sure that everyone will get more out of them than they expect!
The last couple of days at Umtentweni were really good. With everyone giving the timed swim a good crack and the majority passing it first time that is part of the course behind them. The tour of the surfboard and fin factory was really interesting and the Maisch’s (Gary shapes and Justin laminates) gave a really detailed description of how a surfboard is made from start to finish, including the different types of material that are being used at present. When one sees the full process like this you appreciate the amount of effort gone into making a surfboard and realise that the price that seems expensive is very justified. Surfboard prices in South Africa are one of the cheapest in the world, costing almost half of what one pays in England of the United States. With this in mind many of the group are also ordering shortboards and trading in their mini-mals with Clayton, who is one of South Africa’s top shapers, surfers and coaches.
Throughout our stay in Umtentweni our quest was always to find good waves either up or down the coast. With the helpful local knowledge of Glen, the owner of the backpackers, we found ourselves at Trafalgar on the second last day of our stay with great waves rolling through at the beach. We surfed there the whole day in amongst some volleyball, lunch and chilling on the grass at the beach. It was a great way to end off our stay on the South Coast.
Being in Ansteys now, on the Bluff, we are once again faced with a whole new set of challenges. We are staying with one of South Africa’s most famous surfing families just 100m from a great beach break. Whilst the waves are really good, they are also really powerful and we were greeted by a very solid 4ft swell. These are ‘surfers feet’ which equates into about 2-2.5 metres wave face height. The rip was strong and caught many of the group unawares, but despite this there were some really good waves ridden and big ones at that!
Rob and Jeremy will be uploading their Coffee Bay video soon which is looking really good so check back in soon.
Cheers
Chris