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King Spike

After my recent "observation" about the loss of the free webcam service, I thought it would be worth reminding everyone about the amazing surf information service that has been provided by Spike for umpteen years now.

Spike's thrice-weekly email surf report is eagerly awaited by many, and in my opinion, its getting consistently better and better. What is particularly cool is how accurate his associated weather reports are, in particular, the prospects for tolerable wind conditions.

Recent case in point - Sunday 22 Jan. Spike predicted a windy day, but said it would die out in the late afternoon. He also predicted a decent sized swell.

"I'm going surfing this afternoon", I told everyone. "No way" they all said, "this wind is going nowhere."

"Spike said it go away", said I, confidently.

And true enough, come 6pm, a fantastic sunset surf was enjoyed by myself, and what I can only presume were about 50 other Spike readers (Derdes was amazingly full, considering the wind that had been pumping just an hour earlier)

Check out Spike's website (and email subscription service) here

End of an Era

Should you click on the link on the right to get to the Big Bay webcam, you'll have noticed that it now only provides a 12 hour delayed feed, with the live picture requiring a subscription (or you can get images via premium mms messages on your cell phone).

One can't dispute with their right to charge for what must be an expensive setup to run, but the cost for me is a bit steep. It was a great service while it was free, and one that will be sorely missed.

Summer and Surfing?

It's a regular bitch, but summer is a bad time for surfing the west coast of Cape Town. The howling south-easter that makes it one of the premier windsurfing and kitesurfing locations in the world, makes for grim surfing. Days with swell and no wind are rare indeed, and all the sweeter when they do happen. I enjoyed an epic pulse recently - didn't last long, however - the wind came up and that, together with the damn northbound current, meant an all too brief moment of fun in the sun.

The good part was that the sands have shifted at Derdesteen again, and as of this moment (Dec 05/Jan 06), the waves are breaking nicely. The latter part of winter and the early part of summer Derdesteen was a place to avoid, what with waves barely forming and nothing to surf except a violent break 2 yards from the shore!

The Sands of Time

A few storms have applied themselves to the west coast of Cape Town, with pleasing consequences. The sand under the water at Derdesteen has started its Winter migration, shifting the swell and wave patterns. It always takes some getting used to - the waves break in subtly different ways when compared to the summer break, but almost invariably, break better.

This last weekend was indeed a case in point. A moderate offshore north westerley held up the waves, and some superb long rides were enoyed by the Derdesteen cognoscenti.

Winter at Last

After one of the windier summers in recent times, we're finally able to enjoy the bounty of the cape winter. This last weekend had some monster swell, but as is common after a storm, the swell was ragged and not lined up. Derdesteen was a frantic mess of undirected anger, so I resigned myself to Big Bay, where the rocks at the perimeter of the bay had a stab at sorting out the mess. It was pretty cool - huge waves, but lacking in power and focus, so it was a lot more chilled than one might have thought. Apparently Monday thru to today has been much better.

Another cold front later this week, looking good for some great surf again this weekend.

Sweet sweet pain

I've persuaded a few friends of mine to join me in shark territory to learn this thing called 'bodyboarding'. C is from Pretoria, so its been something of a culture shock for him. Unfortunately he got a new girlfriend at about the same time, so he (gasp) has on occasion chosen her over surfing (gasp).

J is an old buddy with a bizarre tolerance for cold water. If you see someone on a shortie wetsuit (springsuit) out in the water just after a 5 day southeaster (brr), then it'll be him.

How well I remember the pain of fighting big waves that seem to push you back further every time. How well I remember how you always seem to miss the lulls and hit set after set after set, leaving you shattered and requiring a half hour rest should you actually make it.

There's no real shortcuts to this surfing business. Sure, a bodyboard is an easy introduction in the sense that you can be catching waves and having fun pretty much immediately, but gaining paddling fitness, reading waves, timing sets vs lulls and finding rips all takes time.

When C and J look longingly at the surfboards that seem to glide effortlessly through the water, and wish they could swap boards, I have to laugh. They don't seem to believe me that paddling a surfboard is hard, probably harder even than a bodyboard. You may be a bit more hydrodynamic on a surfboard, but you ain't got flippers! Its technique and fitness, nothing more.

Picture below is J and Chris at Derdesteen, in a not-at-all-photoshopped image.

Places to take the posse

So, 'derdes' (or 'steens' as I prefer to call it) is not happening these days. That's normal for this time of the year. Last year I spent my summer kitesurfing, but this year I have a posse of bodyboarding rookies to mentor, who are typically gagging to go surfing, so we've had to explore the other 'inferior' spots.

We've been to:

• table view/blouberg (or jetski junction as I prefer to call it) - this can, occasionally, be epic. Big swell and the right tide is required, but at times when the swell is too big for big bay and/or derdesteen, table view can be pumping. Unfortunately you typically find the best waves at the northern end, which has been designated as a jetski location, so expect an oily sheen on the water and a less than pure natural experience.
• kamers (Kamer van Sewentien) - a fancy name for a very unassuming surf spot. This is located to the immediate north of Big Bay, and is essentially on the other side of the rocks forming Big Bay. Worth checking out when there is swell from a local front, and Big Bay is too messy and frantic. There is usually a nice little rip helping the journey out as well.
• kreefte reef (crayfish factory) - not the REAL crayfish factory near Scarborough, but a small little reef in Melkbos that with the right swell and the low tide gives a nice little wave. Bit of a mission to get out there, especially with a surfboard, as there are lots of rocks and kelp to get past before a reasonable paddle out to the reef. This spot can be found at the car parking on 1st avenue at Melkbos, look to the left from the parking spot to see a breaking wave about 200m out to sea
• 22nd avenue in Melkbos - I've not been here myself, but J, one of the posse, finds it quite enjoyable when all else fails.
• silverstroomstrand - this is the main beach at silverstroom, which works well even in tiny swell, so is the place to go when its flat flat flat at derdesteen. Allegedly there is an even better 'secret' spot at Silverstroom, perhaps one day someone will take me.
  

Big Bay...sigh

Over recent weeks, I've been spending most of my surfing at Big Bay. Two reasons: firstly, Derdesteen hasn't been great (one or two pleasant surfs excepted), secondly, I've been breaking in a new surf buddy. He's not comfortable with the vast expanse of ocean you get at Derdesteen, preferring instead the illusory comfort of the surrounding rocks at Big Bay.

Another nice thing about Big Bay for beginners is the reduced swell and outbound current available on the extreme left (as you face the sea), making it very easy to get out beyond the break. And that's a little tip for those of you not very familiar with Big Bay.