Hello to you all back home. This is going to be short and sweet as my arms are about to fall off from all the paddling today. The swell really kicked in today and we got to see J-Bay in all it’s glory with some quality waves being surfed at Phantom’s, Kitchen’s, The Point and of course Supers.

The day started early as Oli, Brandon, Hugo, Ben and Charlie headed over to Supers for an early surf and, by all reports, some of the best waves of their lives. Meanwhile, Oli B, David, Jimmy, Jamie H and Andie headed over to Makakanye school to take part in our feeding project there. All returned exhausted but happy. Oli less so as he decided to try a pickled chicken head from the school “tuck shop” – an acquired taste!

The afternoon saw the swell leap and the famous point at J-Bay was providing some world class waves. A small group headed over to the section know as “The Point” where 500m rides were on offer. With the swell expected to hang around we will be heading over there at 5am with a few more who are keen to take on the more challenging waves.

This afternoon we also had a small group getting involved with the J-Bay surf club offering free surf coaching to the local township children. With the waves pumping it was hard to drag themselves away but everyone came home smiling as you can see in the photos.

And that’s about it for now. Everyone is calling an early night with some more epic waves expected tomorrow morning. We are heading over to Cape St Francis to explore the legendary waves from the Endless Summer and with the swell we have at the mo, we may just score them!

Fingers crossed for another great day. Hopefully the photos will fill in the blanks but for now – I’m off to bed!

Tim and Nikki

At last we have a bit of time to sit back and let our tired bodies rest. For the last couple of days we’ve enjoyed a solid long-range swell that has allowed us to surf all the various waves on offer here in J-Bay at their best.

As you read in the last blog the first day was spent surfing here in J-Bay but yesterday we loaded the vans and headed up to Cape St Francis, an area made famous by the 60’s surf movie “The Endless Summer”. We left early and arrived at Hullets where we were greeted by some lovely 3-4 ft lines and an offshore wind. The wave is at the end of the famous point break of Bruce’s Beauties and the first two groups got in for some long rides in the good conditions, Jacqui and Tina in particular bagging a few good ones. Again, a few dolphins were spotted, the water was warm and clear and the sun was out with not a cloud or another surfer to be seen. For the afternoon we then headed over to Seal Point, another good point break with an excellent beach break as well. The waves were pretty solid with some good waves been ridden on both the Beach and the Point. Wave of the day would probably go to Leo who dropped into one of the largest sets of the day and came screaming over the back with a large grin, punching the air.

We returned exhausted but had little time to relax, as some last minute rehearsals were needed to perfect our rendition of “Yellow Submarine” for today’s project. We spent the morning at the Madiba crèche in the Pelsrus Township. The crèche is a centre for the young children of the township and is not dissimilar from the nursery schools back home – keeping the children occupied and teaching them the basics. The crèche is tiny so we all squeezed into the one room where we exchanged a few songs. First the children sang us a few nursery rhymes before we replied with Yellow Submarine, including dance moves. Adam provided the inprov with a harmonica solo with Jamie and Leo on the guitars. Both Jamie and Leo then played a song each and it was time to go. A great morning and lots of fun.

This afternoon we will be doing some feedback with the video footage from the last two days. Looking over it a minute ago it really is impressive to see how fast the group are developing in their surfing. I suppose you can’t underestimate the benefit of learning on good long waves and the amount of effort and dedication from the group.

The next blog will be at the end of the week when there will be several new boards floating around, some more cooking and coaching projects completed and, by the look of it, another new swell! Time to enjoy a well deserved rest.

Thanks for reading,
Tim and Nikki.

Our last day in J-Bay before we head off to East London and again, it’s a day to relax and rest after another long day’s surfing yesterday. We had a great little east swell from a cyclone parked off Mozambique meaning that Phantom’s was cooking all day allowing us to finish all the coaching with Etienne. With the waves peaking out behind the reef and peeling all the way to the beach there were some long long rides with Kit and Jamyie M proclaiming it the best session of their surfing lives. At around 3 o’clock a huge pod of dolphins came through, usually they don’t stay long but this time they were with us for a good half hour, surfing the waves and jumping all around us. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to surf along a wave with dolphins swimming underneath you in the wall and jumping out further down the line in front of you. – truely incredible.

Elsewhere over the last couple of days; group 2 have been over to Makakanye school for the final cooking project which culminated in a game of rugby which, by all accounts, we lost. It’s been a very rewarding project with all the groups working together to provide a good healthy meal for the 720 children that attend the school. For many of the children the only real meal they get is through the school and now that the government no longer provides soup, this usually takes the form of bread and jam. To see how warmly our modest soup was received was amazing.

A large group headed back to Supers to help out the Supertubes Foundation by planting some more Aloes and erecting some new fences. It was hard work in the heat but the guys were rewarded with a cool swim at the stunning Billabong house that overlooks the famous break and houses all the pro’s when they come to town. Part of being a travelling surfer is respecting the waves and the locals that you visit, with the effort that the guys have put into this project I am sure that the next time they return to J-Bay they will be warmly received!

Several of the guys also went down to Kitchen’s and did some more coaching with the kids from the J-Bay surf club. The club is run by the Jeggles brothers who have a history in surf board shaping and with this in mind, Hugo kindly donated the two halves of his snapped 6,6 to be put back together and passed on to one of the up and coming stars. With the limited sponsorship that the club receives there is little room for the purchasing of equipment so a used or snapped board will go along way.

And that’s about it. We will be sad to move on but we’ve experienced the real J-Bay; surfing incredible waves, meeting some wonderful people and enjoying the great party vibe of Island Vibe. It’s easy to see why so many people ditch everything and end up staying for years on end. But it’s onwards and upwards and off to the tropics. Time to ditch the wetsuits and bring out the baggies!

Till East London then.....

Tim and Nikki.

We’ve been in East London for 3 days now and it’s been as action packed as ever. We bid a sad farewell to J-Bay but we went out with a bang after a great final evening. We headed over to top local shaper Mikey Meyer’s place to see the last boards being finished and shared a few stories around the camp fire. It was amazing to get such a personal insight into the history of J-Bay and all the great waves that have been ridden there, all leaving happy with brand new boards under our arms before a few farewell drinks at the Island Vibe bar.

Leaving early the next morning, we began the drive up the East Coast arriving in East London in the early evening in time for a quick bite and an early bed. With the onshore blowing the following day we took to the pool for some timed swims in preparation for the Durban awards. Everybody improved on their times dramatically with an average of 40 seconds being shaved off. Jaymie H knocked a full 2 minutes off his time and Oli W cruised in at 6:00 flat to set a new TTRide record – a very impressive swim. The afternoon was spend catching up on emails, waxing new boards and generally enjoying a bit of time off with the urban attractions of East London.

We woke the next morning to a new swell and headed over to Nahoon for a surf. The waves were cooking and our host here, Andre Malherbe, joined us in the water to give the guys a few pointers. Andre is perpetually stoked about surfing and his enthusiasm rubbed off on everyone with some great surfing in the larger waves. By the afternoon we were all exhausted from the amount of paddling in the morning session so we headed over to the Lion Park where we proceeded to get closely acquainted with some of nature’s most feared preditors. The cubs were pushing 5 months old so were more than a little playful; when one of them grabs you, you certainly know about it! The park also holds several white lions, one of which had recently given birth, meaning we were fortunate enough to hold and play with a 5 week old white Lion cub, another amazing experience!

That brings us onto today which has been spent at Nahoon Corner enjoying the good run of waves. Nahoon is an awesome spot with an outside reef, inside point and a number of beach break peaks all on offer. Groups 3 and 4 went in for a lesson this morning on the beach with the rest of the guys free surfing on the point. This afternoon we spread across all the breaks until our arms turned to jelly and hunger and thirst got the better of us. It’s now 18:30, the sun’s going down, I’ve got a cold beer waiting on the bar and the Braai is lit so I’m off to join the others. Quad bike safari tomorrow and we’re also off to check another couple of waves as the forecast continues to look good. Coffee Bay on Friday so you will here from us then.

Thanks for reading,

Tim and Nikki.

We are now happily settled into Coffee Bay and beginning our third day down here in what can only be described as paradise. Of all the places we visit, for me Coffee Bay is right up there with the best. Set deep in the Transkei, Coffee Bay is a small and very humble beach side community. The pace of life is slow and the culture is completely alien to anything you experience elsewhere in South Africa making it such a special place to spend time.

We arrived on Friday evening exhausted after the drive from East London. Distance wise the drive is comparatively short to the other legs however the quality of the road after you veer off the N2 is questionable to say the least so time and a good deal of patience are required to navigate through the pot holes and down to the coast. But we arrived safe and sound to a big traditional stew and a very welcome cold beer or two.

The Coffee Shack is a great hostel with loads of day trips on offer to take you into the back country to meet the locals and on Saturday we did just that, taking the 4 hr walk through the local villages and over to hole in the wall. The walk is breathtaking, as the photos will show, and the famous monument at the end is worth the walk. The hole in the wall is a large stone arch carved out by the ocean. On arrival at the hole we all swam out for a closer look whilst Jacob our guide remained on land preparing a fire for some coal cooked toasted sandwiches.

Yesterday was spent entirely in the sea with some great waves at the beach and on the point. Being so out of the way here we have the waves completely to ourselves so the atmosphere in the water was great. Again, with so many waves to go round everyone is making good progress. It was also the first time that many of the crew had to try out their new boards with smiles all round come sunset.

And that pretty much brings us onto today. This morning was spent on the point with the first of our video sessions. Hugo, Brandon, Charlie and Ben all went in with Nikki on the shore shooting their every move. This afternoon it’s Group 2’s turn with Kit, Leo, Dom, Steini and Jamie all ready to go. Having the water to ourselves is such an enormous help when it comes to the video sessions as the guys all get heaps of waves and it allows us to give them a lot of useful feedback. With one eye now beginning to focus on the awards in Durban there couldn’t be a better time to get some serious surfing done on what feels like our own private point break!

That’s all for now. The next blog will follow towards the end of the week,

Thanks for reading

Tim and Nikki.