In a months time I will be embarking on a mission that will prove to be the start of a hunger within me that I hope to feed, at least, once a year. On the 27th of November I will be boarding a flight that will be heading straight to the country where people eat paella for breakfast, where bulls get beaten up by children and where people fall asleep in the afternoon. Yes, I will be flying to Spain and start what hopes to be the start of a lifetime of traveling.

Although I hyped it up, the truth is that after 2 hours of being in Madrid's airport I shall board another flight,but, this one will be going to Portugal. The reason for my travels taking me to Portugal is because of the wave known as Supertubos. Some say this wave is the European version of Pipeline and that gets me drooling to think that I am going to be standing upon the shores of Peniche, the place in Portugal where said wave is found,  staring at a wave that resembles one of the most famous waves in the world. Not to mention that Supertubos itself carries some heavy street cred based on the fact that the ASP recently held a contest there.

I will have 5 days to get Supertubos amazing before I head back to Madrid to meet up with some of my Home Boys from South Africa, who are flying in from South America after the World Bodyboarding Games. We shall group and then scrammble to which ever terminal it is that will get us on the 1st flight to Las Palms de Gran Canaria for a whole month, and that is when the fun will start!

To accompany this post I have Sourced some photos of the almighty Supertubos. Enjoy

A slice of SA Champs

I have been quite due to one simple reason, Varsity! For the past couple of weeks, and a few weeks to come, I have and will be swimming in all the work that my tertiary education institution can throw at me before they deem me fit to receive an Honors Degree. Luckily I have found some spare time and I felt that I needed to post some content before the end of the world greets us so here goes.

As you may have heard it was the South African Bodyboarding Championships about 2 weeks ago. The contest was held just South of Durban in a jungle town of Margate. For most of the contest the waves were pretty epic and the level of riding could have been compared to that of the best in the world.

I think my SD card in my camera got a virus because the only images that I have found are of the Drop Knee final that was literally AMAZING to watch. All the other images of the contest have vanished and I am pretty bummed about that because I had some amazing footage of the Boy Wonder, Tristan Roberts, who took 1st place in the boys division and then in the same breath, ripped the Pro final to shreds, taking 1st in that division as well

It was a pretty mind blowing SA champs and here is some of the footage I Managed to salvage from my SD card.

The Boland boys just chillen before a hectic final day

Rider Tristan Roberts boosting a big flip before the start of the contest

Who knows? an unknown rider pulling off a decent roll

DK winner Dylan Van Tonder sliding off the section with a floater

The champ with a big carve

South African champs thus far

At this very point in time I am sitting on Lucien beach waiting for the Southern Kwa-Zulu Natal team to decide whether or not day of the contest will be running. You see, the waves have been very small during the contest window period and, to add insult to injury, the wind has been onshore. Never the less riders have been ripping and there have been a few good moments.

Standouts of the contest so far have been riders like Tristan Roberts Who has dominated his 1st boys heat and his 1st pro heat, Stuart bradford who showed some technical Dk riding along with other drop knee riders such as DVT, Aden Kleve and Derik Footit respectively. In the juniors division the standouts were Michael Maynard and Steven du Preez who really boosted some big tricks regardless of the conditions they surfed in.

The Theil Board co South African Bodyboarding champs will continue thoughout the week so keep checking Frozen Ocean for updates and footage.

The weekend that was...

As you most probably know by now, last weekend was host to a very special contest that the Capetonian bodyboarding community took strongly to. The contest was the Warrior Challenge and swarms of bodyboarders dawned upon Glen Beach to surf this contest which was in loving memory of our close friend David Lilienfeld.

Although the basis of the contest was of "morbid nature" the prizes at the end of the tunnel were not. The prize money stood at R2500 plus a whole lot of other stuff that would not have fitted in an average sized car. The waves were amazing! Big 6ft ramps separated the boys from the men and as the heats started to go by, the competition veterans were proving themselves. One by one the pack of bodyboarders thinned out as round after round culled the weak and unskilled. My time for judgement came in the semi finals where I got a 3rd place and joined the losers pool.

4 riders remained- Tristan Roberts, who throughout the contest fought bravely against foes who had long been in the realm of contest before him. The boy, only 15, left many a victim crying in shame after unleashing a vast array of massive flips, big inverts and highly technical reverses. Aden Kleve, a dangerous contender from a village called Kommetjie where riding a bodyboard is a way of life. Aden stormed through heats with his careful and calculated riding leaving a wake of destruction as he passed. Charles Pass, took fellow contenders to the cleaners with his venomous arm extended rolls and barrel riding skills and finally Andrew Raath who once ate cheese burgers but now eats bodyboarders!

The finals was intense with massive moves being pulled by Tristan and Charles but with no luck on the landing. Aden snuck in some clean rolls and spins which gave him solid scores, while Andrew was fighting back with one or two flips on the inside. In the end Aden took 1st place, Tristan took 2nd, 3rd went to Charles and 4th was reserved for Andrew.

Although I would have loved to have shared some footage of the final with you, all I have is this invert that my mate, Christiaan Els, got of me in one of my heats while riding my brand new Thiel Board. Check it out...dont hate :)

The Bay

There is a place on the Garden Route that I have made more surf missions to than anywhere else on the South African map. This place is a small town and the inhabitants are all "boere" meaning they lack the skill to communicate in English which, make the people of this town rather hilarious. The town was discovered by Vasco Da Gama at the dawn of time and is famous for having gas. I have come to call this place "My home from homes" because, as korky as this town is, I LOVE MOSSEL BAY!!!!

Once you get used to the town it grows on you. The people are super friendly and have become some of my best friends, over the years that we have shared together. Partying in this town is a mash up of brandy and cola that causes one to lose all dignity in a matter of hours. I developed a gambling problem in the Bay because everyone else has one. For breakfast you eat steak, for lunch you eat steak and for dinner you eat steak! Everyone knows everyone and life is good. Oh and did I mention the waves are amazing?

The following images in this post were taken by an amateur photgrapher who was quite possibly inebriated while performing the art of taking photos, but instead of denouncing him lets just say that hes a VERY contemporary artist known as Peppi Venter (he has Facebook ;) )

In this rather blurry image is Johan Nortjie, a local in the bay, steering a clean forward air into completion at bottom section.

This Image is the result of a slow shutter speed- Johan Nortjie in a happy place

A wave that I find so much fun for Drop Knee is Inner pool located next to its bigger brother Outer pool.

Getting under the lip at Inner Pool- Matt Webster

An lonely wave passes by at Outer Pool

Vlooi Botha has some style, especially when he gets vertical!

Going for glory, Vlooi Botha enters a whole in a wave

Looking Zef so Fresh

It's one thing to stand out as an individual, but to stand out as a group is an experience that can only be compared to the time you laid eyes on your 1st brand new board!

With the South African Bodyboarding Champs only a slash away from now, the Boland team all assembled at our holy headquarters, aka the Gordon's Bay Yacht Club, to receive what is to be our gear that renders us separate and distinct from the 6 other teams that endure cut throat competition against each other to claim the all so coveted fisherman's trophy at the National contest.

Upon arriving at yacht club the atmosphere was chilled mixed with the true smell of anticipation. The 1st year groms were frothing to get their grubby paws on the new material that was to cover their naked bodies from head to toe, the material that would be placing honor upon their sun soaked shoulders, the material that proves them part of the Boland Bodyboarding Association and ultimately part of the Family.
The more experienced guys, who have been on the team for a few years, were looking cool and calm as they spoke about near death experiences and large ramps provides at one of the waves in the area days before, but they to were eager to receive their colors. To the veterans who had formed the provincial team decades ago- this procedure was part of a never ending cycle that they have come to love.

Names started being read out and one by one each soul that had surfed and prospered in the trial series of 2012 stood up with pride to collect their gear infront of an audience of elated parents, bitter rivals and stoked friends. This was the result... A group defined by their colors- yellow and black- A group Looking zef so freshly!

A Weekend Full of it

The weekend took a harsh toll on me. I am sitting in front of my laptop trying to be creative and, at the same time, trying not to face plant it out of shear exhaustion. You see, this past weekend was spent in a town, 4 hours from the Mother City, doing nothing more than bodyboarding. Now that I think about it, the long distance drive, the lack of sleep, the random sunburn and the festering red eyes was all worth the time at the Southern Cape Bodyboarding Champs in Mossel Bay. No regrets!

The contest was held at Mossel Bays most notable wave, Outerpool. Outerpool is a right hand reef break that produces some amazing waves when the winds are blowing in a South Westerly direction, the tide is low and the swell is a South Easterly swell in the range of 2.5m to 3m. These are roughly the conditions we got during the contest which made for a spectacle of big moves.

The riders that stood out in the contest consisted of a group of locals such as Adam Morley who made got one of the highest heat scores of the event, Bjorn Coetzee who clenched biggest move of the contest with an insane backflip he boosted and Johan Nortjie who won the mens division respectively.One kid that set the bar for the standard of riding was, super grom, Tristan Roberts who performed so well in the contest that he ended up taking titles in 2 divisions being the boys division, because he is young enough to compete in this event, and the Pro division because he is just that super! The junior division was won by Plett local, Niklas Martin, ladies was taken by Nikki Gerrike, who is also from Plett, and the dropknee division was won by Matt Webster.

The contest that Southern Cape Bodyboarding Association hosted was a truly good comeback since they left the South African Bodyboarding scene in 2007. Many thanks go out to the organizers and the sponsors and especially to all the buddies that made the long drive to Mossel Bay for the epic time we had!

The next provincial championship will be the weekend of the 1st and 2nd September where Boland will have its chance at hosting an insane comp. For more information go to the Boland  website

Now for some eye candy from SCBA Champs...Feast!

The face of the Boy that took Pros, Tristan Roberts

Deep in the pocket- Douw Steyn chooses to seek the tube

Tristan Roberts demonstrates his mechanical flips

Doing something behind a mighty bush- Mafoos Lombard

Outerpool local, Joe Boogie, going crazy on a section in the Drop knee semi-finals

A free surf at Innerpool caused Mafoos Lombard to get vertical.

Juniors winner, Niklas Martin, boosting a clean roll in his semi-finals

The reason why he won pros is because of massive moves like this flip- Tristan Roberts

Boost of the contest winner, Bjorn Coetzee with this massive Back Flip