The Drought is Coming to an End

Geeeeez! I have been out of the water in so long that i do not even remember the feeling of the frigid Cape Town water breaking through the armor that defends my body from the oceans icy touch. Putting on a wetsuite has become a distant memory and the smell of wax and seaweed is as foreign to me as the moon was to Buzz Oldren.

The truth is I was caught uop in the nine to five lifestyle that plagues each and every person on this planet. I was working in a land locked part of the republic and, as much as I wanted to leave this place and escape to the ocean, I was anchored in this shit town with one goal in mind- To make money for my journey to the Canary Islands at the end of the year!

We have all heard about El Fronton, a wave that was conjured by our father with the soul purpose of providing endless fun, adrenaline and, sometimes, pain to every wave rider that is willing to make the expensive journey to the shores of these North African islands.I am one of the dedicated that saw that the only way i was going to be busting out at El Fronton was by sacrificing a month of my life to the man.

Hard work and dedication was the name of the game and as I was about 700km from the ocean I was unable to bring you any Boogie related news. But i am back and as of this post will be updating Frozen Ocean weekly. The drought is over people and in order to celebrate this I am going to share some of the Photos that inspired me to keep at the graft and deprivation of the ocean. Enjoy!

This is one of the Photos that blew my mind when I saw it. El Fronton maxing at 15ft, grinding along the Spanish colonialist coastline. 

Andre Feel good, one of the masters at heavy wave riding pulling into an absolutely perfect wave at El Fronton. Are you hungry yet? 

The true view of El Fronton. Both the left and right doing things that we have drawn in our school books or exam pads since the day we decovered the "tube". My time in Johannesburg will be worth every second!

Fresh Produce

When your on holiday in a ghostly town such as Hermanus, in the middle of winter, waves go off and there is but a handful of souls who capitalize on the awesome produce that can be picked from the tree that is our coastline.

The images in this post are a few shots I got before I formed part of the souls that got very wet this morning and believe me they only got better as the tide rose.

If you turn your eyes to the left you will see a fine specimen of Henk Esterhuysen getting some barrel time somewhere around the corner.

Same guy, different angle. Henk getting deeper.

And now something for you to mind surf for as long as you like. This shot I dedicate to the souls stuck in a 9 to 5 or the guys that haunt this town but dont bother waking up before the rooster makes that noise that symbolizes the morning. Enjoy!

Tomorrow is the Day

Finally I have bought a new SD card for my camera so now i can shoot some stuff again. I am really one of the best people in the world when it comes to procrastination and as much as I try i cant get around changing my ways.

The shot in this post is a small glimpse of the waves that have been plaguing my home town for the past few days and as for the stories that the boys have been sharing amongst each other over a pint of golden delicious at the local watering hole would make grown men cry in envy.

The festivities are not over by no means, in fact, with the conditions looking the way they do at the moment(amazing!) then this week is still full of long hours in the water doing what we love and live for- but  only if you are like the majority of Hermanus, unemployed, out of school or on a permanent holiday in other words IRIE!!!

PS: That kid getting a sneaky barrel in one of the spots around the corner of my house is none other than the other Andre Botha aka Vlooi

By Invitation Only

 ( Above: Marc Webster flying like a Boss in the Finals)

Like most Sundays the sun rose this morning. Like most Sundays the echo of the waves can be heard from the warm confines of my bed but, unlike most Sundays something was brewing. what was it? well let me tell you. You see for the past 3 weeks their has been a window period that was opened and today was the day that the window period closed and something big had to go down. That "something big" was the Reef Kokarot Invitational, a bodyboarding contest hosted by some of the kids from the LSD (Local Strand Dogs) which turned out to be one huge success.

Rocking up at a remote location at the crack of dawn during winter is no small task. As competitive bodyboarders we have evolved over the years to deal with this brutal task and this morning was no different as all the riders that were invited to surf the contest graced the rocky coastline that gave birth to the reef break known as Kokarot, it was made clear that guys meant business.

The conditions were good. at the start of the event the tide was high and the contestants were getting 3-4ft waves that were throwing some decent sections and also opening up allowing riders to score some much welcomed barrel time. The wind was a gentle breeze the whole contest and as the ocean started to drain off the reef the waves started to turn on and the quality of riding went BOOOM.

Standout riders of the contest were Marc Webster who not only took 1st place, but also wave of the contest with a 10 point barrel in his QF heat. Tristan Roberts was, once again, showing off his talent by boosting a clean 2 flips on a wave in his QF heat. Mafoos Lombard took home the "Move of the comp" when he hit a clean mutant of a section and executed a massive flip in the early rounds of the comp.

Overall the contest was a huge success as there was some strong support from contestants and there friends who came to view the comp unfold. a Big thanks goes out to Reef wetsuits, Red Bull, WolfAlley, Boost surf shop and Ocean and Earth for the massive contributions made towards the Invitational

and on that bombshell... its time for dinner!!!

Boland Team 2012

The South African Bodyboarding Champs is the final contest of on the boyboarding calendar in our fine country and this year the Boland Boadyboarding Association is stopping at nothing to claim the ever so illusive Fishermans Trophy and be crowned SA Champs!

Last year Boland managed to obtain a 3rd place at SA champs that was hosted in Cape Town but this year the team will be traveling to Margate, on the south coast of KZN, to compete.

This year the Team is looking very strong with the return of Marc Webster who has already bagged one SA Champs in 2009 and will be representing the Pro division along with Tristan Roberts, Myself (Matt Webster), Vlooi Botha and Matthew Lombard.

The junior division will consist of Luke Staniforth, Rob Cook, Jock de Klerk, Francois Conradie and the Kid that leart to bodyboard from YouTube and get this, he rips!

Boys division will consist of a mixture of some of the best boys in the country with Tristan Roberts (last years SA champ), Dylan Le Roux and newcomer Tubby filling up this division.

The Drop Knee division will consist of myself and Boland legend Morne Laubscher who is looking very comfortable riding the drop knee division this year.

The mens division will be represented by Thinus Scott, Bernard with a very long surname and  Morne laubscher

We have to beautiful woman that will be representing Boland at SAs this year and they are Rose Lombard and Susanne Joubert.

The final division will be Masters and this will consist of Melvin Victor, Len Bradford and Marcel Habbits.

Sumo Wedge

Wedges. There is not a bodyboarder on this planet that can honestly say that they do not like surfing them. They as much fun as strapping firecrackers to your old toys and watching them explode into millions of pieces. I'm talking to much fun and when a NEW wedge shows up on your front door, you go mental. What? Did I say a new wedge? Hellz yeah I did!

The past weekend saw a drunken Japanese skipper ,strategically, park his 50m long fishing trawler on the part of Clifton beach that has a bit of a shore break. This calculation resulted in waves breaking against the hull of the boat and being redirected away from the vessel in a pleasing display that can only be described as "wedging".

When I walked onto Clifton beach on Saturday to bear witness to the fishing trawler that had beached itself, the 1st thought I had was "potential wedge" and after sitting there for a good hour, I saw 3 waves do exactly what world class wedges do, Go nuts! My prediction, based on the idea that that boat is not going anywhere, is that the wave will start showing its true ability in a few weeks, as the sandbar needs to even out and such. But based on what I saw this past weekend, the future looks very good. Oh and I think it should be called Sumo Wedge because, whats more Japanese than a Sumo Wrestler?

P.S the minute Sumo Wedge starts producing, I will be sure to obtain footage and share it with my followers....

The Winds of Change

This past weekend I got to the 4th and final Boland Bodyboarding Association trial of the year and there was an awkward presence that surrounded me at the beach. Something was bugging me and i had no clue to what it was that had started making my body itch (figuratively). So I checked around me, the ocean was there, the sand was there, a gaggle of groupies were there even Paul Morkel was there after being AWOL throughout the whole trial series. I really couldn't understand what it was, until it hit me square in the face.

After the contest came the prize giving which is the precise time that the news hit me hard and true. I could not believe my ears when I heard Len Bradford, Bolands main sponsor, utter the words "We have canceled our contract with Science Bodyboards". I was amazed at his statemen! I only ever knew him as "Len from Science" and for the majority of my bodyboarding career I have known no other board company. But the shock did not end there, no no no, Len then went onto say "Reef will now be bringing in Stealth Bodyboards". at this point I blacked out and woke up in ICU (jokes)

And thus the winds of change swept through the sport of bodyboarding in South Africa like a tsunami in Japan, taking with it the old and bringing in the new. You see it is good that we are seeing change. Although its hard to get used to,or, understand it, it must happen. South Africa will now be seeing new types of bodyboards entering our country to start something new and honest. After looking at some of the boards on Stealth Bodyboards website I get to excited and forget completely about umm aahhh, that board company that used to be in the country.

For more info check out this link for the facebook group check out this link and if you bored and want to watch something that made me shed a tear click here