Hello and welcome back to part three of our epic South African surf safari! If you haven’t read part one and two yet, please do — and if you’ve been waiting for part three, well, here it is. Get excited!
Without further ado, let’s dive into the next adventures.
Related:
Top 5 Surf Destinations We’ve Found While Sailing (So Far)
Cape St. Francis
Since we were still staying in Jeffrey’s Bay, Cape St. Francis was just around the corner… about a forty-minute drive through grasslands to the other side.
When we first rocked up at Seal Point, we just stood there watching the small waves roll through. The sun was high, the water blue, and the beach long and sandy (surprise). It was beautiful! Admittedly, the first day we drove out there it was too small and not really working, so we went back and surfed Supertubes.
Lighthouse…
But before heading back, we went to check out a very, very, very cool lighthouse. I’m sorry to those who aren’t slightly obsessed with lighthouses — you’ll just have to bear with my froth for a moment.
It was one of the biggest lighthouses I’ve seen up close, and you could just imagine what it’s witnessed over the years. Cape St. Francis can get super gnarly, yet there it was: standing tall, strong, and awesome! I even found out you can stay in a refurbished room up there for a night. Don’t worry, I’m not that lighthouse mad, but still — that’s pretty cool.
All right, lighthouse froth over — back to the story.
Surfing It
We returned to Seal Point again on a day when the swell was too small for J-Bay, hopeful of finding something surfable. This time we did! Three of us paddled out and caught some fun ones. It had been a while since we’d surfed a beach break, and it was super fun. The rest of the crew went for a swim and climbed the sand dunes.
After that successful session we were stoked, so the next time J-Bay went small we headed back again. This time was a little different though: it was blowing more than twenty knots! Luckily for us it was offshore — but still, really windy. Suiting up in damp wetsuits, we paddled out. Just so you know: wind makes it even colder (surprise).
Some of us were trying out new boards, so even if the conditions weren’t perfect, we were still frothing to surf. We caught some fun ones, though paddling was almost comical — the offshore spray blinded you, and if you turned too high, the wind would blow you straight off the back of the wave. Still, it was fun!
That was our Cape St. Francis surfing experience for you: we didn’t score it perfect, but we had plenty of fun.
Buying a New Board
Searching
Always exciting — though there’s a bit of a journey involved.
So far we’d searched through all the surf shops in J-Bay and hadn’t found any boards small enough for us. Well, except for two comp boards Caity Simmers had left behind — still brand new — but they weren’t the right size, as tempting as that was.
So we kept looking, even out near Cape St. Francis. We learned most of the local groms just get custom boards made, which meant there weren’t many on the racks. But we didn’t have two weeks to wait for a custom.
Victory
Finally, in one shop, we spotted a 5’9” on the rack. Was that too big for me? I was on a 5’6” at the time, but knew I needed to size up. Pulling it off, we had a good look. Supposedly second-hand, it only had one tiny pressure ding — otherwise, it looked new. The literage was the same as my current board, which was interesting.
We’d been learning a lot about boards lately — concave, rocker, all that — and holding this one under my arm it just felt right. The shop guy put it aside for us, and we went home to do some research.
The next morning, we drove back and bought it. My new board! An Al Merrick / Channel Islands Black & White. I was so excited.
Result
Back in J-Bay, we put on a new tail pad, slotted the fins in, and paddled out in small onshore conditions to try it. Wow. It was amazing — so much faster, still duckdived fine, and when going for a turn it felt explosive. Pretty much: I was stoked.
I got to surf it once more the next morning before we had to pack up and start the next part of the mission: saying goodbye to Jeffrey’s Bay (sad) and driving down to Cape Town (exciting).
You guessed it — that’s part four. And trust me, there’s way more to it than just a coastal drive, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading. If you have questions, thoughts, or tips to share, please comment below!