Seli (G)one soon?

Although the Seli One is breaking up into small pieces and probably would soon be called Seli Gone rather than Seli One, it is very unfortunate that she is not going to go silently without a fight. After the recent storms in Cape Town the Seli was broken up even further, but was bleeding more oil into our beautiful ocean and onto the beach. This tragedy happened because our government cannot take decisions. Everything seems to be a"challenge" in South Africa, even moving a frikken ship cannot be done without pointing fingers and blame.

This is what you get if you don't get your act together and react fast. I have no problem with the Seli slowly disappearing, but I have a huge problem with the damage it is leaving behind. I shouldn;t even put a frame around this picture....

Surfing At Seli's

Here is a very nice aerial picture form GoogleMaps of the Seli 1 at Kite Beach. This illustrates why this beach has become such a popular spot for surfing and SUPs lately. On the photo one can clearly see the diffraction of the waves around the wreck, resulting in a nice peak zone for take-off with the options of lefts and rights. JUst a pity the Seli 1 will probably soon be something of the past....

The Seli "three"

The Seli 1 is still providing some perfect surfing waves, but it can now officially be renamed to the Seli 3, seeing that in two years it has been broken up into three pieces. After the recent oil spill scare on Kite Beach people are determined that the ship...or what's left of her...should go. I think it looks rather nice there in three pieces.

Blouberg in less than 24

I am in between coming back from Gabon and traveling to Tanzania, so I had a few hours to go to the beach while "passing through Cape Town". This is more or less what I saw....

There are two ultra depwater rigs lying in Table Bay. These drillships belong to Pacific Drilling and are on their way to Nigeria. This is Pacific Scirocco, the other one is called the Pacific Bora.

A lone kite surfer making use of the last bit of sunshine at Blouberg Beach. The wind was perfect, but somehow only one guy decided to get is feet wet. It was quite cold, but that usually don't deter any surfers or kitesurfers to go out when the conditions are right.

I didn't see this one coming and had to scramble to get to higher ground after this wave broke against a huge concrete block that was left from the damage done by high seas during the past couple of weeks.

Another beautiful sunset in Cape Town.

Since the Stormers lost against the Crusaders we have these weird dark clouds hanging over Cape Town. It does provide for some spectacular pictures though...I just need the camera skills like the Stormers need the ball handling skills...

This morning on my way to work. It seems that the Seli 1 is about to be "salvaged". Let's rather say the leftovers of the Seli 1 is about to be removed. Sorry surfing buddies...the end of good waves. 

Another dark cloud looming over Cape Town. If I'm not mistaken from my varsity days these are called Cumulus Lenticularis clouds.

Anyway, so I am off to Tanzania tomorrow to go to a small town called Mtwara. I've never been there before, so I am quite excited. Will take some pictures there too....

Surfing at Seli's

It's amazing. The day before I was kitesurfing close to the Seli 1 with hardly any waves. The local yacht club actually did a race and used the Seli as a turning point. Today the waves were big enough to have half of the local surfing population in the water, with hardly any safe space for yachts to turn. It is going to be a sad day indeed when they tow away the Seli to her last resting place....whenever this is going to happen. Even Deon Bing the local surf reporter said that this could become the second J-Bay. Can you imagine, the best kiting and surfing spot in one location. We just need something to heat the water.....

The Seli 1 has been lying here for nearly two years and is sinking deeper into the sandy ocean floor. According to a local newspaper it would be away and gone by the end of the year, but that was what they said last year as well. No matter how it obstructs the most famous view in the world, the effect it had on the local waves are amazing. This never used to be a surf spot, and yesterday it was probably the best and only place along the Atlantic coast to have decent ridable waves. Even Derde Steen, Big Bay and Melkbos was not working. If I had a say I would leave it there. Let Mother Nature deside what to do with her.

Craziness in Cape Town

This kite surfer climbed onto one of the cranes on the Seli 1 and then jumped off, landed and carry on as if it was just in a days's work. I think he is crazy, but apparently he has done many crazy jumps like this before....

The Embarrasing Floater

Today was the perfect day for kite surfing. Well for me, almost perfect. I went to the beach after checking my favourite web cam and seeing that kites are being launched one after the other. Although the wind prediction was quite strong, it turned out to be much less than what was predicted, making it perfect for my size 10 kite. (I only have one kite and is thinking that a smaller kite might come in handy for stronger winds). To top it all, the waves were relatively small and the water very flat. Even the temperature was quite acceptable, despite the strong southeastern of the past couple of days.

I had a ball of a time, practising my jibes, my wave surfing and my jumps. All were coming together quite nice. But then it happened, what I always fear most, second to dropping the kite in the water. I lost my board.  I stopped using a leash a while ago after I did a full session without a leash. I broke the fourth one in an unexpected jump. It is dangerous to kite with a leash on. If you get airborne or tea-bagged, your board stays behind in the water and when it gets released from the water, it shoots straight towards you. If the missile hits your head you could be in for some serious troubles. Blood, water, sharks, knocked-out...get the picture? The problem with kiting without a leash is that from time to time you get separated from your board. There is a technique on how to get it back, but it has always been a disaster for me. When you get separated from your board you tend to drift downwind much quicker that what the board does. The physics behind this is very easy to understand....object pulled by a 10 sqm kite compared with small object floating calmly on water less affected by the wind. So, the trick is to use a body dragging technique to pull yourself upwind while the board takes it time to float downwards. The problem with this is that it is ten times easier to explain than to actually perform. Each time you swallow a mouthful of sea water and lose concentration, your kite gets pulled up and you get dragged further down. In the end you are exhausted and not an inch closer to your board, despite all your efforts. If you are in luck, someone else might come to the rescue, grab your board and drop it downwind. This takes some skill as well and can only be executed by the more experienced kite boarders. When there are not many around you are left to your own devices. 

Upwind body drag technique

So, I dropped my board when I stopped to turn around (point A on photo), a couple of meter behind the Sely 1 and about 300 meter from the shore. I had water and suntan lotion in my eye and while I was struggling to release myself from the burning sensation in my eye, I also managed to release myself from my board at the same time. In my effort to paddle back, I lost control of my kite and was lifted a couple of meters further away from my board. I immediately started my body dragging technique but soon realised that I was wasting my time and instead was heading straight for the Sely 1 (point B). At this point someone else saw that I was separated from my board and indicated that he would get it for me while I allowed myself some tricky manoeuvres to steer away from the ship that was slowly approaching. The kind rescuer couldn't get hold of my board, dropped his kite twice in the process but successfully relaunched again. A second and a third kite boarder tried their luck in retrieving my board, but also with limited success. In the meantime I was floating downwind still trying to get back to my board, but at least steering clear from the ship. My board seemed to follow me, so close but yet so far. Only when the fourth guy came to assist, he managed to get hold of my board and took it to the shallower water. I was at point C when I got hold of it again. I got on and went in for a couple of meters before I turned around to make landfall (point D) nearly 30 minutes after this whole ordeal started. Thirty minutes of trying to get hold of my board, wasting energy and wasting time. But I made it out alive and still think it is better to kite without a leash. Much better to lose your board and reputation than losing your head I guess. Despite the wasted time it was still one of my more enjoyable sessions. I still need to work on that upwind body dragging technique, but I will do that when it is required again. I hope that is not going to be soon though. In retrospect this couldv'e been worse...it could've been my kite that was dropped....but ket's not go there right now.

One man's trash is another's treasure

The environmentalists and aestheticians might be up in arms over the stranded Seli 1 at Kite Beach. Some claim that it "contaminates" the beautiful view of Table Mountain. Even though most surfer's are usually also very aware of the protection of the environment and coastlines, as much as the beauty thereof, they cannot deny that the Seli 1 is bringing them more pleasure than pain at the moment. For a spot where surfing was never really done due to the inconsistency of waves and the poor shape of the waves, for a day where the rest of the ocean was for all practical reasons unsurfable, this was not too bad. This has also become a favourite spot for SUP's (stand up paddle boards). Behind the protection of the ship they can basically paddle in without having to dodge any waves and then just move over to the side where they can catch some really long mellow rides.

No Hot Work Permit

Yesterday I was walking my son home from school when we heard the first bang. He was obviously curious to what was happening so I told him that I think we are being invaded by the US Navy because our Police General said over television news that he hopes that the USA team falls out in the first round because they couldn't make up their minds whether Mr Obama will be attending any of the USA games or not. Serious security issues as you can imagine. Minutes later we heard another bang, so I told my son I think we are fighting back now. Little did I know that it was the Sely 1 that was going up in flames. Only later when we went to the shop, I saw the smoke coming from that direction, so like any normal inquisitive human being that cannot resist to see what's going on, we headed for the beach only to find the following scene. Let me just point out that these pictures where NOT taken by myself, I did take some with my Mickey Mouse camera, but a friend allowed me to use his for my blog seeing that mine looks like it was taken with the lens covered in soot. The other photo was taken by my wife with her cell phone camera.

Wish you were here

A lot of my friends from overseas ask me which time of the year is the best time to visit Cape Town. I always say anytime is a good time. The weather in Cape Town is predominantly dry and windy in summers and cold and wet in winter. But I guess as the climate is changing so is Cape Town's weather and you can expect anything at any time of the year. Last year the wind hardly ever blew strong enough to do a decent bit of kite surfing, and had someone landed on Cape Town International yesterday they would never have believed that it was in fact winter in Cape Town.

Yesterday after work I took a ride to the beach to go have a look at the waves. Not that I really expected to find any, but the weather was just awesome and I thought of having an ice cream before I went home. When I got there I just knew that such beautiful day could not be wasted, so I called my wife and told her that we are having picnic at the beach. All she had to do was get home from work, fetch our son from school and get something to eat. Needless to say, by the time we eventually arrived at the beach, the sun was about to go down. I guess this is the only sign of winter that will never change, the setting time of the sun. In summer you can stay on the beach until 9pm before it gets dark, but in winter after 6.30 you have used up the last bit the sun has to offer. I yet again tried to take some pictures, but this time I didn't delete it. BTW, I'm looking at getting a better camera.

The water was flat, there was one surfer trying to catch a wave or two that came through with the sets. He managed to stand up, and I always say, catching that one wave is much better than sitting on the beach catching nothing, so I wish to believe that he was appreciating those small waves on my behalf too. The Seli 1 looked like it was glued into the ocean floor. On board you could see people cutting the ship up into pieces. I guess by next year this time it will not be there anymore. After the sun went down the clouds turned into this beautiful orange glow (or "mango" as my son calls it). It was such an awesome day yesterday, and according to the weather forecast, we are in for yet another awesome day today. Wish you were here.

Oh Such a Perfect Day

I was supposed to leave for Angola tomorrow. Needles to say some incompetent "being" prevented me from getting my visa in time. When you send the same incorrect invitation letter to a Consulate that doesn't budge an inch or knows that there is NO way for you to get to Angola unless THEY make it happen, then your chances of any luck is very limited. So, unfortunately my trip has been postponed for another week, but fortunately it allows me an extra week at home....and at home is where you want to be when the weather is just perfect. Today was such a day.....

I woke up early because my son still determines at what time we HAVE to get out of bed..and we also had a breakfast planned with friends at Carluccis. Even at 8 o' clock we could see that it was going to turn out to be an awesome day. After breakfast we headed to the beach but didn't stay long because my wife had to go to the airport to pick up my mother-in-law. By 11 the temperature were already near the 30's and with no wind there was only one place to be....in the water. I chose the pool at home to spend the rest of the day in, but many Capetonians opted for the beach. At around 4.30 I took the bike for a spin at the beach and took some pictures with my cell phone.

Definitely one of the most awesome views in the world. Table Mountain at the back with the Sely 1 stuck in the sand close to shore. The Sely 1 drifted towards Blouberg in September last year during bad weather and even though the newspapers said that it would take about a week or two to pull it out, it has been lying there for over six months now.  They are still trying to remove the coal that is on board, but the latest news is that the ship is starting to crack and that it will never be used again. What they are going to do with it and when it will be removed still remains a mystery. One good thing about the stranding is that the waves have been altered due to the position of the ship. This has become a very popular spot for stand-up paddle boarders and even the shape of the waves have improved. Today waves of around 4 to 5 feet came through in sets that were obvioulsy enjoyed by plenty of surfers. When you take a picture from this beach on normal days you would hardly find people on the beach. Today it was crowed.

This is also here on this "deserted" beach (on week days) where I witnessed a guy selling drugs to a youngster on Friday morning. I phoned the police but couldn't get through. What's new? The dude selling the drugs ran away after I told him to "run otherwise...." and the youngster disappeared to where he's probably getting high on "some good stuff" as the dealer described it to him. Sad to see these things happen on your favourite beach but I guess it does happen. 

Unfortunately this picture was taken against the sun, but one can still see the amount of people on Big Bay beach. This is where we usually bring our little surfer boy to come play in the rock pools because there are usually not many people coming to this beach, but today this placed was packed as well. There is one thing about the Atlantic Coast that we cannot rave about and that is the cold water. Today people were actually forced to get into the water. When I took this picture the temperature on my bike's thermometer reading was 35.5 degrees Celcius. Cape Town is really a wonderful place and when the weather plays along it becomes an extraordinary place.