Has anyone been to Sardinia Bay lately? I nearly fell off my leopard when I saw the beach last Friday. The tidemark has moved right up near the road and a few new rock beds have been exposed. It’s like a different beach altogether, which might be the most exciting place to visit in PE since Belizza opened up.
In St. Francis Bay a big chunk of the Anne Avenue parking lot is now under water. It’s bizarre. The area where a shower block used to stand is washed away entirely. A few weeks ago I saw people fishing off the back of a bakkie, because the tide had moved so far up the beach.
True story.
I don’t want to get into hysterics about this. Al Gore gets way too much credit for pointing out (and then sensationalizing) the obvious, and I strongly doubt the end is nigh. Some practical action need to happen though. The new Hybrid cars from Lexus and Pure Organic products sold by soccer-mom supermarkets aren’t going to stop the ocean from wrecking houses. I’m not saying its bogus to assume the global climate isn’t changing, but there is no need to get all Chicken Licken about it. The sky isn’t falling, but earthquakes, hurricanes and shifting tide lines are causing more hassles than our rubber factories are worth.
A classic example of municipal buffoonery is the St Francis Bay Beach Restoration Project. Residents and holiday makers have watched the beach erode further every year, swearing something will be done about it soon. And every year there is a different excuse about why nothing happened. The project has stayed a pie in the sky, while the owners of sea facing houses sweat heavier bullets every year. Between hearsay about a new pier, building an artificial reef and summoning an army of magical beavers to put together a damn wall, nothing has been done.
In St. Francis Bay a big chunk of the Anne Avenue parking lot is now under water. It’s bizarre. The area where a shower block used to stand is washed away entirely. A few weeks ago I saw people fishing off the back of a bakkie, because the tide had moved so far up the beach.
True story.
I don’t want to get into hysterics about this. Al Gore gets way too much credit for pointing out (and then sensationalizing) the obvious, and I strongly doubt the end is nigh. Some practical action need to happen though. The new Hybrid cars from Lexus and Pure Organic products sold by soccer-mom supermarkets aren’t going to stop the ocean from wrecking houses. I’m not saying its bogus to assume the global climate isn’t changing, but there is no need to get all Chicken Licken about it. The sky isn’t falling, but earthquakes, hurricanes and shifting tide lines are causing more hassles than our rubber factories are worth.
A classic example of municipal buffoonery is the St Francis Bay Beach Restoration Project. Residents and holiday makers have watched the beach erode further every year, swearing something will be done about it soon. And every year there is a different excuse about why nothing happened. The project has stayed a pie in the sky, while the owners of sea facing houses sweat heavier bullets every year. Between hearsay about a new pier, building an artificial reef and summoning an army of magical beavers to put together a damn wall, nothing has been done.
Maybe the only way of getting everyone’s attention is to sensationalize the facts. But it still seems like we have two kinds of people commenting on the issue of Global Climate Change— those that swear earth will disintegrate in the next four years and those that don’t think it’s financially viable to do anything about it. Regardless, it’s making everyone crazy.
Anyhoo, enough about that.
The wind is blowing a hoolie today. It’s a South Easter with fangs. Fence is a wash of white horses and foam. Surfing might be out of the question today, but as soon as the wind turns off shore (it’s expected to happen on Wednesday) there should be some decent wind swell around.
Lastly, EP might suck at rugby, but province did pretty well at the SA Junior Surfing Champs last weekend at St. Mikes, in KZN. They placed 3rd overall, behind KZN and WP.
Here are all the results:
FULL RESULTS
U18 BOYS
1. MATTHEW BROMLEY (WP)
2. CHAD DU TOIT (KZN)
3. BRENDAN GIBBENS (WP)
4. SHAWN DENNIS (KZN)
U18 GIRLS
1. CHANTELLE RAUTENBACH (BOL)
2. KIRSTY DELPORT (KZN)
3. ALICE MCGREGOR (BOR)
4. FAYE ZOETMULDER (EP)
U16 BOYS
1. DAVEY BRAND (WP)
2. MICHAEL FEBRUARY (WP)
3. JACOB MELLISH (BOL)
4. DEVIN LANE (KZN)
U16 GIRLS
1. BIANCA BUITENDAG (S/CAPE)
2. HEIDI PALMBOOM (KZN)
2. TANIKA HOFFMAN (WP)
3. HOLLY ARMSTRONG (WP)
U14 BOYS
1. SLADE PRESTWICH (KZN)
2. STEVEN SAWYER (EP)
3. DYLAN LIGHTFOOT (EP)
4. DIRAN ZAKARIAN (BOL)
U14 GIRLS
1. SARAH BAUM (KZN)
2. CARRYN MACNICOL (KZN)
3. COURTENAY ELLISH (SKZN)
4. ROXY GILES (S/CAPE)
U12 BOYS
1. BENJI BRAND (WP)
2. MAX ARMSTRONG (WP)
3. JASON HARRIS (KZN)
4. MATTHEW MCGILLIVRAY (EP)
U12 GIRLS
1. INGE MCLAREN (BOR)
2. ANOUSH ZAKARIAN (BOL)
3. TAHRA UREN (EP)
4. CHANELLE BOTHA (SKZN)
FREEDOM CUP
1. KZN 40,740
2. WESTERN PROVINCE 38,486
3. EASTERN PROVINCE 32,442
4. BOLAND 30,078
5. SOUTHERN KZN 27,592
6. BORDER 26,506
7. SOUTHERN CAPE 26,230
8. DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY TEAM 18,040
SURFER OF THE CONTEST
KHAYELIHLHLE NCGOBO (SKZN)
MOST IMPROVED SURFER
SIMO MKHIZE (SKZN)
SPORTSMANSHIP TROPHY
AMY BOSWORTH (WP)
ZIG ZAG BLOWING UP AWARD
SARAH BAUM (KZN)
BEST TEAMKWAZULU-NATA
Anyhoo, enough about that.
The wind is blowing a hoolie today. It’s a South Easter with fangs. Fence is a wash of white horses and foam. Surfing might be out of the question today, but as soon as the wind turns off shore (it’s expected to happen on Wednesday) there should be some decent wind swell around.
Lastly, EP might suck at rugby, but province did pretty well at the SA Junior Surfing Champs last weekend at St. Mikes, in KZN. They placed 3rd overall, behind KZN and WP.
Here are all the results:
FULL RESULTS
U18 BOYS
1. MATTHEW BROMLEY (WP)
2. CHAD DU TOIT (KZN)
3. BRENDAN GIBBENS (WP)
4. SHAWN DENNIS (KZN)
U18 GIRLS
1. CHANTELLE RAUTENBACH (BOL)
2. KIRSTY DELPORT (KZN)
3. ALICE MCGREGOR (BOR)
4. FAYE ZOETMULDER (EP)
U16 BOYS
1. DAVEY BRAND (WP)
2. MICHAEL FEBRUARY (WP)
3. JACOB MELLISH (BOL)
4. DEVIN LANE (KZN)
U16 GIRLS
1. BIANCA BUITENDAG (S/CAPE)
2. HEIDI PALMBOOM (KZN)
2. TANIKA HOFFMAN (WP)
3. HOLLY ARMSTRONG (WP)
U14 BOYS
1. SLADE PRESTWICH (KZN)
2. STEVEN SAWYER (EP)
3. DYLAN LIGHTFOOT (EP)
4. DIRAN ZAKARIAN (BOL)
U14 GIRLS
1. SARAH BAUM (KZN)
2. CARRYN MACNICOL (KZN)
3. COURTENAY ELLISH (SKZN)
4. ROXY GILES (S/CAPE)
U12 BOYS
1. BENJI BRAND (WP)
2. MAX ARMSTRONG (WP)
3. JASON HARRIS (KZN)
4. MATTHEW MCGILLIVRAY (EP)
U12 GIRLS
1. INGE MCLAREN (BOR)
2. ANOUSH ZAKARIAN (BOL)
3. TAHRA UREN (EP)
4. CHANELLE BOTHA (SKZN)
FREEDOM CUP
1. KZN 40,740
2. WESTERN PROVINCE 38,486
3. EASTERN PROVINCE 32,442
4. BOLAND 30,078
5. SOUTHERN KZN 27,592
6. BORDER 26,506
7. SOUTHERN CAPE 26,230
8. DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY TEAM 18,040
SURFER OF THE CONTEST
KHAYELIHLHLE NCGOBO (SKZN)
MOST IMPROVED SURFER
SIMO MKHIZE (SKZN)
SPORTSMANSHIP TROPHY
AMY BOSWORTH (WP)
ZIG ZAG BLOWING UP AWARD
SARAH BAUM (KZN)
BEST TEAMKWAZULU-NATA
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