Sunrise Point Grinds

Dan Redman coming through a sick section.

 This weekend the dive was no good at all, but the surf was ridiculously fun. Sunday even cleaned up and there were some of the thickest flawless barrels grinding across the sand banks off Ballito. Sunrise was starting to do its thing and my lighty and I got some crazy waves all to our selves before the other guys pulled in to surf. Dan and Josh Redman came to get there share of shade underneath the liquid anvils roaring across the bay. I grabbed my cam and got some great shots of the guys. 

There some flawless waves that just went unridden.

As always the rip was super intense and we all battled to stay up the point to get the good waves. This meant that there were many crackers that just went unridden. But that is Sunrise for you!! It a higher grade wave that demands extreme fitness and determination, but the rewards are big! Most guys just give up and sit off the peak and take the scraps .... got to love it!

For more pics go to: Sunrise Point

Cant wait for the next good tide and swell to collide.

Coatesman

East Swell Drain Pipes

Brad Johns about to get shacked up properly on on of the barrels of the day.

 The monster east swell turned slightly south and we have had some interesting waves the last few days in Ballito. For the most part its just been solid hard hitting close outs across the bay. But every now and then one lines up and funnels across the very straight and shallow sand bank.

Yesterday the conditions were perfect which made it impossible not to surf. But it wasnt easy with the prospect of being caught by the sets or breaking your board always lurking in the back of your mind. ...and I am already one board down this swell!!

Scotty the Style master in the sweet spot.

The sea is a bit all over the place this morning, but there is still a bit of swell left. My only hope is that the swell has not taken away all the sand that we had a week ago. ....It was looking the best its been in years (the sand banks that is)

Anyway more big swell coming this weekend and probably no diving ...I guess we will have to go surf

Damn!

Coatesman

Braidy gets a Garrick

Braiden 7.6kg Garrick speared off Boulder Point Ballito

For some time Braidy has been trying to get a Garrick, but for some reason he has just been unlucky ...over and over. He first took a shot at a Garrick 2 years back, and that was about the best opportunity he has had since. We have seen some fish but they always seem to keep their distance from him.

Saturday turned out different tho, we had been in the water for about an hour and I got bored waiting for Garrick so I went off into the white water to look for Brusher. I turned back after a while to see how Braidy was doing on the outside to see his gun unloaded and floating. I swam across to him and as I approached he gave me a big thumbs up.

I went down on the fish to see if it needed a second shot. Braidy had planted a perfect shot at the pectorals, so I left him to enjoy landing ...more like wrestling the fish.

There were a good couple reports of Garrick up on the coast and I think that this down run will be a good one next month.

Coatesman

Massive DatShark Activity with the Rotting Whale in Ballito

Day 4 and the Whale in Ballito still sits rotting. Spewing rotting whale blubber everywhere.

 Last Saturday a dead Humpback whale washed up on the rocks off Ballito, the already rotting carcus was followed by sharks and bite marks could be seen on the carcus. The sea and tide was perfect to tow the whale back out to sea, but the municipality in their wisdom decided to have a series of meetings spanning a couple days in which time the sea turned and the opportunity lost. The guys from the local Sharks Board where there ready to make an attempt on Saturday but the 'Eish' the municipality must have there 10cents or lack of involved.

So now we have a rotting 30 tonne chunk of whale stinking, and sending pieces of whales up and down the coast. Local people are also taking chunks of the rotting flesh .., one can only hope they are not eating it!!

Martin from the Sharks board said he found a huge chunk of intestine off Salt Rock yesterday .... that's 8km away!
He also said the Shark activity was insane, which loads of sharks in the area near the whale. The Sharks board have lifted all their nets all the way from Ballito to Salt Rock with this massive shark activity.

2m Tiger Shark beached just south of Salt rock beach.

Yesterday a juvenile 2m Tiger Shark washed up between Shakas Rock and Salt Rock main beach. The Shark has been sent off to the Sharks Board to find out the cause of death, and if it had been feeding on the Whale. I am sure this is only one a many that have been feeding on the whale. The problem is that even once the whale has been removed it will take weeks for the oily fat deposit on the beaches to wash away. The big question is .... when will it be safe to venture into the sea again??

Any one for a whale burger ... or any one keen to donate a leg to the sharks?

Coatesman

Save Ballito's Beaches - New Pics

April holidays back 87 before the rocks were blasted out of Surfers

I am not sure when this pic was taken, but look no rocks in the channel!!

I have a whole bunch of pic of the beaches in Ballito from as far back as the late 30's. There are some really interesting observations like the pic above that shows that there were no rocks in the channel between Boulder Bay and Bog Bay.

Go check out the rest of the pics at Ballito Beaches Back Then

I am still looking for more old pics of the beaches and of the surf especially from the 70's & early 80's. Please drop me a mail if you have any or know some one who might have.

Cheers

Coatesman

Resurrecting Bog Bay

This is what Bog can produce and more - Sean VO digging deep.

Bog Bay finally has a shot at being revived. More than 20 years ago the Ballito municipality put in rocks to form a tidal pool, and it landed up stealing the surf right from under our feet.

But now that the Mr Price Pro is hitting Ballito's shores the lights and focus are on surfing for a change. I have been chatting to some of the key figures involved and we really need to get our act together to make this work.

If you haven't already joined there is a web site called Resurrecting Bog Bay

There is also a Face Book Group Resurrecting Bog Bay

We have a small window of opportunity with this .... lets get cracking!

The first step is just joining the groups, keep in touch and spread the word!

Coatesman

Ballito 2008 Adrenaline Beach Festival

This weekend is the Ballito 2008 Adrenaline Beach Festival on Willards beach, Ballito's main beach.
Depends on what floats your boat you will either flock to the beach or run as fast as you can.

If joining the flocks of people is your thing then here is whats going down:

Saturday 12th July-Sunday 13th July 2008.
PROGRAMME

10h00-10h30 Kids Entertainment on stage
10h30-12h30 Beach Soccer
10h30-11h30 Ocean Experience
11h00-11h30 Jet Ski Demo’s
11h30-12h00 Dance Exhibition
12h00-12h30 Kinds Entertainment on stage
12h30-13h30 Ocean Experience
13h00-15h00 Touch Rugby
13h30-14h00 Freestyle Jet Ski Demo
14h00-14h30 Dance Exhibition
14h00-15h00 Ocean Experience
15h00-15h30 Free Style Jet Ski Demo
15h00 End of Day

So the Ballito 2008 Adrenaline Beach Festival sounds like fun ...for some! And the weather looks like it might hold ....

Coatesman

Braidens First Snoek

Little Champ - Braiden Coates with his first Snoek 4,28kg

Some kids get amped to watch cartoons before school, not Braidy!! He seems to be living a life we all wished we could have. I remember only dreaming of surfing or diving before school, so it is super cool to be able to take him for quick ones before school.
It does require something similar to a military operation, all the equipment organised the night before, and clothes and breakfast ready when we get back as the house turns to mayhem getting ready.

This morning was a buzz though, with every one super stoked with Braidy's fish. After the conditions and fish being so good, I had to get Braidy in there. So we got down to Boulders in Ballito at first light, the wind had started to blow so I was a little hesitant. The water was a little green, not good for filming but good for a point dive.

We headed out to the drop off on Lemon fish reef, but it was quiet. Time was running out so we headed in to the channel were the snoek also come through. And Bobs your Auntie .. a shoal of snoek come past Braiden. He sees them first and is already diving down when I see them swimming past. I manage to turn the camera on just in time to get the shot on film, his shot was a little high and the snoek spead off.

Before the dive he was complaining that the fish he shoots dont run like the ones we shoot, well this one ran right out his hands!! I managed to catch the line coming past me and gave it back to him. I gave the fish another shot, but it was not all that good so the fish was still going wild. Braiden landed the fish all by himself as I was catching the action on film. Man I was so proud!!

I can only imagine the stories going down at school right now!!!

Stoked

Coatesman

Its a good life!

Surfers Lane Ballito this morning with the new deck.

I was reminded this morning that I have loads to be thankful for. I and I suppose every one else out there as well can often get so caught up in the stress of of life, we forget to see the blessings around us.

Well this morning was full of blessings from above, Braidy my 10 year old son came surfing with me. It was an epic morning, with the waves just big enough for me to have a couple and not to big that it would crush him. We had a couple waves long before anyone else even hit the beach, it was super special.

I was checking the time when it dawned on me that exactly one month to that very moment I would be in the water at Mozambique. And now I don't know if i am excited or bummed. Bummed that I have 3 and some weeks left of work to get through. Lets just hope they fly!!!

I just checked the weather for this week and it looks promising, it seems the strong wind season is coming to an end .... hopefully .....and just another thing to be thankful for.

very thankful,

Coatesman

One Good Thing!

Well at the moment with strained lungs the sea very average ...but diveable, and the work load insurmountable. Its hard to find something good to talk about.

Then while I was diving into work ....at 5:40 I realised it was light even tho there were some low clouds. And that my friends is great news, it means that when it gets clean we can dive from 5:30!!
No more swimming for 25min to the drop off to dive for 30min turn around and sprint back to the beach to get to work.
Now we can ....swim for 25min to the drop off to dive for 60min turn around and sprint back to the beach to get to work. :-)

I suppose that also means that there is enough time to hit a dive after work aswell now. If you are int the water at 5pm you can probably dive till some time after 6pm. Its a good thing!

And while we are on good things .... Salty Divers are having their Club nite on Friday in Ballito. We are are doing a Garrick and Brusher workshop ....should be fun.

Give me a shout if you are keen to join in. 083 631 0841

Cheers

Coatesman

Surfers Point - THREATENED

Surfers Point and Bog Bay two premier surf spots in Ballito are soon to be no more. Thats if the MONKEYS at the local council and their really SMART professional team get their way.

They are wanting to form a artificial reef in the way of an old ship or something. The idea is to have the reef block the surf from pounding the bathing beach.

Problem 1 : the problem with the lack of sand is not the storm we had but the rocks that make up the paddling pool south at Boulder Bay adjacent to Bog.

Problem 2: The last storm moved the Fame Wreck which was almost 1km our to sea. Whats going to stop a storm moving a ship inshore??

Problem 3: what is going to happen with the other beaches?? Who knows?? Hey it might make better waves ..... or totally destroy the breaks north??

The other bright idea was to put piers made from doluse (how ever you spell it) those 4 sided concrete star things like at Richards Bay harbor .... really nice to look at. NOT!!!

Other than that, life is great. There are some sand banks forming at surfers and there is some potential for some good surf soon.

Amping

Coatesman

Where is the Fame Wreck off Ballito?

With the good vis Morne and I went to look for the Fame Wreck off Ballito. I had very good marks for it and even in bad vis was able to know which side of the wreck I was on.

But it has gone!!! Thats right Poof vanished the Fame Wreck is no longer where it was. I am sure that a couple hundred thousand ton two story high trawler does not just vanish. So where is it??

Rumors say it is off Boulders some where ........ I would love to find out!!!

The Fame Wreck off Ballito used to be a favorite Dagga hunting spot. And guys have got some good cuta and Kingies on line there aswell.

The wind looks like it might hold off for an arvo dive. Tomorrow the west is going to pump and hopefully will keep the good water around.

Spotya

Coatesman

That feeling when you know you missed it!

You know that feeling ..... ya the one that hits your gut? When you know you missed out?
Well yesterday was one of those, I saw the sea before dark while the tide was high and it look nice. No waves but it had loads of potential. The forcast said the wind was going to be 100's.

I managed to drive past the beach at 2.30pm the tide was already coming in and a light east was starting to blow. And guess what ...... I got that horrible feeling!Surfers Point at Willard Beach Ballito
starting to look like there is some life in the place.

I saw some waves break on Surfers Point, something which has not happened since the storm in May. And I could see that if I was there earlier it would have been cranking.


This is the down side to winter! The waves go off ..... but generally on the low which is normally between 8 and 11am near the spring tide. And that means that I am at work!!!!


And I get that feeling alot!!


Well the wind is going to behave itself again today and with the dropping swell a point dive should be the order of the day tommorrow. Thursday brings a mild east but with some luck we will still be diving on Friday and the weekend.


Dont forget the Salty Divers Club meet on Friday. Bring your 'dop n' chop' + the wife or lady friend ..... its gonna be fun. I have some training I will be doing and maybe a guest speaker ???


Will keep you posted.

Coatesman

Told you so

Well I did not expect to be eating my words so fast. An hour or so after writing yesterdays report, my mate Rory MMS's me a pic with him and too many Snoek to hold up!

The following sms's:

10min ago at Toti, we all got ten each, biggest about 9kg (no scale). Seething with fish

When I woke up feeling grim, something inside of me said you are missing out yesterday. Knowing the Sards are around and the fact that there was huge swell (now here!) it was one of the window opportunities I saw slipping through my fingers.

Rory sent a mail just to whip me into a frenzy and no where to go:

The resolution on today’s catch was not good enough to send, will get the beach shots downloaded later and forward them if they look OK. To whet your appetite you will find a shot of my kids posing, the 9kg fish is the one in the immediate foreground. The darts the kids are holding were shot first before I realized how many snoek there were around.

Water was epic, clean and warm with small pockets of more or less stationery sards getting hammered by walls of snoek. In a very short time we had maxed out the daily bag limit with fish up to 9kg with the average around 6kg. You could get very selective. With the conditions being so good we jumped in again for a bit of fish spotting and saw a few other species (some high speed tuna coming in from deep and a big iggie mauling the inside wall while my buddy also saw two garrick idling by). As we had switched from hunt to observation mode we now sat watching the snoek barreling in and nailing the shoal –can’t say the trigger finger didn’t get itchy especially watching nice 6-7kg fish floating past within a metre (or less) of you. After each attack there would be uneaten casualties left lying on the bottom with the snoek clearly slashing up way more sards than they could eat. Two things stood out (1) There were no sharks despite 1000’s of dead sardines and all the fish shot (we weren’t the only speoro’s clubbing it) (2) the sardine shoal hardly moved all day even after the wind started cranking.

Now that we are all frothing at the mouth, let me tell you about what the sea is up to for the next few days!

In the words of Spike "UNPRECEDENTED WEEK OF BIG SURF AHEAD"

Gee I guess thats the diving out of the question, and well I looked at the surf in Ballito and the banks are not doing the swell justice. Durban will probably pump ........ but who likes to surf the crowds?

I guess this is a good week to get some work done!

Coatesman

Winter, Swell and Spotted Grunter

Anther beut morning, we dived on a nice spot in about 18m near Salt Rock. And the sea was alive, we swam out before dark and waited for it to get light. The water was about 6 -8m which was great.

The shoal of spotted grunter that have been on this reef for weeks was still there. The grunter have gotten smaller but the shoal seems to be very strong.

We did not see any cuta ... damn... I suppose the north coast is a hit and miss affair this time of year.

The swell was up this morning and we almost caned the dive. I got a look at Ballito at about 8am from a building site I had to visit. And watched some perfect 5ft sets roll in. The down side is that the banks are still stuffed and these perfect swells hardly produced a ridable wave.

The forecast looks good for tomorrow and if the swell does not stir things up to much we will be in for a good day tomorrow.

Spot ya out there.

Coatesman