Oswald Smith, Graham Howes, Kyle Cabano and friends travel north in their native South Africa for a staycation they won’t ever forget, dredging waves, fickle winds, magic sessions and campfires got them stoked for more. Click here to find out exactly how it went down...

The date, 11 June 2020, and South Africa has just been moved from Level 4 lockdown (house-arrest style) to Level 3, which allows some room for movement within provincial borders. This seemed like a good enough reason for us to pack our cars and head to the desert.

The trip was initiated by Graham Howes, who contacted me to ask what I knew about the kiteboarding potential of the northern parts of the Western Cape. This area is well known among the surfing fraternity, offering some of the best surf in the world. Every winter, there is a pilgrimage of wave hunters that head up when the conditions are on. As far as I know, nobody has ridden this coastline with kites, which was enough incentive for us to want to try it out.

Two days later and the convoy was ready to get moving! Oswald Smith and I travelled in my car, while Jason Colborne and Darryl Parrington travelled with Graham. Packing for a trip like this is no easy task! With no shops or gas stations around for hundreds of kilometres, you've got to plan and pack thoroughly and all provisions including firewood, food essentials and comforts to be fully stocked up.

We started our journey at the crack of dawn. The excitement was mutually shared among the crew, as it had been a while since we've been able to embark on a quest like this one! The drive continued for over three hours through the beautiful winding roads of the Cederberg Mountain range, eventually arriving at our final refuel point before we leave the grid. From here on out, we lose signal. We also used this opportunity to contact our families, letting them know we'd be unreachable.

The roads that run along the coastline are a mixture of sandy straights, with hard clay bits in between but after the winter rains, these hard clay bits had turned into puddles of mud! We got a little carried away blasting through the puddles, and my car's motor got soaked, wetting the plugs and causing it to lose all power over 2000 rpm, making the road ahead a lot scarier! It took a while to diagnose the issue, so we cracked a beer and waited for the car to slowly idle away and hopefully dry out. Luckily it was self-remedied, and we continued the journey north, avoiding the puddles while we bumped our way across the desert plains.

With the sun dropping lower, and the days travel slowly coming to an end,  we arrived at our destination. Our friends, Jason Baker and Kyle Bell, were already at the spot in their old VW Combi; who knows how they managed to get this legendary surf van over those waterlogged coastal roads!

We were finally here! While we were unpacking our rigs, a deep fog bank started to appear from the south, and it seemed to have come bearing wind. Ozzie got amped to test the water and wind up here, and even though he was underpowered on his 9m kite in the 15-knot puff, it was epic to have scored a session, literally upon arrival. The session was short-lived, with the wind dying off as soon as the fog bank left us.

We started the evening fire while the dusk set in and the dry desert hues were slowly replaced by pastel blues and stars in a density us city-slickers know nothing about. The temperature must have dropped to around 5C that first evening; it was freezing! We kept warm by sitting around the fire, sharing stories of stoke and scandals before eventually retiring for the evening, looking forward to the week ahead.

The morning started off with a bang! After a cold first night, the start of the day was welcomed with light offshore winds, grooming the open ocean swells. The waves were firing! First to the water was a group of bodyboarders camping on the hill next to us, revealing the true size of the waves. It was big but so perfect that one-by-one we each gave it a bash before getting washed in or denied entry by the set wave. I guess the lockdown has had its adverse effects on all of our fitness levels, but it was treat to be out there in some of the cleanest and biggest surf I have ever witnessed.

Time in the desert rolled on as the days and nights all kind of morphed into one. It must have been four days by now that the straight offshore winds were blowing. We were white-washed and crispy with many surfs under the belt, although the kiting that we had hoped possible had not happened. With provisions for the week starting to show areas of weakness, the outcome of the trip as far as our kite-dream went was at question.

On the fourth evening of the trip, we went all in, deciding to burn the last of our firewood, making a massive fire for the final evening's campsite feast. On the menu was a dish traditional to the area and the Afrikaans culture called a "potjie", which translates to pot in English, and is essentially a big pot of meat and vegetables, slow-cooked over the heat from a fire. The night was perfect, and we shared stories while polishing the beer stocks and slowly preparing our meal. By this point of the trip, there were more campers on the hillside next to us. There was talk of a big swell hitting the coast the following day, and we were all quite excited to see how it would play out.

I was sure to be up before first light to get a head start on the day. I wanted to climb up to the top of the hill, to capture some dawn landscapes as the night turns into day. As the morning went on, the silhouettes revealed themselves as towering walls of water. The surf was huge! Slowly but surely the campsite woke up and came to life, everyone gathering on the edge of the hillside to watch these massive waves coming through in perfect form. Also to note, was that the wind had now switched direction somewhat as to be slightly more cross-shore than the full-offshore from the days prior. The waves continued to power through while a handful of experienced watermen from the camp next door gave the paddle out a shot, one-by-one.

We stared at it for about three hours before deciding to head in and attempt the surf. Graham, Ozzie, Darryl and Jason were all keen to give the surf a bash, while I opted to try the swim with my camera. The potential of scoring a one-of-a-kind photograph, in conditions like these had me convinced. The swim/paddle in was extreme, to say the least.

Ozzie and I were the first to be swept in by the surging set waves, but we put our heads down and got to work trying to head out again. Determined to make it out there after a humbling first paddle. We made it to the back, full survival mode by this point. With the waves in the 10ft range, I found myself quite paranoid by the rogue ones. My position in the water made getting in the zone for the shot quite tricky. Still, it was an absolutely epic experience to be out there witnessing these giant waves detonating over the sandbanks on these lonely desert shores. It had me in a deep wonder; what else is out there if you take the road further along this coastline? Does it do this every day, while we live our fast-paced city lives? A trip to a destination like this broadens your perspective and leaves you with more questions than answers.

I had about an hour of glory before the ocean decided my time was over and I got washed ashore after taking a wide set to the head. Quite an ordeal, but I was stoked to be back on land. Ozzie followed shortly after so did the rest of the crew. Watching the ocean from the hill, we noticed how the waves were losing perfect shape with the winds turning further cross-shore, almost starting to look kiteable! As we were packing our camp up, getting ready to embark on the journey back to Cape Town, we decided to check another spot on the way home, a bay that we came across a few days before that seemed to have potential. With the morning berg winds swinging further towards an NE direction, there was a chance that we might be able to get something rideable.

Rocking up at the spot in the bay, we quickly noticed how much bigger it was. Ozzie was instantly excited, although Graham and myself weren't biting; the wind seemed too light to me. Ozzie insisted that we at least try so went on to rig over the rocks and bushes that we had on offer and did a test launch of the kite. The kite stayed in the air, so I guess that means we are on? Graham wasn't going to let Ozzie do this stunt alone, so while Ozzie took the lead and made his way down to the water, Graham geared up.

The kites looked out of place as the sets rolled in over the slabbing west coast reef, almost photoshopped into a scene that was clearly lacking wind! Ozzie went straight into tube hunting mode and committed to the cause, getting caught on the inside a few times and having to eject on some, that totally bottomed out. Graham was also getting more and more confident, moving further inside and closer to the rocky ledge. Both riders were impressive to watch out there, navigating along with the unpredictable slab, but it was Ozzie who would claim the barrels before the wind died off, even more, causing an abrupt end to the session.

Ozzie managed to catch the final puff of wind while Graham got smeared on the inside section after his kite fell out of the air. Luckily Graham and his gear made it to shore unscathed. The boys made the walk back up the point to us, as the ocean glassed off even more.

There is still much to learn about the conditions up here on this section of the coastline, and I am sure in due time, we will learn more of its secrets that it holds. With sunburnt faces, toasted hair and satisfied souls, we packed it up and made our way down the coast and back to the city, leaving behind nothing but footprints but taking home an experience of a lifetime.

By Kyle Cabano

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