Some surfers paddle out when it’s massive, while others don’t. Andrew Pieterse recalls the day a line was drawn between his peers that would go on to charge place like Dungeons and those that wouldn’t. ‘Dungeons and Dragonslayers’ is his entry into ‘Write to Surf‘ – our surf journo competition with some epic prizes up for grabs (see below for details).

***

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONSLAYERS – by: Andrew Pieterse

Jou bliksem! The thought ricochets through my mind as I’m staring at my computer screen. In front of me, smeared all over the international surf media is Paris Basson dropping into a perfect Dungeons bomb. Jou bliksem! This shot takes me back to a scene played out on the rocky shoreline at Outer Kom on the Cape Atlantic coast over 20 years ago…

You see, I grew up surfing in Cape Town in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Back then Cape Town was the backwater of South African surfing. Page through back issues of Zigzag at that time and it’s all Durbs baby – east coast, warm water and baggies; hardly a shot of Cape Town. The water was too cold and there was all that kelp, which just wasn’t cool. I read those mags cover to cover a hundred times, but I can’t ever remember seeing a photographer on the beach in the Cape!

Sandblasted by the Southeaster and pickled in the south Atlantic, a potent mix of teenage hormones and salty sea foam; we were beyond obsessed with surfing. Every train conductor and teacher’s worst nightmare; our school books were covered in waves and logos. “If only they spent as much time on their schoolwork!”, our parents would bemoan. In truth we probably didn’t do the image of the sport any favours. Back then, you were either seen a talented sportsman wasting your time, at best, or a drugged out hippie.

In retrospect, we had to be contrary or we never would have managed the long hours of hitchhiking in the blistering sun, or the walks from blown-out Noordhoek to Long Beach traipsing for kilometres in the soft sand and clinging onto our boards in the howling wind. This was not what your average teenager did for kicks. Our greatest hopes were that one of our buddies would get a car so we could go surfing all the time, or maybe someday we would get lucky with that chick in the Doc Martins and hot pants sleeping off her hangover on Dangers beach.

We would spend many a rainy day holed up in Pete’s beach café on the Muizenberg shorefront, at the time surrounded by dilapidated flats and ruinous buildings, no glitzy surf shop fronts. When it rained we hid under our boardbags for cover and smoked Peter Stuyvesants to stay warm. There were no sharks in Cape Town then. Hours and hours were spent in murky onshore Muizenberg nearly a kilometre offshore and never once did we ever come across a shark, although we probably did get buzzed a million times. Ignorance was bliss.

One day while sitting on the dunes at Long Beach, we saw a small speck cresting a wave at perfect Sunset Reef. Noooit Bru! He turned, went for it and got obliterated in the biggest barrel we’d ever seen. It was Ian Armstrong apparently, the rumour mill confirmed and his first attempt ever to tame Sunset; on his own. Twiggy Baker was probably still in nappies and jetskis were for the Vaalies in Plett.

So it was from this grungy and rough surf scene that a handful of grommets got puked out onto the rocks at Outer Kom, trying to decide if they were going to lose their ‘Outers virginity’. I remember clearly that only two of us paddled out that day: John Farrell and Paris Basson. I watched John bounce down a massive Outers face on his 6’1” and make it to the shoulder, while Paris got annihilated and spat out by a giant whitewater, only to be sucked back in again.

There aren’t many moments in life we can say are defining, but on that day it seems a line was drawn between those who would go on to charge places like Dungeons and those who wouldn’t. I went a different path, a good path, but not one that would lead to Dungeons. So when I look at those pictures of drangonslayers like Paris and John carving up those South Atlantic behemoths, I can’t help but recall those unique early days and think to myself: “Well done my Chinas, you made it!”

Click here to check out all the entries so far >>

***

THE FINEPRINT:
Send your stories to calvin@zigzag.co.za. One submission will be selected every six weeks to appear in Zigzag magazine. The selected submission will also receive a hamper from Billabong. Zigzag retains the right to use any work submitted for the Zag Surf Journo competition on zigzag.co.za as outlined in the rules and terms of the competition. Zigzag reserves the right not to award a published winner in the magazine every six weeks, depending on the quality of entries. Zigzag is not obligated to run any and all entries submitted, either online or in print. Zigzag retains the right to edit all work submitted for brevity and / or clarity.

For the next three issues the Billabong prize hamper includes: 1 x Billabong Wetsuit; 1 x Billabong Boardies; 1 x Billabong Cap; 1 x Von Zipper Sunnies; 1 x Set of Kinetic Racing (KR) fins. After which the hamper will get a shake-up with new product of equal value for the following three issues.