Cape St Francis has been a bit of a circus lately. Boards and bodies everywhere, and waves disappearing under the weight of the crowd. It was into this chaos at Seal Point that I paddled the other day, with every intention of keeping my head down and out of trouble.
Naturally, that didn’t happen.
A big set rolled in, and I made a desperate scratch for the channel. Too slow. Charging straight toward me was a bodyboarder locked into his line, going full throttle. He had the wave of the day; I had the look of someone about to get tire tracks across their back.
The lip pitched. The whitewater hit me like a wall. I held onto my board for dear life and somehow, in the chaos, caught the wave lying down. Backwards. No style, no dignity whatsoever, just a clattering, flailing impersonation of a surfer..
Tandem, Sort Of
But the comedy didn’t end there. As I cleared the foam, the bodyboarder stayed on course and ploughed straight into me. He clipped me, rode me for a while before he rolled right over me, and lost the wave. I, on the other hand, couldn’t stop laughing. The whole thing was so absurd that I found myself still moving along the face, alone, still laughing.
So I did the only thing left to do: I stood up and rode down the line, still chuckling. I looked back to see the bodyboarder in the channel, waving me on and cheering as if we’d just won a tandem surfing event.
The car park must have heard the laughter. Surfers, bodyboarders, everyone in the lineup, all roaring at the ridiculous sight of two strangers colliding, tumbling, then turning it into some good entertainment.
No Rage
There was no shouting. No hand-flapping or wringing, and no rage. Just laughter. There really could have been rage. It’s busy out there these days.
Which, on reflection, might be a punch line. For all the unwritten rules of etiquette, the packed lineups, and the massive, simmering egos, surfing is still supposed to be fun. Sometimes it takes a total disaster of a wave to remind you.
So thanks to the bodyboarder who chose humour over anger. Thanks for letting an accident become a memory. At Seal Point, where tempers can flare as quickly as sets, it was a reminder that sometimes self-deprecation and the sounds of a good laugh travel further than any wave.
There endeth the lesson.
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