It was a Banger Of A Season in St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis. Excepting for the weather, that is, and the resultant poor surf, the season was epic. Fully booked restaurants, buzzing coffee shops, packed out Cape St Francis Beach when the sun was out, and visitors and locals alike enjoying the two weeks of madness.
There was so much going on, and I completely turned off all sorts of social media after seeing the incredible amount of bemoaning and whining on Facebook. Still, amongst it all, a few highlights raised eyebrows, impressed or made us chuckle.
Plus 27 at Billy’s.
Jordy Smith’s new movie premiered at Billy’s Beach before the big jols started, and it was an excellent movie with literally half of the country’s surfing community there to watch and cheer on. It was great surfing, inspiring everyone, and then it went onshore for about two weeks.
Billy’s donating R500k to charity.
A huge thank you to the organisers of Billy’s Beach for an incredible R500 000.00 donation towards the Rotary Club of St Francis’ charitable and community projects. The donation was presented at the Ballie’s Charity Event on 2 January 2024 and gratefully accepted by Rtn Andrew Watson on behalf of the Club. Matt Davis, representing St Francis Football Clubs, was also on hand to thank the donors.
St Francis Rotarians will manage the distribution and expenditure of the donated funds on behalf of Billy’s Beach. They will consult with their management team this week to determine how the funds will be put to the best possible use through 2024.
What a fantastic difference this is going to make! Thank you, Billy’s Beach and all those who supported their charity event.
The River Club
It’s so lekker to see a new hub in St Francis doing it right and getting the attention it deserves. The River Club opened just in time for the season, and it was most definitely a case of, ‘if you build it, they will come.’ The Padel courses were busy, the restaurant was rocking, and everyone in the village was talking about it. Love your work, guys.
Shipwreck
One minute, we were looking at the beauty of Shark Point from Seals car park, and then there was sommer a trawler parked on the Shark Point rocks, upsetting the feng shui of our views. We still need to work out how a 29m trawler managed to park onto the rocks at Shark Point with zero swell and light wind conditions. Well done to all involved with the rescue.

Photo Dave Bowmer
Wild Side Sunsets
These things have become quite popular. There is not too much parking around sunset on the entire Wild Side stretch as everyone goes down to have a glass of refreshment; watch the sun go down and take as many pics/selfies/videos as possible of the dying of the light. Need to go down early to get a park and a prime piece of beach, but it is very festive and quite a sight to behold – all the people, as well as the sunset moments.
Party Response
There was a massive party in Lyme Road South recently, and I saw a post a few days after the fact from a neighbour and it read something along the lines of, “Big party on Lyme Road South…
Congrats on your playlist, partypeople. You can keep us awake with those bangers any day of the week.” That’s a very cool approach.
Police Chase
Then, we also had the big police chase in St Francis Bay, with a young (underage) driver evading a roadblock, and a high-speed car chase ensues. The car ended up crashing into a tree; no one was hurt, thank goodness, and who knows what happened when the police arrived. The comments under the photo were pretty hilarious, though.
Flash Float
The Flash Float was another massive success, with 3,500 people floating along for a good cause. Well done to the organisers.
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