There is a quiet sadness at St. Francis Today remote office after the unexpected passing of dear friend Stephen Bibb. I had known Stephen for over 40 years. From Pinelands in Cape Town to JBay to the St Francis Market. We worked on many projects together. A familiar surfer in the JBay lineup and a well-known artist in the area. Stephen died last week while surfing, something he was devoted to.

Unmoored

His death has left many feeling unmoored. Stephen had a calm presence. He was someone who moved effortlessly between the sea and his art, drawing inspiration from both. He didn’t chase attention, but people noticed him. For his kindness, his talent, and the way he seemed most himself with salt on his skin and a board under his arm.

That he left this world doing what he loved feels strangely fitting. Though it doesn’t make the loss any easier.

These are the words of Derek Hynd. Derek is an Australian surfer, raconteur, and former JBay resident who called Stephen a friend. (I have lifted these words, slightly edited, from Derek’s Facebook page)

“Stephen Bibb. A nicer person in any sea of darkness, I shall never have the pleasure of knowing. If 30 people would be raising bluster and havoc at Supers, come an hour post-dawn, every dawn, every season, every year, every decade, ‘Bibb’ would already be readying to leave the water having finished his surf at Boneyards alone.

It was the mark of this beautiful human being. He never raised a qualm. At times, I’d be out there with him, knee high or telegraph pole, with that wry fatalistic humour, all the greater, the bigger the sets, never changing. Somehow, he’d deflect the suggestive power of a brutal looming wave with a quip as the first wave of a set from deep sea started to pitch.

Bibb Dolphins

I was lucky enough to have him spray the pods in my cottage. To be surrounded within them by a sea of Bibb dolphins was out of this world.

Stephen Bibb offered anyone fortunate enough to cross his path a type of spiritual shelter without a word needing to be said. Simply, he was drenched in calming aura. People like these, hard if not highly unlikely to ever replace.”

RIP Stephen