Bayview 2004: Tjoekie claims a second title
posted by Pierre Marqua on 5th July 2004
Friday, 2nd July 2004 dawned cold and wet, it was like the calm before the storm, 26 of South Africa’s best big wave bodyboarders were in town; there was a buzz in the air, a feeling of anticipation and apprehension.
Wavescape.co.za had called it for the following day, spike was speaking of a swell that only comes once every couple of years, still looking out across a flat bay that was scuffed by rain and wind squalls, it just didn’t seem possible.
Saturday morning arrived and so did the swell, the report came in, Bayview was a solid 15ft and perfect. Upon arrival in Walker Bay, the enormity of what was about to unfold dawned on many, some withdrew, some went quiet, it wasn’t 15 ft any more, it was more like 20ft and just getting bigger. The event was put on hold for safety reasons, it was just too big and all of the attempts to get a rubber duck or any kind of water backup into the water had fallen on deaf ears.
A small select crew within the crew of contestants made the decision to have free surf and we were in business. A large Southern Wright whale was the first to get a wave; it is something to see a whale of that size breach a wave face of 20 footer as if it were a dolphin playing with a pearler at Jeffery’s Bay.
As the rain came down in buckets, the crew consisting of Brandon Foster, Aadam and Ishmael Grant, Hankus Loubser, Ryan and Marc Jucker, Wade Harrison, Henk Esterhuisen, Tom Catlin, Marcel Habbets (the oldest of the bunch at 42) and Paul Morkel (the youngest at 14) were lead into the ocean by the man who pioneered bodyboardering at Bayview, Johan De Goede (Tjoekie). For the next two hours they rode mountains and endured hell, all in the name of fun. A mention must be made about our wave spotter Justin, who screamed and whistled till he was blue in the face, his keen eye and ability to see which sets were bearing down on the guys and which would drift wide helped those sitting out there a lot. Without any water support a little help goes a long way when sitting down there waiting for the biggest wave of your life.
As it goes with big wave surfing, the wipeouts are sometimes more spectacular than the actual surfing, and this day was no different. With waves now rolling in solid with 18 –20ft sets, the first casualty was the oldest guy out, Marcel Habbets lost his board duck diving a mammoth set and was washed in towards a very nasty ledge on the inside where he was put in a very dangerous position and had to endure about 10 sets on the head. Here his years of experience saved his life, by staying calm and never taking his eyes off the waves, he timed his dives perfectly and managed to swim himself to safety on the other side of the ledge. Hankus Loubser and Henk Esterhusien weren’t so lucky. Hankus caught a bomb that ran away from him, after dealing with the thrashing in the washing machine he was making his way back to the channel, when the next set arrived. After the first 3 waves had passed Hankus was not alone, he was joined by Henk Esterhusien and the machine: Ishmael Grant. The sets got bigger wave after wave, Ishmael opted to duck dive, Henkus and Henk decided to bail their boards, Ishmael made it out to the line up, Henkus and Henk lost their boards and ended up swimming for 45 minutes before a seal lead them to the relative safety of the back line. Swimming in at this stage was not an option as the coastline was white with foam from the monstrous seas. Aadam Grant and Brandon Foster both rode the biggest of the waves that day. Aadam dropped into a clean 18 footer and rode it as if it was a 6 foot wave a Long Beach, he carved a long cutback and then even got the courage to bust out with a reverse 360 air on a 15ft section, he controlled the rotation and whilst falling back to the wave got encased inside a barrel so big you could park a bus inside. It is a given that he took the thrashing thereafter. His board was gone and he joined the boys in the swim of his life.
Wade Harrison of Llandudno had the nasty experience of having his body board break in half after hitting a large chop and taking the whole thing on the head, luckily his leash didn’t snap and he made it back out to the safety of the back line. By this stage Hankus and Henk were near exhaustion from swimming under tons of unstable water, it was close on an hour since they started their ordeal and were finally assisted by fellow bodyboarders paddling back from the previous set, Ryan Jucker from East London had to carry Aadam on his back, “We saw another set building on the horizon and when I got to him I could see he was finished, so I popped him on my back and powered out to sea” Brandon Foster gave his board to Hankus and swam for a while, giving Hank an opurtunity to recover. Once everyone was well off the peak and sitting in deep water they formed a protective ring and waited for the NSRI.
Again here most people would have drowned, but superior fitness, a calm professional approach in the water and the fact that bodyboarders have flippers on most probably saved their lives. When the NSRI finally got to the crew the swells were heaving through in the 25ft+ region, those without boards got a ride to the harbour, the rest had to endure a 20 minute paddle back to the safety of the old harbour. Many thanks to Henk Henn and his crew from the NSRI for braving the seas and assisting in a situation that could have been a lot worse.
Back in the harbour no one could hide their joy, those that were out were beaming with adrenalin, whilst the loved ones who watched from the cliffs couldn’t contain their emotions, tears were shed and new bonds created. Everyone had survived, no one was hurt and Bayview as a Serious Big Wave spot had been conquered.
A phone call to the wave guru, Spike from
wavescape.co.za, confirmed that conditions would moderate overnight, the wind would switch, but remain calm, and everything looked set for the contest to run the following day.
By 8am the following morning, it was confirmed, we have a green light to proceed and the swell was running at a very contestable size for a bodyboarding big wave event, in the 10-15 foot range. Those that were humbled the day before were now rearing to get into the water and as another glassy beast barrelled its way down the rock shelf the first of the colored vests entered the water and the first heat of the day was underway. Heats were 35 minutes long, with four riders contesting the waves. Each rider would surf 2 heats and the highest counting rides would decide who would ride in the final.
What followed was a dazzling display of big wave bravado and as the bodyboarders adjusted to their environment, the surfing only got better and better. As a contest goes the boys were pushing each other to go bigger. Ishmael Grant pulled into a closeout that was so thick and heavy it earned him the wipeout of the contest. The whole beach cringed as the wave exploded over him and his silhouette could be seen going over the falls, pile driven in to the reef below. Wayne Gardner (Shaggy), Henkus and Tjoekie exploited the boiler, all launching big moves over a section most were happy to pull out of. Brandon Foster who is famous for his drop knee exploits in Hawaii, managed to show us his worth by riding a few monsters in the DK position.
As the swell started to dropped into the 8 to 10ft realm, the window for some solid tube riding opened. Michel Brink, Aadam Grant and Jonathan Catlin all responded to the challenge and were able to pull into a few grinding barrels.
Callum from Logic had a nasty swim without his board in his heat, he was washed dangerously close to the ledge and was eventually rescued by Aadam grant who paddled two boards out and then lead Callum through the rocks to the safety of the “beach”. Another notable swimmer was John Sutherland (Dwalla) who lost his board after pulling into a huge second reef barrel. He timed it to the second and a sprint swim from the impact zone to the rocks saved him from a nasty situation.
By late afternoon all the heats had been surfed except for the finals, the waves had dropped off considerably and the wind had swung onshore. The riders who had made it through to the final were exhausted but a winner had to be announced. A decision was made to take the top two scoring waves from each heat and to announce the winner.
17 year old Henk Esterhuisen finished 5th, with Hankus Loubser in 4th, Marc Jucker from the Eastern Cape came third. The man who bust the biggest move the previous day, Aadam Grant came second, and the well deserved winner was the man with the most knowledge of Bayview, namely Johan De Goede, who walked away with R400 in cash, a new Mike Stewart board, clothing and the 20kg Big Wave Trophy.
It was a brilliant event that packed the cliffs of Walker Bay with onlookers and at the end of the day both riders and spectators agreed that it was a resounding Success. The Bayview Big Wave Bodyboarding contest will hopefully become an annual event for invitation only, but the next time we hope people will take it seriously and back an event like this so that no rider will ever have to endure a swim like these boys did again. Any big wave event needs money and this event is something worth backing.
Respect to all those who paddled out.
Thank you to all those who sponsored this event.
Many thanks to those who risked their lives to save those in trouble without you this would never have happened.
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