SURFING: Shallow Reef + Keep a First-Aid Kit in the Car!

So the other morning I was looking at a popular surf spot in Cape Town. It was pretty good, but a bit small and super crowded by our standards. It also looked very slow, easy and a bit lacking in power... better suited to longboarding and SUPs. Why not leave it to them?

I then got to thinking about my New Year's Resolution: I want to surf or bodyboard at least one new wave every month this year. This is probably going to require some bravery and pushing the boat out on my behalf - either surfing bigger waves or shallower waves, or a few of each. So I thought, why not practice the shallow wave aspect?

I saw a little reef nearby. Ideally the tide should have been much higher and the swell a little bigger, but why not give it a go? I can't call this spot a new wave for me, because I remember trying it once or twice over ten years ago, but in more suitable high tide conditions!

Bam - ouch! I hadn't even got into the water yet - this was from me slipping on the rocks before I'd even jumped into the water! Luckily I was carrying my soft-top surfboard, and it didn't even get a crack on it when I dropped it onto a rock as well, but my hand was pretty sore!

So, if you're going to play stupid games (and win stupid prizes), it's good to have plasters, tape and other first-aid goodies in the car!

Never mind a bit of blood in shark-infested waters... let's paddle out - the waves are small, shallow and unusually glassy for summer!

The wave is warping over shallow rocks...

"Look carefully and you can see that the rocks, that the wave is breaking along, are nearly exposed..."

Here I am committed to the take-off, right next to an exposed rock on my inside...

Hmmm, maybe time to get off the wave!

I started to surf the slightly more outside section that broke on the last shallow part of the reef and then faded a bit into deeper water...

But even that got me pretty close to the dry rocks soon enough, haha!

So, as you can see, the madness of the SurfHive chargers like @luizhadad and @lucasrocha94 has inspired me to push myself just a little bit... but I'd better make sure I carry some first-aid kit in my car for places like this, even if it's just for the challenge of walking along the shore! Hahaha!

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