Two more surfers of “extraordinary self-confidence” run gauntlet at J-Bay; captured, threatened with six months jail: “Round them up and bring them to the locals. Lots of spare energy to sort them out!”

Locals, again, red with indignation etc.

The online commentary in yesterday’s article on the Doctor who surfed at Supers and wanted to apologize was brutal, as only it can get on BG.

(Read here.)

Luckily, not too much was aimed at me, and it was mainly directed at the interloper, who really wanted to express his regret and move on.

What I did take to heart though, was that there wasn’t enough context in the article, and commentator Jordy’s Pout helped out a bit there.

Mr Pout described the South African situation perfectly, and I quote (but edited to suit me),

“The article didn’t give proper context to the extent of the lockdown. It has nothing to do with beaches being closed, or surfing being banned. We literally have to stay in our homes, except to buy food or medical supplies (or if you work in related supply chains). All non-essential businesses are closed. There’s no allowance for exercise or recreation outside of your own home. The president specified that any visitors still in the country when lockdown started would have to stay in their hotels for the 21 days. Clear as daylight.”

With that as context, when two local surfers paddled out at Supers on Sunday afternoon, the other locals obeying the rules and staying at home were pissed off, again, and the two surfers were called many names on social platforms, none of them flattering.

They surfed for a while, and a few people grabbed a few clips from the phones from balconies overlooking the waves.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Vcvr7DB5q/

It is heartbreaking for them all, watching from their homes, but the general consensus, much like yesterday’s theme was, “What makes these two so fucking special?”

These two laaities are locals, and they will be dealt with by the older locals.

As one of the more notorious older locals said on Facebook, “Round them up and bring them to the locals. Lots of spare energy to sort them out. Name and shame.”

Another local mentioned, “It would be nice to know who these guys were. Name and shame them cos you are right, lockdown means fucking lockdown for everyone… No exceptions.”

There are enough people who are taking this all as seriously as it should be, and are fully aware of what is coming.

The two surfers were apprehended by security and police, and were both given their options: R5,000 fine (three hundred US) or six months in jail.

They both took the fines.

They were unceremoniously marched into the back of a police wagon, and driven down to the local station.

Next offence is six months in a cell.

Was it worth it?

Well, the waves were ok, average. It wasn’t anything like the final at last year’s Corona J-Bay (between two Brazilian goofy-footers, both have world titles, read about it here) but is sure as fuck wasn’t a R5,000 per person session.

In the big picture, it’s not an outrageous amount of money, but in a world that is broken and there is no more income forthcoming, it’s a huge and stupid waste.

It’s not the point though.

The point is that there are hundreds of surfers in the area, and in the country, there are also hundreds of fishermen, and divers, and open water swimmers, and kayakers.

We all want to surf, to be in the ocean.

My boy is eleven years old and all he wants to do is surf.

All the groms want to surf. It’s what we do.

We surf.

But we can’t, because it’s the law during lockdown.

It’s the fucking law.

So don’t be a poes.

Be lekker, ekse.

Chill. Relax.

Have a massive dop, or have a skyf or a gwaai or whatever it is that you need to do to get over this kak time in our lives when we can’t go surfing.

Just don’t be a poes, seriously.

We will all be surfing again, if we all work through this together.

The alternative is too heavy to think about.

Translation:
Laaities = young surfers, a bit older than groms, but younger than the established crew. Haven’t done their hard work yet.
Poes = meaning female genitalia, it is typically considered a foul word as it is often used to refer to or describe someone with utter disgust.
Lekker = cool, good.
Ekse = I say
Dop = alcoholic beverage
Skyf = marijuana rolled up neatly inside some rizla.
Gwaai = tobacco cigarette
Kak = faeces