by Jeremy Johnson on 12th May 2017

Magicseaweed

It has been a very slow last few years for big waves in and around Cape Town, South Africa. So with the promise of a 3.5 meter @17 second swell, with very light winds, everyone was excited for an early start to the winter season.

The boys were on it early with Twiggy and Ant Fox launching at first light followed by myself and our safety driver for the day Murray Willcocks. It was Murray’s first-day running safety out at Dungeons and he did a great job.

The conditions at Dungeons were perfect and glassy with no wind to speak of and a beautiful big ground swell barrelling across the reef. It has been a long time since we saw Dungeons like this and all the boys were keen to make the most of it, which they did in style. Our very own Big Wave World Champion for the second time, Twiggy, was joined by a strong local crew and a few new faces.

It was your typical day out at Dungeons, big waves, closeout sets, heavy wipeouts, broken boards, and leashes. Some of the new guys put themselves in the spot and caught amazing waves, while the more experienced local crew waited it out and were rewarded for their efforts with some great waves of their own.

Of the swell, magicseaweed’s head forecaster Ben Freeston said: ”While swells in the 30ft range are a southern hemi norm, this one ticked the boxes by positioning itself in the goldilocks range from the coast; not so close as to bring disruptive local winds but close enough that it didn’t lose too much size before the reef. Not an all-time swell but a great starter for a season.”