Hooray for the great outdoors
Seven-year-old Jacob Malherbie is a lucky lad.
He is in the water surfing with dad Phillip already and he has a bunch of mates surfing and skating up a storm.
Pick the right friends and there is a skate ramp in the backyard somewhere.
Remember boys, methylated spirits is your friend and if it does not burn, it is not working. No pain, no gain.
Actually I am kidding. I have found water-based mercurochrome works just great and does not burn at all — take it from an old surfer skater who has seen enough concrete and tarmac close up in his lifetime.
Surfing and skating combine well in learning body geography through turns and both are obviously a great cardio workout and good vitamin D input.
Hooray for the great outdoors and the church of the blue open sky.
Courtesy of dad and some editing and posting, Jacob and friends can be seen on https://vimeo.com/691433322 having fun in the surf and on skateboards.
These are fortunate youngsters being introduced early, as second-generation surfers.
There are very few third-generation surfers like Joel Fowles, current SA champ, who have a family history of understanding of the sea and all the benefit of that — dads and grandads who take you to the right breaks and make sure you start with the right equipment on the right waves with good buddies.
As a first-generation surfer myself, I started hacking away on my own at the ripe old age of 15 with half the gear and no idea.
Jacob and his friends are truly on the right place, right time game.
Proud dad Phillip Malherbie is one of three brothers who sadly lost their dad at a young age.
Single mom Malherbie did a top job of raising three bright, tenacious athletes.
David, André and Phillip are all excellent surfers and great coaches besides.
All three have their sons (and daughter Maya) in the water.
I owe part of the success of my own surfing history to sticking close to David and André.
Not only are they great recreational surfers, but spectacular competitors too.
Above and beyond their own surfing, the Malherbie family have made a huge contribution to provincial and national surfing and young Jacob is stepping into well-trodden shoes and a proud path to continue.
In today’s photo I managed to snap dad, Phillip and Jacob about to jump off the slipway at Kwelera River mouth and surf a few waves on the user-friendly beach.
Ordinarily a river mouth is not an excellent place to play and please avoid them if you are not a good swimmer or do not know the ropes, so to speak.
Kwelera however is usually busy with families and surfers and is a great nursery for beginner surfers on its day.
If you rock up on a given day and you are a beginner and there is nobody there — rather give it a miss.
Wait until you can ask an elder guy or girl to chaperon you or even better still give Wayne Monk a call and spend some money on lessons (082-828-7977).
In town, Dean Knox and Jonginenge offer surfing lessons (083-305-2590) on Nahoon Beach any day of the week.
At weekends at Gonubie, Salty Hour has a free clinic with the Johnson family, Jono Bruton and friends.
Salty Hour is worth a Google. Summer is upon us and as soon as exams are done and school holidays get going, it is time for the beach.
The only trick with summer is there is a fair plethora of east wind and with that come blue bottles — do not rub sand on the sting, that only makes it worse.
Using urine to soothe the sting is only a bad joke.
Anthisan antihistamine cream is your friend.
The relief is instant and it is a great product to have at home for stings, itches and bites.
An Alergex pill or the syrup is helpful if you start to react badly.
However consult your physician if you tend towards allergies and asthma, but the bottom line is, if you keep the right friends and a modicum of smarts, surfing is generally a great and a safe sport.
Just don’t dive headfirst in the shallows. Or ask Jacob.
He knows what is going on these days.