The Tand Invitational

I used to bodyboard.  It was good fun.  You could rock up at the beach and just throw yourself into dredging pits and not really care about the consequences.  I learned how to handle myself in bigger stuff through bodyboarding.  Of course, getting to my feet on those same square barrelling waves is still an ongoing quest.  I start surfing when I had more time to explore waves further afield than the slabby Boland of my youth.  It was the right move, at the right time in my life.

Still, when I see stuff like this going on, I do slightly miss those prone days.

via Claire Butler Photo

That's a place a short drive up the coast called Tand - it means tooth for those abroad.  It's pretty savage and guys have only started surfing it fairly recently.  It drains out over a solid granite slab thats so shallow, you can see the grain in the rock when you take off.  The lip is so thick it looks like a bent elbow coming down on your headlock pip.  It's not for ants, or any insect, and most vertebrates, including myself. 

They had a comp there this week.  Bodyboarding kind of died off a bit with my generation, but if they continue with stuff like this, it's not going anywhere and may even have a resurgence.  This is as the sport should be.  Well done to the organisers and competitors.

Check out more on their FB page or look at the pics at Claire's