Bruce's Beauties Fires Up - "The Endless Summer" Then vs Now!
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2023
- We wake up to the biggest swell in my lifetime and the beaches and infrastructure have been totally dismantled...
I take a quick look at the damage on our J Bay point before heading to St Francis Bay to check out the damage there and to film Bruce"s Beauties going off in a massive south west swell...a very rare occurrence!
I give you some rare insights into how St Francis Bay used to look in the 1960"s and what has happened to the beaches and the surf break over time...join me in a walk down memory lane and to see Bruce's Beauties on fire! - Спорт
You nailed it this is exactly what happens when people build houses and put structures on the sand dunes! The dunes are the natural storm buffer for the coastline and when humans interrupt the sediment transport systems and foredune zones erosion occurs during storm cycles.
Of course it then gets blamed on climate change instead of the real reasons this kind of thing happens.
This much beach loss is almost always caused by multiple factors. The damming of rivers (and mining of sand) that carry sand to the beach may be factor 1. Factor 2 is the disruption of along shore sand transport. Factor 3 may be the placement of rock which reflects wave energy back to sea, taking the beach with it.
However, the intensification of the storm track around the southern ocean, an aspect of the climate crisis is a very real factor here. Sea level rise may also be a factor. What is clear is that this disaster is not a natural disaster. Human activity caused it.
Climate change is happening too. Not the same problem as man-made coastal erosion but the increased intensity and frequency of storms, coupled with the rise in sea levels (are people going to argue with that too?), all those things are factors that change the quality of surf spots. In the end, the quadrupling of the earth's population that's occurred in the past 60 years has strained the planet's resources beyond repair as well as its ability to adapt to and absorb these man-made impacts. I don't think any political or scientific solution is going to save us from what's happening. Eventually, the planet will be fine though, with or without us.
Side note last several years has been some of the most active solar flares and coronal mass ejections ever recorded. The earth can handle a lot more humans but it will require us to work with it. We will die from plastic and poisoning long before we go from climate and searise. But maybe we can solve it with paying a carbon tax to the guys with private jets who own the scientists and media 🤙🏼
I watched the Huntington Beach Pier get washed away 40 years ago. (83?) It was WASHED AWAY, and I saw it! People have very short memories, especially surfers 🙂. It's the story of our planet.
Climate change will blame carbon emissions and social media will use propaganda to make you feel guilty about it yet this has nothing to do with the weather we are seeing currently, we are in a solar maximum so more energy is being absorbed by the earth. Go look at what stage we are in the solar maximum. The coastal shoreline where they have been eroding for millions of years will continue to erode especially when you block dunes from transporting the sand that built the beach in the first place, this climate change is a conspiracy theory funded by profit agendas please stop being parrots and copy pasting what you see on dystopian propaganda news 👍🏻
Excellent on so many levels. So informative. Always knew the golf course was a problem. Cest la vie. Well done Trevor; impressive
Thanks Steve appreciate it!
Nice to hear your history on this stretch of coast. Such a devastating impact us humans have on the natural world. I remember watching endless summer as a grom in the late 90's and being in awe of the perfection of bruces. It would be a dream to see it like that again one day.
Hi John, sad to see & feel results of unscientific & greedy development! I began surfing Seals with George & Jimmy Bell in mid 70's. Amazing memories of tired legs after just one long wave! Keep up good work of environmental awareness. Best regards John Church jr. (Sunrise Point, Ballito)
Its Trevor here John was owner of the yacht we were on.. A pleasure and thx!
You’re not moaning Trev, you’re EDUCATING (and we appreciate it!).
It’s fully kak what developers have done to that beautiful area - the place you grew up.
Thanks heaps for this brilliant expose🏆
And jassus, you sure know how to edit and present my bru…solid skills👏🏽!!
Many thx still learning and loving it. Your feedback is sooo appreciated 🙏
Great insight and archival footage Trev! Such a bummer what has become of the St Francis Beach and Bruces.
Keep the videos coming, love your work
Thxs Nick yeah not trying to offend/blame anyone just telling it like it is... Not always lekka but its real... Thx mate!
Super interesting to see what has happened through the progression of our interference along a pristine area and the sad long term effect that has developed since and changed these surf spots and locations forever. Bravo.
Trevor, Thanks for a well edited and informative video. I recall rushing over the dunes to this mystical Bruce’s Beauties in 1969 and it was flat. But at least Seals was reliable.
Hey Ken a pleasure... Think one of the waves of the old footage may have been you.. Hope you well
Super sad to see it in modern times. Nevil Hulett was my Uni flat mate and had an uncanny sense of when Bruce's was going to fire. He used to shoo me off to bed in their St. Francis residence so that we could surf the break before the PE boys arrived. Countless epic barrels on the sandbar at low tide with just the 2 of us in the water. And when we were not surfing, we were riding dirt bikes over the steep Sand River dunes to Oyster Bay & back...
Say Hi to Mickey Duffus when you see him again. We spent countless days competing and enjoying Kogel Bay, Berry's Bay, Strand and Bikini Beach.
Love the channel!
Yip Nev and I surfed two up 10ft at 69's back in the day before anyone new about it. Today its the Port..
Will pass on.. Thx👌
great footage, great info regarding coastline, sandflow etc. appreciate the video!
John, I know we must move with the times, but the saying “ the good old days” was real. Glad I lived it. Your passion for your area
is to be respected and so many thanks. Will be a long term viewer, many thanks.
"Trevor" here no worries its a pleasure..
Amazing Trevor. Thank you for the History lesson. Priceless. Shot
Absolutely fascinating looking at those old pictures of cape st Francis
Great explanation and history with all the shots of what it used to look like. As a teenager in the late 60's I lived across from Millers for 4 years and had the chance to surf Bruce's and Jbay a few times. Looks so different now. Moved back to Michigan in 1969 but have great memories of South Africa and that area to last a life time. Thanks for the video's. Now subscribed.
Much appreciate the understanding of the history of how the place was developed, and the consequences...
Thanks for documenting this killer swell A complete shame on the destruction of the beaches Keep em coming my friend and Be well 👍🤙
Ah! the surf fantasies. You should have been here yesterday.
Thank you for this wonderful footage and first-person commentary.
Welcome a pleasure!
We have met the enemy and he is us.
What awesome footage. Makes one realise how vulnerable we humans are against the might of the ocean. How very sad to see the destruction though. Thank you for sharing.
Nature always WINS.. any other questions....
I have a question, What you talkin’ bout Willis?
Very thorough explanation. Thank you. Man changes something and then passes blame elsewhere, gotta love it.
No blaming anyone its what happens and we all contributed unfortunately. Pity we didnt know what we were doing...
That was a terrific history lesson. Cheers!
Just to say, thoroughly enjoyed that coverage of St Francis Bay and Bruces. Tried four times to score Bruces in the 1990s and finally got it on my fifth trip. Cyclone swell and without doubt, my best day of surfing ever. J Bay was way out of my league on the day. Stayed in the Protea St Francis Bay Hotel with the thatched roof but it is no longer there.
Wanted to emigrate and go live there, it felt like pure heaven. Sad to watch the video of the situation now and the development but so appreciative of you putting it all together..........reminder of great times, great days before smart phones and tech kicked in.
🙏
Agree with John. The true beauty and purest of surfing is J Bay, Bells, snapper, Kirra. These waves being surfed by Shaun Thomson,
Mark Richards, Micheal Pietersen is pure perfection. Art drawn on a wave. WSL is air rubbish.
Thank you so much. I was fortunate to have visited the area in 2000 and a few more years after. Never got to surf Bruces, but I did get Seal Point a couple of times. Appreciate the history and information.
Until we meet again. Cheers and greetings from South Carolina.
Such an incredible reminder on how humanity needs to make long term decisions when it comes to having "sea view" properties
human reclamation of land has much more impact than nature’s course if left unhindered. you can see they replaced the dunes with rocks. there was no foresight. nature will always prevail and it's a timely reminder . hope all affected are doing well. love your optimistic attitude of the whole situation 🙏
Great story and love the history. Relate to it well...endless SFBay beaches and Bruces as a beach break point perfection in the mid seventies.
thanks for the insight on the region! loved old photos and video clip of 'old ballie' ripping 😝
👌
Pity they had to build houses so close to the beach there... The same thing happened where I grew up in Melkbos. The place used to fire quite frequently back in the day and I can only imagine it was even better before my time😅 So kiff to check you darting down the point on that quad setup🏄happy days✌️ your vids have been making me froth to get back in the water again 😁 keep up the good work!
Yes, not a single house along Supers to the Point back then - just that beautiful coastal dune vegetation. We used to shelter there near that keyhole jumpoff spot between sessions - fantastic times.
Trevor, I am completely blown away. What a playground we had. So shocked to see that my home on the main canal is now beach front property. Wow😢
Its so sad to see how much development has ruined the once sand bottom point breaks... Not only the J Bay area but in Australia too.....Mother Nature getting even, but really the money grab and the poor fools see their million dollar houses being under mined and washed away and the perfect point breaks turning into a close out...The once sandy beach,,, rocks...Local people trying to tell brainless developers how coast lines work and telling them what would happen and keeps happening....Ive seen the Endless Summer footage so I can understand how you must feel..Developers need a course in Hydroledgey...I know I cant spell..Insane swell,, WOW.
my first brand new board was bought at the shop on kam hwy in pearl city...made $$$ selling puka shell necklaces to tourists...craig sugihara 1974...6' twin fin...$120...i was 13...surfing changed my life forever...thank you!
it happened at kirra on the gold coast , development caused the beach to disappear but council sorted that problem out by a series groynes and a sanding pumping jetty , need to invest if you want the surf back and beach protected
Thanks for sharing, amazing
Another Great show
Really enjoying your clips - thanks. I was lucky to spend the Winter of 1978 in South Africa - met some great people there, hitched with a Durban local from Durban to J Bay and back via Wild Coast - an adventure in itself, surfed Umdumbi River point along the way and arrived in J Bay a day after the swell arrived and the PE drug squad had arrested many of the local surfers, most on suspicion, holding them for 2 weeks as the law allowed, while the waves pumped, mostly in the 6 foot range with a couple of bigger days but nothing like what you showed this year. I stayed with a few other crew at Atlantis there on the point above Magnas, for 1 rand a day, but never got to Bruces ...
Those were the days Atlantis is no more but most the rest still around.. Glad you saw JBay back then.. 🙏
Wonderful insight thank you
such a shame what they did, with development. money talks. wish i could have seen it in the old days but lucky to have at least seen it in my youth. thanks for sharing all the old footage and great explanations of all the changes
When you walk down the boardwalk to the beach the wave at 5:52 is absolutely huge and unforgiving looking! 🐸
Lot bigger than it looks on video believe me.. That's why nobody is out..
great work , love it. thank you
Jy was 'n yster op daai golwe!! Great video. Was wonderful to see the old photo's of the area. I feel really sorry for coastal property owners...those so close to the beach. Have a great weekend.🎉
Have just discovered your show, my wife and I now living in Sydney Australia have loved watching your footage, very sad to see what has happened to st Francis bay. Loved your chat to Gigs an old Kneelo mate of mine. Keep up the good work and hope to catch up with you when I visit J Bay in the future.
Awesome and a pleasure!!
Sir Ballie, thank you for another vireo filled with Stoke! keeps us okes overseas "alive"
Thanks for taking the time to make and share the footage
Excellent explanation wow i learned so much ! Really insightful thanks for the great video
Thx!!
Hey Trevor what interesting info laid out alongside of your historic fotos. Very stoked that Tim foaled me into your channel . Blessings. Nick
Pleasure bud and thx!!
John, groins are the only way to build up and hold some sand in place! Not jetties, but groins that the sand can flow over and around and cover the rocks as the sand moves during swells. Jetties are too high when built, but groins are low level, and the sand can build up and flow over and around them holding sand and creating some beach area. North County San Diego where I lived at Moonlight Beach had really good beaches! The sand bars were epic on every beach from Oceanside to below the Mexican border! They all broke well and hollow on swells from High to low tide from 1972 when I moved there as a grom, through 1983, then in February and March of 1983 big winter storms washed away all the beaches from Oceanside to below the Mexican border! it hasn't been the same since! You Have Oceanside and the harbor jetty that is right where Camp Pendelton starts, with a huge beach north side of the jetty. Almost 200 yards to get to the water! Then the south side has the north jetty and south jetty that holds a lot of sand. Problem is the sand doesn't flow around the south jetty very well. Between the jetties the beach is a hundred yards to the water. South side of the jetty is a small river mouth that feeds a little sand to the southern part of Oceanside to the pier and down to Carlsbad and beyond. The high tide just south of the pier by one block all the way to Del Mar beach, the high tide reaches the cliffs! They dredge the harbor mouth every late winter toward Spring, to add sand to the pier area south. but any late northwest wind swells after the dredging, and the sand is carried away! If they built some groins like back in New York and New Jersey, there would be some beach area to help keep the ocean waves from destroying the shoreline. they are not smart enough to build those groins though!
Back in 1985, I recall your prediction of significant consequence to Bruce's from all that development. Such a bummer.
Hey Paul! yip wasnt difficult to see it coming. Back then we were talking about groins and nobody would listen...30 years later, millions of rand wasted and mega damage.. Now they want to build groins...
Ours was like this. 60's huge sand dunes for miles at Cronulla dropping down to the coastal dunes and the long walk along the beach to the waves. Most is gone to the building industry and what little left was washed away from one end to the other early this year with 20 foot plus drops eaten away in places. No feeder from the old massive sandhills anymore.The surf is now just one long 6 km closeout these days.
Rock barriers and grassing simply do not work. Ours once again washed away as the rocks and seebees were undermined and tons of sand washed away. All they could do was dump tons of sandstone rocks over the damage.😡
Hiya an oldie here from Ant's days! I live in the UK now. Another oldie I miss is Bruce Gold. Is he still around? Take care and keep your excellent tube going. Cheers - Rob Lindegger
Bruce still alive and kicking and still strolling the boardwalk... Before damage😁. Many thx👌
Hey Thanks for your great coverage over the last few posts and concerns for your beloved JBay and back to your home at Cape St Francis .
I do believe Climate events are contributing to the erosion but also agree development is the major factor to coastal dune destruction.. Groins will protect property but are not the solution as they affect coastal current and kick the disruption to another location .. In the South West of Western Australia where there is no development allowed the natural sand and current movements it is stable sand comes and goes seasonally . This winter Antartica did not freeze up as it has usually does and these swell huge events and here we had the hottest September on record
Reassessing costal rules is something that needs serious long term consideration for conservation particularly of our beloved surf locations . Regards John I’ve been surfing now 50 years
Such cool pics!
So glad I stumbled across your page during the Jbay contest. Thanks for giving us a tour of your hometowns and filming great surfing along with great stories. Cheers!
you still have a great wave there, my local in the 70's was Piha north island west coast New Zealand, Raglan if we travel 2.5 hours south. I agree with you that people are too quick to claim climate change
Loving the old film❤
That was so interesting. My grandafthers beach house was on Anne Avenue. My parents sold it in the early 80s and bought one on the canals. But as an Ingram my dad never told me about our family history in the area. I always assumed it was just random that my grandad had a house there. Might need to do some research as my dad (and his brother) passed away ... so unfortunately cannot just ask him.
Really good material about the place and how it used to be. Sad to know what has happened.
🙏👍
Trev, that storm was something to behold bud. One of the guy's from our Alma Mater suffered some serious damage at Cape St Francis.
Thanks man I feel like I learned a couple things. Very good content
Wild events! Thank you for the footage and knowledge with the old photos and such!
High foredunes also can provide some protection from tsunamis, I notice the development at St Francis is quite vulnerable, I wouldn't buy a house there. Thanks for video!
Glad I wasn’t on one of those boats out at sea. Sad to see the boardwalk washing away at J Bay.
Top Content! I enjoyed all the history and the vintage footage including you ripping. Mahalo from Hawaii, hope to visit one day.
Love your old photos!!
Love that old footage. Man the POWER of the Ocean ! That happened at our beach about 30 years ago.
24:51 amazing wave; even changed the wetsuit while in the tube
Thanks for the insight into St Francis bay. I remember surfing there as a kid in the late 90s when I lived in Cape Town and driving up with my father. One question though, is Seal Point with full stop rock the same spot as Bruce’s Beauties?
Nope next bay Cape St Francis at light house.. That's Seal Point break.. Bruce's is in St Francis Bay
@@oceanadventures365 ah ok cool, I appreciate the reply. Have a cool day man🤝
Amazing documentary!
Regards from Brazil! 🇧🇷
Thanks for sharing the old photos and videos. Beaches are changing all over the world, its too bad most people don't seem to notice until its too late.
Sad what happened to that beach. Similar has happened to some beaches here in CA, but not quite as bad.
Awesome video 👍this is happening at my area of Southern California. Loosing all our sand,so sad.
A wealth of knowledge and history. Very informative with your archive photo's. Sad to see the development and greed. I could never understand how close some developments have been permitted to be built to the high water mark. Breaks my heart to see the over development in J bay.
The Ballie ripped and still does!
Spoken as a friend.. Thx bud we getting a bit slow now 🤣
Not “moaning”, oke - just solid, insightful commentary on the long term effects of rapacious and greedy developers…
Interesting story and practical explanation, just super sad to see the price of development. I share your hurt brother, I know what it's like to watch your home break get destroyed a little more every day!
The cancelling of the WSL JBay Corona Classic. How bizarre JBay is the best venue. Maybe run a local competition in July 2024
Guys already busy...
Screw the wsl
Lekker channel. Never surfed but man always great to watch. Back in the day fishing, body surfing and just being alive. This is a good learning curve on your developer comments. Always said leave the dunes to Mother Nature and build back so the next generation can enjoy the landscape. Elitism is everywhere. This time all the damage which went a ways to disrupt nature just to hit a small white ball. Crazy what Mother Nature dies but to me it does look cleansed. Things will come right. Salute.
We should never mess with Nature! Gotta work with it.
Great vids, awesome content 💪
Much appreciated🙏
Great job on the video, we see similar issues all over the world with development, hopefully we can learn from it.
Great footage well put together. Unbelievable changes. I was friends with Bruce, he was a very different person in real life, good guy for sure. More of a gearhead than surfer. Legend for sure. And in my opinion Fish surfs better than many top pro’s these days. Thx for sharing.
all that sand moving might create some old school epic banks.
Cool. Good Content
awesome vid!
🙏
Hi Trevor, I think groins are probably the only feasible, relatively low cost, option to save the beaches. It worked in PE. I grew up in Summer strand and saw first hand what the pier did for Hobie Beach and Pollock. Although the latter often still gets denuded of sand by big storms. I know the IT wizards can do a lot of modelling but it would be sad to see them put anything up near the point. Rather further towards the Krom mouth and let the beaches back-fill towards the point over time. Might take a while. PE's bay beaches still have Sardinia Bay and Maitlands feeding sand into the bay.
On a more positive note, archive footage is awesome! Love the laid back style you okes had.
Loving the channel. First popped into my feed because I was checking out the latest storm damage and very grateful for that.
Greetings from London.
In PE they have cleared the dunes of the invading vegetation that stabilised the dunes. Sardinia bay look totally different now when compared to 20nyears ago. That Sand river had consumed most of the man-made infrastructure already. Its a slow process though.
Groins are a bandaid. They only work for a short while. More often than not, they totally gone after 10 to 30 years. I've seen it happen in my own backyard. Coastal erosion may be accelerated by human activity in many cases, but it's also a natural phenomenon that happened long before man was on this planet and will continue long after we're gone. To think we can stop that process is not the way to go. Being adaptable is probably the best thing we can do. Ocean Beach in San Francisco is a great example of that. If you look at the main swell direction and the intensity of those swells versus the angle of that beach, there is absolutely no way to stop erosion in the long term. I don't know Cape St Francis or the J-Bay area but massive ocean swells will always have the last word.
Last time we let the “IT” engineers mess with our beaches and jetty’s they ruined my states best surf spot and completely destroyed it
Love the educational info. So sad to see the sand gone. I know how sad I would be if I watched this happen to my home break that relies on strong summer winds to restore the sand. I know when the sand is back, the banks are back and it's gonna barrel!
excellent vid!
Fantastic video very very interesting, always amazed at surfer they clearly are very wealthy or own there own company .
Great to see you have lived there all your life ! Those fishing boats out at sea what are they catching , thank you for video
Boats catch squid and most us older guys semi retired or working remotely with own businesses..👌
Fascinating stuff, i have a house in Paradise Beach so this is a major concern. 🤙 groins or possible sand pumping like the tweed river in Oz, it would make St Francis into a super bank.
It’s criminal how we humans can completely f*ck an area of such outstanding beauty - money wins over nature every time - we never learn
Great video. My home beach in NZ has disappeared as well, almost identical scenario. Makes you wonder if storms are larger or the sea level has risen.
Thanks for the trip back in time to the wide open beach. I have some photos from '65 which may be your old house? Remember a crazy dude Dannie who drove a Morris Minor dually beach buggy like a mullet!
Classic stuff yeah there were a few characters back then and nobody cared. Hope you got to sample Bruce's in its prime!!
That's a lot of change in a short period of time. Checkout those groins made of giant sandbags. Line them up to the height you want the beach sand to build up to. Easily added to, changed or relocated.
Very nice barrel sir 😁
Over in the Cape Francis area Say hello to Neville Tell him Sid Says hello Thanks
Boardwalks are the least of our concerns as storms and sea level claim the coasts.
That will be next..
Manix VWs...love that picture 😊
I was out at bruces,best Bruce’s I’ve surfed then the rest of the days were funky like on the video
Back in the day...
Wow ... wish i was there,, im from down south west oz ,, theres a massive amount of housing development since the 70's down there now and yep the same thing changed the coast,, but what can you do about it, people always going to try an make money from development
Would you have any old footage of Tony Van Den Huevel? I surfed with him at Jeffrey's in 1970 when I made the trip to SA as a result of seeing Bruce Brown's Endless Summer movie.
I believe Tony died several years ago but back in the late 60s and early 70s he had the reputation of being a very capable surfer. He also surfed with Nat Young, Wayne Lynch and Ted Spencer, I think, when they were at JBay.
Almost no footage from back then.. We had old 8mm and 16mm cine but somehow it got lost.. Was pretty bad anyway but would have been cool. Have called around and nothing available unfortunately..
I had some old 8mm myself but its quality deteriorated a lot over time and some as well as a portion of it being lost. I also filmed at Elands Bay and that has been lost as well.
The early 1970s was a long time ago and the technology then was very different of course.
All the housing development at Jeffreys is stunning to see. There was none of that back then except for a shower and toilet block. The closest development that I can recall was Jeffreys village which was a short drive away.