The Sand of St Francis Rekindling the magic of Bruce’s Beauties
If Bruce Brown visited St Francis Bay today, he probably wouldn’t recognise it. The surf filmmaking legend last visited South Africa fifteen years ago, more than three decades after he uncovered the surf spot that defined his magnum opus, Endless Summer.
When Bruce passed through in ’92, whilst filming ES2, he was disappointed by the way that rampant development had caused the obvious denigration of the wave bearing his name, Bruce’s Beauties.
Over subsequent years, the crucial movement of sand, from the dunes to the beach, has been completely stunted by a tide of brick and mortar. This is a malaise common on the SA coast, where a combination of lax regulation and unscrupulous building practises has resulted in ugly construction and much environmental damage.
A fickle spot at the best of times, Bruce’s Beauties now rarely fire, and the once-seamless sections hardly connect. Even worse, the beach has retreated an average of sixty feet along this stretch, and recent storm surf caused a seaside road to collapse.
But there is hope. Residents formed the St Francis Bay Beach Trust a few years ago to save the beach and, recognising that surfing is an integral part of local tourism, their plans include revitalising the surf at Bruce’s.
They enlisted the help of New Zealand’s Dr. Shaw Mead and his company, Amalgamates Solution Research (ASR). ASR created the successful surfing reef at Mt Maunganui in New Zealand and is currently involved in many similar projects elsewhere in the world.
In South Africa, their project will create additional surfing reefs, much to the excitement of St Francis surfers.
Their efforts haven’t been without controversy though, and are being delayed by a minority who refuse to pay the small monthly levy required to make the project sustainable. The issue has split the community, who are due to hold a referendum on the matter, although Trust founder Alan Tonkin is confident that the project will begin soon.
Perhaps then Bruce Brown, if he were ever to come back, might witness the long-awaited return to form of the epic wave he filmed here nearly half a century before.
This story originally appeared in Huck #005.
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