For the love of surfing!

You may have heard the term ‘Salty Hour’ on our blog spot before. Our partner Jono Bruton and Tyrell Johnson from Dead Reckoning created the concept of Salty Hour which takes place on Gonubie Beach every Saturday from 3-4pm. It’s basically open-source surfing – providing boards and lessons to anyone who wants them. Jono, Tyrell and whoever else wants to pitch in, get together to provide help to newbie surfers or surfers who can’t afford boards and come together to ensure that the waves are accessible to everyone. The Salty Hour is about getting outdoors, enjoying the ocean, surfing or learning to surf, family, friends and community.

Salty Hour recently took to the waters for the 58th hour on Saturday, 4 November. A
few kids took to the waves under the guidance of Tristan Mark, Tyrell and Jono who are such awesome role models for the kids. Salty Hour also took to the Atlantic side of the Cape Town shores with around 10 kids and two adults enjoying the warm blue waters, the beach and the ocean breeze.

Having had a chat to Jono about the latest Salty Hour, he said:

We are nearing Salty Hour #60 we count each one and each salty hour is an hour long. So almost 60 hours of surfers giving back and sharing the stoke.

Also we have a Salty Hour in Cape Town run by Slummies expat Brett “Spock” Sanderson. They have clocked up 12 hours so far and are having a jol. This past weekend both Gonubie and CT held Salty Hour from 3 to 4pm. There are a few other initiatives similar to SH like “waves for change” who are doing an epic job throughout SA for the unprivileged as well as Dean Knox from Jonginenge Adventures who gets a group of township kids in the water. What separates Salty Hour from these similar initiatives is that Salty Hour is not only for the unprivileged, it’s for anyone, from any walk of life. If you want to ride waves, just show up with a pair of boardies or cozzie and you are ready to ride! Rich, poor, advantaged, disadvantaged, fat, thin, young, old, black, white – we don’t categorize. The ocean is for everyone. We are privately funded and do not call on state enterprises to assist. It’s all just a handful of good surfers with big hearts. A big thank you to our sponsors Easy Equities for supplying us with seven surf boards. 

A special mention to all the Salty Hour sponsors including: Easy Equities, Dead Reckoning, Ocean and Earth Surf, Star Centre, Sanook Cafe and Countonali Construction Services for all the support and for ensuring that Salty Hour is a recurrent success.

With the coastal waters getting substantially busier over the festive season, Salty Hour takes a seasonal break. “It’s way too chaotic in the water at that time so becomes a risk for us to keep a handle on things,” said Jono, “Safety first when in the ocean.”

If ever you in the area, why not get involved in the Salty Hour sessions. Whether you are a complete amateur or a novice surfer, test your skills, take to the water and enjoy a day of ocean air, salty hair and not a care. We could all do with some Vitamin SEA after all.