Win a Nixon Watch – The Regular Guy Season 1

Watch Season 1 of The Regular Guy

The concept was simple, create a surfboard review show that was relevant to the every day, normal surfer. At 42, weighing 110kg and being a good, but certainly not a pro surfer, I was the perfect candidate. If a board goes well for me, it will more than likely go well for you! Plus who else but Captain Kai knows the whole of the SA Surf Scene.

It is simple, in order to win the Nixon Tide Watch or one of two Hurricane Grips, you need to have watched Season 1, of the Regular Guy. Then you take the survey below (It will take 3 minutes) and make sure you follow both Captain Kai and Nixon on Instagram.

Season 1 of The Regular Guy was filmed over 10 days at Supertubes, Jbay and I tested six surfboards from some of SA’s finest board makers. The brief was simple, send a board that would make surfing big winter, swells easier for the average surfer. The surfboard must paddle really well, have a high performance level and, of course, suit a surfer weighing 110kg and 42 years old, myself.

If you have not watched all the episodes, here you go:

Season 1 The Regular Guy

Now, do the survey!

The survey will take 3-5 minutes and will help me improve Season 2, so that you, the viewer, get more out of the surfboard reviews. Make sure you follow Captain Kai and Nixon on Instagram! Winner announced 18 October 2020!

Create your own user feedback survey

Support the Shapers and Sponsors!

This whole series would not have been possible without the featured board makers and of course my sponsors. So please show them some love.

Accommodation was provided by AtSupers and we were styling in Pepper St, just meters from the paddle out at Supers (Also the best breakfasts of my life!)

We ate like kings thanks to Jbay’s home away from home, Ninas Real Food.

All my board bags, leashes and grips were supplied by Hurricane Surf.

All my fins were supplied by Scarfini.

I know the tides and sunrise and sunset every day thanks to my Nixon Tide Pro.

The six surfboards were from:

Channel Islands, Twig Surfboards, Dutchie Surf Designs, Gonzo Shapes, SMTH Shapes and Mat Surfboards.

13 Year Old Kai Hall Charges Grab Rail

Young Natural Footer Charges

Kai Hall grew up in South Africa surfing predominantly right waves. He has enjoyed a solid competitive career in the South African junior series, even at his young age and now finds himself living in paradise in Bali.

Bali improves your left surfing

Living in Bali, Kai has had to learn to ride left pits and he has adapted very quickly to riding pig dog. Wearing wetsuits and a helmet for protection from the live coral reef, he is making a name for himself in the islands and all over the world. Kai Hall is possibly the most tubed 13 year old on the planet!

Enjoy the Stab feature video

#TheLockdown The Shapers – Dutchie, Graham Smith & Gary van Wieringen

Meet #theLockdown Guests

This week on #TheLockdown I am joined by three of SA’s hardest working shapers and brand owners. Graham Smith is one of the longest working surfboard manufacturers in the country and, of course, father to Jordy Smith.

Josias “Dutchie” Louw is one of hardest working guys in the industry, from making boards, managing brands and of course on the Mic at contest with myself.

Gary van Wieringen is known for his all out power surfing, but was also the hard worker at Clayton surfboards for years and now runs his own brand, Africa Surfboards, from his home on the South Coast.

Watch #TheLockdown

Support the Captain

If you would like to support, myself and the Podcast, you can order some incredible Captain Kai merchandise on my Thundafund page.

ORDER YOURS HERE

Currently at 25%

PLEASE Subscribe to the Youtube Channel HERE

The Surf Coaches – #TheLockdown Season 2 Starts Now

Meet the Surf Coaches

What better way to start off Season 2 of #theLockdown that with three of South Africa’s most influential surf coaches. These guys pretty much have their hands on the wheel of where SA surfing is going.

Llewellyn Whitaker is the current German Head Coach and has also coached many of our top young surfers. Chris Bond is the current SA Junior Team coach and works with many of our top QS competitions. Quinton Jones, AKA QJ, is one of the longest working coaches in South Africa and amongst others works with our new CT surfer, Matt McGillivray.

Watch the Podcast

Support Captain Kai

If you enjoy the podcast and my other work, you can help me through these very tough times. I have had no event work this year, all being cancelled due to Covid Lockdown. I have designed some high end, great quality Hoodies and a Cap and you can pre-order on my Thundafund Page here:

SUPPORT CAPTAIN KAI

Hit the Link above to order yours!

Welcome to Locked in Hellsend

What do you do when you’re locked down on the sickest farm in South Africa? Grab a shovel and get digging! When World Cup slayer, Theo Erlangsen, was lucky enough to get quarantined with young gun, Ike Klassen, on his farm in Stellenbosch, the boys stayed busy riding bikes and spraying dirt! 

Locked in at Hellsend Dirt Compound is a 3-part series following The Trails Crew getting up to all kinds of good, bad and wild. Watch the boys riding dirt jumps, shredding some downhill laps and staying “almost too busy doing cool things the whole time!” These boys have all the toys and a whole heap of ideas, so jump on board as they race pit bikes, trash rally buggies and shred anything with wheels on.

“We’re basically quarantining in heaven! I mean, it would be nice to be racing in Europe, but this is a close second!”  Theo Erlangsen

In the first episode, we meet the infamous builders, Justin Novella and Duran Van Eeden, who can wrestle a digger like nobody else, and were luckily quarantined on the same farm. First state of business was carving out the Corona track, an insane downhill course through the forest from top to bottom. The boys hit the building work hard and then set to work stacking clips and roosting turns. 

Getting the pit bike track built was a dream come true for Ike, who started his career on bikes with Moto X and was a junior national champ. For some light relief, they jumped into one of the race buggies on the farm and tried, but failed to keep all the wheels on…


“Tim shreds the BMX so hard, he’s also such a silent assassin, he comes in super quiet and then does WAY bigger and better stunts than any of us” 
Theo Erlangsen

In episode two, Tim Bentley joins the crew and shows the boys how to ride the perfectly manicured dirt jumps. Justin gives you an insight to the Trailscrew daily life, meet India the trail dog and watch the riders push themselves in a trick jump sessionwhilst quarantined in South Africa.

Look out for Episode 3 coming soon…

Rosie Hodge, Sophie Bell & Heather Clarke – #theLockdown Ep6

The Podcast

Rosie Hodge and the chargers from South Africa

Rosy Hodge is a household name in surfing, world wide, as she presents on the WSL webcasts and of course surfed on the world tour. Calling San Clemente in California home, Rosy is one of the most influential ladies in world surfing.

Heather Clarke was the longest representative on the World Tour for SA, along with Greg Emslie in the men. She still regularly wins open and masters SA titles and now coaches surfing, based in her home town on the South Coast of SA.

Coming from the North Coast, growing up surfing heavy waves, Sophie Bell has had an illustrious junior career and has recently moved into the Open division. She is not scared to charge heavy waves and is one of the few ladies to have a crack at Donkey Bay, Namibia.

We talk lockdown and Girls Surfing

We chat about how communities are handling the lockdown, how tough it is to be a surfer in SA currently, unable to surf and about the current state of ladies surfing internationally and locally. (We may be putting together a girls surf camp and schools road show in the future.)

Support these awesome ladies!

Please show these incredible SA ladies some love:

Rosy Hodge on instagram.

Heather Clarke on instagram.

Sophie Bell on instagram.

Support these great Surf Community feeding projects, Rosie Hodge does.

You can support these great surf community initiatives we spoke about. 9 Miles Project, The Optimist, The Sentinel Ocean Alliance, Lets Feed Jbay and Surf Pop by donating today, either with money or your time.

Huge thanks to Monster Energy for the Support.

Matthew McGillivray, WSL CT Rookie, The Lockdown Ep 5

#TheLockdown

Matthew McGillivray Waiting on Corona

I chat to WSL Championship Tour, rookie, Matthew McGillivray from the Gold Coast. What has it been like starting your CT career only to have it stalled by the lockdown? What has lockdown been like in Australia? What are his thoughts on the new WSL formats for the tours, announced this week? Why does he love BASE jumping? These are just some of the subjects we cover in the 30 minute interview.

We also chat surfboards and Matt’s relationship with Graham and Jordy Smith with the new brand, SMTH Shapes.

Lets Feed Jbay

We also chat about his home town and the incredible movement right now to feed the poor community of Jbay!

Support the initiative here – Lets Feed Jbay

A huge thank you to Monster Energy for supporting the Podcast and please remember to subscribe to my youtube channel.

Image: J-Bay’s Matt McGillivray in action at Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday Image- WSL/Heff

Fountain of Youth – SA surfing flashback!

Photo: Alan van Gysen

Fountain of Youth took me back in time!

Wow, almost forgot about this film from Jason Hearn and Duncan Scott. Pretty rad that it came up today when I posted an interview with Travis Logie, Jordy and Wok. This surf film included Travis and many of the surfers either side of their generation. It was also the film that got me booking my trip on the Indies Explorer (Sadly burnt a few years ago) and I had one of the best trips of my life.

The Film

Fountain of Youth from Jason Hearn on Vimeo.

About the Film

The surf film “The Fountain of Youth,” which was written, directed, filmed and produced by the duo of filmer Jason Hearn and writer Duncan Scott, encapsulated a highwater mark of that period, as a crew of some of SA’s best surfers stepped aboard the Indies Explorer and gorged themselves on uncrowded, prime-season Mentawai perfection. The surfers included Greg Emslie, Paul Canning, Davey Weare, Travis Logie, Simon Nicholson, Peter Nicholson, Duncan Scott, Dan Redman, Ricky Basnett and Damien Fahrenfort. 

Lockdown chat with Jordy Smith, Travis Logie & Wok – #TheLockdown Ep4

The Podcast

The 3 Amigos in Lockdown

I was not sure what to expect when I chatted with Travis Logie about getting the three best buds on the same podcast during lockdown, but needless to say it was an epic chat. These 3 grew up together in Durban and now live in California and Hawaii. Jordy Smith has become one of the best surfers on the planet, Travis has ended his Pro surf career and become the WSL Commissioner and Warwick Wok Wright was never really a pro, though he beat a few, but now a successful interior designer and married in Hawaii.

A Special Chat

Wok’s Mom called me up after the premier and told me how special it was to get the three together and talking. A sentiment shared by the boys at the end of our talk – it went on for just over an hour – and the stories, flashbacks and laughs were real. It was incredible to get some real insight to their relationships, how they met and of course their time together on the tour.

Groms Listen up!

On a more serious note, the gents serve up some real, hard advice for aspiring SA surfers with big dreams of qualifying. These three, yes even Wok, made some serious damage on the QS and their stories and and advise should be heeded.

Hawaii the best place to be in lockdown!

This was the common consensus during the chat and checking out Jordy’s Instagram account will leave you in no doubt. Wok has adopted a flock of ducks and is practicing for being a daddy.

I hope you enjoyed the show and please remember to subscribe to the Youtube Channel – HERE

Huge thank you to Monster Energy for the support!

Freesurfer Brendon Gibbens – The Lockdown Ep2

The Lockdown Episode 2

Being a Freesurfer in a time of no travel…

One of South Africa’s top surf exports and freesurfer extraordinaire, now residing in California and on the Gold Coast, Brendon Gibbens rips! He is one of the few surfers who have cracked that seemingly unattainable code to become a well paid, traveling surfer, who does not have to compete in order to earn as an athlete.

Life has been affected for the Freesurfer

The Lockdown for the Corona Virus has affected his life, but they are allowed to surf in California – something that has been denied us in SA. No travel until further notice though, which is effectively a pause on his career.

We are blessed in Africa

With all the magical places Brendon Gibbens has travelled for surf, he still reckons home is the best. South Africa has a huge coastline, with hundreds if not thousands of good waves. We also don’t get the crowds like his two new home areas – believe me nowhere near the crowds. So we are blessed, even with all the big sharks! haha

Remember Ep1 and #LetsFeedJbay

Check out the First Episode of #TheLockdown HERE

Help Feed Jbay HERE

Thanks to Monster Energy