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Graham was our “Cape Town Correspondent” at the start of TheKiteMag’s journey. He had a feature in the very first issue 11 years ago (he also personally picked up a shipment of 500 mags from Cape Town airport having blagged his way through the customs process!).
As with everything Graham did, his feature was intelligently observed, super-funny and indicative of the exceptionally perceptive Mr Howes.
Graham saw things differently. His humanity, humour and his true passion for kiting made him one of the most special people ever to be a part of our sport. Talking to him you always had his full attention, and he always had something insightful to share, leaving you with a new way of thinking about things, and with a smile on your face.
As a tribute, we’re republishing that feature from TheKiteMag #1, below, from all the way back in December 2014. It captures an earlier time in Graham’s life, and his outlook and perspective on things evolved over the years, but for me it remains a super funny and great piece of writing.
We’ll miss you Graham. Kitesurfing will never be quite the same again: you were one of a kind bro.
Alex Hapgood
Editor-in-Chief, TheKiteMag
[From TheKiteMag #1]
TheKiteMag’s resident Cape Town Correspondent, Graham Howes, takes us through the four month Groundhog Day extravaganza that draws in thousands of committed kiteboarders every year…
Words: Graham Howes
Feature photos: Paul Ganse, Bianca Asher, Ydwer van der Heide
People go on and on about Cape Town all the time: good food, great steaks, cheap wine, whales, wildlife… Blah blah blah… We all know you get tired of taking pictures of Table Mountain after the second day. Do you really think that those are the reasons the best kiters and windsurfers choose Cape Town as their number 1 off-season destination? Nope. Not close. Don’t get me wrong: when the wind doesn’t blow for a week, sure you’ll catch Aaron Hadlow or Youri Zoon getting shit faced on a Franshoek wine estate with a world class Pinot Noir, or hugging newly born lion cubs or chasing penguins around Cape Point, but chances are they’re just trying to impress their girlfriends.
So, let’s backtrack. The season starts in mid-September for us, the Cape Doctor first kicks in and it begins then… If I told you that I kited Big Bay with 35 knots and 4 meter waves with only me and my best mate, with the whole bay to ourselves, you wouldn’t believe me. I kite it every day, then the tourists arrive and I stay far away.
It starts in mid November when you will see the old banged up Rent-a-Mercs with duck taped bumpers and 7 board coffins on the roofs (tied on with shoe laces or surfboard leashes) pull into Blouberg. Within a week, our quaint surfing town erupts with Dutch, German and Italian windsurfers and kiters taking over. The parking lots, the bars, the line ups, the secret spots, the beaches, the girls, all taken over by testosterone, and egos.
By December I am too scared to go to my local spots – at Sunset Beach you will see six naked Dutch butts, and two German sausages before you can even find a parking bay. At Haakgat, the Italians will be sporting their ‘banana hammocks’ [ahem – small speedos] and frequently pulling knives at other wave riders on the beach after altercations in the waves. Don’t even get me started about Kitebeach. At any moment you will have up to 15 kite schools busy with lessons, 28 absolute beginners looping on the beach, 19 wannabe pros looping over the beach, five kooks trying to self-launch upwind of kids building sandcastles, and then 1 guy who trumps the 40 others by trying to wave ride in the one-foot shore break. This is all on ONE KILOMETER of beach! It totally baffles me as there are kilometers and kilometers of empty beaches just upwind or downwind which are just as good, if not better. But don’t think for a moment that I don’t embrace this carnage…
So, what happens on an average summer’s day..?
Well, I’ll wake up with Nick Jacobsen on my couch. He’ll probably be wearing a pink tutu recovering from a night of debauchery in town with the Dirty Habits crew. We will sit on the deck with Tom Court (he stays downstairs) and sift through hours of footage from the previous day’s sessions, drinking strong coffee and nursing our hangovers. Maybe hit a little mini ramp session to sweat out some of the booze and decide which spots to hit for the day. Witsands or Brandvlei? Big air or freestyle? Then we’ll stop off at Carlucci’s for brekkie… The only trouble there is that you will have to fist-pump and deal with the 10 different handshakes from the top 10 PKRA riders drinking carrot juice and discussing yoga poses. So I think I’ll skip that today. I need the energy for my freestyle session at Muizenberg, followed by a 20 kilometer wave downwinder from Milnerton to Haakgat.
I’ll be heading home from that unless I get a WhatsApp from Ruben: “Mate, it’s peaking at 40 knots… Keen for a quick sunset loop sesh at Dolphin Beach? 7m or 9m, see you in five.” The only problem about riding with Ruben Lenten, is that he twists my arm into joining him for a ‘balls to the wall’ high intensity workout on the park jungle gym. But I’ll give in because he’s cooking the steaks and spinning the decks at the party later…
If there is one thing that the blow-ins are good at embracing, it is the braai (barbeque) spirit. At any night of the week there will be at least four braais at mates houses within a two-kilometer stretch. So skating between braais is not uncommon, usually spending the least time with the Euros who are attempting to braai whole frozen chickens… The king of braais is usually at Ruben’s. He has a permanent DJ booth set up, pumping killer tunes and is usually braaing over 10kgs of rare red meat at once. It’s the usual story though at these braai’s.
As you can imagine, having a group of extremely competitive guys around a fire together – many of whom are often PKRA podium rivals, Kevin Langeree, Aaron Hadlow, Chris Tack, Youri Zoon – things can get pretty heated pretty quickly, but usually it’s nothing a game of Beer Pong, or ‘The Cinnamon Challenge’ can’t resolve. And if it’s the UK crew in town then the boys will be waging over games of FIFA Pro Evo Football.
Cape Town is magical in the winter. I pack my kites away, and surf every day, the waves fire all winter long. I drink gluhwein and take long road trips, I get to do all the touristy things like climb Lions Head to watch the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean, and the full moon rise over the Indian Ocean with no crowds, and no queues, and no naked Germans. I embrace winter and wait patiently – some might say a little anxiously – for summer, when it all begins again…
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