TO SURF OR NOT TO SURF

Rain. Unless it’s gooi’ing a wet blanket on your jol, dousing your braai or flooding your low lying posie, its probably one of our favourite weather events. This is especially true when it makes the wave extra glassy, similar to the dance floor of Raffles at 2 AM. However, with multiple banging breaks turning on just off the shores of densely populated concrete and asphalt-covered cities is there a health risk in surfing straight after a heavy rain?   This is not an estranged concept to most of us, there has always been a debate amongst the health conscious and those who adopt a more blasé attitude toward such affairs. The question still remains should you postpone a surf session just because it’s raining, I mean you going to get wet anyway. If we take a look at the definition of ‘urban runoff’, remember that thing from Grade 8 geography class? Well it is defined as: “Stormwater from city streets and adjacent domestic or commercial properties that carries pollutants of various kinds into the sewer systems and receiving waters.” Photographer: Jurgen Jay Botes Logic would dictate that coastal waters would then become polluted with urban runoff and sewage from leaking water-logged sewer […]