We needn’t remind you of the iconic, climactic scene in The Endless Summer when Mike Hynson and Robert August climb a dune in coastal South Africa to look out on a perfect right-hand pointbreak with nobody out. A place called Cape St. Francis.
“From all the information we could gather, we figure it’s like this about 300 days of the year,” says Bruce Brown in the narration. “The water was seventy degrees. The prevailing wind there straight offshore.”
The truth of it is, the wave at Cape St. Francis (now known as Bruce’s Beauties or Bruce’s in honor of Brown) is notoriously fickle – something exacerbated by a combination of erosion and development that blocks the natural process of sand replenishment.
Late last month, though, Bruce’s came alive and Jordy Smith was among the hordes that showed up to partake. The scene was a far cry from the empty lineup shots Brown made famous in 1966, and, admittedly, not quite as perfect as J-Bay to the north. But, hey, who could resist a rare score at the original perfect wave that likely inspired countless surfers to find their own version of Cape St. Francis?
