Watch Eli Buekes new surf film "Chommies"

The only time I get really homesick is December. Sometimes in July when deep, dark Southern Ocean swells will light up the entire South African coast for weeks on end. But mostly in December. ‘Dezemba’ to us South Africans. Dezemba isn't a month. It's a spirit, a mood, a lifestyle, a madness. A month long bacchanal. A life affirming orgiastic celebration for the sake of celebrating. No one works, it's the middle of Summer, the odd wind swell popping up here and there. The liquor flows. Binge drinking of the highest order. A time when all races, religions, languages and cultures of the rainbow nation come together and in once voice pronounce, Ke Dezemba!

Yeah I miss that. 

But not so much this year. No time to wallow in holiday darkness. I just became a dad and as expected focus and priorities change almost immediately. Mother and son are absolutely perfect, but we did have to spend an unexpected extra few days in the hospital. A full 40 hour work week to be precise. This time just happened to coincide with two incredible runs of swell hitting the Northeast. I'm sure you've seen the footage. 

Now obviously I was ecstatic at the birth of my strong and healthy baby boy and missing a swell or two is a triviality in comparison to the infinite joy of fatherhood, but I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't checking Surfline intermittently between diaper changes or as he slumbered on my chest. Tell me you wouldn't do the same thing. 

While mother and baby slept I passed the long hours and days in the hospital mouth breathing through the Pipe Masters and living vicariously through the many epic images and videos getting fed to me by my algorithm. Showing me what was going down at my local break and beyond, forcing me to gape at what I was missing out on in real time. Like the torture scene in A clockwork Orange when Alex is strapped down and his eyes forced open to witness the real horrorshow ultraviolence. 

Late one night on my uncomfortable pull out recliner, I stumbled upon something that I thought was sure to aggravate my home sickness as well as my surf starvation. Glutton for self punishment that I am, I couldn’t help but click play. Boy was I wrong, and gladly so. Half way through the ultra digestible 15 minute flick my surf spirits were miraculously lifted. 

‘Chommies’, self edited by Eli Beukes showcases himself and chommies, Brendon Gibbens and Luke Slijpen going absolutely ham from Namibia to Mozambique and inbetween. A plethora of lewd turns, lascivious pits and a heater soundtrack. Just what daddy needed.

The nice little video has been out for a few weeks now so there's a chance you’ve already seen it, but it came to me just when I needed it. Watch it again. If you haven’t seen it, don’t sleep on it. It might be just what you need. —Joel van Wyk