Where did you surf today ?

[steve shearer]

Steve, correct me if I'm wrong, but you reported 4-5ft on Saturday morning but only 3-4ft on Sunday morning.

I'm still not sure what your point is DonW.

The report came in 3ft first thing Sat morning BEFORE the swell really hit.

So Sat's report was 3ft with swell on the rise.

Sun's report was 3-4ft....with swell on the decline.

[Donweather]

My point was that Sunday was considerably bigger than 3-4ft....And it was considerably bigger Sunday morning than Saturday morning.....well it was everywhere except in the vicinity of Byron it appears.

[Beanpole]

on a week day its common to luck into a park right on /near the beach at Tama / Bronte

Quite a few parks at Tama on Sunday arvo about 6pm but at that stage it was more of a spectator event.
Of course there were waves elsewhere but you cant always organise to chase it. I had high hopes for Bondi on Sunday morning actually.
The middle banks okay and it was good friday arvo, less so saturday.
Nice if you could get one but illusive. After one good one where there were two other people on the drop six inches from each other and me but not turning I decided its just too sketchy out there with a bit of push to the swell and those crowds. No one to blame but myself for going out there.

[steve shearer]

My point was that Sunday was considerably bigger than 3-4ft....And it was considerably bigger Sunday morning than Saturday morning.....well it was everywhere except in the vicinity of Byron it appears.

It was probably 3-5ft at the most exposed E facing breaks on the between Ballina-Byron (eg Tallows), which tallies with Braithys call for Fingal but consistency size were way down from Sat.
With the high tide masking the energy WHEN the surf report was tabled it easily accounts for the missing foot.

I think we have this case solved.

[SAsurfa]

For the central NSW region it looks to be have been a "captured fetch" scenario, as winds speeds within the whole evolution of the low weren't especially strong (less than gale-force mainly).

It was more so the slow west-southwest track of the low towards the Australian East Coast at the same speed as the swell it was creating (resulting in quicker and bigger than normal wave growth) that seemed to push Sydney to a solid 6ft+ today.

Bit miffed by yesterday morning's 3-4ft building to 4-5ft+ though, as it seemed like the low was too far away on Friday to generate swell to that size.

[ledge71]

Word on the street is a guy drowned at Moffs yesterday after getting cleaned up by a sneaky bomb set. Set came through and was found laying face down in the water. RIP mate, not even a good day surfing is worth dying for.

[brendo]

steve, did u check south of bal on the weekend? couple of breaks that way that can be epic in E swells...

surfed cronulla sat morn. it was 2ft max. stayed out for 30mins. on way back up the beach i saw i little stocky guy with longish hair about 50m away. looked a bit like the occ, but wasnt on a js, or wearin billy wetsuit. thought nah, not him. then as i got to top of track i turned round and saw said surfer destroy a 2fter. goofy, unmistakable style. has occy parted ways with sponsors, or merely borrowing gear?

[steve shearer]

nah didn't go S but those spots were flooded on the morning high.

[crabmeat thompson]

Word on the street is a guy drowned at Moffs yesterday after getting cleaned up by a sneaky bomb set. Set came through and was found laying face down in the water. RIP mate, not even a good day surfing is worth dying for.

That's heavy. RIP.

[Trev]

Word on the street is a guy drowned at Moffs yesterday after getting cleaned up by a sneaky bomb set. Set came through and was found laying face down in the water. RIP mate, not even a good day surfing is worth dying for.

That's heavy. RIP.

Not sure who he was either.
He was found floating out near the groyne/ keyhole area apparently. He was in his 50's and there's been no confirmation as to whether he suffered a heart attack or was hit by his board or just held down. Some of the set waves were pretty close together so the last is a possibility.
RIP fellow surfer.

[offshore1]

Hadn't surfed for 3 weeks due to the flood rain and a fcuked lower back that just wouldn't settle.
These chronic low back episodes are freaking depressing but Sat had clean lines and the lightest offshore breeze with a whiff of the seasonal change in it.
Just a real classic looking morning and you know that blue water is going to feel so good. Once you got that warm blue water in your bloodstream you can't turn your back on it.
I took the kids to play on the beach for a while and watched the swell muscle up as the tide ran out. There was a good strong left off the north end of the beach. No-one out. Packed on the points. Deservedly so. Anyone throwing themselves into that maelstrom got what they deserved. Anyway you slice it a working mans crowd on a Saturday morning should be given space. Natural law demands it. Some poor bastard whose been pounding nails, laying drywall or fixing shitters deserves an even break on a Sat morning when the surf is pumping.

Took the kids home and loaded the van with three boards. A 6'3" roundtail quad, 6'9" roundpin thruster and 7'1" 2+1 transition era mini-mal (Hi Iggy!). I was thinking the left and if not trying to find an inside corner or outside break that might be slipping under the radar of a hungry Sat morning pack.

I spent ages on the jump-off rock for the left as the tide drained and the swell built. Then got smashed back to the beach trying to broach the sandbar. Not even close.
Had another try off the beach and again couldn't get out. There were 3 layers of shallow sandbank and I didn't have the fitness to bust through.

Went back to the point. There was a club conny on and a million people out. Fully attended as Greenough calls it. No vacancies. I saw an old local bloke and he said sit wide on a bigger board and pick off the sets. That sounded like a strategy, although it just looked a bit undersized to really make that work. Took the 6'9" out and felt weak as a foal. Paddling fitness is a bitch when you lose it. Pointbreak surfing is more than anything paddling. Paddling and positioning. MP proved that.
Somehow the vibe in the water was friendly. Joyful even.
That's infectious. Reciprocity and kin relations. The only universal moral laws found across all cultures.
Do unto others as they would do unto you, Love thy neighbour as thy self, Give a wave, share a smile, make a friend etc etc etc.
On the back peak a guy I surf with called me into a prime set wave. It was his. And he gave it to me. Just called me into it and gave it away.
You only need one six foot set wave to make the day. Cheers John.
And for those wondering, there were a few 6footers but not many.

Back in the garden the lizard was gobbling stink bugs from the citrus. I saw something out of the corner of my eye, some flash of iridescent emerald green sailing in the breeze. It looked like a hummingbird but it was a large butterfly.

Richmond birdwing. I felt a surge of adrenalin stronger than any since Tahiti. The endangered Richmond birdwing. I'd never seen one in the wild, despite twenty years of looking in the coastal rainforests of Broken Head and the uplands along the Main arm plateau.
You can't imagine how beautiful and beguiling to see these emeraldic flashes as the butterfly wafts and sails through the shafts of strong late summer light in the copse of vines and trees.


Man has eliminated the Richmond birdwing from SEQLD, where it used to sail in the streets of Brisbane and replaced it with servos and fast food chains.
It may survive in small pockets of rainforest in NENSW, or it may not.
IN the future man will survive with his dogs and cats and the memory of the birdwing and the sumatran tiger will seem as quaint as steam engines and floppy discs.
Urban man won't understand the thrill of seeing a butterfly in the wild, preferring the pleasures of flatpacked furniture and asian restuarants. IN other words, culture is replacing nature, where the two throughout the vast history of humanity have been inextricably bound together.
That can't end well.

Sunday the swell was smaller and weak on the high tide. I checked 30 kays of east facing coastline and almost paddled out at another outside left near Cape Byron. Craig the banana farmer was keen for me to join him on the outer bar but it looked too sharky, too much hard work and about to be torn to shreds by the southerly. He's always out there.
Tuned into some opera and realised the back was OK. For the first time in weeks the teeth weren't aching. Nothing brings horror to the heart of the man of impecunious means like the dentist.
The dentist is the modern day equivalent of the victorian workhouse. The dentist spells pain to the body and pain to the net worth and cash flow. The chillun go hungry but the dentist drives his beamer and holidays in Aspen.
Muhammed Ali got it dead right : brush your teeth kids.

The seasons shifted gears this weekend. Summer isn't quite done, more hot days will ripen the fruit on the vine but the cool breath of autumn can be felt in the pre-dawn light.
Damm fine weekend.

our loss we didn't send you merkin and reg to beef week steve.
I'll include braithy in that lineup. Fcuking classic potential.

[Donweather]

Well this one appears to have snuck under the radar.

http://www.comauhost.com.au/report/

I'm assuming this has come from the remnant Tasman Low earlier in the week, but haven't investigated enough yet?

Wave buoys aren't reflecting the size that's hitting the beach either? Strange one.

[Trev]

More there this morning than I expected. Just had to get out of the wind.

[pridmore]

some really great conditions early and some super fun head high peaks too...love it when ya local beachy gets it shit together the same day ya get a new board...even if it isnt cured yet



http://www.moresurfboards.com

SS, bring that magic pen with ya when ya head north next week...classic stuff, gets me sucked in every time and dont want it to end...bit like a good panang curry....

[Trev]

Still getting waves. 8 days straight now.
Gotta end soon.
Don't hurry home, Ledge.

[diggerdickson]

lol, yourve been told ledge

[Trev]

Day 9.
Supposed to be smaller today but it was bigger.

[Beanpole]

Your killing me Trev. If you saw the dribble on offer this morning.