Where did you surf today ?

[steve shearer]

One more for the diggers.
On the breakwall at dawn, sniffing a dying still strong swell and NW winds.....those who know ,know the spot I'm talking about.
In the half-light, no-one out, double overhead sets, plenty of close-outs, the odd insane one.
I walked out along the wall, the chocolate brown water was sitting right on the take-off zone, I thought I saw a big shape in a wave, and then tried telling myself it was just a trick of the light.
After watching for a while I saw Joey Hudson and a couple of his mates paddling the river.
Sweet, some company.
Running back along the wall, this seedy old fisho was ambling back.
He looked like a dead man walking, rheumy old eyes and he fixed me with a malicious glare.
"Dirty water don't bother ya mate" , he growled
"well....."(i was thinking yeah it bothers me alot, it's fcuking sharky as hell)
"That poor crunt who got bit last april thought he had more chance of being hit by a car"
He paused and scowled..."well that fcukin shark proved him wrong didn't it"
I didn't put me feet down for the first hour.
The high cloud drifted off and as the tide started draining and it started wedging off the wall , it started getting seriously hollow.
I got pitched on a wedging set and the thing threw me over the falls with violence and pinned me on the sandbar.
Grimace got a big fat standup shack that looked like mini Cho-poo.
A big set broke wide and came avalanching through the take-off zone, a bloke on a blue tufflite about 15metres diagonally in front of me duckdived and then as I did i felt a solid mass come into contact with my head with a big sickening thud and then I was struggling under water with another homo sapien.
I came up and almost instantly I felt a big sheet of blood come off my head into my eyes.
Haven't lost the plot for years but I started shouting at this bloke "you fcuking idiot, learn to duckdive you fcuking ckocsuker".
Don't know why , it was an accident but I resented being forced out of 6ft barrelling lefts by some kook on a tufflite.
Anyway it wasn't too bad , a flap of skin and gouge but no stitching required.....still hard to justify bleeding from a headwound at a dirty water rivermouth.
The next wave I got a big sick stand-up tube and then got smashed pulling in again..
then went and had eggs benedict and coffee and read the sydney morning herald.
Happy anzac day.

[Innerview]

Fine, dry and cool on the Central Coast this Saturday morning. The swell is smooth and consistent at 2 – 4 feet + from the east. There is a light west northwest breeze which should strengthen later. High tide 0810 and low tide around 1400. Local barometer 1000hpa, 90% humidity, 13 degrees C. Have a good Anzac long weekend.

I really dont know where this guy looks at the surf before he does his report, but. Its not at any popular surf beach on the central coast thats for sure.

[oldman]

Just spent a day and half in Byron getting some of the good oil from Steve. Beautiful conditions late Wednesday, damn it got dark quick though, was most unhappy about that. Thursday not so great and had to worry about a little shark, and surfing on my own. Damned thing scared me enough to send me back to the wreck. Conditions much smaller than what Steve is reporting but it was offshore and pretty, whereas the other side of the lighthouse was pretty much a blow-out all Thursday.

Didn't want to take on Steve out at Lennox. I was already aware of how tough the paddle out there is in big conditions and that is for people who know the place well. I would have been ripe for a caning or worse, but I'll take it on with Steve's assistance another (smaller) day.

Was driving back to Norah Head all day Friday while Steve was getting the best of it.

As Innerview said, Central Coast was reporting swell in the 3 - 5 foot range. Must have been looking at some back beach somewhere as he was under calling by a fair margin. Checked out Maroubra once home and the swell is almost perfect, but the beach ain't. So needs a good point to be peeling off down the line. Will check other places nearby this arvo but seriously sizeable and clean if you can find the right point, bank, whatever.

Thanks for the hospitality Steve. Sorry we didn't meet up but will get up there again one day, without the family in tow. Family holidays and surfing are a difficult combination.

Should have gone surfin with surfinturf up at Burleigh on Wednesday. Oh yeah, that's right, I was driving from surfers to Byron on Wednesday.

More driving than surfing unfortunately. My day will come, tomorrow perhaps.

[daryl]

I dont even get any driving today ,and look at steve, day in an out, no let up

[Beanpole]

Checked out the bra yesterday. Lots of straight handers. Had some fun hollow little waves at Bondi with a million others. My beef is why are a large number of the local hotshots out riding these nice little waves when everyone knows its cranking everywhere else. My excuse is I'm an old fart who has to take his son to play soccer later. Most of the ridiculously crowded crew are intermediate at best so why are these guys hogging the grommet sized waves?
Must have been dropped in on 15 times got a nice crease in my board after one particularly enthusiastic individual decided to test his boards performance by laying a roundhouse cutty into me. :?
So today I'm given free reign to chase the non existant 1fters up and down the coast. Remember in surfing timing is everything.

[daryl]

I'm goona go dry my surfboard. oh wait, it's not wet.

[kreepykrawly]

How f-cked are people.

The other morning a dog came running out a house and bit me on the leg so I sort of lunged at the frothing flea bag and bit back on its mangy leg.
The owner came running out abusing me for biting his stupid mut.

Like if I reported it the f-ckin’ thing would have to be put down.

I started growling at the owner like a wild dog and so he returned the safety of his house.

He was actually bloody lucky I didn’t bite him.
I was in the mood.

[ric_vidal]

The owner came running out abusing me for biting his stupid mut.

Gotta do something about distemper

[kreepykrawly]

Well he should have vaccinated monsieur flea bag f-ck mut.

Dead set…. if my dog bit anyone he would cop a knuckle sandwich in his chops followed by reduced bone rations for a month or more.

Unless of course its someone i didn't like. Then he might cop a dinosaur bone.

[Nick Carroll]

Ummm...any waves in Steak and Kid you ckok sucking cowboys?
Carroll? Iggy?

Friday around 11am the new swell started showing and I had a very fun surf by myself on a rock platform left that loves large clean ene angles.
Sat morning for about two hours the Path was pretty flawless, 8-10', four other guys out. heaps of awesome energy and line. then around 9am the swell kind of down-booted to 6-ta, with a 8' set every half an hour, and very few of them hitting the right spot. Lots of people paddled out around then -- it's a shame the swell didn't hang or rise a foot or two and send 'em straight back in

That swell was made for reefs but as it dropped through the arvo and the tide rose again, it became more sandbar friendly on numerous beaches and I surfed by myself again in perfect 4'+ lefst and rights of Hossegorian dimensions.

Yeah Sydney's just a crowd nightmare!

[oldman]

Salts should have some pics on the way in the next few days when he sorts through 'em...
Lucky Al should also be amongst the pics, as may 2nd reef, and Cliffmeister...

Wish I was there with ya big fella. Don't know how many I would have taken on, or if I could have got any in between you, Sir Clif and Stu. but would have been worth it just to see.

[steve shearer]

Lucky Al should also be amongst the pics, as may 2nd reef, and Cliffmeister...

.

I thought Clif only went surfing with "enthusiastic beginners".

[Da Duke]

Anzac Day.
"Surf" is a stretch. Snapped my board after get axed on my first take-off!

[Revolution]

So iggy ... was he an utter kook?

[Lucky Al]

well i must say i am looking forward to seeing salty's pics and hope he caught us all charging and ripping the bag out of it most stylishly, or at least used his advanced photoshop skills to make it appear that that's what we were doing. but perhaps my most vivid memory from the morning's surf is of going over the falls backwards after peeking over for a little too long to see whether iggy who was inside me on a set wave would take it and turning back a little too late - did you get that one, salty?

[Lucky Al]

hey da duke, amazing wave! was the one that broke your board like that?

[Deesee]

just got an email from him (love the yankee flavour of it all )...

Hey man.. just want to thank you for letting me tag along this past weekend.

Great time.. You are one lucky dude to have such awesome surf.

I did not want to jockey the crowd too much but in the end I caught a few great waves.

I hope I can return the favor some day. You always got a place to stay in the states

Cheers, M

Good example of bromance.

[daryl]

just got an email from him (love the yankee flavour of it all )...

Hey man.. just want to thank you for letting me tag along this past weekend.

Great time.. You are one lucky dude to have such awesome surf.

Good example of bromance.

Spread the love. Bring them all on out here.

I'm just bitter twisted jealous from reading steve and everyones antics all week, me spending that great week in, and missing Sat'dy