Bare Earth

Report - 1 - 1.5 ft waves. Some bigger sets. Light SE Sea breeze.

There are good high tide banks at North Goats lately. I suspect they wouldnt handle the surf if it got over 3ft though. Still some fun to had on a mini mal or longboard in the smaller conditions.

Havent been in touch with the waves down here so much at the moment, especially over the weekend as we did a trip to the NW coast to check out the Cold Water Classic. For photos of that check the official website. We only watched the day of the final, but they were really blessed with perfect conditions for that day. 4 - 6 ft and offshore. In those conditions at Lighthouse Beach they get long fast peeling right hand barrels right across the whole beach. Its good entertainment and I can see the appeal in watching these contests. However I don't think I could sit through a whole week of it.

As can be seen from the photo, they are chopping down the old tree out the front of the house. Such a shame, it was the last decent sized one left in this area. It gets me to wondering, what is the justification for removing it? This street is the end of the line and for the council to issue the order, someone would have to complained about it. Sure it was overhanging the road, but as can be seen now all the branches were very healthy and not likely to fall down.

Now we have absolutely no shade in the afternoon.

What rights do those in council, or even those who don't want this thing have over those of us who appreciate it? How can we know before it happens that something is scheduled to be chopped down?

Do we have to lodge an application each month to not chop down certain trees, in case someone is thinking that it blocks their view?

It takes about 200 years to grow something that size. Only 1/2 a day to remove it. Bastards.

Close Out

Report - In the last few days the swell has been up and down like a yoyo. Small mornings, before an afternoon increase. the wind has remained fairly westerly

Thurs - 3.5m SW swell. Mostly light NW winds.

Low tide at 12.30 pm

The banks are still there but the tides have been all wrong in the mornings. Its not until late afternoon that the wind drops off enough for the waves to clean up a bit from the onshore winds.

Cooling Down

Weekend Report -

NW - SW winds most of the weekend. Tides 1.30/2.30 pm.

Swell SW at around 3.5m

The swell didnt actually hit until around luch time on Saturday, by which time the wind was getting into it and the tide was on the way out.

With early rain on Sunday morning, it was a case of get out in it, or if you are lucky just after the rain, but before the winds mess things up. The picture was taken on Sunday, about 1/2 hour before the wind chopped everything up.

Today there is still a fair bit of swell at the open locations, however its just closing out all along the beach.

Its a bit hard to get out of the wind, but some spots are protected from the westerlies. As normal the best spot in todays conditions is full of lid riders. I have been checking it out most days recently, and the bank that was there a month or so ago, seems to have been wiped out. Lots of closeouts now, where as before the wave was holding up quite nicley.

The air temp. has really cooled down in the last few days and people will be starting to think about getting new wetsuits, or pulling out the good winter one. Its almost time for the extra rubber accessories like booties and gloves.

Demise of Interesting content in Surf Media

Report - 0.5ft waves. Strong NW winds all day

Its not really surfable today

Recently I have been reading a few of the surf magazines available in stores. So to begin with I am going to have a bit of a rant.

It seems that they all pretty well have the same basic stories and content. The magazines obviously think this is what sells. A quick perusal of some the online forums will reveal plenty of opinions as to how this has come about. However I am not going to enter into that argument, for now at least.

What I seem to be seeing over and over again is some article about 4 semi professionals getting an all expenses paid trip to Indo. Granted sometimes they do go to other locations, but even then they have paid guides and the best pre-booked accomodation available. Of course these guys can all surf well, providing good pictures. Tracks even included a DVD as part of their Contrasts issue. But none of these guys had any personality. With the exception of Tom Carroll who gets respect as the living legend, their stories and lives just aren't interesting. Neither do I care if one of them has just lost his major sponsor. Are we meant to feel sorry for this guy?

Surely there must be someone out there in the surfing world who is doing new, exciting, interesting, dare I say it groundbreaking stuff.

The latest SW issue features nothing but stories on how the latest round of champions either won or lost. There is one story about a guy who lost out in the early 80's, but its still about professionals. Its all just comes across as a cross promotional piece by the big brand surf companies. I really struggled to maintain interest in these articles.

Then I came across "The Surfers path" This is UK produced magazine. I have almost read the latest issue from end to end and so far have only seen 1 reference to Mick Fanning which is an ad placed by Rip Curl.

The other articles are about everyday guys and their interaction in one way or another with the ocean. This particular issue features heavily on artists and their perspective on surfing and their work. I understand that your average 15 year old doesn't give a rats about art, neither did I at that age, still don't for the most part. However, these guys have interesting stories and lives which make the article readable.

Towards the back of the magazine there is a feature on coastline erosion. In previous editions I have seen features on the working of tides and their effects on surf. It all adds up to a better understanding of the beach, waves and the ocean.

Hopefully we will start to see more of this in other magazines.

Disater of a day

Report - 0.5ft SW swell, light N - NE winds.

Firstly today is Thursday, not yesterday as per the previous post.

Driving towards the local, hoping for at least some 1ft ers for the mini mal. Get distracted end up doing 50kmh through the school zone. For the 1st time ever there is the speed camera set up. Damn.

After checking a few spots and deciding that Norths Goats looks the best, did the long walk up the beach. terrible surf, looked ok, but being out there, nothing was working the way it looked from shore.

Didnt last more than 1/2 hour in the water.

Did the long walk back. Get to the car, no keys. Damn.

walk back up the beach, keys are all the way up the end. Some relief at least.

Head for home. Radar trap has gone. Doing about 70kmh in what used to be an 80 zone, now 60 pass a tree with the speed camera set up in a new location. Damn. Twice in one day.

Thats an expensive surf, that wasnt even that good.

You win some, you lose some.

Yesterday was a winner. Today was a loser.

Flat

Report Wed - almost no swell today. Certainly its so small as to be unrideable. No wind in the morning, light sea breeze for the afternoon.

Thursday Update - unpredicted and unexpected swell came in overnight/morning. Sets 2 - 3 ft. Morning winds light NE - calm. High Tide 10.05 am.

Wed - No surf pictures today, so there is one of the view from the front porch instead.

Such a calm day. There's still plenty of warmth in the sun and the water. After an hour so walking the harbourside beach with dogs in tow, I have put the day of rest to good use. Spent the day doing tax, and calculating finances, which got me thinking.

How long can this lifestyle be maintained?

Right now seems like a great time to enjoy life. My old man spent his whole life working day in day out, week by week, year by year to support his family looking forward to retirement. Then as the age of 65 approached and everyone had left home, he wondered what he was going to do to pass the time each day.
6 years on at 71 he's still working. Obviously he enjoys it, but at some stage between being a teenager and a pensioner he forgot how to relax and enjoy life. Of course the family appreciates it, but it makes me think what are we all working so hard for?

If no one worked, then society wouldn't function. So its necessary for someone to do it.
Up until this year, well I was one of those someones, but its an experience that on reflection is not as rewarding as it should have been. Spent so many years creating new blocks of land for some other guy to make money on. So many times the development was not needed, ugly, a blight on the landscape and caused the destruction of what used to be a nice piece of bushland.

So for now its surfing most days, some marketing and just hanging around on the others.
As far as lifestyle choices, coastal living for me is the optimum. Having lived in large cities, suburbs, small cities and rural areas, to be by the beach certainly stands out as the pick of the crop.

Thursday Update - Every now and again all the right factors come together at your local surf spot. The ones that turn it from being just an average wave to the kind that people publish photos of on wannasurf.com or surfingatlas.com
This morning was one of those times.
One of the advantages of flexible work hours is the ability to take time off at moments that best suit yourself.
Unfortunately this particular blogger left his camera at home, so no photos. He didn't forget his surfboard though.

Watersport Weekend

Report - Weeekend - swell backed off slightly, to about 1 - 2 foot with some slightly larger sets. Offshore in the mornings, onshore in the afternoons.

Monday - almost no swell. Strong offshore northerlies from early morning .

Finally some banks have formed along the beach breaks. However anything over 2.5ft is still tending to shut down.

Weather all weekend has been warm and fairly mild, meaning that other watersports could and were enjoyed.

Sea Kayaking off the beach on Saturday saw earthlinesurf getting out to some of the small rock outcrops and islands off the headland. Could be a break or 2 out there in the right conditions.

Later that day I tried, for the first time in many years to get on a sailboard. Managed to move along a bit, but will put that back in the to do basket for now.

How many sports can you have?

Some people I meet seem to fill their garage full of bikes, surfboards, kayaks, climbing gear, skis and weight benches. Who has the time to do all these things? Are they trying to compensate for something? You can't find fullfilment with possesions.

Personally I think pick a few sports, get good at them and enjoy them more. Give the others a try every now and again.

Sunday and after enjoying a surf in the morning it was off for some sailing on the harbour. A few hours in light winds and warm sunshine, such a pleasant day.

Monday, no swell left. Hopefully the banks will hold in place for an expected swell build up on Wednesday.

frustration

Report - not sure how the morning was, but by early afternoon the wedge, that should have been pretty good, going by the size of the swell was very small and boring. SW just started up about 12.30pm.

This particular surfer spent all morning chasing waves in out of the way uncrowded locations only to find that the swell from the previous day had dropped too much and whilst potential was there, nowhere was really happening. Just too small. Lots of miles covered, no waves surfed.

Back closer to home and the swell is at that annoying size where its too big for the beachies and too small for the points.

All adds up to frustration

Small Points

Report - Strong SW winds brought in enough swell for small waves at the points. the video shows a fairly typical wave for today. Low tide was at 12.15pm so if you weren't in at that time, you would have missed the best of it.

Its great being a small town location. even on fairly crowded days, things remain pretty friendly and the waves get shared around. If only someone would tell the young grommets to let some other people have a go.

Gale force

report - early Offshore NW. Consistent 2 ft sets. Later very strong NW, not real pleasant. late change to SW. Building swell through the afternoon

Got in an earlish one before the wind really started to howl.

First one in the water. Quickly followed by others. Seems some people can't go out without someone else being in the water.

Comes down to the sheep/crowd mentality I guess.

Tide was a bit low, but some of the smaller waves were picking up the rebound ok.

If you don't mind being launched into outer space, before hitting an almost dry sandbank and swamped by a hollow pit, then the larger set waves were also good fun.

Expecting a large increase in swell overnight, hopefully the point breaks will be working for low tide tomorrow morning.

Rain

Report -

wind has shifted to the east bringing rain and onshore winds. Swell has dropped right off to only 1 ft. Only the desperate are out today.

It doesnt rain here much, being situated in a rainshadow from the mountains. So really the rain is a good thing. It started early morning and has continued steady ever since.

What else can you say, good for watching DVD's

Been reading a post/thread on the swellnett forum.

http://swellnet.com.au/forums/1/topics/65

All I can say is thank god the pro's don't ever come here. Sure on its day the beach breaks can be awesome, and for 5 or 6 times a year that they work the points are world class barrel rides, but its not really enough to get those guys here.
You couldn't whip in at the points anyway, no room for the jetski.
These guys are obnoxious. Really no thought for other peoples enjoyment. So intrusive to an otherwise peaceful day/surf at your local.
Stay away

Clean Up Australia Day

Report - small 1 - 2 ft still coming in. Some larger sets. Light Offshore through to about 12.30pm. Turned ENE. Close outs couldnt be saved in time by high tide at about 3pm. Already too windy.
A warm day, up to the high 20's

Its clean Up Australia and me and the missus did our bit at the local clean up along the neck.
But maybe due to lack of awareness, the turnout was quite low and we only achieved a fraction of what should have been done.

regardless of that, the amount of rubbish along the side of the road is disgraceful. This is only 1 3km we are dealing with.
Who is doing this?
Stop it.
Its no great hassle to keep your empty bottles in the car until you get home. Everything looks so much nicer when its not covered in rubbish.

Day off

Report - small 0.5 - 1 ft. Almost no wind. Light SE onshore breeze, picked up around 3pm.

Big SLSC carnival on up the road.

day off today, After surfing all week it wasnt so bad to avoid the weekend crowds and have a day off. Like all small towns close to a city, the influx of weekend warriors begins early.

After early rain the skies cleared and with no breeze until late, the water was nice enough for a swim at the inshore beach. Its still warm this time of year. Gotta make the most of it.

the dogs love it as much as I do, impossible to keep them out of the water.