Good Times For Fishing

Report - 1.5 W Swell. No wind. 12.20pm Low tide.

As can be seen from the photo there is no surfing today. Some desperados could possibly find 1 - 1.5 fters but with the water temp so low its hardly worth it.

Its been getting a little smaller everyday since Sat afternoon, when there were plenty of good waves about all along the South Arm stretch.

the days have been so calm, yet the nights so cold. Almost no wind to speak of for 3 days now.

Kind of Slow, Kind of cold.

Report - 2.5m SW swell. Light NW - W winds. High tide 1.55pm. No photo today.

Rebounds seems to be the pick today, with the open beaches either closing out or being chopped up by the westerly wind.

However its still not all that great with the rebound somehow missing the main wave most of the time, so the wedge shape is not really forming on most waves.

It was much the same yesterday. Monday was real small, but a very nice day and maybe the last warm day in tassie for a while.

Its a good time to be working in the garden, fixing the car as the water is quite cold and its getting to the stage when paddling out just to get wet is not all that appealing.

Best thing to do is get on plane north like my friend George who just flew off for a break in sunny Sri Lanka.

East Coast On Fire

Report - 2m SW swell. Light NW winds all day. High tide 10.30am. Afternoon low almost non existant.

Doesn't often happen, but today I would say I was too worn out to surf. Actually had other commitments, but wasn't too stressed.

Reason being the east coast between Orford and Swansea also doesn't happen too often, but on the rare occasion with a direct easterly swell it fires.

After waking well before dawn and doing the 2 hour drive, we arrived at the river mouth of Little Swanport just as the sun came up. Its a fairly well known spot amongst Tassie surfers, due to the long left hand barrels that peel down the sandbank at at the entrance to Great Oyster Bay. Already there was about 15 people out, but with regular 4 -5 ft sets there was enough to go around.

As the tide came in and the time went by, the smaller waves were lacking the same punch as the big ones, the crowd increased and it was time for breakfast.

After a bit of a drive to check some other spots we settled on the location pictured in the photo. Whilst it no great secret for those Tasmanian's in the know, I would be shot for giving the location away on a blog, so no names or directions.

Upon arrival at the car park, there were already 10 cars parked there, which with some simple maths equals about 20 already out in the water, thats pretty crowded given there really is a limited take off zone. Think paddling straight towards protruding, jagged boulders on a steep, growing 4 footer and the thought of not making the drop is, well best not thought about.

After the 1/2 hour trek in, having passed a few guys on there way back, the crowd situation was looking better.

Cresting the last rise with a view of the spot, its was great to see another 3 guys towelling down and putting on dry clothes, not wetsuits.

That left 5 in the water. By the time I was wetsuited up and ready for the water, only my friend (who I came with) and 1 other guy were in the water. A quick jump off the rocks, a chat to the other guy "yeah I'm about to go in too". No worries mate the next ones yours.

That left only 2 of us in the water for well over an hour. Some longish lulls but with almost perfect 4 footers rolling in from the east it was on and on and on.

Unbelievably others walked in for a check, but of the 10 that did only 2 others decided to paddle out. Don't know what the others had seen that was better, but it couldn't have been less crowded.

So for the final 1/2 hour there were 4 guys guys in the water, plenty of waves and 4 big smiles.

Evening Leftovers

Report - 2- 3m SW (mostly west) swell. Moderate Westerlies.

Yesterday the Swell was on again, and after some funny wind shifts from an early northerly to onshore SE, the NW kicked in and everything cleaned up again. Plenty of good waves most of the day.

Unfortunately I missed most of it and only arrived late in the day.

There was this set just before I paddled out, a couple of small ones during the 1 hour I sat around waiting, then a bomb set just after I went in. I can't really say what happened after that, but given that the lulls were at least 15 min long, I doubt many waves were ridden again before dark.

Early on today the winds were ok, but the swell had dropped a lot. The wind went westerly at about 10.30am and it was all over for South Arm.

I saw a couple of ridable 2ft waves at Sandpits just before the wind chopped it up.

Sunset

Report - 4.5 m SW swell decreasing during the day. Fairly strong NW winds. High tide 4.40pm

The Wedge was working this morning, but a little on the small side. By lunchtime it was getting too small, however with the rising tide Sandpits, rebounds and RSL's were holding up alright on most waves.

Swell should maintain this size for the next few days, with winds being fairly consistent as well. High tides are late afternoon, so the lazy post sleep in surf may not be so good for a few days.

There's been enough photos of small Wedge, so this is one of tonight's sunset from the front porch. Not bad at all.

Snake Doctor

Report - Small 1 ft max. Good NW winds. High Tide 3.30pm.

With nothing happening locally me and a mate hit the road and were rewarded with light NW offshore winds and 3ft sets at Eaglehawk Neck.

for some inexplicable reason there was no one else in the water. So we had it pretty much all to ourselves.

Except for when the Snake doctor paddled out.

With only 3 guys in the water there were plenty of waves to go around. So why did this guy insist on snaking us?

We would have happily let him have his fair share, there was only 3 of us after all. But after being snaked a few times each, it was time for a bit of payback. So I would say that he probably missed out on some good waves that we would have let him have, if only he wasn't trying to snake us.

The wind started getting stronger and he obviously got sick of it and went in. Just after he hit the beach the wind died, the sets rolled in and we enjoyed a good 1/2 hour of 3 ft barrels with no one else around. Who says there's no justice in the world?

Eventually the tide got a bit high and the waves started shutting down, but after 3 hours, so many waves but cold water we were ready to go in anyway.

Some days you can drive for hours and not even get wet, but then it all becomes worth it again, when you score.

3 out 4

Report - 2 - 3ft in protected areas, 4 - 5 on the open beaches.Light NW winds, High Tide 2.15pm

Another day of barrels at Wedge. There was a fair wait between some sets this morning, but being a Monday after a weekend of good surf the car park was less than 1/2 full and the crowds weren't there. So still plenty of waves to around for those lucky enough to be in it.

That makes 3 out the last 4 days that Wedge has been on. Yesterday morning was very small, but apparently the swell picked up considerably in the afternoon. However it was also accompanied by a very strong Westerly, so Wedge should have been quite blown out.

Swell continues

Report - 5m Sw swell, Light - moderate N - NW winds. High tide 12.20pm.

Unbelievably and unpredicted the big swell has hung around for another day. making it 2 days in a row that the Wedge has been working in offshore winds.

Some even say that today was more solid than Friday. Both days it wasn't real big, but good fun waves about 2 - 2.5 ft.

maybe because it wasn't predicted, but crowds weren't that bad for most of the morning. Whilst there were some lulls, there was really enough waves for everyone to get some barrel action.

Unfortunately there is a lag time between pressing the button on my camera and when the actual photo gets taken. I would also rather surf than take photos, so the photo shows what ended up being a small barrel.

The swell is predicted to increase through tomorrow and Monday, with offshore northerlies and high tide Monday afternoon. So at this stage its looking good for 4 - 5 ft Wedge on Monday arvo.

After being disappointed by the points again on Thursday some solid Wedge waves will be most welcome.

Fingers crossed.