Hello Friends,

Just back from a micro adventure with PB. Given that I have never surfed at Bondi (despite having made this fair city my home since 1984), we hatched a plan. The next time there was a bit of south swell and our schedules permitted, we’d head over the bridge. And today was the day. A new wave on my life list. Woo-hoo. Totally ordinary conditions though. We had a look at Bronte and Tama, and then came back to Bondi. A rather ordinary, rip-affected little peak was trying to work at the south end. Wind was sort of lightly sideshore, and very few sections presented themselves amongst the waist high shutdowns. Water was just as nippy as on the northern beaches, but the crowd was small and mellow and we did jag a few at Australia’s most famous beach.

After surfin’, we put phase two of the plan into action: lunch in Lakemba. I’ve been through the place on the train, but I’ve never actually visited and PB, who knows his eateries, was keen to share a spot he found there yonks ago. It’s called Jasmins and I can highly recommend it for an absurdly cheap, and very good feed of authentic lebanese. We got the mixed plate and a couple of their homemade lemon drinks and I think we were full and out the door for well under $20 for the two of us. Here’s a link to the eatability reviews.

After lunch, we sauntered across to a coffee shop where we’d parked the car and grabbed some java. The bright young thing behind the counter delighted us by asking wide-eyed if those were our boards on the car outside. Turns out she’s been a skater and has mates out at Bondi. She reckons it spins people out when they discover that a girl with a hajib is into skating. Put a smile on our faces, I can tell you. What a great city we live in, eh?

When we got back late this afternoon, it was apparent that the swell had started to push up. There were a few sets trying to get to shoulder high at Bondi this morning, and the MHL buoys show average heights of the south swell have popped up from about a metre to two metres since late morning. More importantly, the period has jumped from around 7 seconds on average, to 9, with some 10 sec peak stuff in amongst it.

Tomorrow should be interesting…

Okay, here’s a few snaps from today

0745: Nothing really showing at Dee Why this morning.

Bureau vs Huey: 0-1

Yesterday we had a forecast from the Bureau talking about an increase in juice, but this morning sees the situation smaller along the Dee Why stretch. The MHL buoy reached around 1.5 metres yesterday morning, but it’s now back at the metre mark with an average period of less than 8 seconds from the south. That means if you’re really desperate and have something reasonably bouyant, you just might be able to find something in the knee to waist high range at a south exposed spot.

Otherwise, it looks like another day to spend on non-surfing activities. The Bureau advises that the swell will increase later and that it could add a metre to the present average height. However the current trace from Eden isn’t showing anything particularly hopeful right now.

Wind outlook for today is 15-20 kts from the W/SW. Tomorrow it’ll start at about those speeds, but gradually kick up into the 30kt range. Then on Friday it’s set to be 25-33 kts. Meanwhile the swell coming off the huge area of fetch in the southern ocean should become pretty obvious by close of play tomorrow. If you’re a chart watcher, you’ll be keeping an eye on the period settings, because they’re likely to show the pulse first.

The models are still showing the swell being solid from Thursday afternoon into early next week for the Sydney region. Size is expected to be into overhead to double overhead range on the biggest ones at south exposed spots from Friday through Sunday.

Go well with your day!