Wonderful Wednesday

Hello Friends,

Didn’t plan for it to be that way, but Wednesday 15 April 2009 ended up being devoted to the great works of Huey.

I figured there’d be waves this morning, so I started by checking out Dee Why and Gardens. Both had waves, but I sort of had a yen to catch some more at Gardens. After filing a report, I jammed down and went for a surf for a couple hours.

When I finished, I grabbed my cameras, and set up on the beach to catch a few snaps and some video sequences. I was there until noon!

It was unbelievably consistent and good – all day. Crowd was big before 0900, backed off a little toward lunch, then picked up again for the late. I reckon that at any given point during the day, there were 150-200 people in the water from south of Mactier St to Northy. But the waves were just pouring through, so I don’t think too many went home waveless.

After lunch and some unavoidable work on the magazine, I went out again. Had a look at Dee Why (very good) and Curly (good at north end, very good from mid to south end) and then looped back to Gardens again. Below you’ll find a tiny fraction of the pictures I shot. My plan is to put everything online eventually, but this will give you a feeling for Wednesday along the northern beaches…

Doesn't get a lot better than this morning's conditions at Gardens.

Messing around in the endless shories of Gardens this morning.

Driving hard at Gardens this morning.

Who wouldn't want one of these?

Check this guy's positioning from this morning at Gardens.

Mid-morning delight at Gardens.

Bodyboarder finds himself well positioned at Dee Why point this afternoon.

Afternoon offshore making Dee Why look even better.

Kneelo throws some spray at Dee Why point.

Nothing wrong with this late arvo offering at the ol' Dee Why.

Hooking one around at South Curly.

South Curly was standing a few of 'em up.

Another nice little section at North Curly this arvo.

North Curly wasn't as good as the south end, but you could have fun this afternoon.

Perfect right number 13,212 at Gardens this afternoon.

Easy to get air if you wanted.

Yet another grinder.

BSR 2009 04 15

BSR pic of the day

Bali Surf Report
Date = Wed, 15 Apr 2009
Time = 09:30 AM
Location = Padma – Legian
Size = 3-4 ft
Surfers = 5
Tide = low tide
Wind = cross shore wind
Weather = blue sky, cloud and sun
Water = calm and glassy
Wave = still overhead and hollow but most closing, need long wait to get the set

Legian: High tide at Legian can serve up some of the most power-packed beachbreaks in the world. Always bigger than Kuta, although it usually closes-out on low tide. It also closes out on high tide if the swell is over 8 feet. Because Legian is in the curve of the beach, it collects the compressed energy of all swells. If Kuta is only 3 foot, sometimes Legian can be mignificent at 4 – 6 foot. A handy hint is that Kuta Reef is often about the same size at Legian. A hot crew of young Bali locals surf here regularly, so smile, share and be friendly to enjoy your sessions here.

vid from the beach

Made this vidcast from Gardens late this morning…

and here are a couple pics from then…

Meaty section claims another victim near Marquesas this morning.

Gardens was firing mid-morning, actually, all morning.

Wright Eliminates Slater in Pumping Bells Beach for Rip Curl Pro Round 2

Owen Wright (AUS), 19, event wildcard, caused the upset of the day in eliminating reigning nine-time ASP World Champion and defending event winner Kelly Slater (USA), 37.

BELLS BEACH, Victoria – Pumping surf in the six-foot (2 metre) range and dramatic performances marked today’s action as the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Snickers steamrolled through the first 12 heats of Round 2.

The second stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach saw excellent surf on offer throughout the day as the world’s best surfers narrowed the competitive field down to the final 20.

Owen Wright (AUS), 19, Rip Curl Pro wildcard, caused the upset of the event, eliminating reigning nine-time ASP World Champion and defending Rip Curl Pro winner Kelly Slater (USA), 37, during Round 2 of competition. The young Australian drove out to an early lead with his critical backhand attack, netting a 14.67 out of a possible 20, while Slater hunted barrels on his forehand.

“I am really happy,” Wright said. “It has been a long week waiting to surf against Kelly Slater. I have just been relishing it and waiting for it. Out there, I just stayed on my own game and really just concentrated on what I was doing. I just got the set waves and surfed them, then the ocean went flat at the end and I kept the win.”

Wright has been in sterling form in 2009, collecting three ASP Pro Junior event wins as well as a No. 8 spot on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS). Today’s win against the nine-time ASP World Champion was further evidence of the explosive goofy-footer’s world-class form, and a great boost to confidence for the remainder of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.

“I’ll be taking a lot of confidence into my next heat,” Wright said. “I am just rapt with that heat and really happy to get one over Kelly Slater. There won’t be many chances like that one to come around.”

Slater displayed his patented mastery of the Bells bowl, sliding into barrels and smashing the lip on several occasions, but a failed exit on a double-barrel wave cost the Floridian the score needed.

“It was reminiscent of a heat I had out here against Sunny Garcia in 2000,” Slater said. “I needed to come out of a second barrel to get through the heat and fell. Sunny went on to win the event and the World Title. Which is pretty dooming I suppose. I didn’t see too much of Owen (Wright) surfing in the heat, but he did one big turn in front of me and I’ll have to watch the video later.”

The result marks the second equal 17^th finish for Slater in 2009, making his campaign for an unprecedented 10^th ASP World Title much more difficult.

“The magic hasn’t been there yet this season like it was last year,” Slater said. “However, I just have to remember that it’s early in the season and there’s a long way to go.”

Joel Parkinson (AUS), 21, current ASP World No. 1, dominated today’s conditions at Bells Beach, defeating 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie Michel Bourez (PYF), 23, in Round 2. Parkinson unleashed a flurry of fluid carves and explosive lip maneuvers to secure the highest single-wave score of the day, a 9.23 out of a possible 10.

“There is nothing better than coming over the hill for Bells,” Parkinson said. “Especially when you know you have an early morning heat, a low tide, it’s offshore and it is 4-6 foot. It has probably only happened two to three times in my career so I will definitely remember this one for a while.”

Mick Fanning (AUS), 21, former ASP World Champion (2007) and past winner of the Rip Curl Pro (2001), was in sensational form as well this morning, securing the day’s high heat total of a 17.16 out of a possible 20 for his phenomenal forehand performance.

“The waves are pumping right now, it is so consistent,” Fanning said. “It was a bit nerve-wracking not surfing for a week as you normally have the Round 1 surf to work out how things are going.”

Following a brief relocation to nearby Winkipop for Heats 11 and 12, an onshore flow forced event organizers to call competition off for the day.

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach officials will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7am for a possible 7:30am start.

When competition resumes, veteran ripper Taj Burrow (AUS), 30, will take on replacement seed Jay Thompson (AUS), 25, in Heat 13 of Round 2.

Highlights from today’s Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach pres. by Snickers will be available via www.live.ripcurl.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 RESULTS:

Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.00 def. Mick Campbell (AUS) 11.00

Heat 2: Taylor Knox (USA) 16.93 def. Chris Ward (USA) 10.67

Heat 3: Kai Otton (AUS) 12.67 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 12.50

Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.76 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.66

Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.16 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 15.27

Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) 16.40 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 12.50

Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.00 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.17

Heat 8: Owen Wright (AUS) 14.67 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 13.83

Heat 9: Adam Robertson (AUS) 16.10 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.84

Heat 10: Tom Whitaker (AUS) 12.57 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 9.67

Heat 11: Drew Courtney (AUS) 16.07 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.60

Heat 12: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 15.60 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.47

REMAINING RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 HEATS:

Heat 13: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)

Heat 14: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)

Heat 15: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)

Heat 16: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. David Weare (ZAF)

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)

Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Joel Parkinson (AUS)

Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)

Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Owen Wright (AUS)

Heat 5: Adam Robertson (AUS) vs. Tom Whitaker (AUS)

Heat 6: Drew Courtney (AUS) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)

Heat 7: TBA

Heat 8: TBA

C C

Fine, dry and mild on the Central Coast this Wednesday morning.  The swell is smooth and inconsistent at 1 – 3 feet from the east northeast.  There is a light west northwest breeze forecast to go southwest later.  Low tide 0615 and high tide around 1205.  Local barometer 1007hpa, 92% humidity, 16 degrees C.  Have a good one.

Waves around this am

Hello Friends,

Should be a few fun ones to be had at spots with exposure to the SSE. Swell has perked up slightly since this time yesterday, so if you had waves on Tuesday, Wednesday’s looking promising as well.

Dee Why was already reasonably busy looking at 0620 when I checked. But there seem to be a number of a-frames along the stretch, so I don’t think jagging one was too much of a problem. Set wave faces were a touch overhead, so we are talking very fun looking conditions indeed. Given the SSE swell angle and the reasonable 9 sec period, I’m sure there will be many surf options around. Looks as though the wind should be good too (see below).

High tide is a mild one right on noon.

I think you can expect a few more pictures from me later today…

Go well!

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Wednesday until midnight: Wind: W/NW 5/10 knots, gradually increasing to 15/20 knots, then turning SW 15/20 knots in the evening, reaching 20/25 knots offshore.Sea: around 1 metre, rising to 1.5 metres during the day, reaching 2 to 2.5 metres offshore. Swell: E/NE around 1.5 metres.
Thursday: Wind: SW/SE 10/15 knots, turning NW/NE 10/15 knots during the afternoon. Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: E/SE increasing to 2 to 2.5 metres.
Friday: Wind: SW/SE 10/15 knots.

0630: lotsa very nice peaks for the early risers this morning at Dee Why.

Narrabeen Rpt

Some tasty little waves around the middle of the beach. Around shoulder-high & glassy

Byron Bay April 14 th 2009