Late Mail from the Early

Took awhile but work kinda got in the way of my posting efforts. Great morning for it. Please Huey – can we have some more?!

Cheers, Doug

TG’s Forecast

Surf Forecast issued Thursday 16 April 2009:  Seven day outlook for Sydney:

Hope you had a good one today (!?)… Tomorrow will be smaller but OK, but after that… size will be there, but not the quality…

Friday: in the 1-2 metre range East, easing back.

Saturday: 1-2 metres South East, with accompanying wind pushing it up.

Sunday: 2-3 metres South east.

Monday: 3-4 metres South East.

Tuesday: 3-4 metres South East.

Wednesday: 3-4 metres South East.

Thursday: 2-3 metres East South East.

Water temp is around 23.

The Low expected to develop off the North Coast should bring them some more rain… just what they need!

Oh and good to see those worthwhile people – the Romanians who tried to get into my Avalon account via the same CBA ATM (that I couldn’t use on Sunday because the cops were guarding it) were arrested.  I think what gave them away was their stand out attempt at blending in with the locals… “Hey Ceauşescu… how about we get some cash out before going to Clareville Beach?  I hear surf is going on there big time”…

Welcome back anytime never boys.

Weather from the Bureau…

Did their button get jammed on “repeat” from Sat onwards…???

Shower or two.

City:          Max:   22

>>> 

Forecast for Thursday evening
Fine. Light to moderate east to northeasterly winds.
Precis: Fine.

Forecast for Friday
Fine. Mostly sunny. Light to moderate southwest to southeast winds.
Precis: Fine. Mostly sunny.

City:         Min:  15 Max:  23   Parramatta: Min:  11 Max:  24

Terrey Hills: Min:  13 Max:  22   Penrith:    Min:  11 Max:  24

Liverpool:    Min:  10 Max:  24   Richmond:   Min:  10 Max:  24 

UV Alert: 9:30 am to 2:20 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 5 [Moderate]

Saturday Shower or two.

City:          Min:   16  Max:   22

West:          Min:   12  Max:   23 

Sunday Shower or two.

City:          Min:   17  Max:   22

West:          Min:   14  Max:   21 

Monday Shower or two.

City:          Min:   17  Max:   22

West:          Min:   14  Max:   21 

Tuesday Shower or two.

City:          Min:   17  Max:   22

West:          Min:   14  Max:   22 

Wednesday Shower or two.

City:          Min:   17  Max:   22

West:          Min:   14  Max:   22 

Thursday Shower or two.

City:          Min:   16  Max:   22

West:          Min:   13  Max:   23 

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Thursday until midnight: Wind: NE 10/15 knots tending W/SW about 10 knots overnight.Sea: about 1 metre.Swell: SE 1.5 to 2 metres.
Friday: Wind: S/SW 10/15 knots freshening to S’ly 15/20 knots in the afternoon. Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres.Swell: E’ly about 1.5 metres.
Saturday: Wind: S/SE freshening to 15/25 knots.
Sunday: Wind: S/SE 25/33 knots easing.

Not a happy Weather map

Oceaneye – Autumn rocks!

Squat Barrel - Narrabeen

Photo: Squat Barrel – Narrabeen
Some nice smooth hollow waves this morning. As I report the wind has swung onshore, but the swell is still there and your normal reefs should have something to keep the punters interested this afternoon.

Morning pic round-up: Far north Collaroy

After surfin’ at Dee Why, I headed north. The camera battery was fading, so I only got a few snaps at far north Collaroy (about Mactier St). It looked as though there were again heaps and heaps of very fun, good quality beachy peaks from well south of there all the way up to Northy. I’m sure hundreds of folks will have fond memories of the abundant quality. I thought yesterday was around 8 to 9 out of 10. From what I saw, today looked more in the 7-8 range. But hey, that’s just me!

Here’s a couple of shots from around 1115 or so.

Looks like water's in all the right places - around 1115 near Mactier St.

Tide was a bit high at this stage, but I don't reckon he'd be complaining.

BSR 2009 04 16

BSR pic of the day

Bali Surf Report
Date = Thu, 16 Apr 2009
Time = 09:30 AM
Location = Padma – Legian
Size = 2-3 ft
Surfers = 12 surfers in left Padma
Tide = low tide
Wind = cross shore wind
Weather = cloud and sunny
Water = calm, swim able
Wave = no good, closing and not really consistent

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.

Morning pic round-up: Dee Why

When I got to Dee Why, I was getting pretty keen for a wave. I watched the beachy for awhile. It was way more consistent than the point, but it was pretty busy as well. Not that it really mattered much because I got lots of waves in the crowded conditions at Gardens yesterday morning. But a set came through the point and though they looked to be few and far between, I sort’ve felt like a wave over nice steady rocks rather than shifting sands. Dove in and had quite a reasonable time. Crowd was typically around the 15 mark, but it bounced up to 20 at one point and then dropped briefly to around 8 of us. Some good sets came through and lots of shacks were had over suck rock. Really good surfing going on as well. Kinda cool that in the course of the session I saw great waves being had by shortboard riders, bodyboarders, kneelos (there were three in the water at one point) and a friendly bodysurfer. All good.

0810 – 1040 (included a surf!)

The wave that made my mind up to jump in...

Dee Why point

Bodyboarder sizes up the optimal line at Dee Why point.

Dee Why point, naturally!

Morning pic round-up: Curly

0740-0800

Fun size section pops up for a lucky punter at mid-Curly.

Looking for a change of direction at mid-Curly

Curly was kinda disorganised but some good size sets to be had.

Morning pic round-up: Manly

Okay kids, here is a selection from this morning’s shooting efforts

Manly 0700-0725

Near Queensy

Near Queensy

Near Queensy

North Steyne looking kinda sectiony.

Manly, between Queensy and North Steyne

Manly, between Queensy and North Steyne

Manly, between Queensy and North Steyne

Keeping the gold

Restructuring – how to keep the gold bullion and ditch the lead weights

The employment marketplace is contracting and surf industry employers have not been immune. In fact in many ways they have been most directly affected due to the global nature of the industry and the reliance on retail revenue streams (in addition to the knock-on effect felt by wholesalers when the retail sector slumps). Restructuring has become the latest buzz word to come to the fore, which often means that people will be retrenched from the business as organisations look to reduce their fixed costs appearing on the balance sheet.

But how do you know which people to retrench, and which to keep? In many sectors functional areas such as marketing, finance and HR have been the first to go. In the surf industry it has been production, design and support staff as well as finance that have felt the brunt of the change in economic landscape. In many cases there have been sweeping restructures that have cut out entire teams, and in this situation no-one survives the axe. However in other scenarios the business must make a choice – who should go and who should stay?

The easy answer in these times is that critical staff should stay and everyone else should be let go, but who is critical? Invariably it is those who have been able to demonstrate the consistent value they can add to the business. Take sales for example. The market has turned and many sales staff will be finding it difficult to meet their numbers. However if things are to improve there needs to be people on the ground to pick up every potential opportunity that comes up. Thus keeping people on, even if they are not meeting their numbers, may be appropriate if they are exhibiting the right behaviours for success through this market and, more importantly, when the market turns. Use this key checklist to work out if your staff are the shining lights or the lead weights:

• Are they highly motivated to achieve despite the current economic issues? They will need high levels of resilience and tenacity to survive in this climate.
• Do they exhibit the behaviours necessary to add significant value to the business? This will differ between functional areas, however behaviour is the driving force for high performance (more than ability or experience) and so should be reviewed by managers regularly.
• What have they done recently that is over and above what is asked of them in their job spec? High levels of initiative are present in all high performers.
• Can their output be measured? This does not have to be purely in revenue terms but could include a variety of ‘softer’ measures. For example their involvement in engaging stakeholders or driving process improvements across the business
• Are they adding overall value to the culture of the business; i.e. do they ‘fit in’? Culture is another key element in determining the value that someone can add to the organisation. Each business has its own specific culture. It is worth determining what your culture is and what the people who do well in your business ‘look’ like from a cultural perspective.

If you have an employee in your sights and they meet most of the above criteria then you should think twice before ‘restructuring’ their role. You might be losing one of your most valuable assets.

Nick Chandler is Partner at Luminary Search, Chandler Macleod’s Executive Search business. He has been providing recruitment and consulting services into the surf industry for over ten years.

Dusty Payne wins US$50,000 cash prize in Kustom Air Strike

Portrait shot of Dusty Payne and a screen grab image of the massive air reverse. (As a screen grab it is slightly blurred).

GOLD COAST, Aus – Dusty Payne, the teenage surfer from Hawaii who went within a whisker of winning the 2008 Triple Crown of Surfing in Hawaii, has gone one better by winning the world’s richest single manoeuvre surfing competition.

Payne was today awarded the US$50,000 cash purse as the winner of the Kustom Air Strike, an eight-month global search for the best aerial surfing manoeuvre. Videographer Matt Shuster also collected US$5000 for capturing vision of the massive air reverse, which was filmed during downtime between the Triple Crown events late in 2008.

Ironically, Joel Parkinson, the current world title ratings leader who edged out Payne for the Triple Crown title, headed the judging panel for the Kustom Air Strike.

“Dusty’s aerial was unreal’, said Joel. “It was a big section that he hit and the way he landed he should have broken his legs, but he landed so smoothly and just rode it out.’

“The $50k for one move is really pushing the aerial guys to be more innovative. It’s unbelievable and I can’t wait until next year’s event!”

Payne said the Kustom Air Strike victory allowed him to look into buying an apartment in Western Australia with fellow finalist Jay Davies, a deal they made prior to the winner’s announcement should either of them claim victory.

“This is unbelievable, I’m speechless,” said Dusty at hearing the news at a Bondi restaurant late on Easter Friday night. “I didn’t even realise I was in the running, this is the best Good Friday ever!”

Judging panel member and Kustom general manager, Harry Truscott, said there was vigorous debate over the aerials short-listed for final judging.

“The quality of the entries builds each year and we had a wealth of incredible clips by the time the eight-month competition window closed,” he said.

“I think it fair to say each of the judges had a tough time going through the entries and coming in to the final judging the cash could have gone to any of three or four surfers.

“But we all kept coming back to Dusty’s wave and in the end he edged just ahead of the field to claim the US$50,000, one of the richest prize purses in surfing.”

Pat Fraley, Brand Director of Kustom USA, said they were blown away by the level of surfing produced by the competition.

 “The aim of the competition is to produce surfing so innovative that it forever changes the face of surfing as we know it.  We get a bit closer to realising that goal by producing events such as the Kustom Airstrike.”

The Kustom Air Strike judging panel was headed by Parko and included emerging US surfer Kolohe Andino and Surfing Magazine’s Travis Ferre, both representing the USA; Kustom’s Harry Truscott and Stab Magazine’s Sam McIntosh representing the Australasian region; and Kustom’s Julian Vergnes and Bruce Boal from Surfersvillage and The Surfing Yearbook representing Europe.

Check out all of the entries, including Payne’s winning entry, on the official event website, www.kustomairstrike.com.