The Goat’s Forecast

SURF FORECAST ISSUED THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2009 : SEVEN DAY OUTLOOK FOR SYDNEY:

It’s pretty much small or flat…

and it’s pretty much gonna stay like that!!

Bit of a blow from the West South West overnight Friday won’t do a lot, other than blow waves offshore.  Might get a tiny uptick around Wednesday but don’t get too excited.…

Friday: maybe small NE windswell at places that like it.

Saturday: tending flat, maybe a small wave at places that like dead South swell.

Sunday: flat.

Monday: same.

Tuesday: same same.

Wednesday: in the 1-2 metre small range at dead South spots.

Thursday: 1 metre or less dead South.

Water temp’s around 17-18.

Weather from the Bureau:

Forecast for Thursday evening
Fine. Light to moderate north to northeast winds tending northwesterly overnight.
Precis: Fine.

Forecast for Friday
Fine. Mostly sunny morning, cloud increasing in the afternoon. Moderate to fresh northwesterly winds gusty at times in the afternoon ahead of west to southwest change overnight.
Precis: Fine. Windy.

City:         Min:  11 Max:  25   Parramatta: Min:   8 Max:  25

Terrey Hills: Min:  10 Max:  23   Penrith:    Min:   6 Max:  26

Liverpool:    Min:   5 Max:  25   Richmond:   Min:   4 Max:  25

UV Alert: 10:20 am to 1:40 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 4 [Moderate]

Saturday Fine. Partly cloudy.

City:          Min:   13  Max:   21

West:          Min:    7  Max:   21

Sunday Fine.

City:          Min:   12  Max:   25

West:          Min:    6  Max:   27

Monday Mostly fine.

City:          Min:   15  Max:   27

West:          Min:    9  Max:   27

Tuesday Fine.

City:          Min:   13  Max:   20

West:          Min:    9  Max:   20

Wednesday Fine.

City:          Min:   11  Max:   21

West:          Min:   05  Max:   21

Thursday Fine.

City:          Min:   09  Max:   21

West:          Min:   02  Max:   22

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
A strong wind warning is current.
Thursday until midnight: Wind: N/NE 8/13 knots, tending NW overnight. Sea: to 1 metre.Swell: SE around 1 metre.
Friday: Wind: N/NW 15/20 knots increasing to 20/30 knots ahead of an overnight W/SW change of similar strength. Sea: rising 2 to 3 metres. Swell: E about 1 metre.
Saturday: Wind: W/SW 15/25 knots easing during the morning.
Sunday: Wind: N/NE 10/20 knots.

Nutin doin

Well, no change from earlier today in Dee Why.

Meanwhile, Brendon and the boys are trying to stay out of the sun at about Zero degrees latitude… (photo by www.liquiddestination.com)

2:00 am it starts!

Buoy data is showing the first of the Hurricane Bill Bump arriving at 2:00 am Thursday morning at 3.5 feet and making it to 4.5 feet through Friday with a (are you ready for this) a 15 second period. Hurricane Bill is having all weather services reporting heavy surf conditions not seen in a VERY long time. Reports are speaking of 20 foot at Cape Hatteras while the rest of the East Coast should expect 10 feet or higher by Saturday morning. Sunrise will bring a light south wind under 10 mph with swell from the ESE.

Roberto

Flat again

In all fairness, we’ve had a decent winter but this flat spell will be with us a while yet so maybe take advantage of the cheap airfares and check out the cold waters of Vicco, WA or the warmer waters of the epic Bali/ Indo season.  But it aint happening at Curly today.  Enjoy.

Essentially flat

Yep she sure is.  As Don alerted to yesterday things are not looking too good in the swell department going forward either. A real shame. Oh well maybe its time to dust off the golf clubs and attack the beauty of Long Reef instead. Otherwise you had better find something else to do before this flat spell drives you to drink. Have yrself a good day!

Wake up Huey

Hello Friends,
Surf outlook is pretty ordinary it has to be said. We have a short period and small south swell (a metre at 8 seconds) offshore, but from the look of Dee Why, not much of anything is getting into the beach. The decreased period since yesterday does not give one hope for anything much above knee to waist high at the most optimally exposed spots.

The models are showing a large system filling the bight late in the week, but sadly for us, they aren’t projecting it to come around the corner and up into the east coast’s swell window. However, at the outer limit of the forecasts, one can see reason at least for slight hope that we might get some south swell toward the middle of next week.

Between now and then… well… you’re family and friends will be seeing more of you than they have for most of the winter I’d say.

Have yourself a great day!

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Thursday until midnight: Wind: W/NW 10/15 knots, tending NE 8/13 knots in the afternoon. Sea: to 1 metre.Swell: SE around 1 metre.
Friday: Wind: N/NW increasing to 20/30 knots ahead of a late W/SW change of similar strength. Sea: rising 2 to 3 metres. Swell: E about 1 metre.
Saturday: Wind: W/SW 15/25 knots easing later.

Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia

Overcast, dry and mild on the Central Coast this Thursday morning.  The swell is smooth, small and fat at 1 – 1.5 feet  from the east.  There is a light west northwest breeze forecast to go northeast later.  High tide 0755 and low tide around 1340.  Local barometer 1011 hpa, 8 degrees C. 97% humidity.   Have a good one.

EPIC MONSTER PADDLE SESSION SOUTH AFRICA’S DUNGEONS WITH CLASSIC CONDITIONS

EPIC MONSTER PADDLE SESSION PRODUCES FLOOD OF BILLABONG XXL BIG WAVE AWARD ENTRIES

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — (August 18, 2009) — An El Niño condition may be brewing, but in the Southern Hemisphere there is no more waiting as extraordinary storms have been a regular occurrence over the last several weeks, generating some of the most intense surf seen in years.  Most recently, one of the biggest and best swells to ever hit South Africa arrived last Sunday, producing more eye-popping entries into the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards fueled by Monster Energy.  Those latest photographs may be viewed on the BillabongXXL.com website.

This was the third significant swell to strike the region in ten days, sparking a series of key sessions at the spooky big wave break of Dungeons, off of Cape Town.  A warm-up swell hit the region on August 6, followed by a huge and windy episode on August 11 which saw some massive tow-in waves worthy of the XXL Biggest Wave category.  And on August 16 yet another enormous swell arrived, but this time with pristine sunny weather and light offshore winds — every surfer’s ideal scenario.

According to Surfline forecaster Ken Wallis, “A large complex low pressure system was spinning in the South Atlantic this past week, occupying most of the ocean between South Africa and Argentina. As a result of this consistent storm activity, a series of XXL size southwest swells have been slamming the West Coast of South Africa and, more specifically, the big wave break Dungeons.

“The most recent of these very sizable swells arrived as high pressure briefly settled over the region,” added Wallis, “setting up light wind, clear skies and near flawless conditions.”

Durban’s Grant “Twiggy” Baker — South Africa’s most decorated big wave surfer — was on the scene at Dungeons for the duration, part of the annual “Endless Winter” pilgrimage for the sport’s elite.  But even to Twiggy’s experienced eyes, this recent swell was something special.

“Obviously this was a historic day for us at Dungeons, not just the size of the waves but also how clean it was and that it lasted an entire day,” said Baker. “This is very unusual and the fact that we got to surf it for ten hours straight meant we became very comfortable out there and managed to push ourselves that little further.”

The day’s exploits were yet another clear example of the growing dedication to paddling into ever bigger waves among the top athletes and not simply “grabbing the rope” and utilizing watercraft tow-in assists on extreme surf situations.  In the Billabong XXL Awards, the biggest of these rides qualify as entries in the Monster Paddle Award.  On a number of waves the riders were able to get into the barrel — a special feat which has its own category, the Monster Tube Award.

“The local crew was pushing it all day with James Taylor, Andrew Marr and Mike Baleta standing out,” said Baker of his fellow countrymen.  “Greg Long had some bombs as well.  It’s so important to have the right mix of surfers on a day like this to really help force the level of commitment.”

The Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, now in its tenth annual cycle, has never experienced such a deluge of world-class entries this early in the season.  Huge Southern Hemisphere storms continue to slam south-facing coastlines worldwide, and many top surfers view this as just the precursor to things to come.  The National Weather Service has announced a strengthening El Niño condition in the world’s oceans, which has many times in the past produced historic swell episodes in the North Pacific for Hawaii and the West Coast of the USA.

Grant Baker is happy with the booming start.  “It’s good to know we have had some big waves in Cape Town this season that will go up against what looks like a major Northern Hemisphere El Niño winter,” he said.

The XXL Awards acknowledge the biggest and best waves ridden anywhere in the world based on the photographic evidence, with the annual awards gala occurring in California each April.  Over $130,000 in prizes are awarded to the top male and female big wave performances in a variety of categories including the XXL Biggest Wave, Monster Tube, Monster Paddle and Verizon Wipeout of the Year.  The top-line Billabong XXL Ride of the Year carries a $50,000 first prize.

In addition to all the latest entries in each category, full event details including formats, rules and archives of past XXL years can be seen at the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com

Byron Bay Today Aug 19th /09

Evan strolling off into the night. In Byron bay Today

The predicted Northerly never appeared, In Byron Bay Today. We were blessed with a gentle South Easterly breeze all day, and what a beautiful day it was.  Now let’s get down to business. First the surf, it’s very clean, and really perfect, if you happen to be a Gerbil or ride a logger. If however you want to ride anything, shorter and you weigh anymore than two kilos, then you wouldn’t be surfing in Byron bay today. There was plenty of swell, but it’s just so southerly, that it’s marching straight up on the coast, rather than sweeping into the bay. Oh well, logger heaven is ok by me. Now about our giveaways, it’s a good idea to read the text at the bottom of this page, so you know what’s going on. We now draw everything in the prize pool on any given day at random and our prize pool is growing. So make sure you check the photos and read the comments daily for your chance to win freebees, because you never know when it may be your chance to claim something joyous, In Byron Bay Today.