Catch-up mode continues

Posted on August 29th, 2009 in Big Picture, Dee Why, Podcast.

Hello Friends,

Ready for some wind? The Bureau’s hoisted the Gale pennant. So, while it’s started out glassy calm at the beach this morning, the situation will be very different by nightfall. I know what you’re thinking, if it’s going to blow, won’t we get some waves? Sadly, the answer is no. We’re talking N-NW’ly, and therefore any waves generated will be off to NZ without so much as a backward glance.

Early on, before the wind, there were some little SE lines trickling into Dee Why. It was big enough that folk could actually putt along a short distance before the knee to waist high boomers expired on the sand.

Given the wind forecast, I’m guessing the early morning session today is likely to be the peak for us this weekend. The spring conditions look set to bumble along for another week at least, but with luck it shouldn’t be quite as hopeless as the last few days. The models show some big stuff way offshore early in the week, so my hope is that some crumbs will fall off that particular table for us from around Monday.

And here’s Donny with the morning radio surf report fresh off the airwaves of Sydney at 0730. Don talks the small surf prospects with 702 ABC radio’s Weekend Show maestro, Simon Marnie

Synoptic Situation
A strong cold front expected on the far south Saturday night. N/NW winds increasing ahead of the front. Winds should ease during Sunday as the front moves rapidly east across the Tasman Sea.
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Gale Warning
Saturday until midnight: Wind: N/NW 15/20 knots increasing to 20/30 knots during the morning and reaching 30/40 knots at times in the afternoon and evening..Sea: rising to 2 to 3 metres in the morning and to 3 to 4 metres later.Swell: SE about 1 metre.
Sunday: Wind: W/SW 30/40 knots easing to SW 20/30 knots in the morning. SW easing further to 15/20 knots by the eveningSea: 3 to 4 metres abating 2 to 3 metres in the morning and to 1.5 to 2 metres by the evening. Swell: E/SE 1.5 to 2 metres increasing.
Monday: Wind: W/NW 10/20 knots.

Looks Like Tropical Storm Danny will send us some waves.

Posted on August 28th, 2009 in South Carolina.

Friday morning will start calm with a low tide and increasing swell all day long expected to peak to 5 feet Saturday which is great for the South Carolina Governors Cup surf contest to be held Saturday at Folly Beach. East winds will pick up along with the rain so the morning will be your best time.

Roberto

We’re still waiting for waves

Posted on August 28th, 2009 in Big Picture, Dee Why.

Hello Friends,

Huey’s bumped up the period setting since yesterday, so there should be a slightly improved chance of something catchable at spots exposed to the SE. I did see a small line come into the beach at Dee Why when I took this morning’s picture. But no one was in the water to greet it and if they had been, the ride would’ve been very brief.

The models remain uninspiring but I reckon the latest run of data supports the Goat’s call for the coming week. Not great, but there is some hope of a grovel around Monday.

Ah well, we’re surfers, we know all about waiting out the flat spells.

Go well with your day!

Tide: Low 0737, High 1432.
Synoptic Situation
A ridge extending from the high over the northern Tasman Sea will be associated with NW/NE airstream along NSW coast today. A low pressure trough is expected to approach the coast from the west on Saturday bringing an increase in N/NW winds. On Sunday winds are expected to turn W/SW and ease in a wake of the trough.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Friday until midnight: Wind: NW/NE 10/15 knots, reaching 15/20 knots offshore during the evening.Sea: to 1.5 metres. Swell: S about 1 metre.
Saturday: Wind: N/NW 15/20 knots, increasing to 20/30 knots in the morning.Sea: 1.5 to 2 metres, rising to 2 to 3 metres during the morning. Swell: E about 1 metre.
Sunday: Wind: NW 20/30 knots tending SW 20/30 knots early morning then easing to 10/20 knots

Seriously HUGE Waves for SA Junior Comp

Posted on August 28th, 2009 in Contests, News Stories, Surf News, Top stories.

Thurs Aug 27, Remote SA – An amazing day of big wave surfing at the inaugural Fantastic Noodles Intense Wave Challenge 09 held in perfect surf up around the serious 15 feet range (4m plus!) in South Australia.

What a day for Gold Coast surfer Blake Ainsworth who won his biggest ever event and pocketed $11 000 for the win, tube riding his way to a well deserved win over local South Australian charger Josiah Schmucker

“The best day of my surfing career by far” commented an exhausted and elated Ainsworth after his final.

“The waves were incredibly big at times but also perfect and barrelling and to win today means a lot to me, especially with everyone charging so hard and scoring big through just about every heat – it’s been awesome.”

There were numerous stand-out performances throughout the day which was designed to expose the next breed of Australian’s heading for the world tour to the serious side of facing your fears and charging really serious waves – and there’s no doubt today’s experience went a long way to hardening these young chargers.

Josiah Schmucker, the local kid, just 17 years of age and virtually unknown in Australian surfing circles prior to today was a revelation.

This youngster ripped into every wave out there with a fearlessness built around surfing the place with his dad for the past three years.

As much as Josiah was fearless, he was also polished, fading and timing tube rides impeccably and had the event been judged on an overall days performance, he may well have won.

“I love tow surfing big waves and it’s my aim to take on big waves all over the world – I want to tow Shipstern’s, Teahupoo, Jaws… the lot – I’m totally into surfing really big waves and I’ve been privileged to learn to surf big in these types of waves.”

Josiah’s dad and tow partner Jeff played a big part in the success of today’s event and he’s undoubtedly played a big part in nurturing his boy to develop his skills – Born and bred in this outback region, Jeff was a long term shark fisherman in the area and for 20 years has been surfing this way out to sea reef, apparently often anchoring off the reef when returning from shark fishing!

The father and son pair are a hard core story in Australian surfing and Josiah’s performance today peaked in his very close high scoring semi-final win over an equally impressive Courtney Brown (Western Australia) who enhanced his already impressive big wave reputation.

New Zealand 17 year old Sam Hawke (Christchurch) opened the day with the first perfect 10 point ride pulling into a super long big barrel which was similarly matched by Courtney Brown’s tube ride 10 later in the day.

The youngest competitor Jordi Watson (Sth Coast NSW), just 17 years of age and called into the event at late notice as first reserve, towed for the first time today and managed to score a 9.67 on one ride, rode possibly the biggest wave of the day on another and also probably laid claim to the wipe out of the day on another!

The wave was unique, beginning with a major peak which required the surfer negotiate their position, often testing their nerves to fade their opening turns with the wave then bowling into an excellent tube on the inside section – It was a big wave tube riding event and Ainsworth’s wave  selection and perfect positioning for barrels proved the difference in the final.

“I just took out a loan for $14 000 for a car and felt terrible getting such a big loan – I’ll knock it down quickly after today!”

Surfing South Australia’s Steve Reddy and Tim Doman came up with the concept for this event, which many thought unachievable given the remote and extreme location in South Australia’s beautiful outer regions, but they have succeeded in pulling off an epic event.

Final Results –

1^st Blake Ainsworth (Qld)

2^nd Josiah Schmucker (SA)

3^rd Equal – Courtney Brown (WA) and Sam Hawke (NZ)

5^th Equal – Teale Vanner (SA), Dean Bowen (NSW), Cahill Bell-Warren (Vic) and Jordi Watson (NSW).

A brand new TV Series “Next Wave” fuelled by Fantastic Noodles goes to air in August 2009 on Channel Ten unearthing the essence of grassroots surfing in Australia and introducing our next generation of surfing idols. The Fantastic Noodles Intense Wave Invitational will be the ninth and final episode aired on Sunday 11 October at 1pm.

Earlier this year Fantastic Noodles signed a sponsorship deal with Surfing Australia to sponsor the junior state title events in VIC, WA, TAS and SA and the NSW Regional Junior Titles and for the second year running they are the major sponsor of the South Australian, ASP Pro Junior.

C C Small

Posted on August 28th, 2009 in Central Coast, Surf Reports.

 

Fine,  dry and mild on the Central Coast this Friday morning.  The swell is smooth and small at 1 – 2 feet from the east.  There is a light west northwest breeze forecast to go northeast later.  Low tide 0735 and high tide around 1430.  Local barometer 1009 hpa, 9 degrees C. 73% humidity.   Have a good weekend.

Byron Bay Today Aug 27th 09

Posted on August 28th, 2009 in Byron, Local Colour, Surf Reports.

What a joyous surprise, In Byron Bay Today.  All the weather reports and signs were pointing to more northerlies. But it was warm and sunny with a light south easterly all day, I didn’t see that coming, but it was just what the doctor ordered to keep the crew smiling for the day. The swell jumped just a little from the south, and provided you had a board with plenty of floatation, as the banks are deep at the moment, there were some fun waves to be had. Now we’ve had a few emails today from folks concerned about sharks in the bay after my little encounter yesterday. Well hate to tell you, but there was another shark sighting today, thankfully not by me though. I had two surfs today between shoots, which is a luxury for me, and I saw nothing. Like I say folks you don’t need be alarmed or afraid, just exercise a little common sense at this time of year. If you don’t swim or surf at dusk or dawn or when the water is really murky or full of bait fish, then your chances of an encounter are greatly reduced. Keep those simple guidelines in place and you’ll have very little to worry about. Fact is you have more chance of getting struck by lightning. It’s just the way it is at this time of year. It’s not just Byron Bay either, it’s the whole east coast. As those whales head south with their newborns it’s only natural for the big predators to follow them. As the young ones make easy prey. So be aware not scared. Simply remember that you’re dealing with nature on nature’s terms and all will be well, In Byron Bay Today.

The Goat’s Forecast

Posted on August 27th, 2009 in Forecast.

SURF FORECAST ISSUED THURSDAY 27 AUGUST 2009:  Seven day outlook for Sydney:

Well it is Windy August… the time of offshores and flat surf…

Friday: flat.

Saturday: small NE windswell – with wind

Sunday:: about a metre or so at places that like dead South swell, could be a bit more.

Monday: about 1 metre dead South.

Tuesday:  about 1 metre or less.

Wednesday: ditto

Thrusday: small North East windswell

 

It was great to be part of the welcome home team at the Opera House this morning for Craig Goozee,  friend and Avalon Beach SLSC member this morning, who is raising money for children’s cancer research under the a2b4c banner…   http://www.a2b4c.com.au/

He is amazing.  He’s cycled, run, paddled 12,500 kilometres around Australia in 92 days!  Check out the pics on his daily blog…

Know of anyone else who’s done anything that comes close to that??  He looked as fit as a fiddle…not even puffing.  This is his third and last trip.  We followed his first trip up the coast in 1998 and reported his daily progress on realsurf… itself worth a re-read on the a2b4c site (‘about a2b4c’).

As well as all that the physical effort, all along the way he’s given talks to raise donations.  Who would have the energy to do that??

You can still donate here, to this worthy cause… 

https://donate.ccia.org.au/donate/a2b4c-donation.php?referer=A2B2C

The Goat.

Weather from the Bureau:

Forecast for Thursday evening
Fine. Light to moderate northwest to northeast winds.
Precis: Fine.

Forecast for Friday
Fine. Mostly sunny though cloud increasing late in the day. Light to moderate northwest to northeast winds.
Precis: Fine. Mostly sunny.

City:         Min:  10 Max:  23   Parramatta: Min:   8 Max:  25

Terrey Hills: Min:   9 Max:  22   Penrith:    Min:   6 Max:  25

Liverpool:    Min:   4 Max:  25   Richmond:   Min:   3 Max:  25

UV Alert: 10:00 am to 1:50 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 4 [Moderate]

Saturday Shower or two. Windy.

City:          Min:   13  Max:   27

West:          Min:    7  Max:   27

Sunday Fine. Wind easing.

City:          Min:   16  Max:   20

West:          Min:   10  Max:   20

Monday Fine. Mostly sunny.

City:          Min:    8  Max:   21

West:          Min:    1  Max:   21

Tuesday Chance shower.

City:          Min:   10  Max:   21

West:          Min:    3  Max:   21

Wednesday Mostly fine.

City:          Min:   11  Max:   19

West:          Min:    5  Max:   19

Thursday Chance shower.

City:          Min:   12  Max:   24

West:          Min:    5  Max:   24

 

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Thursday until midnight: Wind: NE/NW winds 10/15 knots.Sea: around 1 metre.Swell: S around 1 metre.
Friday: Wind: NW/NE 10/15 knots, reaching 20 knots offshore during the evening.Sea: to 1.5 metres. Swell: S about 1 metre.
Saturday: Wind: N/NW 20/30 knots.
Sunday: Wind: NW 20/30 knots tending SW 20/30 knots early morning then easing to 10/20 knots

Dee Why Lakeville

Posted on August 27th, 2009 in Surf Reports.

Not fit for man nor mal.

umm still flat

Posted on August 27th, 2009 in Manly.

And its getting very very annoying. Fingers crossed Huey wakes up soon. Very soon.

Small in the AM

Posted on August 27th, 2009 in South Carolina.

Looks like it will be running three feet in the morning before easterly winds and the chance of rain mess up things in the afternoon. The good news is that info is still confirming a  4-5 foot bump by Saturday. We will keep you posted.

Roberto