Narrabeen Rpt

More of the same. Weak & knee-high

Misty morning

Not much showing at Dee Why.

Hello Friends,

Nothing much showing at Dee Why through the drizzle. Swell is only a metre from the east at about 7 seconds. Not really surfable. There is some peak period component in the 10 sec range, but I couldn’t see anything much when I watched. But, a closer inspection of the data from down south reveals that both the Batemans Bay and Eden buoys showed a very brief excursion of peak periods into the 18 second range at about midnight – as foretold by the models. It seems to have dropped back a bit to 16 seconds down that way. Primary swell down that way is SSE.

That peak should arrive here later in the morning. Will it lead to obvious sets? Hard to say. The data doesn’t break out the height and direction for the primary and secondary swells, so it’s a case of “just maybe” in my mind.

Naturally we’ll be keeping a weather eye out for any change.

Big night tonight for Surfrider Foundation at Manly’s Wharf Bar from 6pm. It’s 25 bucks (which includes a complimentary drink) to get in. There are heaps of items for the charity auction so you could go home with a seriously inexpensive surf trip, wetty, set of fins, etc. All the details are in the story I posted in our news section. Hope to see a few of you characters there!

Will try to get back a bit later with some thoughts on the surf outlook…

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Thursday until midnight: Wind: S/SE 10/15 knots, turning E/NE 10/15 knots during the afternoon or evening.Sea: about 1 metre. Swell: S/SE increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres.
Friday: Wind: N/NE 10/15 knots increasing to 15/20 knots in the afternoon.Sea: to 1 metre rising 1 to 2 metres in the afternoon. Swell: S/SE 1 to 2 metres.
Saturday: Wind: N/NE 10/20 knots increasing to 20/25 knots offshore.

C C

Cloudy, dry and mild on the Central Coast this morning.  The swell is smooth, weak and small at 1 – 2 feet + from the east southeast.  There a light southwest breeze forecast to go northeast later.  High tide 0555 and low tide around 1045.  Local barometer 1145 hpa, 19 degrees C. 96% humidity.   Have a good one.

Fanning Claims Rip Curl Pro Search, Solidifies ASP Lead

Mick Fanning (AUS), 28.

SUPERTUBOS, Peniche/Portugal (Wednesday, October 28, 2009) – Mick Fanning (AUS), 28, former ASP World Champion (2007) and current ASP World No. 1, has claimed the 2009 Rip Curl Pro Search at Supertubos in Portugal, defeating fellow Finalist Bede Durbidge (AUS), 26, and cementing his lead in the now two-horse race for the 2009 ASP World Title.

Event No. 9 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Search ran a gamut of conditions and venues ranging from two-foot righthand wedges at Molhe Leste, four-foot offshore lefthanders at Lagido, punchy four-foot peaks at Belgas and death-defying six-to-eight foot barrels at Supertubos yesterday before culminating a dramatic end to competition.

Fanning, who won the inaugural Rip Curl Pro Search at Reunion Island (2005) and was a standout in yesterday’s massive barrels, readjusted to today’s smaller conditions and was dominant in his Final against Durbidge. With conditions deteriorating, Fanning lacerated the punchy wedges on his forehand to net a solid 6.67 and a 6.00 that would prove unbeatable for his opponent.

“Yesterday was one of the best days of competition I’ve ever seen and we all showed up today and had to adjust our frame of mind to deal with the drop in size and quality,” Fanning said. “I’ve been surfing conditions like this all summer at home so I knew what I had to do out there. I was able to pick off a couple of good scores at the start and then I basically had to sit on Bede (Durbidge) so he didn’t get any back on me.”

A true student of focus and adaptability, Fanning was a fitting champion of the Rip Curl Pro Search, and navigating the changing venues and conditions with aplomb and panache.

“The Search lived up to its name – we searched everywhere,” Fanning said. “We surfed four different waves for the event and even yesterday, I wanted to go and surf down at the wall, but we ran here and it ended up being one of the best days of the year. Congratulations to Rip Curl and all the staff who put in some really tough work all week with all the moves – it’s been a pretty amazing effort.”

The Rip Curl Pro Search narrowed down the field of potential contenders for the 2009 ASP World Title from 10 to two throughout the course of the event, with the final event of the year at the Banzai Pipeline playing the decider.

“That’s what you always dream of as a kid (competing for an ASP World Title at Pipeline),” Fanning said. “I’m super pumped. I’m going to go home and relax for a couple of weeks and get ready for Pipe. Hopefully we get some big barrels like we did here and we have a real showdown.”

Durbidge, who now moves to ASP World No. 4 heading into the final event of the season, was a standout throughout the Rip Curl Pro Search, likening the conditions to his home break of North Stradbroke Island on Australia’s Gold Coast. The well-built natural-footer secured an impressive come-from-behind win in his Semifinal today before being stopped by Fanning in the Final.

“Definitely the top guys of the event were in the top four,” Durbidge said. “It was unfortunate that Owen (Wright) couldn’t be in his Semifinal. Mick (Fanning) has been in incredible form the past eight weeks and he’s on fire. The 10 that Joel (Parkinson) got yesterday was phenomenal, and in our heat this morning, he had me on the ropes until the end.”

The Runner-Up finish marks Durbidge’s second of the season (collecting his first in France), and is a welcome change in momentum from a tough start to 2009. A former winner at the Billabong Pipeline Masters (2007) as well as a former Vans Triple Crown Champion (2007), Durbidge will look to finish the year strong in Hawaii.

“I’m stoked to get second but you always want to win,” Durbidge said. “I have that little bit of disappointment. It was a great event for me and I won some really big heats so the confidence is really high. I love Hawaii and I haven’t had my win this season yet so I’m definitely keen to put one away during the final event.”

Owen Wright (AUS), 19, wildcard into the Rip Curl Pro Search and current No. 3 on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS), was a standout in Portugal, eliminating 2009 ASP Dream Tour rookie Kekoa Bacalso (HAW), 24, nine-time ASP World Champion, Kelly Slater (USA), 37, Californian new school leader Dane Reynolds (USA), 24, and current ASP World No. 9 Damien Hobgood (USA), 30, en route to his Semifinals berth against Fanning.

However, tragedy would strike during his Quarterfinal win over Hobgood yesterday as the phenomenal goofy-footer suffered a horrific wipeout, rupturing his eardrum and injuring his neck. Although prepared to don a helmet this morning and take on the current ASP World No. 1, event physicians instructed the young Australian against competing.

”I had the injury checked out last night – there’s no real bone or structural damage,” Wright said. “I just feel it through the neck, shoulder, knee and my ear is a bit messed up. We did some tests this morning and we all decided it was better off me not competing as I don’t really have much range in my neck movement.  But, it’s all good – it is all fixable. I will be getting worked on twice a day and I will take a bit of time to relax. I will still go to Hawaii and hopefully get some barrels. I love it there so hopefully we get a good season.”

Although Wright was unable to surf on the final day of competition, he emphatically made his presence felt amongst the world’s best and will be a force to be reckoned with on the 2010 ASP World Tour.

“I’m definitely disappointed but stoked to see Mick (Fanning) win,” Wright said. “Stoked he got another win. I would have loved to have surfed against him, it would have been great, but I’m really happy with my performance in Portugal. It was a great experience and gave me a lot of confidence heading into next year.”

Parkinson, who experienced what many considered to be an unbeatable start to the 2009 ASP Dream Tour season, witnessed his stranglehold on the ratings chipped away at following three, consecutive Equal 17ths sustained in California, France and Spain. Despite missing out on a Final’s berth, Parkinson’s Equal 3^rd place finish is a welcome return to form.

“I am a little bit disappointed but overall I am pretty happy,” Parkinson said. “Third still keeps me up there and in contention for the title. I’m a little bit disappointed in myself, I made one error that changed the whole heat and they are the little things that you find hard sleeping on.”

Generally guarded when discussing the 2009 ASP World Title race, Parkinson is one of two contenders remaining this season, and, as the defending Vans Triple Crown Champion, will be a major player in the final event of the year.

“In a few days when all the dust settles I’ll look back and see that I have come off the ankle injury and a few bad results, so just to get a third and back into form is a huge confidence boost,” Parkinson said. “There is not a great deal of points between me and Mick (Fanning) coming into Pipe so it’s still anybody’s to win.”

The 2009 ASP World Title has now become a two-horse race between Fanning and Parkinson and will conclude at the final event of the season, the Billabong Pipeline Masters. The scenarios for the 2009 ASP World Title are as follows:

- Fanning finishes 33^rd through a 9^th at Pipeline, Parkinson needs a 3^rd or better to overtake.

- Fanning finishes 5^th at Pipeline, Parkinson needs a 2^nd or better to overtake.

- Fanning finishes 3^rd at Pipeline, Parkinson needs win the event to overtake.

- Fanning finishes 2^nd or better at Pipeline, he will clinch the 2009 ASP World Title.

Although the men’s event has concluded, the ASP Top 17 will have their crack at the many waves of Portugal for the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Search, event No. 4 of 7 on the 2009 ASP Women’s World Tour, which will commence this afternoon.

Surfline, official forecasters for the 2009 Rip Curl Pro Search, are calling for the current surf to drop slightly over the next 24 hours before another swell is expected to hit the region.

Highlights from the Rip Curl Pro Search are available via http://live.ripcurl.com

Rip Curl Pro Search online media center is available at   http://www.box.net/shared/o3avphdb6z

The Rip Curl Pro Search is partnered regionally by RTP, Eurosport, Fuel TV and ESPN Brazil, who will all be broadcasting live from Peniche throughout the event. For more information on these live television broadcasts, please visit http://live.ripcurl.com.

The next and final stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour will be the Billabong Pipeline Masters running on the North Shore of Hawaii from December 8 – 20, 2009.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH FINAL RESULTS:

1 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.67

2 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 9.87

RIP CURL PRO SEARCH SEMIFINAL RESULTS:

SF 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.60 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.27

SF 2: Wright Withdraws Due to Injury, Fanning Advances

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 (Following Rip Curl Pro Search):

1 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 7140 points

2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 6772 points

3 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 6148 points

4 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 6146 points

5 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 5748 points

6 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 5524 points

7 – Kelly Slater (USA) 5514 points

8 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 5421 points

9 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 5116 points

10 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 4828 points

RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO SEARCH ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS

Heat 1: Rebecca Woods (AUS), Jacqueline Silva (BRA), Bruna Schmitz (BRA)

Heat 2: Melanie Bartels (HAW), Samantha Cornish (AUS), Alana Blanchard (HAW)

Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Amee Donohoe (AUS), Pauline Ado (FRA)

Heat 4: Silvana Lima (BRA), Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Megan Abubo (HAW)

Heat 5: Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AYS)

Heat 6: Paige Hareb (NZL), Coco Ho (HAW), Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)

Bring it Down Huey, In Byron Bay Today.

Click Here for the full update, In Byron Bay Today.

Its grey it’s wet and it’s about bloody time too. Bring it down Huey is all we can say because rain is what we so desperately need in Byron Bay today. Sure we all enjoy the warm sunny weather over the winter months, I mean who wouldn’t? But there’s a price to pay for the northern winter warmth. It’s usually a sign of drought and we’ve been in drought again up here for a few months now. In fact the last month or so many of the local crew nervously muttering that, ‘It’s starting look like a bush fire waiting to happen around here.’ So if you’re here on holiday and cursing the rain, try being grateful for it instead. Because a little wet weather beats the hell out of dust storms and potential fires any day. As for the waves, well it wasn’t all time perfect. But it was fun enough to paddle out for a play, and let’s face it you might as well when you’re already wet , In Byron Bay Today.

rating testing

Just experimenting here…

How good was the surf today?

[starratingmulti id=3 tpl=12]

and here…

What do you reckon the surf will be like…

[starratingmulti id=1 tpl=12]

this is a fixed version of above… does it change if new votes are added?

[starratingmulti id=1 tpl=12 read_only=1]

Wave outlook thoughts

Hello Friends,

Been having a look at the various charts and riffs thereon by surf forecasting sites. Basically it’s looking less than wonderful across the next few days for Sydney.

Right now the primary swell is a weak little 8 sec period number from the SSE at about a metre.  There is some 12 sec component in there which, since MHL doesn’t tell us a direction, we’ll assume is coming from the southerly quarters as well. It doesn’t seem to be producing much of anything extra though.

Tomorrow the models are showing a brief long period pulse but they’re a bit variable in the absolute value. It ranges from around 15 to 18 seconds and is set to be dead south. Since the height at sea is only forecast to be around a metre, I’m not getting too hopeful. If we get chest high sets by midday Thursday I’ll be stoked. With luck the pulse should extend through to Friday morning.

Winds on Thursday should be around the 5-10 kt range from the NE, and Friday is set to be NE 5-10 kts.

Tide’s set to be low mid morning-ish too, so the pre-lunch go-out could be best.

Here’s a little experiment… anyone should be able to choose ratings in the block below. The idea is to create a sort of hive mind prediction for surf quality across the next 24 hours. Just choose whatever you reckon is the most likely quality (more stars = better)

[starratingmulti id=1 tpl=12]

Other stuff: still have a pair of tix to give away for tonight’s premiere of Tim Bonython’s latest ASMF show at the Randwick Ritz. Just shoot me a request by the feedback link top of our page and I’ll let you know if you have a pair of tickets. Please supply your full name and moby number for the door people.

buy tix online for this and other shows here

Here’s a snap from the SA sequence…

Dean Bowen at the SA intense Wave Invitational

Dee Why: Small

Not exactly huge at Dee Why point.

Don says he saw some chest high sets earlier — I must have been looking at the wrong times. Here’s about the biggest thing I’ve seen all morning. Might be a bit bigger up Longy way.

Cronulla report by Aquasea Wetsuit Repairs

Small waves 1foot+ but outgoing tide and wind NW going to NE later, sunny conditions, nice for a fun paddle
WIND: NNW at 11kph. WATER TEMP: 19 degrees.
FORECAST: Fine day with sunny periods. The chance of an evening shower. Light to moderate northwest winds tending northeast ahead a weak southerly
change late evening or overnight.
MAX AIR TEMP TODAY: 23-28 degrees.
SWELL: SSE 1-2m at 8 seconds.
TIDES:     HIGH: 17:00      LOW: 10:45
WINDSURFERS: Good conditions today.
BOAT DIVING: Good sea conditions outside, vis around 10m+ on the TUGGERAH and Kelloe, 10m  at Barons Hut, thanks to www.seatamerdive.com Sydney Scuba Diving Boat Charter and Ian Griffiths “Griffiti”.
SHORE DIVING: 6 metres vis at Oak Park. 5+ metres at Shiprock.
WETSUIT REPAIRS at Aquasea, Sydney NSW. 02.95404774 for wetty and wettie repairs contact Lesley at AQUASEA 02.95404774 for a quick turn around, zippers tears cuts and all alterations to neoprene.
See ya – www.aquasea.com.au in Sydney – wetsuit wettie wetty wetsuits repair and repairs for surfing scuba windsurfers ring Aquasea on 02.95404774, go diving without tanks ie tankless diving using 12 v volt compressors also known as hookah dive diving with www.aquasea.com.au in Sydney NSW Ph: 02.95404774 led hid halogen torches and lights video boat transom lights for underwater lighting at night similar aqua cam camera and cameras see www.aquasea.com.au for stainless wire in your balustrades and for underwater lights and housings cameras. SYDNEY NSW AUSTRALIA (Ph: 61.2.95404774).
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C C Small

Fine, dry and mild on the Central Coast this morning.  The swell is smooth, weak and small at 1 – 2 feet + from the east southeast.  There a light northwest breeze forecast to go northeast then southerly later.  High tide 0510 and low tide around 1045.  Local barometer 1020 hpa, 16 degrees C. 72% humidity.   Have a good one.