NE’r and grey

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in Big Picture, Dee Why.


Hello Friends

Didja get waves this weekend? They were definitely around, although the quality wasn’t uniformly good. This morning the conditions are not too attractive but there is some energy left. At 0800 the NE’r was around 15 kts and the swell was looking smaller than yesterday. The Bureau says it’s around the two metre mark from the NE. Period looks to be down somewhat but the MHL data is off the air right now, so I don’t have an objective number to share. I’d guess it was about 8-9 seconds.

The models project a steady decline toward very small by the end of the week. This morning looks to be as big as it gets for as far forward as the forecasts go (Saturday).

With luck it will be relatively slow and we’ll still have energy of some sort through to around Wednesday morning. If we’re talking head high on the bombs today, it could be chest high on the biggest ones by then.

Going fearlessly into the realms of wild speculation, I note that the current run of WAM projections, show what might be another easterly fetch beginning to intensify late in the week to the NW of NZ. It was a pattern like this that lead to the current extended run of easterly swell. If it does play out in similar fashion, then we might be seeing the effects toward the middle of next week. Lotta ifs and buts lined up there, so don’t hold me to it!

I posted some pictures from Manly yesterday here and I’ll have some more to share later from Collaroy and way south Narrabeen as well. If you missed it, there are three more galleries of Curly, Northy and Dee Why here from last week as well.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Monday until midnight: Wind: E/NE 8/13 knots, increasing to 15/20 knots in the afternoon.Sea: 1 to 2 metres.Swell: NE about 2 metres.
Tuesday: Wind: NE 8/13 knots.Sea: about 1 metre.Swell: E/NE 1 to 1.5 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: NW/NE 5/15 knots becoming NE 10/20 knots later.


Pics: South Narrabeen, Sun 7/2/2010 late am

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in Click! Pics for folk, Don's surfin' pics, Top stories.

Late Sunday morning I stopped by south Narrabeen and caught a few snaps of the crew out lacerating a peak under stormy skies. You can see all the pics here.

The entire gallery of shots is here.


Pics: Collaroy Sun 7/2/2010 midday

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in Click! Pics for folk, Top stories, surf photography.

Here’s a selection of pics from a group of 70 or so I shot a little after noon from atop the stormwater pipe at Collaroy on a rainy Sunday.

See all the rest of the Collaroy session pics here.


Super Surf Sunday (Cowells/Indicators)

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. While the masses were engaged in the trivial pursuit of watching men in tights chase a pointy ball around a big field, I went surfing. I was rewarded with a peak to myself at Cowells, a rare treat indeed.

Luke was leaving as I headed out. In response to the standard query, "How was it?" he replied, "Weird." It wasn't weird so much as just different. The winter storms have piled up sand at the base of the cliff, forming a new beach and changing the way the wave breaks at Cowells. 
From the Cowells stairs it's a short paddle to the new beach, which provides entry to Indicators and outer Cowells. I started off there but kept thinking about the inner Cowells wave I'd seen from the stairs. It was occassionally A-framing and as the crowd thinned, there was no one left on it. I paddled inside and found that the wave was shifty and inconsistent, with the small take-off zone a moving target. It was good practice with no worries about traffic, and I got a bunch of short rights, including a couple I didn't think I'd make as the waves broke pretty much on top of me. On one, I closed my eyes as the whitewater crashed down around my head, but pulled the nose up and landed the drop on my belly, so I jumped up and rode. Paddling back, I saw something yellow bobbing in the water. Part of an old boat fender, maybe? Then I looked at my armband and saw it was missing the yellow camera float - and the camera too! I snatched the yellow float from the water and was relieved to see the Pentax still attached. Whew, lucky. Next time, I need a redundant strap holding the camera to my person.

Past kickoff time for the Super Bowl, I noticed the crowd had much diminished farther out. I made the long paddle back towards Indicators wanting to catch a nicer wave as my last of the session. A closeout bomb detonated outside of me and I turned to catch it, a sizzling fast ride past and alongside the new beach.

The drive home along the coast offered the usual stunning scenery, and a sky show too.
Waddell Creek near sunset
Surfline: Textured, crumbly surf on tap this afternoon. Waves are still going shoulder high to several feet overhead. Mix of mid period WNW swell and building, long period NW swell. Buoy 46012: 8.9 ft @ 12.5 sec.

The old Northy

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in At large, North Narrabeen.

 

 

Had to run an errand this morning, so I checked the Collaroy-Narra stretch. Pretty much unsurfable along most of it but there are still some okay size sets. The only place I spotted humans in the water was at Northy. I presume they were training or something, because the quality was strictly for desperates. And the water colour…urk… looks like it’s 90% stormwater run-off from the lagoon.

To quote from the environment.nsw.gov.au site:

However after heavy rain, pollution from stormwater and sewage overflows can make beaches unsuitable for swimming for 24 hours at ocean beaches…
The most common types of waterborne pathogens are:

* Enteric Bacteria: single-celled organisms that live in the intestinal tracts of all warm blooded animals. Several groups of these bacteria are pathogenic, including Camplobacter, Salmonella, Pseudomonas and Shigella
* Viruses: genetic material surrounded by a protein shell. These are a common cause of swimming-related illnesses and include Rotaviruses, Adenoviruses, Noroviruses and Hepatitis
* Protozoa: live in water as resilient dormant cysts and once ingested, can live as parasites in humans and animals. Of the 35,000 known species of protozoans, 30% of these are pathogenic and include Giardia and Cryptosporidium
* Worms which can cause vomiting, coughing, chest pain, fever and gastroenteritis.


C C

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in Central Coast, Surf Reports.

Overcast, dry and humid on the Central Coast this Monday morning.  The swell is smooth at 2 – 4 feet from the east northeast.  There is no breeze at the moment but forecast for a east northeast breeze later.  High tide at 0505 and Low tide around 1155.  Local barometer 1019 hpa, 21 degrees C. 97% humidity.  Have a great week!


Water, Water Everywhere, In Byron Bay Today.

Posted on February 8th, 2010 in Byron.

Man did it rain last night or what; I mean that was some serious deluge we had in Byron Bay today. Hardly surprisingly there were little pockets of flooding all over the place. Not to mention large swaths of sand swept away, not so much by the big seas but rather just the intense run off, as the water made its way via the shortest possible path to the ocean. The swell is still cooking, although the waters not looking too inviting, it rarely does after heavy rain. The waves are pretty bumpy and lumpy and the sandbanks are changing everyday at the moment, it’s really quite hard to say if it’s getting better or worse, it all really depends on when the sand stops moving, In Byron Bay Today