Hello Friends,

Although they had to contend with an 0620 high tide, the crew at Dee Why point were still finding a few fun sets this morning for the early. The wind was relatively light and out of the W to NW. The Bureau says the swell should stick around at the present two metres or so, but we can expect the wind to get more around to the S to SE as the day goes along. By this time tomorrow some of the models have average wave heights at south spots dropping into the waist high range, but they’re also showing another spike for around Weds.

Go well with your plans!

If you’re just checking in and want to know what happened over the weekend, here are my galleries which I mostly shot with the super shmick Nikon D3S. Who knows, I might have got a snap or two of you! (click the pic to go to the gallery)

Warriewood, Sunday afternoon

Dee Why point from the water, Sunday morning

Big Avalon, Saturday morning

Pumping Dee Why point, Friday afternoon

Weather Situation from the Bureau of Meterology

A strong slow-moving high pressure system southwest of the Bight extends a ridge to the northern Tasman Sea and a deep low lies south of New Zealand. The two systems are generating a vigorous southwesterly airstream and moderate to heavy swell across the southern Tasman Sea.
Forecast for Monday until midnight

Winds: South to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots decreasing below 10 knots by early evening then tending easterly and light later in the evening. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 2 metres.
Forecast for Tuesday

Winds: Northwest to southwesterly 5 to 10 knots tending south to southeasterly 10 to 20 knots during the afternoon. Seas: Below 1 metre increasing to 1 to 1.5 metres during the afternoon. Swell: Southerly about 2 metres.
Forecast for Wednesday

Winds: Southeasterly 10 to 15 knots tending east to southeasterly up to 10 knots during the morning. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 1.5 metres.

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Hello Friends,

Nice day wasn’t it?

Didya get in?

I didn’t. Ended up just taking pictures because it was a bit big for my taste. Having shot at Dee Why last night (see gallery below), I felt like pointing the camera in a different direction, so I headed up to Avalon. Naturally I checked stuff on the way too. Nothing stood out, although there were a fair few in at Warriewood when I stopped by there.

The south end of Avalon had a reasonable size crew chasing reasonable size sets. They were mostly jagging the rights and the bodyboarders were having a lash at Little Av. I was extra keen to try out the Nikon D3s, so I set up in front of the surf club and popped off a few shots. After awhile though I felt I just didn’t have enough reach, so I unholstered the D90 which because it has a smaller sensor, increased the effective length of the 300mm + 1.7 teleconverter I was using. Too technical? Thought so! Sorry! Basically I used two different cameras is what I’m saying.

After about 45 minutes I decided to dodge up to Palmy to see what was what. A great day, but wavewise, not happening at the north end. I knew it was a long shot…

Came back south and stopped in to have a look at what was doing at Newport. There were a few folks on the peak, but the main crowd was down at the Pool chasing the big rights. Set up the big old 650 and the D3s and shot away until the onshore crept in from the SE and gradually roughed it up.

This evening I did a quick loop around the plateau to see how the swell was travelling as we ended the day. Interestingly, while the MHL Sydney buoy is showing pretty much the same numbers as this morning, the swell looks 30% smaller and the waits between sets seem to be stretching right out as well.

The models are still calling for us to see smaller conditions tomorrow with light ne to se onshores tomorrow. It won’t be flat, but the skies are set to be grey and there’s a 30% chance of showers.

Go well!
My Avalon pics…

What I shot at Newport…

Weather Situation from the Australian BoM

A strong slow-moving high pressure system southwest of the Bight extends a ridge to the northern Tasman Sea and a deep low lies south of New Zealand. The two systems are generating a vigorous southwesterly airstream and moderate to heavy swell across the southern Tasman Sea. Winds will gradually ease and swell will gradually decrease during today and Sunday as the low moves further south.
Forecast for Saturday until midnight

Winds: East to southeasterly 5 to 10 knots. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.
Forecast for Sunday

Winds: Northeast to southeasterly 5 to 10 knots. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 1.5 to 3 metres. Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.
Forecast for Monday

Winds: Southeasterly 5 to 15 knots. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 1.5 metres.
Forecast for Tuesday

Winds: Northwest to southwesterly 5 to 10 knots tending southeast to southwesterly up to 20 knots during the afternoon. Seas: Below 1 metre increasing up to 1.5 metres during the afternoon. Swell: Southerly 1.5 metres.

Hello Friends,

It be pumping at south swell spots this morning.

Swell is around the three metre mark on average off Sydney. It’s coming from the S-SSE at a touch under 13 seconds apart and the wind is not a factor to begin with.

A quick survey from high atop Collaroy Plateau reveals that the Collaroy to Narrabeen stretch to be showing some meaty lines, but the shutdown factor is so high that there’s no one in the water until you get right down to the pool at the south end. Looks like there might be the odd opportunity at Whiterock, but I didn’t see any takers. Around at Long Reef the swell is thundering in but it all looked pretty wild and mixed up. Seemed to be a few bods in, but gee, you’d need to be keen. The beach stretching down to Dee Why seemed to be pretty much empty, but the point was another story.

If you’re thinking of jumping in the water at Dee Why point this morning, you better know that you’re going to have a few chums to share it with. It was extremely crowded last night and it was even more crowded this morning. And for good reason too, because it looked to be about as good as the joint gets.

The good news is that we should have waves of some quality at south swell spots until at least lunchtime tomorrow. Winds will be most favourable in the morning, but shouldn’t be too bad even in the afternoon.

Longer range outlook has the swell fading away overnight Sunday, but maybe coming back in somewhat smaller form toward midweek. With luck it won’t actually go flat on us for the next 4-5 days!

I went shooting last night at Dee Why point when the swell was macking and my plan is to get out and about with a camera today as well. So more galleries are in your future. I’m particularly stoked as I have a Nikon D3S to play with this weekend.

Weather Situation

A slow-moving, strong high pressure system southwest of the Bight extends a ridge to the northern Tasman Sea and a deep low lies south of New Zealand. The two systems are generating vigorous southwesterly airstream and moderate to heavy swell across the southern Tasman Sea. Winds will gradually ease and swell will gradually decrease during today and Sunday as the low moves further south.
Forecast for Saturday until midnight

Winds: Southwesterly 5 to 15 knots tending south to southeasterly about 10 knots during the afternoon then tending south to southwesterly later in the evening. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 3 metres breaking dangerously close inshore.
Forecast for Sunday

Winds: Southeast to southwesterly 5 to 15 knots becoming mainly southwesterly up to 10 knots during the morning then tending east to southeasterly during the afternoon. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 1.5 to 3 metre breaking dangerously close inshore at first.
Forecast for Monday

Winds: South to southeasterly 5 to 10 knots increasing to 10 to 15 knots during the morning then tending east to southeasterly up to 10 knots during the evening. Seas: Below 1 metre. Swell: Southerly 1.5 metres.