Thought I’d head up the peninsula to see if the swell was doing anything interesting. Drove as far as Avalon where I discovered a small group at the south end waiting and waiting for the very occasional shoulder high set wave. Watched for quite awhile before deciding it was just too inconsistent to set up the camera. Checked in at the peak in Newport to see what the dozen or so bods were doing on it. It was more consistent than Av, but the larger number of people meant the wait for waves was probably about the same on average. Size was a touch smaller too. Took the following picture:

Next stop was Mona Vale. Again, smallish (compared to the last few days) and rather busy considering. I think the swell was just too south for the place to really start working properly, so after watching for a bit, I headed off south to see what Northy was looking like. It was a case of hmmm… yeah… busy, inconsistent with the odd shoulder high one, but like Mona, not really the best swell direction for the place. Still, it did produce at least something for the camera…

Stopped for a squizz at Longy. Waves were a touch smaller on average I thought, but there were lots of fine folk chasing ‘em from the Lugga to the Dee Why end. Shutdowns were well in front of makeable sections, but I walked down to the water’s edge and took a snap for your amusement.

Last stop on my little journey was Curl Curl. It certainly looked a picture, particularly toward the south end. I watched for some time before finally deciding that since this is the last of the sunny weather and offshore waves for awhile, that I might as well do some shooting. I spent nearly an hour grabbing snaps (including some of a nice chap who introduced himself as a long time RealSurf fan). They’ve just finished processing, but I can’t upload them yet because the hundreds of shots I got yesterday morning at Manly and in the evening at Dee Why are still making their way to the server. Should be up by this evening I hope! Here’s a sample…

Hello Friends,

The story of the morning is that our lovely run of swell and weather is fading rapidly away. This morning the MHL buoy is showing that the primary swell direction is pretty close to dead south and the average height at sea is just a hair above a metre. The only setting that hasn’t changed much from yesterday is the all important period. It’s still very close to ten seconds and as a consequence there was a reason for the punters to be on it at Dee Why point as the sun came into view over the horizon. The sets are around the chest to head high mark, so it’s not looking too bad. I’d expect the other south spots to be showing as well, so get out there if you can…

Wind is light westerly right now, but the call is for it to swing SW and to start ramping up strongly. The weather is set to be sunny this morning, but by this evening we could be seeing a few showers as we head into what looks to be a pretty blustery weekend. The Bureau says we’re going to see a return to grey and showery weather for the next week.

Happily, I’ve shot us a nice record of the swell action, so we can look back and reflect upon Huey’s excellent work. As I write this a few hundred pictures from yesterday morning at Manly (I’d call it 8 out of 10) and Dee Why beach in the late afternoon are uploading to my galleries. It’ll be a few hours before they’re all up, but sometime this afternoon I should be able to switch them on…

In the meantime, I might try to find one more shooting sesh before the great conditions go away… say hi if you see me down there and go well with your day.

TIDES: L @0800, H @1400

Weather Situation

A complex low pressure system lies near Tasmania with an associated trough over the western Tasman Sea. During Friday the low will move slowly to the east and a high pressure system will move south of the Bight extending a ridge to New South Wales north coast. The high is expected to move slowly east over the next few days strengthening the ridge across the Tasman Sea.

Forecast for Friday until midnight

Winds: Southwesterly 10 to 20 knots tending south to southwesterly 20 to 30 knots by early evening. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres by early evening then increasing to 2 to 3 metres later in the evening. Swell: Southeasterly about 2 metres.

Forecast for Saturday

Winds: South to southwesterly 25 to 30 knots becoming southerly 20 to 25 knots by early evening then decreasing to 15 to 20 knots later in the evening. Seas: 2 to 3 metres. Swell: Southerly 2 to 3 metres.

Forecast for Sunday

Winds: South to southeasterly 15 to 20 knots becoming southeasterly 10 to 15 knots during the evening. Seas: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: Southerly about 2 metres.

T

Hello Friends,

Miss it yesterday? Well our old mate Huey has decided to start Thursday with more waves for Sydney ESE spots, so if you can manage it, there should be something at one of your favourite beaches. Swell at sea is holding at around two metres and according to the MHL data, it’s mainly coming from the ESE at around 10 seconds. Yesterday there was a bit more of a spread between the average and peak size, so the bomb sets may be somewhat less common. But that’s about the worst you can say because it really looks like we’re in for another corker of a day with offshore wind, sunny skies and swell through to dusk.

Yesterday I went shooting at Manly in the morning and Mona Vale in the afternoon, so I’ll have a couple more galleries up later. BTW, if you were out at Northy on Tuesday, you should take a look through the latest gallery to see if I captured any of your good ones.

The models show the swell fading today but with luck there will still be something tomorrow morning. A south pulse is on the cards for Saturday, but the wind forecast is indicating that it’ll be protected corners only.

Have a good one and check back later as I plan to update with a picture or two…

TIDES: L @0700 and H @1300

Weather Situation
A complex low pressure system lies near the Bass Strait and with an associated trough over the eastern Tasman Sea. During Thursday the low will move to the southeast maintaining the trough across the the Tasman Sea and a high pressure system will move south of the Bight extending a ridge to New South Wales north coast. The high is expected to move slowly east over the next few days strengthening the ridge across the Tasman Sea.

Forecast for Thursday until midnight
Winds: West to northwesterly 10 to 15 knots increasing to 15 to 25 knots during the morning. Seas: Below 1 metre increasing up to 1.5 metres around midday. Swell: Easterly 2 metres.

Forecast for Friday
Winds: West to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots tending south to southwesterly 15 to 25 knots during the afternoon then becoming southerly 20 to 30 knots by early evening. Seas: 1 to 2 metres increasing to 2 to 3 metres later in the evening. Swell: Easterly about 2 metres.

Forecast for Saturday
Winds: Southerly 25 to 30 knots decreasing to 20 to 25 knots during the morning then decreasing to 15 to 20 knots during the evening. Seas: Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres during the evening. Swell: Southeasterly about 2 metres.