PICS by Don: Dee Why beach and point, Sunday 19 June 2011

Posted on June 22nd, 2011 in Dee Why, Don's surfin' pics, Top stories.

Went down to shoot the last of the south swell hitting Dee Why beach on Sunday morning. There was quite a crew on the peak just up the beach from the surf club and there were a few others getting into ‘em at the point.

As usual, just click the pic below to check out all the shots from the session!

Big westerly, small waves

Posted on June 22nd, 2011 in Surf Reports.

Commentary not necessary…

 

 

Are you super keen?

Posted on June 22nd, 2011 in Dee Why.

Hello Friends,

Lookin’ pretty small, but not utterly and absolutely flat at Dee Why beach as the Wednesday opened. The morning light had a funny slightly dusty look to it too. Sets at the few functioning low tide peaks were hitting the waist high mark. A cold and stiff westerly was encouraging the keeping of hands in pockets and hoods up. But a clutch of hardy types were not deterred at Dee Why.

The wind is supposed to back off gradually today and the swell is supposed to maintain at around the current weak level for another day. That said, some interpretations of the models are showing a small uptick in energy levels for late Thursday and Friday. We aren’t talking anything too dramatic but there might be the odd shoulder high set at spots with good exposure to the south. But thereafter… well, you probably don’t want to hear about what those models say…

Have yourself a great Wednesday one and all!

 

TIDES: L @0650, H @1310

Weather Situation
A vigorous westerly airstream following the passage of a strong cold front on Tuesday. Winds are expected ease gradually during Wednesday as the front moves towards New Zealand and a high pressure system over Western Australia extends a ridge to the northern Tasman Sea.
Forecast for Wednesday until midnight
Winds
Westerly 20 to 30 knots decreasing to 20 to 25 knots during the afternoon then decreasing to 15 to 20 knots by early evening.
Seas
Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres during the afternoon.
Swell
Southerly about 1 metre.
Thursday 23 June
Winds
West to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots.
Seas
1 to 1.5 metres.
Swell
Southerly about 1 metre.
Friday 24 June
Winds
West to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots decreasing to 10 to 15 knots during the morning.
Seas
Up to 1.5 metres decreasing to below 1 metre during the evening.
Swell
Southerly 1 metre.

Tough Day In The Office, In Byron Bay Today.

Posted on June 22nd, 2011 in Byron.

As yet another day of onshore winds and tiny swell draws to a close, in Byron Bay today. We find ourselves reflecting on the dreadful strain of producing the show each day. I mean really, standing around in the sun sipping coffee, talking friends into going for paddle, so we’ve got someone to shoot. Taking a little break, having a bit of a nibble and then eventually being forced to paddle out ourselves to help make up the numbers. Honestly I tell ya folks it was such a tough day in the office, In Byron Bay Today.

Just about faded this morning

Posted on June 21st, 2011 in Dee Why.

PICS by Don: South Narrabeen offshore Saturday afternoon 18/6

Posted on June 21st, 2011 in Don's surfin' pics, South Narrabeen, Top stories.

Near perfect conditions on a Saturday afternoon at south Narrabeen. People were in the water from Mactier Street almost all the way to Northy. I only had an hour or so to shoot, but I made the most of it. Sets were into the head high range and it was offshore and sunny too. Lots of waves were unmakeable, but people didn’t mind the old take off and die strategy – because sometimes it paid off.

Just click the pic below to visit the entire gallery of pictures.

 

Happy Happy Joy Joy, In Byron Bay Today.

Posted on June 21st, 2011 in Byron.

Such a joyous day, bit of a pity about the waves though, in Byron Bay today. It was the kind of glorious weather which gets the Happy Happy Joy Joy juices flowing in the bay. But then as the hunt for waves took place most soon realised that Huey had other things in mind. The only place the swell was really hitting didn’t have any decent sand, the wind was off a little and as the day wound on it was starting to turn into a bit of a non event. But you know the crew round this joint are kinda willing to have a dig at almost anything, myself included. So we all paddled out in the dribbly bits and made the most of what was on offer. End result, a dribbly surf is better than no surf, and so it wasn’t long before we all off in Happy Happy Joy Joy land once again, In Byron Bay Today.

Silver and Gold (The Hook)

Posted on June 20th, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. A regular surf buddy enhances a session in many ways. I get to surf lonely spots, or bigger spots, where I wouldn't have the courage to paddle out alone. A buddy hoots you into waves, cheers your successes, commiserates your failures, and laughs at your wipeouts (but not in a mean way). It's nice to have someone to talk to during lulls. And to give you a wake up call for dawn patrol (although I'm always the caller and not the callee), or to coax you into a sunset session when you're feeling tired after work. Today I got to surf with my best surf buddies, Dwayne and Luke. After I recovered (enough) from the back injury Linda Mar inflicted shortly after I moved to NorCal in 2006, I surfed with my co-worker Dwayne until he defected to SoCal a couple years ago. After a lonely solo period, I started surfing with Luke, my current buddy. In the last year or so I've collected a small surf posse, but no one else is as regular.

Dwayne with Magic

Dwayne was visiting NorCal this weekend and had time to meet up for a surf today in Santa Cruz. Luke joined us at the Hook, along with his friend Nikolara, who was surfing for only the third time. The waves were small, mostly waist- and occasionally chest-high, with the usual warm sunny weekend crowd scattered all over them. We found a spot east of the main peak that sometimes broke on its own, and got a bunch of fun little rides. I party-waved a couple with Dwayne, once in front and once behind, with him on my 8'0" Magic and me on my 7'0" Emm. Afterward we collected our non-surfing significant others and sat in the sunshine for lunch at Paradise Beach Grille in Capitola. Good friends and good times! Surfine: A fading mix of mainly short period NW windswell and some S groundswell set up waist-chest-shoulder high zone surf for best exposed breaks, while other areas were mainly under waist high. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.9 ft at 9.1 s NW 48 / WIND WAVE: 6.6 ft at 6.2 s NW / WVHT: 10.8 ft / APD: 7.3 s / MWD: 312° (Met) WSPD: 17 kts / GST: 21 kts / WVHT: 10.8 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 52.2° F / WTMP: 53.4° F. Tide: 1' rising to over 2'.

No Mondayitis in Dee Why this morning

Posted on June 20th, 2011 in Dee Why.

Hello Friends,

Looks like we’ve got one more morning of waves. Swell has slipped down another cog, but it has a touch more east to the direction and size at sea is averaging around 1.5m at about 9 seconds. This is delivering shoulder high sets (and the odd bigger one) up the beach at Dee Why as the day get started.

The models show the swell declining gradually through the day, so it’s once again of get out early or maybe miss out late.

Gotta run, will try to get back later with more thoughts about the outlook…

Weather Situation
Winds have eased along the coast as a deep slow moving low is centred near New Zealand and a high pressure ridge strengthens across New South Wales. Winds are likely to increase from late Monday with a strong cold front moving across the state on Tuesday. A vigorous westerly airstream will persist in the far south with a possible trough bringing another increase in winds over the southern and central parts towards Thursday.
Forecast for Monday until midnight
Winds
Westerly 15 to 20 knots tending west to northwesterly 10 to 15 knots around midday then increasing to 15 to 25 knots in the evening.
Seas
Up to 1.5 metres increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres later in the evening.
Swell
Southeasterly about 1.5 metres.
Tuesday 21 June
Winds
Northwesterly 20 to 30 knots tending west to northwesterly 30 to 40 knots around dawn then becoming westerly 25 to 35 knots later in the evening.
Seas
2 to 3 metres increasing to 4 metres around dawn then decreasing to 3 metres later in the evening.
Swell
Southeasterly about 1.5 metres decreasing to 0.5 metres late in the evening.
Wednesday 22 June
Winds
Westerly 20 to 30 knots.
Seas
Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres during the evening.
Swell
Southerly about 1 metre.

 

 

Winter Light, In Byron Bay Today.

Posted on June 20th, 2011 in Byron.

Sometimes you just got to do it, get up before the sun does and stroll down the beach to watch it rise, in Byron Bay today. Most folk’s do it in the summery months, which is not such a big ask really, as it’s toasty and warm. Yet for some strange reason that escapes me, we decided that one of the coldest winter mornings in recent history would be a good time to do it. There wasn’t much swell, the west southwester was bitterly cold, and there was no light except a setting moon. Standing on the beach in the dark wearing so many mismatched jackets we felt a pair of St Vincent De Pauls clothes racks. It suddenly crossed our collective minds, we may be mad. But then it happened, the crack of dawn. A stunning sight indeed in summer, but then again, there is nothing quite like the winter light, In Byron Bay Today.