Winding down, but not gone

Hello Friends,

Did the Collaroy Plateau ridge run for a quick survey of the swell status. There seems to be some NE left in the tank, but it’s mainly showing at the really exposed stretches. For instance, there are waves up at Northy, but they’re smaller and less consistent looking compared to the chest high sets getting into Gardens.

Around at the Longy to Dee Why stretch, the same phenomenon is visible, but it’s a bit smaller. There is a small south line showing at Butterbox and weakly at Longy, but it’s too marginal to have attracted any punters. The bulk of people in the water this morning were down the south end of the beach, picking over the odds and sods popping up in the general vicinity of the SLSC. A couple of folks on longer equipment were poking around at the point for something catchable.

Wind was not a factor for the early and the tide was benign as well.

Have posted all yesterday’s watershots from Dee Why point on my site.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Friday until midnight: Wind: W/NW 10/15 knots, tending N/NW.Sea: to 1 metre.Swell: E/NE 1 to 1.5 metres.
Saturday: Wind: W/NW 5/15 knots, turning S/SW 10/20 knots. Sea: to 1 metre. Swell: E/NE to 1 metre.
Sunday: Wind: S/SW 15/25 knots.

Basically the only option along the stretch.

...but they sure look good doing it.

Fair number of folk hanging around for sets like this.

Haven't run a shot from Longy for awhile... here's why.

Looks better for wetting a line at Butterbox.

Running late, sorry

Hello Friends,

Sorry, slept in. How remiss of me. Looks like we still have swell though. Woo-hoo! Huey’s still got the power setting on 10sec, but he’s set a new heading: SE. Heights at sea are around the two metre mark, so there are some fun size waves to be had again today.

Stopped at Mactier St for a look at the situation around 0840 and can report that there were some shoulder high sets on offer for a smallish and well scattered crew. It was dead glassy and there was a high, thin cloud layer taking some of the colour out of the scene. It looked a little setty to me and folks seemed to be getting caught behind on most of the waves I saw caught. Lefts predominate again.

Didn’t do the loop up to Northy, but from a distance it’s clear that there are sets happening up that way as well.

For those folks at the Bower yesterday who wanted to know when/where they could see the pics I shot with the Panasonic FT-1 waterproof digi cam: I’ve created a couple galleries over on my personal page that you can look through to see if I got any shots of interest.

Okay, a couple pics for ya:

Witness watches as attempt is made to make one south of Gardens.

Looking interesting at one end of the Collaroy Narra stretch...

Dropping tide

It got overcast and cold, but for the hardy few who were willing to snap a board if they got in the wrong spot, there were waves to be had on the dropping tide. Ah, winter time.

The middle size ones seemed to be the cleanest.

Tidy looking options.

The tea gardens used to be near here.

Beautiful morning

It’s on

Lots on it from first light... and you can see why.

Hello Friends,

Sorry about the very late report, but naturally I had isp issues this morning. Big Pond cable is crawling for me atm. Anyway, who cares? It is going orf at spots that like the east swell. But it’s not so hot at those that don’t.

I’m going to post this report as a sequence of updates so that I can get something online asap.

Let's see... could it be any better?

The Northy to south Narrabeen stretch is getting the swell very nicely indeed. Northy had a good 30-40 people in the water when I checked about an hour ago. There were only a few down toward Gardens. Sets were solidly overhead and very clean looking. Definitely for experienced surfers only. If you aren’t pretty fit, you could run into problems pretty easily.

Want relatively uncrowded waves and willing to take a (small) hit on quality?

Bodyboarder gets one at the point

Swell kinda getting in here, but not the top spot on the beaches today.

Around at Dee Why to Longy, the situation was not nearly as interesting. There are little waves as far north as about No Man’s, but the swell angle just has not worked for Dee Why (it rarely does). Some okay size and there are waves both at the point and in the corner. Size on the biggest ones I saw I was approaching head high.

I’m heading out with a camera or two to see if I can find any other pics for you today. Go well!

Here’s the latest from the Bureau:

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Tuesday until midnight: Wind: W/NW 10 knots, turning NE inshore in the afternoon.Sea: to 1 metre.Swell: NE about 2 metres decreasing to 1.5 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: NW 5/10 knots increasing to 10/15 knots in the afternoon and 18/23 knots in the evening.Sea: below about 1 metre rising to 1.5 to 2 metres. Swell: NE 1.5 to 2 metres.
Thursday: Wind: W/SW 10/20 knots.

A few snaps from this morning

Hello Friends,

Out and about this morning on your behalf and got a few snaps. If you’re toying with the idea of the super peak at Dee Why, be prepared for intensely crowded conditions. A few folks I talked to had only managed to get one or two waves in the course of an hour or more in the water…

Will look for more pictures to post this evening if I can…

Nice conditions, but a bit softer than elsewhere along the n. beaches.

Young Frank and his amazingly beautiful bellyboard

North Curly big but pretty wild looking.

High percentage of shutdowns along the south Narra stretch, but some momentary sections early.

Another left at Dee Why

The super peak working this morning... again

Throwing spray at super peak

Mostly rights at Dee Why beach, but a few of these too...

Did I earn a cup of coffee or a beer this morning?

A few piccies from this morning

Hello Friends,

Here are a few snaps from my run-around this morning:

Getting the day started in a good way

Few bodyboarders poaching little ones at Fairy Bower on hightide.

One stands up on the inside at Queensy earlier today.

Bit fat and full to start at Manly this morning.

Catching some size with nothing more than a pair of flippers.

No one out for some strange reason.

Ah, the old Dee Why point...

Lotsa shutdowns - as usual - but the odd rather nice one too.

Waiting for the tow-ins to arrive at low tide?

Sat morning pics

Hello Friends,

Got out and about with the camera this morning. Here are a dozen snaps mainly from Gardens, but including Curly and Longy too.

Mostly shot between about 8-930 – just before Huey turned the power down. As of midday we’ve gone from SE at 1.5 metres at 9 seconds apart to 1.5m south at 8 seconds apart around midday. The consequences are that waves are now much smaller and less frequent than this morning when I shot the following pics.

Only a little one, but still looks like a hoot.

Lefts not as common as rights this morning at Gardens.

Smooth wall man.

Kneelo locks into one.

Just about the right spot.

Fitting in as best he can, Gardens.

Another one stands up on the low tide this morning.

Busy at Gardens this morning.

Longy scene this morning before the swell faded.

North Curly peak goes boom on the bank.

One wedges up at North Curly around 0900.

Not a drop out of place on this one at Gardens around 0800.

pics from this morning

Rather large set wave for the early

Jagged this one inside the big crowd...

Going hard on a Gardens pipe

Very large sets at Narrabeen

Nice one sets up on the inside

good size sets

The early was on

Hey all,

Just checked Collaroy-Narrabeen stretch and it is firing ahead of the southerly. I’m guessing around 150+ people are on it, but there are so many peaks that it could be twice that number and not be too crowded at any given place. This won’t last long, so I’d be getting to just about any beach right now ’cause there should be waves everywhere until the southerly kicks in (and it’s gonna kick in hard).

Marquesas madness around 0715.

Stalls back for a quick cover.