2 foot 23c water 13 air

Fairly small this morning.  @ foot along Narrabeen but a little and I mean little bigger at Curly.  Enjoy Surf Photos of You and win a FCS poncho to keep you warm.

3 – 4

There are some 3 – 4 foot waves around this morning.  Swell from the S wind from the SW.  Surf Photos of You

Postcard from Cali: argh, back to marginal

Hello Friends,

Light offshore winds at around 0700 plus 2.5 metres of 10 second period SSE swell… methinks Sydney has waves atm!

Tide’s low at 0900 and high around 1520. So, it could be good, particularly during the morning at low tide spots.

Yours truly has one more day on this side of the pond and then it’s back to warm water and plentiful waves (liking the look of the long range charts for next weekend…)

Forecast for Monday until midnight
Winds
East to southeasterly below 10 knots.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southerly about 2 metres.
Weather
Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Another fine and mild day in Santa Barbara, but with not much of anything on the wave front. Desperados could chase down the odd knee to waist high dribbler, but that’s about it.

The picture below is Goleta point. Surfers have long called it Campus point because it’s within the boundaries of the University of California at Santa Barbara. Like most waves along Santa Barbar county’s south coast, it’s pretty much a winter spot only. With a powerful NW swell it can deliver waves of over a kilometre. Mostly though it’s surfed just at the top of the point in the zone covered by the picture.

Below: Campus point is the one on the right, while Deveraux which I mentioned yesterday is on the left. There are at least half a dozen distinct surf breaks in that little stretch of coast…

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Postcard from Cali: A few little waves at Deveraux

Hello Friends,

Looks as though Sydney’s not all that flash – if the MHL buoy data is anything to go by. About a metre of 9 sec SE swell from the look of it. Still, I reckon there ought to be a few fun little ones around at exposed spots. Looks like the day started out pretty nice.

Low tide around 0810 and high about 220pm shouldn’t hurt the cause.

However, I detect a problem here:

Forecast for Sunday until midnight
Winds
Southerly increasing to 20 to 30 knots around dawn decreasing to 20 to 25 knots around midday then decreasing to 15 to 20 knots during the afternoon. Winds tending south to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots later in the evening.
Seas
Up to 3 metres decreasing to 2 metres around midday then decreasing to below 1 metre by early evening.
Swell
Easterly 1 metre tending southerly about 2 metres from midday, then increasing to about 3 metres this evening.
Weather
Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Coming up on the swell side of the equation, but with a goodly amount of wind. Looks like a good morning to have been up for the early!

Another nice day along the coast of Southern California. And we had little waves too. Mostly waist high and smaller where I surfed (Coal Oil point, aka Deveraux near Isla Vista). The set up is basically a rock anchored sand bottom with a fair amount of kelp. It’s best at mid to high tide, so it was improving while I was in the water. It’s a pretty fat and slow thing, but you can have fun on a mal or a fish because the sections are so forgiving. Water was probably around the 14 mark and after about 90 minutes, my 3/2 was feeling thin. That said, there was a young woman out for quite awhile and she was wearing maybe 100g of lycra. Enviable cold immunity.

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Hello Friends,

Your correspondent is feeling slightly miffed. Here in southern California it’s a case of spring wavelessness, but Sydney looks like getting a whack of swell on Monday – albeit with a fair old serve of southerly for the early.

This morning’s outlook will be explored in greater detail by the Goat during his guest spot on ABC 702 at around 0730.

My guess is that he’ll mention the light westerly for you early risers as well as the possibility of finding something in the surfable range at most beaches – thanks to the 2 metres of 8 second period SE swell.

Have yourself a great Saturday!

TIDES low at 0710 high at 1315

Weather Situation
A high centred near the Bight will move east slowly and enter the Tasman Sea next Monday. The high will generally maintain a ridge over NSW over the next few days though winds are likely to temporarily strengthen along the coast Sunday as a cold front moves across Tasmania into the Tasman Sea. Dangerous long period swell is likely to develop along the southern parts of New South Wales coast later Sunday, extending to all NSW coast on Monday.
Forecast for Saturday until midnight
Winds
Northwesterly 5 to 10 knots tending northeast to northwesterly up to 15 knots around midday.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Easterly 1 metre.
Sunday 29 April
Winds
West to southwesterly 10 to 20 knots tending southerly up to 30 knots around dawn then decreasing to 20 to 25 knots around midday. Winds decreasing to southerly 15 to 20 knots during the afternoon.
Seas
1 to 2 metres.
Swell
Easterly 1 metre tending southerly about 2 metres from midday.
Monday 30 April
Winds
South to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots decreasing to variable below 10 knots during the morning.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southerly 2 to 3 metres.
Weather
Large swells breaking dangerously close inshore.

Postcard from Cali: you’re missin’ nothin’ here

Hello Friends,

Not much happening on this side of the pond. It is spring after all. Weak and tiny west wind swell is unsurfably tiny. Hoping for an improvement on the weekend…

Meanwhile, back home (where I’ll be mid next week) the MHL Sydney buoy is reporting 9 second period SE swell at two metres. That should add up to something in the waist to head high range depending on where you go. As I wrote this before dawn, wind was a light westerly. The Bureau says it’ll be S to SW but not too strong later, so I’m thinking there will be options to be had…

Tide is low around 0615 and weather should be partly cloudy.

Looks like there might be something again tomorrow morning, then a bit of a lull for Sunday am before a possible new pulse late Sunday and Monday.

Have yourself a great Friday!

Weather Situation
A cold front is crossing the southern Tasman Sea and a slow-moving high pressure system south of the Bight is extending a ridge behind the front to New South Wales north coast. Later on Saturday a southerly change will develop the south coast, extending to the central and north coasts during Sunday. The high is expected to move over the Tasman Sea by Monday.
Forecast for Friday until midnight
Winds
South to southwesterly about 10 knots tending south to southeasterly by early evening.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southerly about 1.5 metres.
Saturday 28 April
Winds
West to northwesterly 5 to 10 knots tending north to northwesterly during the afternoon then tending west to northwesterly 10 to 15 knots by early evening. Winds becoming westerly 15 to 20 knots later in the evening.
Seas
Below 1 metre increasing to 1.5 to 2 metres later in the evening.
Swell
Southeasterly 1 metre.
Sunday 29 April
Winds
West to southwesterly about 20 knots tending south to southwesterly during the morning then tending south to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots during the afternoon.
Seas
1 to 2 metres.
Swell
Easterly 1 metre tending southerly about 2 metres from midday.

Could be good…

Hello Friends,

Very nice looking swell and wind combo at 0430 or so this morning for Sydney. Swell really popped up over yesterday and was kicking along at 3 metres from the south with a punchy 10 second average period. Plus the wind was light and from the west. By daybreak the Bureau reckons it could be going harder and starting to move into the southerly quarters. Happily, the worst that will happen is that you might see a mix of s to sw this afternoon. And just to add some push, tide’s low at about 0530 and then coming in until 1120. Weather should be clear too.

According to the swell modelling, the pulse will peak during the day and then roll off overnight and be back in the 2 metre range on Friday morning. There’s some divergence in the reckoning for the weekend, so I’ll go conservative and call for 1-1.5m easterly on Saturday and most of Sunday.

Be interesting to see what the Goat reckons, but my reading of the models is that we could potentially see some sizeable stuff on Monday if the next system blobs around Tasmania and in close to the east coast. If it stays out too far in the Tasman, then all the energy will head away from our surf zones.

Apologies for the long absence, but I was away from an Internet connection for the better part of a week. I’m back in Santa Barbara until Tuesday Sydney time, when it’ll be into the aluminium tube once more for the long passage home to Oz. Hoping to get another surf in here before taking off, but it’s microscopic right now…

Have a great day!

Weather Situation
A deep low pressure system off the South Coast is moving east, while a high in the Bight remains slow moving. Strong west to southwesterly winds in the airstream between these two systems will gradually ease during Thursday as the low weakens and moves southeast. Winds will become light under the dominating ridge on Friday, then turn north to northwesterly and strengthen on Saturday ahead of an approaching cold front. The front is expected to bring south to southwesterly change to New South Wales coast during late Saturday and Sunday.
Forecast for Thursday until midnight
Winds
West to southwesterly 20 to 30 knots tending south to southwesterly 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon.
Seas
Up to 3 metres decreasing below 1.5 metres during the afternoon.
Swell
Southerly 2 metres.
Friday 27 April
Winds
Southwesterly 10 to 15 knots decreasing to variable below 10 knots during the morning.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southerly about 2 metres decreasing to 1 metre in the afternoon and evening.
Saturday 28 April
Winds
West to northwesterly 5 to 10 knots increasing to 10 to 20 knots during the evening.
Seas
Below 1 metre increasing to 1 to 2 metres during the evening.
Swell
Southeasterly 1 metre.

2 – 3 foot and offshore

There are some fun waves around this morning and will get better and it fills out during the morning.  2 – 3 foot ENE continues with a light W wind.  Added bonus of shine shine as well. Win one of 2 FCS ponchos at Surf Photos of You.

Sunny Sunday Swell

It has picked up from yesterday afternoon’s 2 footers to be around 4 foot at most beaches.  South Narrabeen had some sets come through in the well overhead range and there were plenty out at the Poles and Dee Why enjoying a sunny Sunday morning.  Win one of two FCS ponchos by subscribing at Surf Photos of You during April.

Wind direction change and smaller.

Wind is from the SW early today and will stay that way for most of the day.  Swell still out of the ENE and is a little straight for the open beaches.  The waves have dropped a little to be around 2 – 3 foot.  Win a FCS poncho at Surf Photos of You.