Collaroy

Still a bit messy but some size to it. The pics make it look better than it actually is… Tomorrow prob be improved. Wind howling at 30+ knots from the SW, gusts to past 40. I’d give it a miss today.

Out and about on a swell day

Hello Friends,

Bit of a mixed bag this morning. I started my survey of options with a visit to Manly. Not many in the water along the beach but looked like a fair few at the Bower early. Beachy was producing some very, very nice looking set waves, but you’d be doing a bit of work if you got caught inside and as a consequence it was not excessively populated. Looked to be waves from one of the beach to the other.

Bodyboarder finds a pocket.

Patience is rewarded with some Manly cleanness.

Mr Aquabumps preparing to shoot at Manly this morning.

Not looking too big in this shot, but some larger ones getting in.

Didn’t check Freshy, but did have a look at Curly. Couldn’t see anyone in the water from the middle of the beach south. Too glarey to see the north end but I’d be surprised if there was much quality given the look of the rest of the beach. Big, but disorganised and chaotic looking for the early.

Over the hill at Dee Why the situation was much the same. Swell was overwhelming the point and the beachy just looked messy and big and confused. Every now and then you could jag one of the medium size ones at the point (too big and they just close out across to the top of the super peak). Only a small crew in the water for the early.

Mid-size ones were most makeable for the early.

Up at Collaroy things were pretty ho-hum. You could get a left back from the pipe, but the swell needs more north to really get going. Nothing much getting into the Kick. A sole tow-in was working out at Centuries…

Just him and a mate with a jetski doing tow-ins.

Last stop on the run-around was a visit to south Narrabeen. Only a couple bods in the water there and for good reason. Very high percentage were shutdowns and they’re big and quite heavy so you really don’t want to be in the impact zone for any length of time. Had to wait 10 minutes to get a shot of a person on a wave – and then I forgot the autofocus wasn’t on… d’oh!

Looked like quite a crew up at Northy as well.

One of the few makeable ones at south Narra this morning.

Dusk drive-about

Hello Friends

Decided to do a quick survey of a few nearby beaches before it got dark. First stop was Mactier street to see if anything was showing along the Collaroy-Narrabeen stretch. Twas very small along the Gardens to Collaroy zone. Only saw one person in the water, and they didn’t manage to latch on to any of the waist high sets coming in. Although I didn’t keep going north, I grabbed a shot looking up toward Northy. From the backs evident in the shot, I’m guessing there were some pretty okay size sets coming into the teeth of the stiff and cold offshore winds.

At dusk, interesting looking backs...

Hooked down to Curly to get another fix on the swell energy levels. Just glanced at Longy and Dee Why on the way past, and it was plain that the swell had jumped quite a bit since lunchtime. Around at Curly there were a fair number of bods in the water both at the south and north ends. Damn chilly standing there taking pictures, so I can only imagine how toasty they would’ve been in the water! Sets were pushing into the head high range and it seemed to be quite consistent.

Pretty busy in the water in the waning evening light.

The forecast for tomorrow morning hasn’t shifted much. It’ll be windier early, maybe slackening off a little in the middle of the day and then coming up again in the afternoon. The models reckon we should be seeing some 3-4 metre 10sec south swell across the next couple days. It’ll be pretty sharpish tomorrow for the early – the Bureau is currently calling for a low of 6 degrees (it’s supposed to warm up to 16 later).

First tide of the day will be a low at 442am. The high will be 1.2 metres at 1034.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Gale warning.
Wednesday until midnight: Wind: SW 25/35 knots, 30/40 knots offshore.Sea: 2.5 to 4 metres. Swell: S/SE around 2 metres.
Thursday: Wind: S/SW 20/30 knots, reaching 35 knots offshore early and again late. Sea: 2.5 to 3.5 metres.Swell: S 2 to 3 metres.
Friday: Wind: SW 10/20 knots, 25 knots offshore early, easing during the day and tending NW late.
Saturday: Wind: NW winds 10/20 knots.

Gee, I’m kinda thirsty after all that running around and typing and stuff… wouldn’t mind a coffee… or maybe a Coopers…

Looks solid on Coll-Narra

Watched Coll-Narra stretch for awhile this morning, took some pics, but due to glitch, can’t upload them until later. Very heavy at Gardens, heaps in at Northy, with wave faces ranging from head high to well overhead. More approachable down at Collaroy where sets aren’t much above the shoulder high range. That’d be one of the few places suitable for intermediates. Couldn’t recommend anywhere I’ve seen to beginners. Going out to take a few snaps and will probably file a vid report at some point, so check to see if the date bottom right has changed.

more later!!

Testing his back flexibilty on a gloomy afternoon at Collaroy.

Evening all,

Went out for one last look at the surf situation this evening. The Bureau is calling for the swell to build from the east tonight, but it was apparent from this morning that the period was increasing. It’s now averaging around 11 seconds, and though it’s also an average of 2 metres at sea, wave faces at exposed locations are into the three metre range. It was very gloomy at 1630, and the wind was making it very junky along the south Narra to Collaroy stretch. Only a few real diehards in the water and nothing that could be called good quality. I didn’t have time for a loop up to Northy, but it looked pretty big up there. The east swell direction could possibly work too…

So, what does the Bureau have to say for tomorrow?

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Strong Wind Warning.
Friday until midnight: Wind: N/NW 15/20 knots.Sea: 1 to 2 metres.Swell: E/SE 2 to 2.5 metres.
Saturday: Wind: W/NW winds 20/25 knots, reaching 25/30 knots at times offshore.Sea: 2 metres inshore, rising to 2.5 to 3 metres offshore.Swell: E about 3 metres, breaking dangerously close inshore.
Sunday: Wind: W/NW 25/33 knots.
Monday: Wind: W/SW 20/30 knots, easing to 15/20 knots later.

Interesting, I’m sure you’ll agree. Particularly as we’re also set to have sunny skies and highs in the mid-twenties.

First tide of the morning will be a high at 0807.

Morning turn

Hello again friends,
Just back from a tour of the beaches south from south Narrabeen.

Here’s the executive summary:

South Narra: big, messy, no one out
Collaroy: small, not as messy, only one or two chasing waist high things
Dee Why: didn’t see anyone in the water, but didn’t watch for very long either. Big and messy in the beachy, swell angle wrong for the point.
Queenscliff to North Steyne: big, messy, no one out, ferggedit
South Steyne: a bit cleaner and some catchable ones into the head high range, but I’d rate it 5/10 – ie, average.
Bower: shoulder to head high plus, but pretty messy looking when I checked it between 0900-1000. Lotta people in the water, fairly inconsistent, but definitely some fun ones

Not the cleanest conditions, but don't think he'd be complaining (the Bower around 0900)

Bowls to be found amongst the general choppiness at Fairy Bower.

Around 0900, not terribly clean, but you could catch em if you were keen.

Late arvo notes

Hello all,

Got back from a visit to Canberra late this afternoon, so of course I had to go out and see what was happening with the beach. It’s a compulsion folks, what can I say?

First stop was Dee Why where the swell was giving every impression of building steadily. I see from the MHL data, that Sydney has gone from around 2 metres at about 8 seconds to around 4 metres at 10 seconds, while the direction has gone from south to ESE. Meanwhile the wind has ramped up to 20-30 kts from the S to SSE.

There were a couple stalwarts at the point, but apart from one wave (see pic below), they were doing a lot of paddling and no catching in the substantial but very messy conditions. A bigger group were in shore from there catching re-forms between about the SLSC and kiddies. Lot of work, but there were some sections to be had in amongst the general craziness.

After grabbing a few snaps, I headed north to Collaroy and Whiterock to see what was happening up there as the day wrapped up. Small crew in the water at Whiterock, but it looked to me like a real struggle to pick the surfable ones. Down at Collaroy there were quite a few more people in the water. Sets would roll in every now and again, but you had to be in exactly the right spot to jag anything like a reasonable section. Looked to me like the best option was a mal. Nothing much showing at the Kick or Brownwater, and north along the beach from Collaroy, there didn’t seem to be anybody in. I’m guessing the messiness and wind were just making it too hard.

Here’s the Bureau’s latest call for tomorrow

Monday: Wind: S/SE 20/30 knots. Sea: 2 to 3 metres.Swell: SE 3 to 4 metres, breaking dangerously close inshore.
Tuesday: Wind: S/SE 15/25 knots.
Wednesday: Wind: SE 5/15 knot

While it’ll be big in Sydney, it appears that the bulk of the swell energy will be pushing into the coast north from us. The models show the swell in the Sydney region building a bit more tonight, then very gradually dropping over the rest of the week. Sadly, it also appears that we’re going to have strong SSE wind along with the swell. That will mean fairly limited surf options – ie south corners.

Okay, herewith my snaps…

Top gets blown off this one by one of the stalwart crew hacking into the crazy conditions at Dee Why beach late this afternoon.

Sailboarder finds a useful section at Whiterock.

After a very long wait, he pulls into and makes one at Dee Why point late this afternoon.

A mal is just the tool for this late arvo set at Collaroy.

A little left runs back toward the pool around dusk.

You couldn't really surf it, but there were some cute little set waves at Brownwater toward dusk.

Dee Why point not exactly being welcoming.

Dee Why to Bungan report 10:45am

Drove from Dee Why to Bungan earlier this morning, checking everything along the way and the tip is South Narrabeen, although you’re way to late to avoid the crowd that’s gathered.

Lots of quick, zippey barrels, quite a few close-outs and mountains of seaweed on the inside, but some great waves. Not much happening anywhere else though should improve as the tide drops.

Cheers,

Rob

That’s Monday done

Hello Friends,

After staring at a computer screen all day, I finally went out for a look around to see how the real world was going. The wind was still an issue most places, but along stretches with more NE exposure it was a bit messy but not bad. One such was the stretch from the north end of Tea Gardens down to about Mactier St.

As anticipated, the swell picked up during the day and at dusk it was out of the SSE at 3 metres and close to 9 seconds. Wind was SSE at 15-20 kts.

The quality was not great along the Gardens to Mactier St stretch, but given the limited range of surf options, it would probably have been one of the better bets. There were some little waves at Collaroy too. Of course around at Long Reef, the wind was straight into it.

Here’s the latest from the Bureau:

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Monday until midnight: Wind: S 15/20 knots.Sea: 1.5 to 2 metres.Swell: S/SE 2 to 3 metres.
Tuesday: Wind: SW/SE 15/20 knots, easing to 10/15 knots in the afternoon.Sea: 1.5 to 2 metres, abating to 1 to 1.5 metres during afternoon. Swell: S/SE 2 metres.
Wednesday: Wind: S/SE 10/15 knots.
Thursday: Wind: Variable 05/10 knots, tending NE 10/15 knots during afternoon.

Judging from the buoy data south of here, I’d say we can expect the swell to have peaked around sunset and it could be a fair amount smaller tomorrow morning. But I don’t think it’ll be flat. Longer term outlook is for a gradual trend toward near flatness by the end of the week. Hope it’s wrong…

Here are a few snaps from late this afternoon.

Not far from Mactier St late this afternoon.

Not far from Mactier St there were some ok size sets.

Heaps of weed from Mactier St south to Collaroy.

Aiming for the section ahead at far south Narrabeen.

Collaroy was pretty small, but not unsurfably so.

South Gardens looking reasonable at the end of the day.

A few happening this afternoon for the keen but small crew.

Just before the southerly

I knew the southerly was coming, so I dashed over to Edgecliff Blvd and took a few long distance shots of the Collaroy Narrabeen stretch with my 40 yr old Century 650mm lens.

Heaps of people in the water scoring a few fun ones before it went pear shaped as 20-30 kts of wind ripped into it a little after 0900.

Who'd mind something like this? South of Gardens before the southerly.

Just part of the crowd at Northy - before the southerly.

One grinds in just south of Gardens.

Good for beginners at Collaroy, but watch the huge weed build up on the inside.

Little one at Whiterock

Around 0900 the southerly hadn't quite arrived...