Spent a good portion of Sunday morning slowly working my way up and then back down the beach taking pictures before the onshores got going.

Heaps of folks in the water, but on any given peak, it wasn’t too bad. Waves were pretty full though, so quality was only average in my estimation. That said, I got a ton of piccies.

My goal as always was to shoot regular folks at the peak moments. If you or someone you know was in the water anywhere along the Curly stretch between about 0930 and 1100, you might want to have a look through the collection when I post it later on my own page. Never know, maybe I got you…

Here are a few snaps (slideshow to come)

Plant the back foot on the tail and it flies around.

Aiming at a Curly lip

From this morning somewhere at Curl Curl.

From this morning somewhere at Curl Curl.

Hello Friends

That NW and rapidly dropping tide were not the best combo for Dee Why, but I hopped in at the point anyway for a one-hour get wet surf. Grabbed a few snaps on the way through to give you an idea what the dozen or so of us in the water were seeing on the sets. It was getting steadily junkier as the morning progressed and the wind picked up speed. Plus, more of those nasty rocks on the inside were showing their unlovely faces. Still, when one of the longer period sets came in, you could definitely feel the juice level go up. Didn’t get hurt, had fun, all good!

Hunting for the maximum juice line on a bumpy number at Dee Why point.

Froth monster chases him past the rocks.

Growl! The point tries to grab another victim.

Admirably late take off, but the stall probably not a plan.

Lucky punter jags one next to the rocks.

Useful looking section comes into the beach.

Hello Friends,
Good news, we still have some little surf around this morning. If you found waves there yesterday… you know the drill. Swell is still out of the south (as it has been since about lunchtime yesterday) and is currently sitting on about a metre out at the MHL buoy. The key power setting is on 9 seconds, which is about where it was when Huey switched off the lights last night. That’s a useful number and should mean the odd shoulder high set getting into the exposed spots.

Wind should be good most places as well since we’re into a W-SW pattern for the next day or so. That low in Bass Strait looks interesting as well. Here’s hoping it delivers a gradual improvement to wave quality over the next couple days…

Naturally we’ll be keeping a close eye on things for ya, so stay in touch. And have yourself a top old day!

Tides: H: 1054, L: 1714
Synoptic Situation
A deep low east of Bass Strait will move slowly to the east today, then steadily to the southeast tomorrow and Friday. A high pressure system over South Australia will move east over NSW during this period.
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Wednesday until midnight: Wind: W/SW 15/20 knots.Sea: 1 to 2 metres. Swell: SE 1 to 1.5 metres tending S at 1.5 to 2.5 metres late.
Thursday: Wind: W/SW 10/20 knots, tending variable 5/10 knots later. Sea: to 2 metres, abating to less than 1 metre later. Swell: S/SE 2 to 2.5 metres.
Friday: Wind: SW/NW 5/15 knots, tending N/NE 10/20 knots in the afternoon and evening.

Hello Friends

Went for a splash in the last embers of the swell. Wait between sets was getting longer and longer and from the size of the crowd, methinks there weren’t that many other surf options around the place.

Here’s a snap to give you a rough idea of the size of sets…

Still a few little sets left in the swell as of lunchtime at Long Reef.

Hello Friends,

Good news, we have a little break from the slight to flat conditions. Nothing to get over excited about, but thanks to 10-11 seconds on the power setting, we have a surfable little 1.5 metre SSE swell. Should be a few surf options around this morning as I’d expect the waist to chest high lines will be working into numerous places. One such is Dee Why where both the point and the beach are showing.

The models reckon we should be getting 14-16 sec period energy today, but as things got started, there was no sign of it in the latest MHL data for Sydney. However, down Batemans Bay way the peak period has bounced into the lower end of that range a couple times in the last 12 hours. So, if you’re getting in the water today, don’t be surprised if the odd bomb set turns up amongst the waist to chest high average stuff.

Should be a sunny day with offshores too. Guess I might just get out and about with a camera…

Have yourself a top old day!

Low: 0825, High: 1516

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Thursday until midnight: Wind: W/NW 10/15 knots, increasing to 15/20 knots in the evening.Sea: to 1 metre, rising to 1 to 2 metres in the evening.Swell: S 1 metre, rising to 1.5 to 2 metres later.
Friday: Wind: W/SW 15/20 knots.Sea: 1 to 2 metres.Swell: S 1 to 2 metres.
Saturday: Wind: NW/SW 15/25 knots.

Not huge, but definitely into the surfable range at 0700.

Small SSE swell with decent period.

Not thunderous for the early risers, but not without interest either.

Quick version: there were waves at first light.

Nothing spectacular because the two metre SSE swell has an average period of 8 seconds. There are some 10 sec period sets in the mix and it is probably those that are providing the occasional chest high take off for the hardy crew who were out watching the sun come over the horizon at Dee Why.

The swell direction’s a good one for much of Sydney, so I reckon there’ll be lots of folks out snagging the odd waist to chest high bump at their fave spots.

Outlook is for the little swell to stick around through today but to fade overnight and therefore be pretty small tomorrow. With luck it’ll still be surfable. Come Monday, the models are showing the swell as smaller again but they show a long period pulse coming in from the south. If it develops as they anticipate, we could have some more chest to head high sets at exposed spots for the first day of the new working week.

After that it basically looks as though we’re in for a week of small to flat conditions. Oh well. Can’t complain, it’s been a winter and a half for waves.

Low tide’s set down for 0957 and high tide is due at 1646.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Saturday until midnight: Wind: SW 5/10 knots, tending N/NW 10/15 knots.Sea: about 1 metre.Swell: S/SE 1 to 2 metres.
Sunday: Wind: W/NW 10/15 knots.Sea: about 1 metre. Swell: S 1 to 1.5 metres.
Monday: Wind: NW 10/20 knots.

Like sitting in a windy fridge? That's what it was like waiting for sets like this at Dee Why beach around 0800.

0800 and it's a wait for sets into the rideable range.

Hello Friends,

After a bit of rain last night, Sydney wakes up to another brisk and breezy morning under mostly blue skies. The south windswell has pushed up a little. The waits for catchable sets (which are in the waist to chest high range) are not as long as they were yesterday. But you’d still want to be keen with the 11 degree temps (lowered by the wind to something much colder). Which reminds me…

Here’s my annual winter tip: get yourself a big (2 litres or more) container and fill it with hot water just before you leave for the beach. You will not believe how good it feels to pour it down the neck of your wetty when you get back to the car. This is common practice in California during winter (and lots of other cold water places I should imagine). A simple, low-tech and ultra low cost shortcut to comfort.

From the look of the forecast models Huey’s having a change of heart about tomorrow. It now looks as though we’ll basically have pretty much the current conditions through tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks to those of you who’ve offered your unvarnished opinion in the current poll. If you haven’t added your two cents, please take a sec to click. Much appreciated!

Go well with your Friday one and all.
Low tide is at 0856 and high rolls through at 1547.

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Strong Wind Warning.
Friday until midnight: Wind: S/SW 20/30 knots, chiefly offshore, easing to 15/20 knots in the evening.Sea: 2 to 3 metres, abating to 1 to 2 metres later.Swell: S/SE increasing to 1.5 to 2.5 metres. Isolated early thunderstorms.
Saturday: Wind: S/SW 10/15 knots, tending N/NW 8/13 knots in the afternoon/evening. Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres, abating to less than 1 metre later. Swell: S/SE 1 to 2 metres.
Sunday: Wind: W/NW 10/20 knots.

Forecast for Friday
Partly cloudy, with a shower or two near the coast. Light to moderate
south to southwest winds, fresh along the coast.

Precis: Coastal shower or two.

City: Max: 16 Parramatta: Max: 16
Terrey Hills: Max: 15 Penrith: Max: 16
Liverpool Max: 16 Richmond: Max: 16

The first worshippers have arrived at the point to contemplate the infinite mystery of the interaction between brain and ocean waves...

Since around midnight the swell period setting has started to shoot upward. As of about 0900 it had increased to nearly 10 seconds. The same pattern is showing on the buoys north of us. Average period up at Byron is getting close to 11 sec. Size of the swell at sea is still a touch under 2 metres off the Sydney coast. It’s up to 3 metres at Byron though.

Dee Why point is looking relatively marginal, but then again it’s not one of the first spots you’d check when the swell’s out of the east. One such that is worth a look usually is Manly, but I’ve had a text message in this am that says the middle of the beach is around the 3 foot mark and “a bit messy”.

As many of you know, I’ve got my mitts on a Nikon D3 professional DSLR and a fast 300mm telephoto lens, so I’m going to head out shortly and grab some more pics from around the place.

Wind’ll be offshore through the day and the next morning tide is a high at 1123. Sadly for my photographic aspirations, the skies are set to be overcast and periodically showery.

Looks as though we should have waves for the next week, but if you had to pick a peak day or days it’d be tomorrow into Tuesday I’d say.

Now here’s the kind of thing I like to see in the Marine forecast:

Synoptic Situation
A high pressure system to the east of Tasmania extends a ridge along the New South Wales coast. A deep low near Norfolk Island is moving southeast and will generate an increasing SE ocean swell Sunday and Monday particularly over northern parts of the coast. A complex low system over the Bight will move slowly east bringing westerly winds to coastal parts for the forecast period.

And for those of us in Sydney, this looks okay

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Sunday until midnight: Wind: NW 10/15 knots, increasing to 15/20 knots in the afternoon.Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres rising to 1.5 to 2 metres.Swell: E/SE 2 to 2.5 metres.
Monday: Wind: W/NW 13/18 knots.Sea: 1 to 1.5 metres. Swell: E 2 to 2.5 metres, decreasing
Tuesday: Wind: W’ly 10/20 knots.