Got lucky one morning on surfari up the north coast. Woke up to find Broken Head looking rather tasty thanks to a very brief but intense spike in the swell. Got out with the camera and shot a few frames.

If you happen to see yourself in amongst this lot you are a) very lucky and b) able to buy high res versions (without my copyright notice of course)  for yourself simply by clicking on the relevant picture and thereby going to the gallery pages. Once at the gallery, look top left for the cart option…

Broken Head 30 April 2010 am – Images by Don Norris

Hello Friends,

Not much happening along the Broken Head to Suffolk Park beach. Only three or four people in the water chasing very infrequent but pretty looking little waist high peaks. Seems to be much like last night in terms of power – ie not much.

We’re going to head off south to Ballina in search of a possible improvement. What will we find?

Hello Friends,

Ensconced in the lovely Broken Head caravan park (where they have wi-fi, woohoo), we are now hoping against all reason that there will be waves some place in the Ballina-Byron region tomorrow.

The day started with a beautiful morning in Crescent Head after kipping out in friend Tim’s parents’ holiday batch backyard. Full moon last night was a treat and the fruit bats visiting the wattle nearby made for a slightly eerie spectacle. During the dark hours the point started making noise, but by morning it had died away and was microscopic, if perfectly formed.

So we headed north, hoping that somehow we might catch up with some swell. Got to Ballina mid afternoon and there appeared to be some small waves on the beaches near town. The mighty Lennox only had a dozen bods attending it. They were catching some low tide scraps right near the top of the point. Looked to be around the waist high mark. We left them to it and checked the reefs but decided they looked a bit weak and small. Might as well make for the digs up at Broken, we thought.

Turned out to be pretty small here too. Hardly surprising really. Went for a late one in the tiny shories on our short boards. Size was basically waist high or less and the power factor was not impressive at all. Still, the water is delightfully warm and we had a nice sunset after a fairly dull and cloudy afternoon.

Will the boys find anything at all tomorrow? Stay tuned… I shall report for your amusement and edification!

Go well one and all.

Shark attack off Broken Head

By Saffron Howden | 30th July 2009

A 14-year-old surfer was thrown into the air and left with a graze and a punctured wetsuit after a shark made a bee-line for his board this morning near Byron Bay.

The Northern Star understands the local boy, who was surfing off Broken Head, was paddling back out from the shore when he and the shark collided.

The impact caused the boy to fly into the air and his wet suit was swiped and punctured, leaving him grazed.

via Shark attack off Broken Head | NSW News | Byron Shire News.

Hello late evening folk,

A few more pics from the day on the north coast…

Graceful moment at the Pass this afternoon.

Seen at the Pass today.

Mostly nowhere near as good as this, but there were moments to be sure this morning.

Hello Friends,

Another postcard from the far north coast coming up. But first, a word about the prospects in Syd-a-knee. As Rob’s pics show, the swell has started to kick up. Latest data from the MHL buoy shows the primary direction to be SE and the average size to be a couple metres at about 8 seconds. However, there has been some very long period (14+ sec) component in the mix too. This is consistent with the computer models which have been calling for a brief, long-period pulse to hit overnight. So it seems to be here a bit early. Tomorrow the outlook is for the swell to weaken but for the wind to be more favourable than today.

Meanwhile outlook for the far north coast is for those SE winds that have made Sydney’s surf conditions pretty ordinary to turn up here and to do pretty much the same thing. Hoping against hope that the swell will get into protected spots and that there will be more water time to be had.

After this morning’s less that stellar surf, I had a few hours with the computer doing magazine stuff, before setting off for a visit to lovely Byron. Very small everywhere sadly. Still, for the keen and those equipped with a mal, there were options to be had. Scoped Broken Head for awhile, but it was pretty busy and gutless.
Figured that if the fate was gutless waves, we might as well hit the pass with everyone else in Byron. Waves were mostly in the knee to waist high range, but if you were lucky, you could jag one that would run and run (assuming you had a mal). 9/10ths of my waves featured at least one other person in front of me for all or most of the wave. That’s okay though. It was pretty easy to cruise along and I don’t mind the challenge of riding behind.

Came back to Lennox just after school had let out and the kids were onto the reefs out in front of town. Again, not brilliant conditions, but there were lots of little sections to be pounced on and enjoyed.

Have yourself a top old evening!

Lennox Head... waiting for the next swell to arrive...

Grom finds a fun section at Lennox reefs this afternoon.

Fun to be had inside Lennox Reefs this arvo.

Rock art in the sand at The Pass, Byron Bay

Technicolor tiny at Broken Head around midday.