Hello Friends,

Fewer people in the water this morning at DY than I’d have expected given the sunny conditions, light winds and 9 second SSE swell. Apparently it will cloud up and start raining before long. So I’d say the plan is to make for the beach if you can. Head for your favourite south swell spot first.

Tide’s now dropping and will be low at about 1230.

It looks as though tomorrow and Friday will be smaller to flat, and then maybe we’ll get a little bump to size for the weekend…

Go well!

Weather Situation

A high pressure system east of Tasmania will move slowly east and intensify over the next few days to be near New Zealand Thursday with a weak ridge back to southern NSW. The ridge and a trough lingering to the north will combine to direct onshore airstream along NSW coast during next few days. A southerly change may extend along the coast early next week with the passage of a major trough.
Forecast for Wednesday until midnight

Winds
East to southeasterly 5 to 10 knots becoming easterly 10 to 15 knots around midday.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southeasterly about 2 metres.

Thursday 8 December

Winds
East to northeasterly 10 to 15 knots.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southeasterly about 1.5 metres.

Friday 9 December

Winds
East to northeasterly 10 to 15 knots.
Seas
Below 1 metre.
Swell
Southeasterly 1 metre.

Hello Friends,

Misting heavily when I climbed aloft to the RealSurf crow’s nest this morning. Through the murk I could see three or four folks bobbing around just off the rocks at the point and no one along the beach. The swell is about the same height at sea as yesterday but the average period’s weakened a bit to 9 seconds. Unfortunately at 0800 the wind was dribbling in at 10-13 kts from the ESE, so surface conditions were pretty dire.

The Bureau expects the wind to be out of the S-SE pretty much all day. A recipe for junkiness sadly.

To the extent it matters, the tidal range isn’t going to be very great today. The low at 0800 is less than a metre below the high at 1420.

There aren’t any really interesting developments to report from this morning’s run of the swell forecast interpretations.  No matter how you slice and dice the data, the supercomputers are telling us that we’re in for another week of conditions like this – at best.

Not much of a welcome to summer Huey.

Oh well, my strategy is to keep on smilin’! Go well one and all.

Forecast for Thursday until midnight

Winds

South to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots decreasing to 10 knots in the evening.

Seas

Below 1 metre.

Swell

Southerly 1.5 metres.

Friday 4 November

Winds

Light winds tending east to southeasterly up to 10 knots around midday then tending east to northeasterly by early evening.

Seas

Below 1 metre.

Swell

Southerly 1.5 metres.

Hello Friends,

A chilly 9 degrees at first light this morning, but the first shift was in the water at Dee Why.

Swell is SSE at around the 2 metre mark with a power setting of 9 seconds. This is producing shoulder to head high sets at both the point and along the beach at Dee Why. It’s maybe a touch bigger than yesterday – and yesterday had a few fun options.

The Bureau is still calling for the swell to kick up into the three metre range around midday. For what it’s worth, I can’t see any sign of the extra energy hitting down south yet, so I’m not quite sure what the Bureau is on about. But they are the experts, so I defer to them in this matter!

Looking ahead, I’m with the Goat on the prospects, ie more waves right through the holiday weekend, but gradually fading by the time folks need to be back at work and school.

Should have a gallery of snaps up from yesterday later today and, since we’ve got swell, I’ll get out and about with the big lens again. Remember, if you see me shooting, and you’re in the water, there’s a good chance you’ll find a pic or two of your amazing stylings in the galleries a day or so later!

Go well with your Saturday and stay happy.

TIDES: H @ 0800, L @1330

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Saturday until midnight: Wind: South to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots inshore, 20 to 25 knots offshore.Sea: 1.5 to 2.5 metres.Swell: Southerly 2 metres increasing to 3 metres from midday.
Sunday: Wind: South to southwesterly 15 to 20 knots inshore, 20 to 25 knots offshore, decreasing to 15 to 20 knots later.Sea: 1.5 to 2 metres.Swell: Southerly 2 metres increasing to 3 metres in the afternoon and evening.
Monday: Wind: South to southeasterly 10 to 15 knots.

Hello Friends,

midday update:
Shot for a short time at both Dee Why beach and Mona Vale this morning. Sets still reasonable size (overhead a bit) but the banks at both places were less than perfect. And the swell direction as well as the surface conditions were pretty marginal at Mona Vale in particular. I’ll post a couple galleries anyway. The way I figure it, I may have taken the best picture of one of the surfers they’ve ever had – conditions not withstanding! Here are couple samples…

Yesterday at this time the swell was 4-6 metres at sea and the period was 11 to 14 seconds. This morning you can almost cut those height numbers in half. Fortunately while the period has pulled back as well, it’s still a useful 9 to 10 seconds. If Dee Why’s any guide, it will be densely crowded wherever the sse swell is getting in across Sydney. Waves look to be a fun chest to head high on the bigger sets and ahead of the southerly, conditions were quite smooth.

Outlook is for the swell to fade steadily and for things to be back to smallish by tomorrow. But not, I hasten to add, micro. The latest run of the models is showing Tuesday as tiny day for the coming week and, the good news is that the long range projections are showing another sizable pulse developing Fri-Sat.

I should have a gallery of pics from Dee Why point yesterday morning up later today, followed by another from the Bower later. Plus I’ll try to grab a few more shots from today…

TIDES: H @0950, L @1520
Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Sunday until midnight: Wind: Southerly 10 to 15 knots.Sea: to 1 metre. Swell: South to southeasterly about 2 metres.
Monday: Wind: South to southeasterly 5 to 10 knots.Sea: less than 1 metre. Swell: South to southeasterly 1 to 1.5 metres.
Tuesday: Wind: Southerly 5 to 15 knots.

Hello Friends,

Short version: get out there.

Longer version:
Swell is still close to dead south but has surprisingly jumped up to 2 metres at 9-10 seconds. Strangely, despite those numbers, it really wasn’t that big when I checked out the Dee Why to Longy and Collaroy Narrabeen stretches. The average wave looked to be in the waist to chest high range which, given the buoy data, is about two-thirds of what I would’ve expected. Never mind, there are heaps of waves to be had so I’d be getting out there.

TIDES: L @noon, H @1800
Here’s the dope from the Bureau:

Sydney Coastal Waters, Broken Bay to Port Hacking and 60nm seawards:
Saturday until midnight: Wind: Northwesterly 10/15 knots tending north to northeasterly in the afternoon and northwest in the late evening.Sea: about 1 metre.Swell: Southeasterly about 1.5 metres.
Sunday: Wind: Northwesterly 10/15 knots increasing to 15/20 knots in the afternoon then tending west to southwest in the evening.Sea: about 1 metre rising 1 to 2 metres. Swell: Easterly about 1.5 metres.
Monday: Wind: West to southwesterly 20/25 knots decreasing to 15/20 knots during the morning then becoming southwesterly 10 to 15 knots during the afternoon.