For those of you who couldn’t get in the water Wednesday morning at Dee Why, here’s a little postcard from me courtesy of my still somewhat dodgy, home built GoPro rig. (Developed with help from vinnies and a bike shop that gave me some inner tubes, for a massive budget of $5). And I know, I know, I shoulda remembered the damn potato on the lens port trick!

And hey, if you got a kick out of this, please encourage me with a pledge toward the crowdfunding goal! C’mon…

Messing around this morning at Dee Why point with a homemade rig to hold a GoPro Hero3. Kinda sorta worked, but further experimentation needed. Anyway, I cut the shots together with a tune from Dave Kowalski. Have a look and then, be nice to me and go make a pledge for the crowdfunding drive! BTW, footage out of the new Hero3 is really pretty amazing quality – now to get the camera operator up to standard!

It was International Surfing Day and to celebrate I went for a quick splash at Dee Why point. As I had the Lumix TS20 along, I also took the opportunity to grab a few snaps of my fellow surfers. Enjoy!

See all the pics in this gallery here

See all the pics in this gallery here

Afternoon update:

Used the excuse of needing to test the new Olympus TG-810 tough waterproof camera to jump in at Dee Why point this morning before the clouds came over. When I pulled up there were some nice solid looking lines coming in. I thought I might be a bit under-gunned by the end of the session due to the forecast dramatic swell increase. At that stage the MHL Sydney buoy was showing more than 2 metres of 10-12 sec south swell.

But it all changed when I got in the water.

Maybe it was the SW wind, maybe it was just Huey being contrary, but whatever the explanation, the swell immediately began to back off. The sets weren’t as big and the lulls were getting longer. By the time I gave up on it an hour and half later, the crowd had dropped from a dozen to only two or three and nothing over waist high had turned up in the previous half hour. Still, I managed to jag a few waves and a few snaps while I was about it.

As I changed in the carpark, the sky began to cloud over per the BoM’s prediction.

By 1400 the ocean was a mass of white horses, the swell was a dribbly looking metre or so at Dee Why and the MHL buoy was showing 2 metres of 8-11 sec south swell. Very disappointing. I’d hoped we might get something quite a bit better than that…

Oh well, so it goes!

Tim’s been shooting the groms busting their moves up at Northy today while the contest is having a lay day.

Went for a few waves this morning. Started by checking the Narrabeen to Collaroy stretch, but decided the swell was just too south to interest me. Then had a look at Long Reef and decided that while there was fun size, the sideshores were making it too messy looking. So, I ended up at the old Dee Why point where there were a few widely spaced low tide things to be caught. Had the Panasonic FT-1 with me too and grabbed a few snaps which I’ve now uploaded to a gallery.

Dee Why point Mon 6 sep 2010 – am – Images by Don Norris

Couple samples…

26th of May was supposed to blow out early, but it stayed glassy until after midday and the swell was pumping under rainy skies. I took Sony’s little DSC-TX5 waterproof camera out surfing with me and grabbed a few test shots (as well as some video). Light levels were very low, so I ended up chucking out lots of blurry shots… these are what I had left… enjoy!

Dee Why point 26 May 2010 watershots – Images by Don Norris

The wind came up late and that meant there were glassy and solid conditions at Dee Why on Weds morning, tthe 26th of May. I had Sony’s ultra-slim waterproof DSC-TX5 tucked into my wettie so I shot a few stills and some high def video. The weather was rainy and grey, so the action’s not too colourful but the little camera worked quite well. I put about a minute and a bit of clips together along with a taste of a Dave Kowalski tune. Enjoy!

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.

Hello Friends,

Since the rest of the week is looking not the best for surfin’, I made room in the schedule to get some water time. After scoping Curly and Dee Why (didn’t feel like travelling far), opted for the latter. Wandered up toward the pole where I’d spotted some bods hooking little lefts. Turned out a couple of them were the ever smiling Psillakis brothers. Set waves were in the chest high plus range, but the shutdown percentages were very high indeed. Didn’t really bag any great shots with the Lumix FT1, but I’ll share anyway…

Shooting into the glare at another little No man's left.

The lefts were better than the rights.