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…
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
Usual peak chasing exercise for the crew, but some fun ones on offer.
Hi all,
Didja get waves? Hope so! You had to be selective and this morning on the lower tide was better at most places than this afternoon on high. That said, your correspondent managed to jag several very fun head high plus sets at Long bombies late this afternoon. Not the easiest place to take pictures, so only got a small number.
I did a bit of shooting this morning at Dee Why and Curly, so expect galleries from those sessions in due course.
Swell was still pretty solid as Huey squeezed the last little bit of light out’ve the day. Sets at Longy were consistently in the overhead range and it looked as though it was that size all the way down the beach to Dee Why. However on high tide Dee Why was not that interesting – the beachy was shutting down and the point was crowded, inconsistent and fat. Oh, and the breeze was onshore for awhile as well.
Outlook fer tomorrow… well, I reckon it’s going to be smaller but with luck it won’t be ridiculously little. From the look of the buoy data off to the south of us, the period will probably get shorter (ie weaker waves) and the average height will drop a bit. If we have waist to chest high with WSW wind, I’ll be happy.
Lining up another lefthander at Longy around midday.
Hey all,
If you were in the water from about the lagoon entrance south to Longy between about 1145 and 1345 on Saturday 18 July, I might have taken your picture. Even if you weren’t, I reckon there are a few worth looking at…
