Devil wind

The north wind is really messing things up. The swell is around but it is choppy and not breaking that great.

BP has a collection of people out but no one is really getting any waves.

The Bay is a bit better, especially for those who like to take their wedges on their bellies or knees. One stand up out and he was getting the odd lip bash on his backhand.

He avoided the cold walk back by hopping a lift on a boat !

And heres a little grainy video for those who like their pictures to move.

Shitty

The big swell of the last few days has gone and been replaced with a mix of a north and a south. The wind is getting stronger from the north west and making a cross over of waves.

There was two guys out along the Bunbury coast but they weren't getting waves. Not worth the effort unless something changes but it might be good for the banks.

Glassy

A fair bit of swell around early with the buoy over 0.7 metres. The wind was light but the waves were a little wonky. A couple were out very early at Juniors and taking on some horror drops but mushy walls.

The conditions have gotten better in the afternoon. By four when I checked it was glassy smooth and fairly well lined up. However most of Bunbury is a close out. Juniors has the winter rip but it was too strong to keep in a good zone and the wall was short and fat. The reef was sectioning badly and the beachies not breaking. On the plus side there is just the hint of a bank forming here and there.

The Bay was looking ok. Some of the lids were getting little pits and on surfer on a blue board pig dogged into a nice backhand barrel before getting shut down.

Would have been great down south.

Tomorrow looks like a bit of rain but offshore early.

Wintery

Very much like winter today, onshore and grey.

The swell has come up a little and Coastalwatch are suggesting the Farm, Rockies or South Point could be goers. Locally there were the usual Sunday groms hitting onshore peaks here and there. Four chose the shorebreak at the Wall and even though it was tiny they were having a ball.

Fraggles had some nice but really inconsistent waves but no one out when I checked.

Few out

There are a few out at BP and Back Beach. With just a little north still in the onshore wind there are a couple of soft corners here and there.

One body boarder is out on the inside at Fraggles. If a few of those loose rocks weren't there it would be a fun surf for stand ups. Maybe we can convine the BPA to fish them out ?

Showers

Few showers and a bit of northely spiced onshore wind. The swell hasn't come up and it looks pretty bad for tomorrow.

What's happened ?

Been away for five days with work and returned to find a trace of northerly swell and light winds. It was too late for a decent look but made me wish I could have gotten home earlier just in case.

Looks like a low is going to give us some rain and wind tommorow and into Sunday. Swell might jump up to three around the Cape but if the wind direction is as predicted then surfing will be out for almost everywhere. Those spots that might have a wave will be packed with the weekend crew.

Interestingly, despite it feeling unusually dry, 0.2 mm more rain this year than to the same time last year. But that is still more than 100 mm short of the average. No wonder my water bill is so high.

Heres for a decent winter surf and rain wise.

Onshore

The north westerly is into it and it  is pretty messy. There are some micro-groms out at BP Reef and Juniors but no waves. The one decent sized one I saw had enough ripples going across it to make you feel you were driving down some outback track.

Slow week

Not been much of a week surf-wise. There has been the odd bit of swell around and if you had the time and luck you could have gotten a wave or two.

This morning was glassy and the wind was very light. BP Reef was infested again, about twenty out in small and inconsistent waves. Even the groms were turning on each other as drop ins were the norm.

I chose to get wet without the hassle at Barnacles. Used the mini-mal as it is the most disposable of my boards. Its already left a fin in the reef there somewhere but it wasn't that shallow today. The board did make it hard to turn sharply but I got a few speed runs and wiggles to make it worthwhile. After the first flush of water warmed up in the wettie it was quite a nice way to spend an hour.

The wind was still light but with a heap of north it was starting to get a little messy.

Mothers Day isn't today

Took a quick trip to see my Mum for Mothers Day today. Tried to use the opportunity to grab a sneaky surf at one of my favourite spot on the way but it was flat.

By the time I made it to Secret Harbour it was too late to get wet but there were a few waves in between closeouts.

Didn't seem that I missed too much locally. There is still just a little swell but no waves.

This arvo

A few out at BP Reef. The swell was around and the wind offshore but the waves weren't all that good.

Even a goat boat out on the reef !!!!

Grommets

They seem to be breeding uncontrollably !

BP Reef is infested with them again this morning. So many in fact that they have migrated to Juniors closeouts as well. The only positive is that the waves are crap, the wind onshore and it is about to rain.

It wouldn't be so bad if they knew the rules and their own ability.

Bit of swell

There is a bit of swell around with the harbour buoy over 0.5 and Naturaliste over two. There is a forecast for it to keep rising over the weekend with a front passing south of WA.

BP reef has some waves but is packed with mostly groms again. It is okay but not worth battling the crowd for. While I was watching a big single wave set rolled through, cleaned everyone up and rolled off down the beach.

The Bay has its Saturday collection of body boarders getting the odd quick shore dumper between sets. Sidewash also has a little wave for belly riders.

No more closeouts

Anyone who has watched a clean swell crest and then dump as a massive closeout on a Bunbury beach has wondered what it might be like to have an artifical reef. With the risk of erosion and damage from climate change a real threat and the push to make Bunbury a tourist destination, the time might be right to start pushing governments of all types to invest in a reef.

The benefits would flow to the environment and for recreational surfers, fishers and divers. Build it right and tourists (especially those interested in water sports) would start to use Bunbury as their base for trip down south, rather than that place they drive past on the way to waves.

One company ASR has built a number of reefs around the world. This video shows the results of their latest venture in India.


India's First Multi-Purpose Reef Goes Off from ASR Limited on Vimeo.

Maths

Autumn sun + swell = kooks.

The four metre swell and offshore wind might not have arrived but it is 0.5 on the buoy with a light wind. BP was packed. Probably thirty plus spread from Barnacles to the beachie. Unfortunately hardly any of them could surf.

Luckily not every wave was wasted as there were three surfers out there cutting through the crowd. Eden continues to make BP Reef look good and has that place 100% wired. He was taking off deeper and running through the shorebreak shallows where everyone (bar one) was struggling to make the take off.

A short bit of video for you to get the vibe.

Slater is King of the World again

Although it seems that he is always number one Kelly Slater has moved to the top of the World Title Race after his second place in Brazil. The event was won by the youngest surfer in the contest, rookie and local boy Jadson Andre by less than half a point. It was his first win and now sees him into equal fourth with Mick Fanning.

Taj's 17th has dropped him to third 250 points behind Jordy Smith. However it is really early in the year. Hopefully the 17th will be one of TB's dropped scores. J-Bay and Teuphoo are coming up, both events he does well at, especially J-Bay.

BiLLABONG SANTA CATARINA PRO FINAL RESULTS:
1 - Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.40
2 - Kelly Slater (USA) 14.00

BILLABONG SANTA CATARINA PRO SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Jadson Andre (BRA) 17.70 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 16.67
SF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.50 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 10.56

BILLABONG SANTA CATARINA PRO QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Jadson Andre (BRA) 15.50 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.27
QF 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.27 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.17
QF 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.34 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 12.43
QF 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.43 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.87

BILLABONG SANTA CATARINA PRO REMAINING ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.93 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.83
Heat 6: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.60 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 8.90
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.27 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.00
Heat 8: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.00 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 8.50

CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After Brazil):
1 - Kelly Slater (USA) 21750 pts
2 - Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18500 pts
3 - Taj Burrow (AUS) 18250 pts
4 - Mick Fanning (AUS) 15500 pts
4 - Jadson Andre (BRA) 15500 pts

Swell coming up

The swell is building and looks quite solid. There are rumours of a 4 metre plus swell by tomorrow.

The wind is from the sse and swinging more south by the minute. There are no takers at BP or Back Beach and it is not surprising as it isn't very surfable. There are a few cars at the Bay carpark and it may be more sheltered from the wind. Could be the place to go if you're a body boarder.