Skunked

Was doing the visit the parents thing today so stopped in at one of my all haunts and a favourite, 4th Groyne in Mandurah. The wind was stronger than Bunno and with a lot of north in it and the swell was too small to really make it work.

As I was hanging and there was only two body board groms and their Mum out I decided to get wet and see if I could fluke one of the little sets that were coming through occasionally. What I didn't see was the two wave hogs suiting up in the other carpark. 4th Groyne has been taken over by body boarders in the last few years and as anyone who has had to deal with them knows they don't know the rules about sharing, waiting your turn and snaking. The take off for body boarders can be way inside and in front of the groyne as they don't have to deal with the taking off in the super sucky part or ripping the fins off on the exposed rocks. This left me battling the rip and the current to try to get a position where I could jag one.

However one guy decided to sit way, way deep and take all the sets (and go straight), the other sat outside me until it looked like a wave was coming then he paddled around and inside. I put up with it for a while and decided that I was dropping in if I could get into position, which was super difficult with the wash off the groyne. When the Mandurah Catholic College came out for the PE lesson and basically formed a fence on the inside I gave it up as a bad joke. Cold, wet, pissed and without even one wave to my name.

Get home about 3 and check BP Groyne. The swell has dropped and the wind is light and swinging more offshore every minute. The rip looks kind of strong but there is an odd wave. However by the time I scooted home for a dry wetsuit three guys showed they had the same idea. None could seem to stay in the right spot and none of them made a take off in the time I watched before deciding I wasn't getting skuned twice in a day.

Lot of north in the wind and forecast for some rain and a strong south westerly in the next few days.