0.45 when I got up this morning but it is flater than yesterday. In the last couple of hours it has dropped to 0.35 and looks like it is heading straight down.
Despite the lack of swell and an ocean full of jelly fish I went out with 1.1 at Barnacles. Being so small it was breaking on the dry suck. My first "wave" saw me out of position and taking off late. I got smashed, the hand board got ripped off my hand and the strap torn off the bolts, my head collided with a rock followed shortly by my shoulder. Luckily it was only about six inches heigh so other than the strap there was no real damage. If it had been bigger I wouldn't have been taking off there anyway.
Treaded water for ages for two more dribblers and gave up.
Like I said earlier this week the hand plane has kept me sane during the worst summer I can remember. If you don't body surf you should try it and see what you are missing. If you start now and do it every day until you die you might be half as good as Mark Cunningham (who features in this trailer for a new Malloys film). One of my surfing aims is to be able to body surf underwater and be dragged along like a seal (but not eaten by a shark !).
The swell has been over 0.4 for a week and that is usually more than enough for at least a mal wave locally. But it is not so at the moment.
Its nice in the water but what swell there is has a huge period and isn't really breaking that well. I probably spent an hour in the water with my hand plane split between the BP Reef and Barnacles for five short waves.
The swell is on its way down and doing it pretty rapidly.
The swell buoy has shown a few lumps this week. I escaped from Perth a day early and got a little excited when I checked the chart first thing.
However the early check of BP was not good. The swell was around but really inconsistent. What was coming in wasn't finding either the reef or a bank. The wind was from the north so I went to work instead.
Down south has supposedly been good if you can get there before the wind comes in.
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If it wasn't for the hand plane I would have gone mad over the last few months. I'm back in Perth and headed to the beach again this arvo.
The sea breeze was in and mixing with a one, occasionally two foot swell. Trigg Point was a battlefield again. Thirty out, fat, dribbly straight handers. I've surfed a lot worse but not with a crew that large.
Just on the north side of the point two guys were doing little tow ins. They were getting little speed runs and going for big airs. They didn't make many !!!!
Along the north coast there were people trying to get a wave on every little reef break but nothing was of any quality.
I ended up catching a few lefts off the Sorrento groyne with the hand board 1.1. Got whacked a couple of times but it was fun.
Back for the weekend but obviously not for the waves. The wind is onshore southerly already but not forecast to really crank up for a wind wave. We can only hope they are wrong.
Every now and then my partner and I flirt with the idea of moving to Perth for work. This is what stops that from happening !
The waves at Triggs were barely a foot. It was hot and the water was nice but 30 to 40 people out at the Point ? Each wave had at least five people on it. The most I counted was nine.
Not only was there a heap of people but most were complete kooks. Only the girls seemed able to actually get to their feet.
The best surfer out there was a girl on her SUP who dropped a few paddle assisted turns. It helps when you are riding a small boat that doesn't require the wave to break.
I made do with a little hand plane session out the front of the southern carpark. Even with this madness a couple of hundred metres away I was by myself, the water was crystal clear and it was a great way to wash off what had been a prick of a day up till then.
Trapped in Perth for the next three weeks so the blog posts will dry up for a little while. Doesn't look like I'm missing any surf yet.
Went to Triggs yesterday. Too small and messy to bother with a surfboard so I went for a cool down body surf instead.
Didn't even bother to take the hand plane but I did do the right thing and swum between the flags. They were so close together that if I sat in the middle I could body surf out on either side. The lifeguards were prepared though - two four wheel drives, an IRB, a rescue board, tube and a little patrol shelter on wheels. Nice work if you can get it.
Another of those classic Autumn mornings. The wind is light and offshore, the air has a ting of coldness and the water is warmer than the air. It is so quiet that the only noise on the beach is the wind and breaking waves.
Or should that be closing out waves. There is still swell around the 0.4 mark (Naturaliste is touching 3 metres) but no banks. Juniors is fairly crowded and every wave has three people taking off and not an inch of face. There are about six out at the reef which has the odd smaller wall but its hardly classic.
Barnacles on the other hand threw me up a classic hand plane session. Crystal clear water, sucky take offs and some nice clean walls. The 1.1 went well in the cleaner conditions and I was able to keep a higher line that I would usually get on the Hydro plane. The water was so nice it was like swimming in your bath !!
I can't see the conditions improving to much today. Maybe the higher tide might move the take off at the reef a little further out and there could be some waves there. However I wouldn't hold your breath.
Day off and headed to Juniors early on the rumour of a swell. The harbour buoy was showing 0.4 and Naturaliste over two and going up. The winds are light and offshore and despite the little chill in the air the water is still warm.
There was swell and the tide was low (Barnacles had rocks sticking out of the water everywhere. But it was a bees dick away from being surfable. The swells were coming in, shaping nicely on some shallow bits on the reef and the filling back up to close out on the shore.
It was too nice not to get wet so I took hand plane 1.1 for a quick run. Got a couple of short slides and a cover up in before deciding that from the water some of the waves look makeable on a board. The changes seemed to have fixed the dolphin problem but it feels a little light and harder to catch waves. Stay tuned.
Back to the car and out on the dhu-fish. Despite some promising looking waves they weren't breaking or were closing out.
By 8.30 the sea breeze had started and it looks like it will be blowing hard this afternoon. Maybe a wind wave later ?
Taj has lost his first heat in his last four contests at Snapper. On the positive side it was the final and he was beaten by Slater in terrible waves. With a forecast of howling onshores and bad weather for the limited time that remained in the waiting period the organisers were stuck running it today and hoping the lower tide made for decent waves. Still the best two surfers all event made the final and now sit one and two leading into Bells.
The TV News is reporting that Slater will join Burrow at next month's Margaret River Pro prime event. They should be joined by some talent as everyone scrambles to avoid or take advantage of the mid-season cut. Now we just need the weather to change and some swell to arrive.
Best hack of the day - Martin Potter in the legends heat. Killed it like he was still 16.
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST FINAL MATCH-UPS:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 11.20
2 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 10.17
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.77 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 8.20
SF 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.56 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.40
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.40 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 9.06
QF 2: Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.64 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.40
QF 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.30 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 11.60
QF 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.03 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 9.95
ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (After Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 10,000 points
2. Taj Burrow (AUS) 8,000 points
3. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 6,500 points
3. Tiago Pires (PRT) 6,500 points
5. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 5,200 points
5. Brett Simpson (USA) 5,200 points
5. Dusty Payne (HAW) 5,200 points
5. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 5,200 points
I've had a request for some pics of my home made attempt at a hand plane. Its made from pine because it is cheap, easy to work with and I'm not planning on it lasting very long. It is deliberately rough and basic so I can change things and see what works or doesn't.
Last night I took out some thickness in the nose and added some more entry rocker. I also made the slight bottom concave flow better into the nose. I had found that it surfed good when I put two hands on it but dolphined when I just had one or it was running in white water. I'm hoping that this might make a bit of difference.
The Roxy Pro finished today with the new crop staking a claim in 2011. Steph Gilmore lost to new comer Laura Enever in the quarters as did stalwarts Slivana Lima and former world champ Chelsea Hedges. The only "rookie" to go down was Coco Ho to Sally Fitzgibbons. Sally (20 and in her 3rd season) didn't last another heat getting beaten by Carissa Moore. The final was between Moore and Owen Wright's more successful little sister Tyler with the American taking home the bacon.
The semi consisted of a 17, 18, 19 and 20 year old with a combined four years on tour. Wright and Enever are both in their first world tour events as proper members rather than wildcards. Changing of the guard ?
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Carissa Moore (HAW) 15.34
2 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 14.37
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 17.53 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 11.84
SF 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 16.00 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.50
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 11.77 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 10.44
QF 2: Laura Enever (AUS) 15.67 def. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 12.50
QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 19.20 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 14.50
QF 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 18.37 def. Chelsea Hedges (AUS) 11.83
The Quiksilver Pro ran in some nice but flukey conditions. Both the non-elimination round four and round five ran. Round five had some super close heat and a classic between Taj Burrow and Adriano de Souza. The final combined heat score between the two of them was 38 out of 40 with both both holding two nines !!!! The only real name to fall out today was Parko in a close one to Jordy, who eats up drivey crumbling rights.
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Dusty Payne (HAW) 14.07, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.83, Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.80
Heat 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.53, Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.14, Kelly Slater (USA) 11.06
Heat 3: Brett Simpson (USA) 16.60, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.63, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.87
Heat 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 15.23, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.76, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.56
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.80 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.60
Heat 2: Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.27 def. Michel Bouez (PYF) 12.94
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 19.06 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 18.94
Heat 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.67 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.17
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: Dusty Payne (HAW) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)
QF 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
QF 3: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
I know that twice before I have said that this is the last Cyclone Bianca video but Taj and friends have released yet another angle of Mitchell Rocks grinding. Just when you think that Taj or Jay Davies or Dino Adrian can't possibly make it out of this grinding sandpit they do.
Keep an eye out for the guy getting sucked over the falls sitting on his board !!!
Swell didn't do much and neither did the sea breeze this arvo. Made a desperate attempt to surf Juniors but it was way to small so reverted to my experimental, home made hand plane. Worth a body surf.
Back to the shed for a few touch ups on the hand plane. Its pretty basic at the moment but that is in a big part to my woodworking skills maxing out with a "C" in year 10 (back in 1983 !!!!!).
Round three of the Men and four of the Women were run in good but changeable conditions today. It looks like the Roxy Pro will finish tomorrow and possibly the non-elimination round four for the blokes.
Taj, Parko and Slater just smashed it (look at the heats on demand especially for Slater's body surfing tube) and were another level up. However Julian Wilson and Jordy aren't far away. Mick Fanning was the big scalp in heat one
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Dusty Payne (HAW), Tiago Pires (PRT), Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Kelly Slater (USA)
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Brett Simpson (USA), Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 4: Alejo Muniz (BRA), Joel Parkinson (AUS), Taj Burrow (AUS)
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: Silvana Lima (BRA) vs. Tyler Wright (AUS)
QF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Laura Enever (AUS)
QF 3: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) vs. Coco Ho (HAW)
QF 4: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) vs. Carissa Moore (HAW)
Round four of the Roxy Pro is in the water to be followed by round three of the Quikie.
Round two for the men was run yesterday. The only real upset was Bede Durbidge going down in the first heat to wildcard groom Matt Banting. Banting get Slater in this round.
Taj has probably the hardest heat of the round against Julian Wilson. If the waves clean up this could be the best heat of the year.
For those with access to OneHD it should be on TV otherwise check out the webcast.
Finally some waves for Snapper as well. Not good enough for the blokes so the Roxy Pro and King of the Groms were sent out instead. Round two and the non elimination round three were run for the girls.
Nothing dramatic happened. WA's Clare Bevo, who made it into the event when someone pulled out, lost in round two as did Alana Blanchard, who is back on tour after failing to qualify last year.
The waves were ok but a bit slow and hard really open up on. The backwash on takeoff was killer and a few got smashed !!!!
Coastalwatch has the dismal news for both Trigg and Marges. Even in Queensland it isn't any better. The Quiksilver Pro is on its fourth consecutive lay day due to the lack of waves and onshore winds.
Hey Huey its not summer anymore, where are the waves ????????
