Bells

Watched a bit of Bells from my hotel room in Naples, Italy. It is on in the very early morning but I have picked up the odd heat before breakfast and some of the heats on demand.

Looks like decent surf for the first time in the last few years. If the men's finals are run tomorrow as planned it will be the first time for a while that the event has stayed at Bells (Winki counts as staying) and run straight through.

Sally Fitzgibbons has won the women's event from Carissa Moore. Steph Gilmore made the semis. The title race could have some contenders this year.

The judging has come under some scrutiny with Bobbie Martinez complaining even after winning against Taj in round two. It is very difficult to work out how some rides are being scored. I don't think one hugeish snap that is on a poor choice of wave or that put you behind the running wall and you kick out is better than a number of hacks down the line. Mick Fannins first 9 in round four was deserving but his second, maybe not.

Final tomorrow. Watch it online or FuelTV.

Ciao

Suspended

Won't be much activity on the blog for the next five and a bit weeks. I'm flying out to Italy tomorrow afternoon and returning from Paris late in May.

If I find some surf action over there and steal some Internet I might post a thought or two but don't expect much.

Hopefully by the time I get back the memory of this terrible summer will have been washed from your minds by a pumping Autumn. I just checked the harbour buoy and it has jumped to over one metre in the last few hours. Must know I'm going away !

Shot at the groyne

More angles at BP Groyne today. With another north pulse came another burst of decent waves. The other guy out caught some really clean waves with a bit of push and length, dropping in the odd hack.

I chose the mal, which seemed to be a bad decision till I pulled off one of my best fives in ages. Nice drop, tail stamp stall and a cross step to the nose.

After my fill I went out for a quick couple on the hand board. With fins it went better and it is a lot easier to swim with.

Few drops of rain as I type. Hopefully we will get a few more so I don't have to water the lawn.

Fridays

I think I have said it before but there are few things I like more than getting into the ocean on a Friday afternoon. Especially that moment when you duck dive and see the setting sun glow through the falling lip. Very zen.

Today two groms were sharing little runners of what is normally a winter bank off the end of the southern rocks at Juniors. Not great but they were enjoying themselves.

I took hand plane version 2.0 for its first spin but stupidly left my fins at home. That made it very difficult to get into waves early enough to set a line before they closed out. The jury is out on this new board. It rode a little soft and didn't seem t want to bite into the face. I'm leaning towards the quality of the waves and the lack of drive from fins as being the probable cause. We'll see.

It looks like a little front may brush past over the weekend. Winds should have some north in them. Apparently the secret spot that shows up in all of Taj's Cyclone Bianca footage was breaking again on with Sunday's little northerly pulse and TB, CJ and the Snake were all over it, probably recovering from the Margaret River celebrations the night before.

Rivers rock

Rip Curl have been adding these videos over the last few weeks. Usually tidal bores and river surfing is either stationary waves or go straight mush burgers. These bore is anything but. Overhead in spots, big hacks, airs and proper tubes. Almost makes you forget the raw sewerage and dead cattle floating around.

Chilli

Bit of messy swell left over from the blows of the last few days. I surfed Juniors and got a couple of short but ok waves (blew the best one of course - over-amped !).

There was a shift rip bowl to the south that was throwing up some lefts but it was hard to pick the spot and harder to catch the waves. The was a spattering of surfers up and down the beach, a couple off the groyne, some on the beachies and four at the reef. I didn't see too many waves ridden but didn't watch to long either.

The wind has swung onshore but light. You could still pick up one or two at lunchtime if your quick and lucky.

New hand board

Not much to do today so I knocked up a new hand plane. I'm still messing around to see if I can make something different and to learn how to best use my tools.

This time I started with a rough cut paper template as symmetry isn't my strong suit. I went for a more disc shape and it turned out looking a little bit like a McCoy Laser Zap.

I've gone for a shallow double concave but I am a little worried that middle V is a little off centre.But it doesn't really matter because I intend to hack away at the board after a few surfs anyway. The rails are still boxer than I like in the middle but flow better into the deck than version 1.

Its a pretty looking board than my first attempt, which worked but looked like a rectangle with a rounded end.

I've followed a tip from the Korduroy.tv website and mixed some turps with my linseed oil.

Two surfs in a week

This time it's true as I have just gotten out from another little sideways session at BP Groyne. Still little and just northerly local wind swell but fun none the less. And as a bonus I surfed with four kooks and got out just as the crowd was getting in.

The water has dropped a few degrees and I think this will be close to my last surf in the boardies for the season. Looks like the rain that is forecast for overnight might even arrive.

Next week is a mixed bag weather wise so surfing will be a bit hit an miss. You will have to be in the right place at the right time to score.

Gone

The swell has pretty much disappeared locally. From watching the Drugaware Pro on FuelTV its the same story down there. Judging from the commentators its not looking good for tomorrow either.

The beach was pretty this morning, crisp air, clear water and strong offshores. There was a gaggle of lid groms at BP Groyne. I'm guessing that they spent most of yesterday spewing that they were stuck at school while the waves were firing and arrange for an epic early. No matter how small it is groms will always get wet if they have made the effort to get out of bed !

Conditions

Looks like there were waves today. I was at work all day but did get a quick sneak peek at lunch time. There was a little crowd out a Juniors and on the reef when I checked it from the lighthouse. The winds were light and a little cross shore and it looked ok.

The swell is dropping rapidly so get anything you can.

Rain

At least I think it is. It has been so long that I've almost forgotten.

The onshore wins have brought a little swell but it isn't particularly big or any good. There are a few people out everywhere but like me yesterday they seem find it more frustrating than fun.

There are a few showers still around but the forecast for tomorrow is looking fine and offshore. The lack of banks is probably going to wreck any waves locally. It could be a good day to head to the Margies Pro before the weekend crowds.

I would like to give you an idea of what the surfing has been like but their crappy website and webcast spends more time crashed than working and the heats on demand are way behind. The five seconds on the News made it look messy and double overhead on the sets. Taj, Slater, Fanning, Parko, CJ, Julian Wilson, Kai Otten and a few other big names are through to the man on man round of 24. Taj and Parko have the hardest heats as they are the only ones against 'CT competition (Otten and Wilson). The women also need to run a pile of heats.

Two in a week

Well that was going to be my boast after my first wave at Juniors late this afternoon but the first wave was basically the only wave of a very frustrating session. That wave and the one that made me go out were a cruel trick as I spent the next 45 minutes paddling around trying to find something that would break.

Still the groms on the inside were having a ball and it was nice to be in the water so it wasnt all bad.

If you can believe a forecast of anything but sunny and 30 we might get some rain tomorrow. The promoters of the Margies Pro are talking up 15 foot waves but I think they might just have their hand on it !

Stoked !!!!!!

Just had my best surf in ages and it was knee high. Don't know if that is a reflection on me, the ongoing lack of waves or both.

Worked late but noticed a little northerly drift on the way home. After my afternoon chores I headed down to Juniors, taking my mini mal just in case. As I pulled up two guys were loading their boards and getting out of their wetties so I my pulse ran a little harder. However after watching for a few minutes I'm not to sure what they rode.

BP Groyne looked like it had a few dumpers so I headed there thinking that I would probably get a body bash. The waves were tiny but breaking at 45 to the beach. I decided to take the board and go for a no leggie session. As I was paddling out a set broke way out off the end and churned through (it was the only wave of this size all session). The water was cystal and back lit and when you paddled it looked like a micro version of Kirra.

My second wave just keep rolling. With the bank being so shallow you could just get in the trim line and fly. My only problem was the sun was setting very quickly. I ended up with a nice handful of flowing runners and a big smile. It doesn't have to be classic to get you stoked.

And to top it off there was a beef roast waiting for me when I got home.

Hopes

Sunday can be a little routine in a good way. Like most mornings the first thing I do is check the harbour buoy. I expected today to be about 0.25 but was surprised to find it was just over 0.4 !

I don't get to excited because I have been burned a lot of times. Check a few more sites. Coastalwatch is reporting a drop in the swell down south and the Naturaliste buoy is 1.5 metres.

Breakfast and watch some surfing on fuelTV. Perfect tow in waves for the 2009 Big Wave Junior event off South Australia. Take the last spoonful and check the buoy again - 0.5.

Now I'm a little excited but only for as long as it takes to drive to BP and get a view of the beach. The swell is invisible. There is a little motion but again no waves. Not even enough for body bash.

Worst start to a surfing year ever !!!!!