Day Seven

Last chance to surf in 2011 and there is swell but no waves. There is a little pulse in the water but the tide and banks means its just surging and dumping.

Bit overcast and sharky as well.

Day 7 - 31/12/11
Waves : 9 inches
Wind : SSE
Quality : 1.2 out of 10

Day Six

Bit of thunder, dribble of rain and south winds. Nothing wave wise this morning but a few little peaks this afternoon. Two guys were tempted out at Juniors but it was way too small to ride.

Day Six 30/12/11
Waves : 8 inches
Wind : moderate southerly
Quality : 1.1 out of 10

Day Five

Just as flat and hot. The wind has moved to the north and by evening it has clouded over.

The forecast has gotten a little better but it isn't showing in the water.

Day four

Flat and hot. The end.

Day Three

Read days one and two but think smaller and not as windy.

Three more sharks were seen yesterday including one believed to be up to five metres long. Imagine Luc Longley standing on Luc Longley's shoulders and that's about the length.

Day Two - Part Two

The wind swung onshore this afternoon but not very strong. There was some chop but no waves.

Day Two - arvo
Waves - 7 inch wind chop
Wind - moderate SW
Quality - zip

Day Two

Still flat, not that it matters because the tide is so low. There is reef sticking up everywhere.

The pluses - there is just a trickle of swell and it's offshore, very offshore.

Day Two - 26/12/11
Waves : 6 inches
Wind : strong offshore
Quality : 0.9 out of 10

Seven waves in seven days 2011

For the past three years I have been documenting the last seven days of the year at BP/Juniors. This year I'm going to try and do the same.

Looking back we should get at least one clean small swell but the forecast isn't that great.

Today started as a dud. No Christmas swell or even an afternoon onshore bash. The wind was offshore all day swinging strong SSE late.

Day One - 25/12/11
Waves - less than 6 inches
Wind - SE turning SSE late
Quality - 0.5 out of 10

To see the previous year click the 7 waves in 7 days label on the right side of the page.

Merry Christmas

Hope you get what you want and spend time with those who you love.

Special shout to all those that have to work.

Andy Davis Holiday Animation from Billabong USA on Vimeo.

Eleven

Eleven seems to be the number this year. It's 2011, Slater won title number 11 and there were 11 sharks sighted in Bunbury yesterday.

Apparently the sharks were following a big ball of whitebait. They were in close and quite happy to strand themselves on the reef at Juniors for a feed. My source watched it happen and was on the water as shape after shape hit the pack.

And it wasn't just sharks. The dolphins were having a go as well. So much for dolphins scaring off sharks.

Hopefully they will all move on soon. If you are interested in a feed there is some good sized taylor chasing the bait as well.

This week

The Naturaliste buoy is back over a metre after the super flatness of last week. The chart looks like there is a massive spike but it's just that it got as low as 40 centimetres.

There was just the slightest wind wave yesterday afternoon but with silly beach closures it was empty. I'm not sure how closing the beach between the surf club and Hastie Street but leaving BP open makes sense.

Weatherzone.com.au through Swellnet.com.au predict a jump in size today for Marges but easing for the rest of the week.

Margaret River 5 Day Surf Forecast
Monday

New SW swell to 2-3ft, building further to 6-8ft during the a' noon. Light S to SSE winds with light S'ly seabreezes.

Tuesday

Easing SW swell with a morning peak to 6-8ft, easing during the day. Light SE winds with SSW'ly seabreezes.

Wednesday

SW swell to 3-4ft, easing during the day. Light WSW winds.

Thursday

SW swell to 2-3ft, easing during the day. Light SSE winds with mod S'ly seabreezes.

Friday

SW swell to 2-3ft, easing during the day. Light SSE winds with mod S'ly seabreezes.

Six sharks a swimming

PerthNow.com is reporting six sharks sighted by the surf life saving helicopter off Bunbury this morning. The helicopter attracted a bit of a crowd as it hovered over Noah's at Hungry Hollow, Mangles Street, the harbour and Dalyellup.

Add that to yesterday's story and there are fins everywhere. That's what happens when someone is looking, they see stuff !

Still flat

Another week almost over and still not even the smallest glimmer of a wave. The Naturaliste buoy was a massive 0.6 metres this morning, an very rare occurrence even in the middle of summer.

I have no confidence that there will be much of a turn around in the next few days although Coastalwatch is predicting a little pulse on Monday. Weatherzone is similar and has thrown up an all day onshore and maybe some rain tomorrow.

The only other thing of note in the last week was a report from a fisherman at Hungry Hollow that he caught a salmon (unusual) and then watched a 2 metre shark launch itself onto the reef. He thinks it was a bronze whaler. I'm sure there are always sharks around here so be careful. No weeing in your wetsuit !!!

Good call

Set my alarm for the early just in case the swell from yesterday afternoon formed into something. But after a quick check of the net I decided to stay in bed.

Still here

It's been a very busy few weeks. I have been away from home for most of the last three weeks and busy working or getting ready to move house when I am here.

Add that to the fact that it has been FLAT and the ASP events boring and in the middle of the night and you get no posting for a little while.

This afternoon there was the first inklings of a swell in the water. It had a very long period and was only showing spasmodically at a few places with the high tide. Nothing surfable around 5 but with a little potential. The Naturaliste buoy has jumped from just over a metre to three today but has started to drop. The period is over 14 seconds.

It's meant to be strong-ish SSE winds over the next couple of days so maybe there might be a wave. With just under a full moon the tide might be a bit funky.