Sidewinders

Strong southerly this afternoon pushed some little 45 degree wedges towards the beach. As usual with that angle the looked good but were both impossible to catch and with impossible wonks and sections in them.  However two bodyboard groms at Juniors were frothing and getting all the best waves.

Off the back beach two clubbies were having a ball catching runners on their surf skis. Would have been a bastard paddling into the wind but fun linking green waves back.

Wednesday and Thursday both look promising on the forecast. The southerlies might have even blown in a little bank or two.

Wednesday 13 March

Winds

East to southeasterly 15 to 25 knots.

Seas

1.5 to 2.5 metres, decreasing below 1.5 metres during the morning.

Swell

Southwesterly 2 to 3 metres, decreasing to 1.5 to 2 metres during the morning.

Thursday 14 March

Winds

East to southeasterly 15 to 25 knots.

Seas

1.5 metres, increasing to 1 to 2 metres during the morning.

Swell

Southwesterly 1.5 to 2 metres, increasing to 2 to 3 metres.

Weather

Scattered thunderstorms.

The harbour buoy is out of service again. Judging by the excuses for closing the path to the Bay the BPA will probably that they aren't preventing anyone from getting the swell reading they just need their own buoy.

Pushers

A few little waves dribbling in along the beachies. The swell is pretty small but the conditions are nice.

There isn't much power anywhere but if you have something with length or volume you will get a few clean faces. Body boarders should head for the Bay where the wedge should be working.

Doesn't matter where you go because there are peaks of some kind everywhere between Hungry Hollow and the BP Groyne.

0.31 @ nearly 12

Orange means go faster

The winter of swell doesn't seem to want to give up. The last three days had offshore full tide mornings and low tide glass offs in the afternoon and a front that should hit in the next few hours will bring another big red blob of swell next week.

There are a few out at the moment snaring some small side riders in the north westerly, the wind is picking up so the window for the next few days is closing quickly.

Still waves

Plenty of chopped up swell and rips around. There are quite a few out getting the odd decent walls. The waves are difficult to catch and there is a fair amount of current coming from all different directions so staying in a good spot can be hard.

The wind is pretty light at the moment and making it a little crumbly. The forecast is for the odd shower and WNW winds so don't dilly dally.

Stay home

Blowing a gale and has been for days. There was a 72 kmh gust around 7.00 am and it isn't backing off.

The beach is a massive washing machine. Shouldn't really call it the beach because the water is lapping on the dunes, old swimming baths, rocks, sea wall and anything else that is usually dry. There are huge waves bashing in  everywhere.

It looks like the Wall is the only place surfable. There are a truck load of cars at the gate but with spray coming over the seawall I wasn't walking down to find out. Looking from a couple of other vantage points I would say there are waves but they won't be very good.

Keep out

The ocean was a no go area today as massive waves battered the beach. With no reference point it was hard to tell how big the Back Beach was but I suspect it was a solid eight feet. I watched a wave break probably ten time further out than normal and then smash into the rocks.

The wind is back up again and it looks pretty marginal for the next few days at least. I have been told that due to the west in the swell the Wall was flat but it might start to fire with the right tide.

Stormsurf.com shows some massive swells out to sea and predicts over 30 feet on the weekend.

Bunbury surf city

Another day when the back beach looked like a real surf spot. There was plenty of swell in the water, pretty full tide and light onshores for most of the day.

Plenty of people were out all along the stretch from the Clam to Sidewash and a few more at BP. Some of the peaks looked really clean and quite smack-able with the little crumble. The weather forecast isn't much different for tomorrow so it could be another go day.

Promises

I promised to upload some better quality photos from yesterday.

Oahu back beach

Bunbury turned on another classic winter's day today. There was a huge amount of swell hanging around and very light winds that were offshore this morning.

There was only one taker out at BP first up this morning in waves that had some size and power but also the off bit of shape.

All day it pumped. I was at work but have seen some photos of head height make-able death pits at the Back Beach. The pics are on my work computer so stay tuned (the camera is a lot better than mine !)

The crowds picked up in the late afternoon as the wind stayed calm and the waves kept pumping in. The Back Beach was still the pick, especially out the front of the Surf Club.

Another front coming tomorrow afternoon with some windy and wet weather into the weekend according to the forecast. Could still be the chance of a wave in the morning and I wouldn't write off Saturday and Sunday just yet.

Some waves

I was working today so didn't get a look until late this afternoon. it looked like the conditions had stayed glassy for the whole day and there was still plenty of waves around as the sun was setting.

The tide was pretty low after the big highs of last week so there was plenty of dumpers. The handful out at the groyne were getting the odd wave that was walling. It looked like the rip was quite savage as they couldn't seem to get in the best spot and the waves were warping a little.

Three groms were sharing an after school session at clean BP reef and getting filmed by one of the Dad's. The waves looked quite nice, a little wasted on groms !

The Back Beach had a few dotted here and there but there were plenty of closeouts and weed.

I'm guessing that Capel would have been very good and so would have Binningup. As is the norm in winter tomorrow is a bit of a toss up, you'll just have to wait and see.

There is predictions of another big swell with the front on Friday. Apparently down south was in the 10 to 15 foot range for most of last weekend and could be coping another pounding this weekend. Maybe Brave the crowds at the Farm ??

Same-ish

A little smaller and a bit messier than yesterday but there are still plenty of north swell waves pumping through along the back beach. Size is down a foot but there is still plenty of those sneaker sets around head height and as a bonus the sun is shining so the air isn't freezing cold.

Get out there

Northerly wind swell and glassy conditions have been happening all day. The Surf Club and surrounds has shoulder height sets rolling through at 45 degrees to the beach.

The crowd has been really small but has built considerably since school finished and with those on POETS day.

Snapper Rocks !

The BP Groyne became Snapper Rocks with this take off resulting in a neatly broken surfboard.

Plenty of swell around with offshore winds first up this morning. BP Groyne was throwing some nice barrels between closeouts.

The Back Beach was pretty busy with as mix of body boarders and surfers getting the odd corner here and there. I saw one body boarder lock into a nice long tube and emerge clean.

There were still the odd places away from the crowd for the patient. There was only one at the Clam and a small sprinkling at a dumping Bay.

The wind swung southerly quickly but didn't mess it up too much at the start. Could be okay tomorrow.

Batten down

The next front is just starting to smash in. The wind has picked up and the rain is pretty solid. Just went to check out the Wall but the rain turned me back. There was a few cars parked at the entry so I'm thinking that people got there before the weather. With the lowish tide it was probably alright.

Fraggles is big and messy and waves along the back beach are very very solid.

Looks like an afternoon to stay inside. I suspect that tomorrow wont be great either.

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 ?

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.

Change in the weather

The first real front of 2010 has arrive and brought a fair whack of northerly swell. This morning there were a few school holiday groms tackling BP as the swell started to build. One was way out of position between the southern rocks at Juniors and Barnacles. Hopefully he didn't get too smashed up.

The arvo was pretty huge. The waves were really solid and the wind sort of offshore. BP was wild and waves were feathering way out to sea before exploding on the shallow banks. Three guys tried their hand but after being tricked by an easy paddle out suddenly realised how meaty it was when the first set landed on their heads.

Fraggles had some waves coming through but no takers.

The Back Beach seemed to be the go for most and it was quite crowded. Standing on the beach reminded me of those Pipeline pictures you see in magazines. The waves were dumping close to shore and the beach dropped away from where I was standing so it seemed that some guys were actually going underground.

There were some big drops and some poundings, mainly on the paddle back out.

The light and conditions weren't great for photos so you'll have to excuse the quality. Add the fact that my best camera died at BP and my other isn't suited to shots from the beach.

Swell is up over 1 metre on the buoy but starting to ease. The forecast for tomorrow isn't great wind wise but maybe the Dunsborough side could be ok for an early season session. Apparently it was pretty wild this morning.

Howling gale

The offshore is smashing through. The yachts off the back beach are nearly lying on their side it is so strong .

No surf. What little swell there is (and there isn't much) can't compete with the wind.

Stay inside, crank on the air con, turn on FuelTV and pretend your on the Gold Coast !

Shark sighting but is too flat to care

A shark was sighted at Back Beach this arvo but it doesn't really matter because there is no reason to get in the water anyway.

The dismal run of waves continues. It is flat now and looks like it will be flat forever, well at least as long as most forecasts can predict.

And it will be hot so I'm cranking on the air con, pressing play on my DVD player and watching surfing vids until Autumn.

Onshore arvos

Strong onshores produced some decent sized wind waves along the Back Beach. Two body boarders were having a go but it was hardly classic surf.