Silver lining

Heres a collection of photos from the storm on Wednesday and Thursday. I did get wet Wednesday at a secret spot but there is a whole story that I won't go into. On Thursday one of my favourites PK was firing but I ripped the zip off my wettie as I was suiting up to go out. Bummer.

Perhaps I should lay off on the vanilla slices !

Wednesday

Eagle Bay

PK

Dunsborough Boat Ramp

Meelup

Squall coming

Meelup

Clubbies were testing their jet skis in the pounders

PK

 Thursday - PK

I don't want to go to work !

I just want to sit inside and watch Bells. Round one has finished and Taj is in the water in his second round heat. He has already racked up a high eight on his first wave in the first few minutes.

The waves are clean and offshore but can be a little difficult to surf. Which is the opposite of here where it is massive and onshore. The six metre swell is already showing on the Naturaliste Buoy and still rising. Locally its 1.19 which is massive for the channel.

There will be waves on the Dunsborough side of the cape and it will help set some banks. However with the recent shark attacks and sightings many people will be a bit reluctant to venture out.

It looks like a few have been out at the Wall over the last couple of days and I although I haven't looked myself I suspect that it might have been ok. It would depend a little on the sand.

Surf : Big
Swell : 1.19 at 15 seconds
Wind : howling WNW
Quality : zip
Desperation level : as big as the swell
Recommendation : watch Bells on FuelTV or go to work/school

Novelty waves

Looking at the severe weather forecast for tomorrow some of my favourite Dunsborough novelty spots might be worth a look. Places like the old Dunsbrough boat ramp or the corner of Eagle Bay could be a goer if the proper spots are blown out. Otherwise Wednesday might be ok for the Farm and Rocky Point before another front on Thursday.

If you haven't already it might be a good idea to drag loose stuff inside and check the insurance policy as it could be a bit blowy first thing. The last time I can remember a front being due around 6 am was when the tornado rip apart the town in 1995.

Coastal waters forecast

Tuesday: W/NW winds 30/40 knots with squalls to 55 knots in showers and thunderstorms. Winds easing to W'ly 20/30 knots late morning and W/NW 20/25 knots during the evening. Higher than normal tides and dangerous surf conditions expected north of Cape Leeuwin. Seas 2.5m to 3.5m. Swell to 5.0m.

Same

Still plenty of north swell pumping through but also still choppy and a bit wonky. Whippies is the pick but all along the back beach there are waves.

While I was checking it out about 3.30 a single wave set came through at a solid 4 foot plus and really workable if you were out far enough (which no one was).

Coastalwatch indicates that there are some waves on the Dunsborough side of the cape. With the Naturaliste buoy showing over two and a metres of due north sea and a two metre plus west swell they probably are. I bet there are more than a few out at the Wedge near Inji hopping for a few mor Biancca style pits.

Home and away

Quick note as I'm at work. Too a trip with some work mate south today to match up with the predicted three metre swell.

Yalls was clean but not that big. There were a couple out at the Bubble including a mal. Scoot around to Smiths and it doesn't look that nice although it is offshore with a bit of swell.

Decide to check Inji. There is a wave but the tide is a bit high. Three guys out but with others waxing up in the carpark. The Point was just too far away !

Back to Smiths and the reef was an almost exclusively lay down area. A group of body boarders were sharing some super clean suck pits. They were all very polite and shared it amongst everyone (including one of us). A couple of shortboarders went out here and there but couldn't take off deep enough to really get full benefit from the waves.

It was too sucky for me so I chose a little hand plane session on the beachie.

Sausage roll and a doughnut from Tass Bakery in Dunsborough, a check of the free boards at Yahoo and it was home for lunch and work. Well that was the plan until we stopped at Capel Cut just in case.

With a couple of guys packing up in the carpark and the odd little runner coming through the two of us who didn't go out at Smith hit it on a fishy shapes. It was a little inconsistent and hard work but both of us go a few little fun one on the inside reef.

Then it was work time but I'm not super enthused !

East Coast

The east coast had waves today. Not the east coast of Australia like last week but the east coast of WA. With a decent sized swell there is surf on the Dunsborough side of Cape Naturaliste. But with the lack of fronts so far this year and a mixed up swell direction it wasn't top quality.

The swell was inconsistent and with enough size to get the shortboarders (well a collection of fish, mid lengths and normal boards) out. Crowds weren't that big but with the long lulls and strange take off spots it didn't take much.

There were people out everywhere to Castle Rock. Even spots that weren't usually surfed were being tried. I surfed the Rocky Point boat ramp on the mal. One guy at Eagle Bay was getting the odd head height take off. PK wasn't that great and there was a few out off Meelup point.

Could be better tomorrow at some of the northern spots when the wind goes more south west and the swell sorts its self out. Or it could go flat.

Front

Maybe a winter pattern might finally be forming. There are some forecasts of huge waves down south over the next few days but that doesn't mean surf.

It is possible that the Dunsborough side of the cape might be ok but it is school holidays so expect crowds.

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.

Down south

Stuck in Dunsborough since Monday arvo. Usually that would be a good thing but its Leavers week !

Tides still remain really low and there are some strange banks here and there. The wind has been howlling from the south/south west for the last two days and its a bit cold.

Inji has some small waves today, nothing that you would rave about but surfable. Smiths was less effected by the wind than other places and there was the odd wave here and there but it was crowded.

Looks like the weekend might warm up some maybe there will be something worth getting wet for back in Bunbury.

Eastern Coast is OK

There were some waves this morning on the Dunsborough side of Cape Naturaliste. The weather is a bit all over the shop but we are expecting a proper front this week.

250 ks

Can give you details of everywhere because it feels like I have been there today.

The wind is howling down south. There is swell all the way to Dunsborough but the wind is chopping it to pieces. The Farm, Rockies and PK are a mess. The only people out are two kooks at the Dunsborough Boat Ramp.

The other side is HUGE. Windmills is breaking way out past the rocks and Sandpatches is solid and massive. The wind wasn't quite as bad but the waves weren't surfable.

On the way back we checked Capel and there is lots of swell getting in but the wind has messed it up.

The best surf is at ............the Surf Club !

Big, brown and with the odd face. Not many out but watched one get smashed on a sucky take off.

And it is cold and raining.

Looks like the bad weather has set in for another week but if you keep an eye on it you might just score.

It raining rain

Lots of rain in Dunsborough but not much surf around. Bunbury is lumpy and a few are trying the Surf Club and Bay but not really successfully.

Down south there are some messy waves at Rocky Point but the wind is picking up and it really isn't worth the hassle.

Capel is all over the shop and a no goer.

By the looks of the dark clouds and what was dumping on me when I was in Dunsborough we should get a decent drop in the next few hours.

Afternoon Report

Spent the afternoon at Yahoo Surfboards in Dunsborough putting two boards in for medical attention to missing fins caused by low tide BP and deciding if I should get the 6'6" Dhu-fish off the rack or wait three weeks for a custom 6'9". I went the 6'9".

On the way back checked out Capel cut. A few locals out and the odd little wave. Didn't look great but it would have been a nice way to end the day.