Onshore

Did a run down south this morning in spite of yesterday's shark warnings.

The swell was that in between size that made it difficult to find the right place and the sea breeze came in by 7.30.

My mate and I tried a bank to the north of Supertubes because it was empty and looked ok from the carpark. It did have a little potential but was to inconsistent and the inside shallow, rocky and full of sea weed. We did catch a couple of mainly close outs and my mate got slammed shoulder first into hidden rock before the wind made it unsurfable.

The wind has set in but isn't sure if it wants to be a southerly or a south westerly. Either way there might be a wind wave locally this afternoon and I'm sure the kite boarders will be out there.

0.35 @ 12 with seas 0.58 and winds southerly 15 - 20 kph.

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

Too late

Winds changed and while it's not strong it's enough to mess everything up.

The News media is reporting a fatal shark attack on a diver off Peppie beach. Details are sketchy about how far offshore or anything else.

2012

On the eight day there were waves. Had a surf at Juniors this afternoon around three. It was a very small window between tides and winds but short fun rides anyway.

I surfed my mal and was able to grab a few. But I blew the best one by nose diving on takeoff. It was really inconsistent with long lulls but there is the start of a link between the reef and the beach.

It was grey and overcast and I was alone so the shark vibe was turned up a little. Funny how after this many sightings every bit of chop is shaped liked a dorsal fin !!!

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.

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.

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 !!!

Days off

Got a couple of mid week days off as I'm working the weekend. Emailed a few friends with view to heading south. As usual people started dropping out here and there until it was just two of us.

Conditions were nice. The swell was pretty small (around 1.4 on the buoy) and the offshore was howling but after checking three spots we decided on a beach break just north of Supertubes.

The waves were only about 1 - 2 foot but super clean and wally. Even at that size there was plenty of push.

The warning of a washed up whale carcass bringing sharks kept us watching and the super clear water had every piece of weed looking like a creature.

It took me a while to get some rhythm, missing a lot of waves and getting stuck behind the section but my friend was surfing better than I had seen before. We swapped board and he pulled off a couple of big slashes on my short and loser dhu-fish.

The only negatives were having to leave with waves still pumping in, ending up with a swollen elbow from a rail collision and sunburn.

Did I mention that we were the only ones out ?

Elsewhere there were plenty of winter banks hanging around. The stretch from Rabbits past Shallows had a number of peaks and quite a few surfers. Mitchell Rocks may not have been throwing up the Cyclone Biancca wedge but there were one or two peaks. They did look a bit frustrating as the surfers tried to decide to wait out the back or inside for the suckier and more consistent one.

Hot and offshore over the next few days. It doesn't look like there will be much swell but you can always be surprised.

Be careful

The news has reported that a surfer has been attacked and killed by a shark off South Point this morning. It is always sad when this happens and brings back how many things can go wrong when you enter the water, not just sharks and other things that bite and sting but the fact that we can't breath underwater and that our (and others) boards are full on sharp parts.

There have been a few stories floating around of sharks in Bunbury and Capel over the last few weeks and with winter's choc milk water you need to be extra alert.

Be safe.

Shark Stories

With some shark sightings localy in the last few weeks (might be connected to the whales ??) this footage from the US will just add to your paranoia. Apparently the camerman was shadowed by a shark the day before so decided to take his SUP and a camera on a pole and see if he could find the shark again. Turns out he did and another for good measure, both white pointers. I'd rather not know what is below me.


Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.

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.

How would you react ?

Imagine your surfing crap onshore waves in the late arvo with only your brother and a couple of friends. You didn't really want to go out but they shamed you into it so your not really happy anyway. Suddenly a Great White Shark comes up from below you, hits you board, tosses you in the air and breaks your board in half ! Not sure how you would react ? Well watch as WQS sufer Eric Gieselman has that happen to him.

Eric Geiselman's Shark Encounter from Cavin Brothers on Vimeo.