Offshore

It was sort of offshore late this arvo. Not surfable but a change from the smashing we got from late Thursday.

Yesterday was ridiculous. The winds were over 30 kph for the whole day and gusting around 50 hour after hour. The wind peaked at 82 kph at 2.30 and 74 at 7.30 pm.  At 7.00 am this morning the winds stopped gusting over 50 kph and it wasn't till 4.00 pm that gust finally fell consistently below 30 kph.

Swell wise it peaked at around 1.5 metres but combined with the big seas it hit 2.75 metres for a while. Even deep inside the harbour was rocking. The Naturaliste buoy peaked over five.

Tomorrow is forecast as being offshore in the morning but with a sea breeze around noon. I wouldn't think it would be very good but it might be work a quick look at the Capel Cut and maybe Binningup. The boogers should add the Bay to that list.

We'll see !


1.05 @ 13

Clean

A bit more swell in the water and strong offshores. The rip at Juniors is still throwing up peaks but with a few more closeouts. Lots of paddling to stay in position though.

The Bay has a killer wedge for the body boarders. There is a horde already but they seem to be sharing nicely as there are piles of waves.

0.55 and rising @ 12 and a bit

LAGO-ish

Light onshore winds late this afternoon and a decent size swell. Some guys out at the BP Groyne getting the odd one between sets on the head and closeouts.

Fraggles looked like it was pumping but when you looked it was hours between waves. Long time to be dangling your feet in the dark copping sinkers on the head from the fisherman so no one was there.

Down at the Bay a couple of guys were using jet ski assist to overcome the wash.

0.8 @ 11

Don't be fooled

It might be sunny but the northerly is in and strengthening.

Theres a little swell and a few having a bash here and there but its not really worth the effort.

Front coming tonight with a decent blow. Maybe next week ?

I'm going to walk the dog to the Bay soon so there might be another post if the Wall is ok.

0.8 and rising at 12.

Wintery

Bit of a very late glass off but with the low tide there wasn't much on offer.

The Bay looks like it has a bank or two forming. There were three out at the Wall, one way out the back (but not far enough) and two in the normal spot. There were some swells coming in but breaking to close to the rocks. In the 15 minutes I watched it for they didn't get a wave and probably only missed one that could have been surfable.

More bad weather tomorrow and stronger onshore winds. The swell is meant to be coming up but the conditions will make it pus. Stay inside.

0.78 @ 11 seconds from the west. Seas 1.01

Little ones

Nice morning but a little cold.

BP has no banks and the swell is rolling over the reef without breaking. The Bay is small but there are some little wedges for the lay down groms.

Coastalwatch has it being classic down south at 6 to 8 foot and offshore.

0.55 at 14

Never wait

I just decided to have a run down to the Bay. It wasn't any good (although the one guy out seemed to be happy enough) but the Wall had a little mal-loving runner right out the back. The tide was just right and swell in the right direction but it was too late.

Would have been a bit sharky by myself but looked fun. Bummer.

On the plus side both are showing some signs of being ready if the right swell comes through.

0.80 at 14

Too late

Plenty of choc milk swell and southerlies early. A few people have been tempted into the water by the odd clean looking wave but it is pretty marginal.

In the hour it took to look everywhere and walk to the Bay and back the wind had started to swing to the south west and the conditions will get worse.

Be quick

The conditions are no very nice but there are a few waves around for those who want to get wet. There is a crowd in a rip in front of the Surf Club and a few out at the Bay and BP Groyne.

I watched a guy catch a nice wall at the groyne that was head height on take off. A few minutes later I watched him free fall six feet as the lip pitched him before he could get to his feet. No pleasure without pain !

The wind is north something depending on how it is feeling with each blow. It is starting to settle into the north west and the conditions should deteriorate over the next couple of hours.

On the plus side when we finally get a clean swell it looks like there are going to be some decent banks to play with.

Don't bother

Still a little bit of swell but from a less than ideal direction. Other than the odd dribbler at BP Reef for the micro groms there doesn't appear to be any waves locally.

There are a few cars at the entry to the Bay so maybe there is something for the body boarders. The wind is side/onshore and only likely to get more onshore and stronger as the front expected later tonight moves closer.

Hanging around

Both the swell and the crowds hung around all day.The wind did turn light onshore but with the huge storm tide it just made the take offs a little easier.

BP Reef was still the go for rights but Fraggles cleaned up a little from the morning and was offering some decent rides. There were a few making the trek to the Bay but the BPA has locked the gates again so it was a bigger hassle that it should have been.

The swell looks like it is on the wane but there still could be some waves tomorrow morning for those running out of school holidays or lucky enough to have a RDO.

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.

Whale World

Another whale just off the beach south of Hungry Hollow but the worst surfing year in memory continues.

Today is sunny, offshore with swell and a highish tide but the waves are crap locally. By this time of the year BP reef should be firing, the Clam should be breaking way out and there should be beachies stretching from Dallyelup to the Bay. Instead we have the swell rolling in unhindered to close out on the beach.

I suppose I could drive south but I don't have all day to waste.

Roll on 2011.

Better

Better than expected this morning. The swell is still hanging around and there are some decent sized sets pounding in. If you're lucky and prepared to take the odd one on the head there are some rideable waves, especially around the surf club. The wind is slightly offshore but bloody cold.

The Bay is a bit wonky and there is just the start of a decent bank at the groyne. There are a couple out at Juniors dodging sets for some of the smaller and cleaner ones.

Two tow crews were out, one at the Bay and one trying their hand off the BP groyne. Neither was being particularly successful but it is a lot harder than it looks.

Swells coming down at the moment but there is more bad weather on the way so another kick could be coming.

Mush

Did something yesterday that I can't remember the last time I did it. Or should that be didn't do because the thing is that I didn't look at the beach for the first time in a long time (not counting when I was stuck in Perth a week or so ago). Looks like I didn't miss much anyway.

Today is cold and windy. There is a bit of swell but it is messy and mushy. The Bay had four out but they weren't catching anything that would make you want to go out. There is a lot of water moving around and lots of paddling on the spot. Despite not being huge, they were having a bitch of a time getting out.

Stay home, watch a DVD or FuelTV and let you wettie dry out.

Handplane days

Swell has dropped again and even the Bay is struggling to throw up any rideable. What waves there are are breaking right on the beach.

It wasn't good enough for a board but Barnacles threw up some little dredgers that were perfect for my Hydro bodysurfer hand plane. The water is cold but crystal clear and there were a couple of fun ones to make it worthwhile. Wouldn't have got wet today without it.

Wedges

A pile out at BP Reef but nothing surfable is breaking in the knee deep water.

However the Bay is chucking out some fun wedges for the body boarders. The north end is better with some nice take offs leading into a close out bazzer or el-rollo.

Frustrating

Great conditions. Light offshore winds and a clean swell but nothing that resembles a bank. Everything is a close out.

The Bay has a decent crew of body boarders who do seem to mind a close out on the head.

Every now and then they can pull into a deep pit but not many are coming out.

Devil wind

The north wind is really messing things up. The swell is around but it is choppy and not breaking that great.

BP has a collection of people out but no one is really getting any waves.

The Bay is a bit better, especially for those who like to take their wedges on their bellies or knees. One stand up out and he was getting the odd lip bash on his backhand.

He avoided the cold walk back by hopping a lift on a boat !

And heres a little grainy video for those who like their pictures to move.

Glassy

A fair bit of swell around early with the buoy over 0.7 metres. The wind was light but the waves were a little wonky. A couple were out very early at Juniors and taking on some horror drops but mushy walls.

The conditions have gotten better in the afternoon. By four when I checked it was glassy smooth and fairly well lined up. However most of Bunbury is a close out. Juniors has the winter rip but it was too strong to keep in a good zone and the wall was short and fat. The reef was sectioning badly and the beachies not breaking. On the plus side there is just the hint of a bank forming here and there.

The Bay was looking ok. Some of the lids were getting little pits and on surfer on a blue board pig dogged into a nice backhand barrel before getting shut down.

Would have been great down south.

Tomorrow looks like a bit of rain but offshore early.