Surf Movie Sunday

Another small batch to pick from this week. The end of summer in the northern hemisphere means a drop in the number of quality clips.

Here's part four of Yadin's journey.



Fractions.



Dane Reynolds and friends in Indo.



And some high-def women's longboarding to finish.

Sunday

There is a bit more swell than yesterday. The wind is a bit suss with north in it.

There isn't much shape anywhere but you could jag one here and there if you were desperate but I wouldn't wait too long.

0.62 @ 14

Warm

The swell has come up again and the offshores have stuck around. Unfortunately that hasn't really translated into decent surf however there have been a few trying the bank and rip at Juniors with mostly limited success.

Its sunny and warm so there are worse things to do than float around a little. Maybe you'll pick up one here and there.

0.52 at a very long period of 15 seconds

Little

Swell dropped off overnight. There is a great bank at Juniors but only the occasional hip height set. I tried to catch a couple on the slab but they were too small. Great for a handboard session but !

The wind gusting up to 30 kmh from the east and is getting stronger. The tide is still ultra low. Maybe this afternoon if everything comes together there might be a little wave. Its less than a 50/50 chance but might be worth a quick peek if the beach is on your way home.

0.30 @ 11

Good news/bad news

Been a while since I've had a good news/bad news day which I think is kind of good news.

Good news - went down south with a mate.

Bad news - strong wind warning - southerlies

Good news - buckets of swell and the wind is offshore and just right

Bad news - none for this bit

Good news - Smiths is cranking. The beachies, the reef and supers are all throwing up more than fun waves. The reef is even tubing. The sun is out and the water crystal clear.

Bad news - none here either

Good news - chose one of my favourite places, a series of banks between the reef and Supers. The big ones are closing out but the in between ones look good.

Bad news - my back, which was getting better, chose today to seize up. No paddling power and whenever I try to stand I'm so stiff I can't get my feet underneath me.

Good news - I'll just go in and take a picture or two on my new camera

Bad news - camera stops working. I assume that was because the battery wasn't really charged but when I get home I find its because the camera is full of water !!!!!!!!

Bad news - the SD card has died

Good news - dried out and wait long enough and the SD card starts working again

Good news - came home, had a great lunch at Happy Wife with my happy wife and then a great little hand plane session at Juniors. Got some nice rides, little cover ups and one left that wouldn't quit.

All in all more good news than bad.

If you are looking for a wave there is a few out of the rip at Juniors but although the wind is swinging more south it should stay ok for the rest of the day.

0.51 @ 11

No surf day

Plenty of swell and the odd peak but the onshore is taking any desire with it.

If you really want to get wet there are some brown ones but they will be a lot of work. You have to really, really want to get wet.

0.71 @ 10

Why ?

If you were wondering why there was no surf report today when there was swell it was because the onshore was already in a 9.00 and by 9.30 it wasn't surfable.

Not looking good for tomorrow and with the current tides, banks and rips it could go anyway most of next week.

Surf Movie Sunday

Better late than never.

Start with the lovely Kassia Meador leaving summer as we move into it.

Kassia Meador & Mikey DeTemple - Farewell to Summer from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.

No Taj this week so we go back to Jay Davies for our local footage. Produced by his brother his clips just get better each time.



Bit of re-mixed of the John Florence footage from last week's Vans release GetNClasic 2.



Jordy and Julian Wilson air it out on Paradise Isalnd.



And one for the multi-board waterman. One European mixing up the boards. Just missing the hand plane.

Check

Check it yourself and decide if you are happy with closeouts. The tide should be coming up from a really low low and the wind hanging in the offshore directions so there may be a decent window some time.

Nice day to be getting wet.

0.69 and rising @ 12

Julian Wilson wins

With a wave in the last 30 seconds

Parko gone

Gabriel Medina will meet the winner of Wilson v DeSouza. Julian has thrown down two nines already so I'm leaning his way.

Finals day

Pretty clean conditions for the final day of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal.

Mick Fanning was taken down in round five, giving him a ninth and 2250 more points than Slater in this event. Parko met John John in the quarters and won. This gives JJ a fifth and 3450 points over Slater and 1200 over Fanning.

Parko will meet Gabriel Medina in the semis, with the other between Julian Wilson and the winner of the quarter in the water at the moment.

At this stage the Mick's ninth is a keeper, John John will have nothing lower than a fifth. Regardless of what happens from now on Parko will have nothing lower than a third.

My literally back of the envelope calculations tell me that Parko would have to win to overtake Kelly after dropping the worst two events to this stage.

Kelly Slater - 45 400
Parko - 3rd 43 500, 2nd 45 000, 1st 47 000
Fanning - 43 500
John Florence - 38 600

Kelly's two bad events (really three) only drop his raw total by a small amount compared to the others (especially Parko) who drop big points. His four finals and three wins are keeping him in the race against the consistent but not winning Parko. Looks like it might go down at Pipeline, hopefully in some decent waves.

Humbled !

I've got over 25 years experience riding boards of all types. I've got a quiver that goes from 6 to 10' in fibreglass and includes handboards and a SUP. And I've surfed Bunbury for around 15 years. So after two flat water paddles around the boat harbour surely catching a few waves on the SUP shouldn't be that hard.

Fraggles was the chosen spot. The waves roll in from the deep and its sheltered from the sea breeze so once I'm past the shore break it should be a piece of cake. I'll wear a leg rope but only so when I kick out the board want hit the rocks.

It has been a while since I last surfed Fraggles, probably near to four years. In that time I forgot just how much the water moved around, bouncing off the groyne and the sea wall and surging back from the steep beach. The board that floated perfectly in the flat now wanted to sink and pitch and I was quickly in the water. Try again, same deal. And again and again. Eventually I got up long enough for a couple of strokes but fell in again.

Back to the beach and regroup. I adjusted a couple of things in my stance and actually made it a little way out and a little way in but was soon on the beach for a re-think.

Answer - paddle the thing prone and catch a couple of waves just to feel it out as a surfboard. It paddles prone like the wide long monster it is but I did get one wave. There won't be any off the lips on this board.

The fisherman on the beach was getting a bit annoyed with me going near his line (he wasn't catching any fish) and I'd had enough so that was it for session three. Lots of lessons to be learned and a few things to think about.

Fraggles is still very deep and sharky !

Insult

It's cleaned up since they went on hold and while it is still inconsistent there is enough tubes to make it fair.

Yadin in the water against an over scored Fanning.

Stupid

Just watched the Taj and Kelly heats on demand. What a joke.

Taj only got two waves in the whole heat, neither much chop. Kolohe got a clean throaty barrel and came out clean so deserved his 7.0. Compared to what was to come it probably should have been an 11.

Kelly's heat was worse. Both surfers had a wave in their two scorers that was a close out barrel that they didn't make it out of. Raoni's was a 3.7 with one judge giving it a 4.0. If there were decent waves he would have been lucky to get a two. He just took off and stood straight while the wave collapsed on his head. He was never ever getting out. His second scoring waves was three little lip hits that I could do and he gets a 5.5 with one judge giving it a 6.0 !

Kelly got a little backhand coverup, coming out clean and got less than the close out he pulled into and almost made out the doggie door. He had more chance that his opponent's 3.7 and got  a 2.67. Neither surfer deserved to win because they shouldn't have been out in those conditions but Slater's made wave was probably a 0.1 better than the Brazilian's.

They put the event on hold straight after the heat.

This ridiculous heat could have cost Slater his 12th title.

Upset

Slater out, losing to Raoni Monteiro. Bad waves cause these types of upsets. Slater's scoring waves were both twos and the Brazilian didn't even get a double figure winning total. Days like this suck badly and aren't good for surfing.

Parko is already through to round four, Mick takes on Yadin in the last heat and John Florence got through last surfing day. Slater will now have to hold a 13th in his final eight scores.

Portugal on

Portugal has started in pretty marginal surf. There is size but it is messy from yesterday's storm. Winning heats will come down to fluking the two good waves a heat. Or if you are Brazilian claiming after each wave (Alejo Muniz) !

Unfortunately as predicted yesterday Taj was sent out to test the conditions and lost. This will basically knock out his slim chances of winning the title this year as he will need to hold a 13th and two 9ths.

As usual its on Fuel TV or webcast.

Hold

The Rip Curl Pro in Portugal is burning through the waiting period. No consistent surf for a few days and now a massive storm is bering down on the contest site. The commentators are trying to talk it up but they are also trying to lay the foundations for a move to one of the back up venues where the wind will be side rather than onshore.

It's day 8 of 11 and they still have the bulk of round three to go. Even though it stays light for ages they still need a solid two days to run the event. It will be hard to squeeze out any extra time as the Cold Water Classic starts in the US on 1st November.

As usual Taj will be in the guinea pig first heat of whatever day they run. He always seems to end up going first and when the conditions are likely to be suspect he draws someone who can fluke a few waves and win. This time its Kolohe Andino who is desperate for any sort of result after not living up to his publicity so far. He is in danger of falling off the tour so will be a danger man for TB.

Yadin has Mick Fanning. The waves could be big and lean toward Mick because his poo stance isn't as suspect as in smaller waves. Parko will have to watch out for Dusty Payne and the rest of the heats are pretty even and could go either way depending on wave size and quality.

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 8: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 9: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)

Next project

A few days off, jobs done, no surf and no one home means that I can start building my next project. This time I'm building a body board from a shelf inside a wardrobe that I junked when we moved house. I am a little worried that the join isn't that strong but we'll tackle that if it happens.

I've decided on western red cedar to pump out the width and to add ply wood fins. The fins have been templated off the side biters on my SUP.

I've also taken the opportunity to upgrade my latest handplane to take my new waterproof camera. Hopefully this camera will last longer that the last few that have either been stolen or had the backs open in the water. I'm full expecting the mounts to rip off first time I use them so there will be a backup system attaching the camera to me.

Pushing

Plenty of swell pushing in with NE winds. The tide is low so most places are struggling to hold up.

The Groyne seems to have to odd one and it looks like the Juniors rip will reward the hard work needed to stay in the take off zone.

It is not likely that the wind will stay good for much longer so don't wait.

0.7 @ 11+

Surf Movie Sunday

Another crappy Sunday so here's something to do -

Can't go a week without another Taj clip ! This time in France.



A short film (25 minutes) on Greg Long and his approach to big waves from the guys at theIntertia.com. You can download it from their site for a short time.



The first Jaws session of the season.



Part three of Yadin's story.



And that's it for the week.

Portugal

Round one and half of round two of the Rip Curl Pro Portugal were run overnight. Jordy Smith was the only real shock elimination so far. Both Taj and Yadin are through to round three after dropping round one.

The waves were a bit mixed but if you got the right one it was worth a nine plus.

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 6.30, Brett Simpson (USA) 5.06, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 3.67
Heat 2: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.33, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.36, Jadson Andre (BRA) 6.73
Heat 3: John John Florence (HAW) 14.73, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 7.34, Kai Otton (AUS) 4.13
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 9.67, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 9.70, Dusty Payne (HAW) 2.33
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.67, Dillon Perillo (USA) 6.60, Damien Hobgood (USA) 5.90
Heat 6: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.17, Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.36, Pierre Valentin Laborde (FRA) 2.96
Heat 7: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.26, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.94, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 7.65
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.70, Taylor Knox (USA) 7.43, Heitor Alves (BRA) 5.53
Heat 9: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.50, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.83, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.67
Heat 10: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.00, Adam Melling (AUS) 11.87, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.67
Heat 11: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.73, Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.83, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.03
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.53, Tiago Pires (PRT) 13.27, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 3.13

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.17 def. Pierre-Valentin Laborde (FRA) 6.17
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.33 def. Dillon Perillo (USA) 10.37
Heat 3: Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.80 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.77
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 18.50 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 17.73
Heat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.73 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 10.93
Heat 6: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 15.00 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 12.93
Heat 7: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 16.10 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 8.24
Heat 8: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.63 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 12.33

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL REMAINING ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 9: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 12: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)

Lazy arvo

A few out enjoying the warmth this afternoon. It wasn't good enough to overcome the guilt given by my dogs who had been home alone all day so it was a walk rather than wet.

The wind this morning was really north and the swell has dropped but it glassed off under the cloudy skies this afternoon. It was pretty small but there was a guy out at the rip at Juniors throwing some big moves.

The two older guys at the reef were getting some very shallow lefts and the guy at the groyne the odd short but punchy right.

The forecast is for north east turning north west early tomorrow morning and then two days of rain.

0.46 @ 12

Still swell

Still offshore.

Plenty of long period ground swell pulsing through and the wind is pretty good. Only problem is that nowhere locally can handle the size.

I'm guessing here but Capel Cut would have been good and depending on the tide the Wall might have worked because it was from a pretty favourable direction.

Meant to be offshore again tomorrow so if you're on school holidays or got the day off it will be worth heading south.

0.89 @ 14 and holding pretty steady

Motion

There is a chunky new swell in the water this morning. Lots of water moving around but not very surfable at this stage although there is the odd medium one between close outs.

If you read this early enough it would be worth a quick run south. Coastalwatch is calling 10+ with offshores.

Naturaliste has gone from two metres at lunch time yesterday to almost four at the moment. Its jumped nearly a metre since midnight and looks like it might still be going up. Stormsurf has a big blob of 20' + swell on it model.

The harbour buoy is 0.88 with a long 14 second period.

Surf Movie Sunday

Bit of everything.

Some stand up body boarding !!!

Turbo Stoog Division from Ryan Timperley on Vimeo.

Another Taj video



Another Chopes video



And finally episode two of Vans Get N Classic. If you like it you can download it here.

Bathurst

The one day a year when I'm not a surfer.

Don't know what the beach is like and probably won't get there until late this arvo. My guess is that its the same as it would have been yesterday. Its offshore and there is a little swell. There are a few banks around but they are pretty fat.

This is what Marges looked like yesterday.

0.41 @ 11

Round two finally over

It seems to have been going for ever but the Quikie Pro in France has only just finished round two and then went on a break.

Taylor Knox continues his run beating Adriano De Souza and he'll take on young gun John Florence in the first heat of round three.Yadin Nichol is out as are both Hopgoods and Josh Kerr.


Taj takes on Kolohe Andino, who finally made it into the third round. Slater has Jadson Andre, Joel gets Pat Gudaskas but Mick Fanning has dangerman Dane Reynolds. A loss here would hurt his title run but not be fatal.

With five days left and nothing perfect on the forecast expect the event to be a bit of a luck fest.

Nada

Swell but no waves today. Low tide, straight handers and northerly winds.

According to the Weather Bureau we are in for gale force winds from this afternoon with another front coming through.

Gale Warning
Mandurah to Walpole
Winds increasing to north to northwesterly 20 to 30 knots early Tuesday evening and further to northwesterly 30 to 40 knots during Tuesday evening. Winds shifting to west to southwesterly 25 to 35 knots early Wednesday morning and easing to 20 to 30 knots by sunrise and below 25 knots during Wednesday morning. Seas 3m to 4m. Swell 2 to 3 metres.

Doesn't look like there will be much surfing for the next few days.

0.80 @ 13

Round one done

They have finished the remaining round one heat in France and moved on to the King of the Groms event. There is a fair bit of swell but 90% close outs.

All of the heats in the main event today were won by the only surfer with a two wave total over 10, except the second last one where no one could get into double figures. Julian Wilson and Owen Wright were the only top seeds losing today.

The industry people talk up the France event every year but it is always crappy. The waves are so flukey that you need as much luck as you do ability to get through. If Europe wasn't one of the traditionally strongest markets for surf ware I'm nor sure we would still be watching this event.

Quik Pro France

The Quiksilver Pro France started two days ago in its usual iffy surf. Its a bit hard to get excited about a non-elimination round one held in close outs.

Parko was the only surprise losing to Dane Reynolds but he will have a decent shot in round two. Reynolds could be the fly in the ointment as he is likely to come up against one of the title contenders in round three.

It was a lay day yesterday and the next call will be early afternoon our time. You can watch it at the normal places.

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.16, Kai Otton (AUS) 11.03, Taylor Knox (USA) 7.00
Heat 2: Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.04, Adriano De Souza (BRA) 8.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 8.20
Heat 3: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.70, John John Florence (HAW) 11.67, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 6.86
Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.06, Dusty Payne (HAW) 7.74, Tiago Pires (PRT) 4.16
Heat 5: Dane Reynolds (USA) 10.66, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 9.90, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 5.40
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.50, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 12.10, Travis Logie (ZAF) 8.56
Heat 7: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 14.83, Kolohe Andino (USA) 12.97, Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.00
Heat 8: Brett Simpson (USA) 11.67, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 10.70, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 7.83,
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.43, Owen Wright (AUS) 8.30, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 5.77

REMAINING QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Heitor Alves (BRA), Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 11: Julian Wilson (AUS), Adrian Buchan (AUS), Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)

Surf Movie Sunday

Nice day and a hot one tomorrow. When you need some shade check out this week's selection, starting with some west aussies.

Yallingup's Jay Davies spend lots of time in Bali. Here's why.

i love bali from Elsegoodproductions.com on Vimeo.

Yadin's ongoing bio-series hits episode two where he talks about his broken leg.



Some new perspectives -
Mavericks from above


And a Slater eye view on Trestles (and the closest most of us will get to doing an air !)

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

Fat

There is some waves again at BP and Juniors. They are a bit ruffled and full but sucking on the shallow insides. The wind is light with a little bit of an onshore feel due to the north in it.

Not perfect but if you want to get wet do it soon. Personally I'd go the beachies or the groyne but there is something for everyone and every type of board.

0.52 @ 11 seconds

Touchy

There's some brown waves around with no wind. At BP/Juniors there looks to be some surfable corners here and there. If you pick the right ones you could get a ride or two. The forecast is for south/south west winds so the window will be pretty short.

The wind of the last few days have moved some sand around so its a bit hard to pick some of the rocks so be a little careful.

Long weekend and the start of the school holidays are nearly here (at least for the groms and those who don't have to work). The forecast has potential to be good but an equal potential to be crappy.

Work calling.

0.77 @ 11

Winter ?

Freezing cold and plenty of people around Bunbury woke to hail this morning.

The wind has been ridiculous all day again. Walked the dogs to the Wall this morning when it was hitting 50 ks again. There was some swell but the wind was blowing straight into out and flattening it out before it could peak.

On the plus side I got my first stand up paddle board this afternoon. Damn e-bay ! Promise I won't use it to surf anytime it's reasonable - I'll be riding a proper board then.

Dropped

The swell has dropped a little but there are a few waves at BP. Its pretty cold, the wind is calm and the water brown.

The rips or the groyne are the go but I wouldn't wait to long. There is another front due this evening and the wind should be swinging into the north west by mid morning.

Judging by what I saw yesterday there should be a few corners at Back Beach into the gutters.

Looks onshore until Saturday morning at this stage.

0.79 @ 12

Surf Movie Sunday

Slim pickings again this week.

Irish surfer and filmmaker Mickey Smith has recently posted this award winning short film



Yet another take on Shipsterns. Watch for the guy getting sucked over the falls around two minutes in.



And for something different a bit of body surfing.



And a history lesson.

Thick

There are some reasonable but chunky waves at the groyne and out of a rip at BP.  It looks like hard work as there is a lot of water moving around and the rips go out a long way. Not for the newbies.

0.87 @ 12

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

Hurley burley

Slater's win at Trestles was his third title in a row, his 50th career win and continues his almost ridiculous winning streak there. He has moved up to third with four very winnable events to go in Europe, mainland US and Hawaii. If you drop the worst two results of the surfers Kelly is actually leading by 700 points. If he was to match or beat Parko and Mick for the rest of the season he would be the winner.

Taj dropped one spot to fall out of the top five with his fifth place finish. Yadin stayed out 27 and hadn't made it past round three this year.

The next event starts at the end of next week in France, followed two days later in Portugal.

Slater wins

Beating Parko in nice waves a few minutes ago.

Second Quarter

Slater v Ace Bucchan.

Bit of controversy when Slater lost priority duck diving a wave. Regardless Flores didn't do enough to win anyway.

John Kerr and Jordy Smith. Will be another burster but I can be up this late two days in a row !

Quarter Final One

Will be Mick Fanning v Taj as Mick has just narrowly beaten Julian Wilson.

This will be a tough draw for the West Aussie as Mick has been getting over scored consistently in the last few events.

Waves are good but inconsistent. The event will finish today.

Tired

Sat up (really laid in bed) watching the first three heats of the Hurley Pro last night. The waves early were clean and glassy but a little funky. Everyone was blowing moves and needed to be a bit conservative to get the scores. By afternoon it was onshore and ramping, making airs the go.

In heat two of round three Julian Wilson won riding the wining waves as the siren sounded. Next heat Taj won with the winning wave coming in the last 30 seconds. No surprises in the rest of the round with Yadin losing to John Florence.

Taj won his round four super heat against Slater and Julian Wilson, heading straight to the quarter finals. Wilson will take on Mick Fanning and Slater has Jeremy Flores.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 5 MATCH UPS:

Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Mick Fanning (AUS)

Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)

Heat 3: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)

Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Gabriel Medina (BRA)

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES NON ELIMINATION ROUND 4:

Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.93, Julian Wilson (AUS) 12.60, Kelly Slater (USA) 11.20

Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 17.23, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.97, Mick Fanning (AUS) 10.17

Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.87, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.40, Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.63

Heat 4: John John Florence (HAW) 18.57, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.27, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.67

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 3 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.70 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 10.00

Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.03 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.34

Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.60 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 14.30

Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.20 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 12.23

Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 18.13 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 8.93

Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.34 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 13.33

Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.33 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 13.33

Heat 8: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.37 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.06

Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.53 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 9.67

Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.20 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.77

Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.67 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 10.90

Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) 14.44 def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 9.90

Starting Soon

Round three starts at 11.00 pm our time. The pre-contest warm up session makes you reconsider what you call crowded.

Round Two

Round two is done as well, again in reasonable waves. The only real upsets were Owen Wright going down to the old man power turns of Taylor Knox. Knox is having a bit of a resurgence this year and while he might not throw airs all the time he can out hack the new school. Both Hopgoods are out as well.

Taj is against Adam Melling in the next round and Yadin has a very challenging heat against John Florence. That will be the last heat of the round and if the conditions are right could be a classic.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.83 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 10.73
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) 14.37 def. Evan Geiselman (USA) 13.93
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.16 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 10.60
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.63 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 16.93
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (USA) 14.63 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.27
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.66 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 11.30
Heat 7: Heitor Alves (BRA) 14.50 def. Kolohe Andino (BRA) 14.33
Heat 8: Adam Melling (AUS) 17.30 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 17.13
Heat 9: Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.93 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.77
Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) 15.83 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.70
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 16.30 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 15.90
Heat 12: Kai Otton (AUS) 16.50 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 16.27

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 5: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 8: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)

Parko safe

Parko was a bit over scored but deserved to win heat one of round two. The waves are nice but inconsistent.

John Florence is in the water now as has just cranked out a solid first wave.

Hurley Pro

Round one is over and it was a good day for the west Aussies with both TB and Yadin Nichol winning their heats.

The waves were nice little peaks made for throwing fins. Big airs were getting the big scores, especially  if they were no-handers. Seems that claiming an air was given a scoring bump as well.

Amongst the others most of the heats went as expected. Parko missed out and will take on Connor Coffin in round two. Coffin will be in with a chance if Parko isn't on his game. John Florence didn't surf well and will take on another wildcard. Owen Wright was just beaten by Yadin by less than half a point and will meet tour vet Taylor Knox. Knox is one of the few remaining power hackers so his future relies on what the judges are picking on the day.

I put some money on Julian Wilson so of course he lost badly and will have a difficult round two against Jadson Andre.

As usual the contest website is top notch with a good webcast (in the middle of the night here) and heat analyser heats on demand. Fuel TV is showing every heat live for those with Foxtel.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.30, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.10, Brett Simpson (USA) 7.94
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.00, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.57, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 7.37
Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.66, Tiago Pires (PRT) 10.90, Taylor Knox (USA) 8.10
Heat 4: Dusty Payne (USA) 12.47, Kai Otton (AUS) 12.00, John John Florence (HAW) 9.00
Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.16, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.87, Evan Geiselman (USA) 12.50
Heat 6: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.60, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.60, Conner Coffin (USA) 12.16
Heat 7: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 17.57, Owen Wright (AUS) 17.17, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 11.67
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.20, Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.63, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 8.00
Heat 9: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.20, Kolohe Andino (AUS) 13.30, Jeremy Flores (PYF) 12.70
Heat 10: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 16.50, Adam Melling (AUS) 13.57, Julian Wilson (AUS) 9.66
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.30, Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.87, Heitor Alves (BRA) 13.83
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.90, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.17, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 8.20

UPCOMING HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Conner Coffin (USA)
Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Evan Geiselman (USA)
Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)
Heat 6: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 7: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 9: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 11: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 12: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)

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

Surf Movie Sunday

Got a busy day ahead so the movies are in early.

Analog have released their latest movie with plenty of waves from around the world.



Mick Fanning, Owen Wilson and others at Trestles. The Trestles Pro starts tonight.



Dean Morrison in the WA desert.



And finally a Greg Long profile for the big wave heroes.

Late Report

Too nice a day to spend in front of the computer, even if the onshore came in really early.

Plenty of action at Juniors with a solid crew getting sucky rights and lefts out of the rip. One grom was cleaning up on the inside left handers with the older crew going for the outside rights.

A few people tried the reef without much success. The tide is too low and the reef waiting for fins and rails. I tried the beachies without any success. They looked ok from a distance but were basically closeouts.

There was a very rare sighting - a kneeboarder !!!! Haven't seen one of those for years and this one knew what he was doing.

0.53 @ 12 seconds

Lumpy

Fair bit of swell floating around and glassy conditions.

The tide and the reef and the banks are really shallow so the size is wasted. Not that it really matters because when the wind comes in it will be southerly anyway.

The Smith's webcam shows plenty of swell down south but the wind is already into it.

Big 0.91 @ 13 locally. Naturaliste 3.26 @ 12

Surf Movie Sunday

Better late than never. Too nice a day to have spent it inside anyway.
It has a fair bit of a WA flavour except for the last one.

Dave Mac shows that getting older doesn't reduce your surfing ability.



The WA link is Taj and Jay Davies. Watch TB, Julian Wilson and co smashing Trestles, the site of the next WCT event later this month.



A secret slab that everyone knows down near Demmark.



And finally something different - longboarding and fin free at the wave garden.

Careful

Out of desperation I tried to get a surf at Juniors. I did get a short sharp marginal handplane session but nothing great.

What I did notice is that there has been a lot of sand movement both in and out from the last set of fronts. Juniors is ridiculously shallow everywhere. Its less than knee deep almost to the line up. Looking back from the the take off all you see is boils and bubbles and rocks popping up.

Further down the beach, where I hand planed, its a super shallow sand bank just off the beach. This just makes backwash a problem.

Still shallow banks are better than none.

Disappointing

Had plans for a quick small offshore mal bash this morning but the wind is strong northerly.

There might be a wind wave later but it isn't looking great.

Calm

No real wind since midnight and what there is now is offshore. But there isn't much swell getting in and  the tide is really low.

The harbour buoy has the swell direction as west but the Naturaliste buoy has it very south. There are a few little runners at BP with a couple of banks up and down the beach and a left at Juniors but it doesn't seem to have much push.

If you're reading this I'm guessing you're not down south already so if you really want to get wet and you have a small wave board it could be worth the paddle when it warms up.

0.49 @ 12

Offshore

Sort of. Light easterly winds but the swell isn't all that big and the waves are sloppy. There does look to be some banks around BP still.

I don't think it will clean up to much and will probably be southerly any minute now. Tomorrow looks ok especially if you can get down south.

The weekend is a toss up. The winds are meant to be from the north or the west so it will just depend on what actually arrives.

0.63 @ 11

Another one

A deep low should bash us over the next few hours. The warning is for widespread destructive winds and maybe hail. Lows move slower and pack more punch than fronts so tie down anything thats left from yesterday. The 100 kmh winds would be nearly double what we coped yesterday and last night.

Swell is meant to be between four and eight metres at Naturaliste. At the moment its 3.4 and rising. Locally its 1.10 at a very short 10 seconds.

No waves obviously and the beach is a mess. The Wall might be okay if the wind dies down a little but I would wait it out until at least lunch time. You don't want to be out there when it gets worse.

WEATHER SITUATION

A deep low is moving south of the state and is expected to effect the south of
the state during Tuesday. The low is expected to cause WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS
to 100 kilometres per hour which could result in DAMAGE TO HOMES AND PROPERTY in
the area near Cape Leeuwin, extending to southwest of a line Mandurah to
Katanning to Albany during the morning then to remaining parts during the
afternoon. 

HIGHER THAN NORMAL TIDES may result in flooding of low-lying coastal areas.
DANGEROUS surf conditions are likely which could cause SIGNIFICANT beach
erosion.

This system is expected to be windier than a typical winter front and is likely
to produce the kind of weather that is only seen once or twice a year.

Cape Leeuwin has recorded a gust of 91 km/hr at 5:43 AM WST.

Its back

Two fronts in a row to start Spring. Severe weather warning issued for today with the front due to hit the capes about 9.00 am.

WEATHER SITUATION
A strong cold front is approaching from the southwest, expected near Cape
Leeuwin about 9am and extending throughout the area by 5pm. Widespread showers,
isolated thunderstorms and squally conditions expected with the front. Squalls
may cause DANGEROUS WINDS in excess of 125 kilometres per hour that could cause
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OR DESTRUCTION TO HOMES OR PROPERTY IN LOCALISED AREAS.

Tomorrow's front is also meant to be strong as well.

Surf wise it is what you would expect. Onshore, sloppy and brown. The swell has dropped a little, not that it matters. The forecast is for 4 - 7 metres on Tuesday.

0.76 @ 12

Surf Movie Sunday

Bit of mix for the first Sunday of spring

Start with a bit of GoPro longboard action.



And a short piece of girl footwork with Kassia Meador



Rob Machado riding some weird boards



Ian Walsh steps you through the process of surfing Jaws.



And finish with some wipeouts.

Spring

Day 1 of Spring and we have perfect Spring weather - sunny one minute, raining the next. Winter was a complete dud again but we will still probably get some more bad weather in the next few weeks. There were no real banks formed anywhere.

Every year that I have lived here (and that is quite a few) we've had a nice bank at the Clam but there hasn't been a single Clam day so far this year.

The Wall had some nice sand but not enough swell. The Groyne has had a day or two and Fraggles maybe an hour or two. The plus was the rip bank at Juniors but only for a week or so. BP Reef continues to be MIA and if you tell people that it was once the most consistent winter wave and broke off the back bombie they think you are on drugs !

There is no surf today as you would have already guessed. There has been four surfable hours all week and if you were on it quickly enough you could have had some fun. But I'm guessing most people (including me) just wrote the week off.

The seven day forecast has onshores till next Friday.

0.98 @ 13 seconds, seas 1.09.

Judge for yourself

Does claiming pay ?




Chopes is such a one dimensional wave that judging is so difficult. Every pit that someone makes is basically the same so winning is more pot luck that really beating someone. I don't think Fanning's waves were better or worse than Parko's but I much prefer Parko's smooth style to Mick's poo stance.
Chopes is a world class wave on it's day but is it a world class competition wave ? Especially when we move on to two more barrel riding contests before years end, Supertubos is Portugal and the real left hand tube riding test Pipeline.

No waves today

Onshore slop and likely to stay that way.

Swell 0.81 @ 13. Seas 1.30. Winds westerly gusting to 40 kmh

Mick wins

Mick worked his way out of a combo with 4 minutes to go to beat Parko at Chopes.

As predicted the surfer making claims after each wave came out on top. Mick could have been Brazilian ! The super deep tubes helped as well !

Mick vs Joel

Joel just beat John Florence and will meet Mick Fanning in the final after a short rest.

The waves are nice but inconsistent. As usual with Teahupooo each ride is either a eight or a two so its anyones event.

Final

Second semi in the water.

Mick Fanning is the first finalist up against either Parko or John John.

Up to five

The Billabong Pro finally got back in the water in inconsistent but contestable waves. With one wave sets and every wave being either a 8+ or a shut down winning has a little luck involved. It does seem that claiming gets you an extra point as was seen by Ricardo dos Santos' Slater killing wave.

Taj is in round five against dos Santos so will need to do something he never does and double pump after every coverup. The lineup remaining is probably the highest class seen in ages. Basically the top ten minus Slater and adding Perrow and the Brazillian. Hopefully the waves will improve.

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.17 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 8.34
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.83 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 9.37
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.04 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 11.00
Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS) 18.30 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 17.50
Heat 5: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 18.30 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.17
Heat 6: Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) 18.34 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 16.44
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.83 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 4.47
Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.60 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.60
Heat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.10 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.93
Heat 10: John John Florence (HAW) 13.30 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 13.17
Heat 11: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 13.60 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 4.73
Heat 12: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 16.87 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.67

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 4 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.60, Taj Burrow (AUS) 9.10, Julian Wilson (AUS) 2.80
Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.76, Owen Wright (AUS) 15.60, Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) 9.67
Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.23, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.77, Damien Hobgood (USA) 14.47
Heat 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.83, John John Florence (HAW) 7.00, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 3.23

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 5 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
Heat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 4: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)

Surf Movie Sunday

I know its really late but that's what you get for free. Mainly American's and Hawaiians this week.

Bit of old school big wave riding.



POV tubes at Desert Point.



Timmy Reynes in Mexico.



And finally if you don't like any of these why not DIY.

No hurry

Bit late with the post but the waves were iffy anyway. There is some swell and the banks at Juniors, BP and the groyne are still squeezing out lefts and rights.

The wind was flukey with a fair bit of north in it and is still light. If you still want to get wet you'll probably still get a wave or two.

If you're wondering where the Billabong Pro updates are the event has been on hold since day two due to a complete lack of swell. The forecast is for a bump over the next two days, the last of the waiting period.

0.57 @13

Looks ok

Some glassy conditions and a swell that has started to straighten up today.

I didn't get to the beach till late but I saw a few out at the groyne while I was driving around and some waves coming in at Juniors on sunset. Seems the bank and rip are still hanging in there.

Tomorrow looks ok on the forecast with light offshores early. The wind looks light most of the day but will swing onshore. Sunday looks very iffy.

0.59 @ 13

Gross again

Another front moving the sand around. There are no surfable waves around locally.

The one guy out at the Wall is a bit deluded because it is way to messy and raw to be working. It is possible that if the wind settles a bit then it could clean up later but the front is meant to strengthen not calm.

0.94 @ 8 seconds, seas up around 2.20

Surf Movie Sunday

Decided to take the handplane and mal our for a little play so the movies are a little late. Anyway you should be outside doing jobs and leaving this pretty poor collection to this afternoon when the weather moves in.


Jay "Bottle" Thompson launched his new website bottlesurf with some WA goodies.


Some arty tropical shooting



When Teahupoo goes wrong



And that will have to do you for this week.