Where did you surf today?

No one gives a fuck , Indo.

All the action is over at the whinge thread.

You can only dance to what the band is playing. Maybe we're the only crew on here that go to the beach ?

Maybe Caml was right all along ?

Speaking of ....any waves today Indo ?

I concur with the assessment Blowin.

I was on the rocks in the dark as a big golden moon just off the full was setting in the hills.
Last time I fished I bagged a solid jew second cast. This time I went one better.
Before I'd even figured out how I was going to fish and keep the line out of the deep braid cut in my finger from a mis-timed leader grab on the last fish I felt that dull, heavy thud from a big jew.
Had that fish on the rocks and was back in the car sipping coffee before it even went cold.

Went home, fed the chooks and took my daughter out for a little before school surf in some very pretty babyfood.
Was home by 8 and the day already felt complete.

Sounds fantastic, Blowin. Enticing. You should start selling real estate wherever you are.

That wasn't actully meant to be an insult, though I can imagine how it could be construed so.

Anyway...

I dug out an old Gordon Woods longboard this morning. Walked down the beach and had a solo session in perfect, tiny peelers, cross-stepping and getting down on my haunches and generally posing for whoever was watching. Fuck it was fun.

Long time betwen sets but, and it got me thinking about boards. Lots of things get me thinking about boards these days, but especialy sitting on boards, that really gets me thinking about boards.

Yeah...

So anyway, I figured out I've owned that Gordon Woods longboard for 27 years, which makes it the longest consecutive ownership of any board in my quiver. Yet despite that notable fact I'm simply not very attached to it. I like it. It's a great period design (1964), and it's in good nick. But I'm fairly indifferent to it as a possession. There are other boards in my quiver that I've owned for less time that illicit more emotion when I think of them.

The theory I formulated while sitting out there went like this: despite owning it for so long I haven't formed any meaningful memories around it because I don't really give a shit about cross-stepping or head dipping or hanging ten. They aren't aspirations in my surfing life. And though the board is now worth a bit I still can't work up any great attachment to it. Made me realise that attachment isn't based upon expense but experience.

Of course, Buddhists will say I shouldn't get attached to things at all.

But then I'm not a Buddhist.

And that's about where I got to before the next set hit and interrupted my train of thought.

New south swell coming late tomorrow so I'll be back on the usual equipment then.

EDIT: You oughta be selling real estate too Steve.

Didn't surf here today, ever, never ... as at 20 minutes ago.

No it's dogs balls down here Blowin super cold with rain even hail and blowing strong SW heaps of swell but a wind blown mess, I'm sure there could be a fun wave in some hidy hole but nowhere near where i live.

That's a solid day.
Ot feels like you've trumped me with that jew. I had a throw out the end of the point today . Zero interest. All the action was out wider and inshore was too clear and too still. Maybe a bit more action when that next South stirs it up a bit ?

Heaps of blackfish in the gutters.

Anyway. Now I know how the WSL judges feel . I threw out a 9 when a 12 point ride was just around the corner.

Everyone's a winner today.

Don't you know it!

Today has been utterly tremendous!

Yew!

Woke up at the crack of dawn, actually that's not my missus' name, but anyway, we had sex, as you do, then it was off to my local for a paddle.

Offshore and clean again, though it'd dropped off a fair bit. 6' maybe today. First wave, barrel, which is always a good start.

Yew!

Off to work. All-staff meeting chaired by the big Kahuna, our 'CEO', well, that's not his title, we're not that corporatised...yet. Anyway, he kinda nervously flashed up graphs, and metrics, and projects, and projections. I say nervously, maybe even desperately, as The Australian blew the lid off his 35% salary increase the other week, so I guess he was trying to justify this with the slide-show. It was utterly unconvincing and he then got grilled by a significant and varied number of staff. Me included. Tough crowd. Maybe a 9 in the 'tough crowd' stakes. Oh, how he squirmed. Tremendous.

Yew!

Then I went to a real meeting discussing our on-going EBA negotiations and the implications of terminating EBAs being seen and used as a 'business model' by others in the sector. Things are afoot. Positive things. And that is good news for all us, I daresay.

Yew!

Power-lunch with old comrade at the rubbidy. His shout.

Yew!

And it's only the arvo! Tonight, got a whisky tasting event. Which I get paid to attend and write about.

Yew!

In context, I'd give the day (so far) a 6.

Same same tomorrow surf-wise, though swell's dropping off further. A lotta nice sand lined up at certain beachies, but.

Yew!

Good whisky.

7.

More sex.

7.5

Yew!

Rinse and repeat!

Yew!

The bank(s) at dbah is absolute rubbish right now. Needs a good storm and reset

Golden. beach

Just as Ben predicted - Wedding Cake (off Coogee in Sydney), right direction, size right. About the only place where the swell is handled. An easy big swell.

For the last four months I've read the numerous stories about this year's flu pandemic with the smugness befitting someone with an armour-plated immune system. As people went down around me, even my wife, I carried on, saying nothing, but inwardly praising my fortitude and constitution.

...till the fucken thing got me last week and I lay in a foetal position for three days shivering and aching. Knew the waves were gonna be good on Sunday so kept that thought in the back of my head as I ploughed on through marathon sleep sessions waking only to change sweat-drenched clothes at random hours of the day or night.

On Satuday arvo I figured I'd need a warm up surf, and a stretch and cold water immersion might do me some good anyway, so I necked some ice-lite medication and cruised down. The water was cold. I had no energy, and I struggled. Took a runner and lined up a floater section, got pitched out, tried to land it and twisted badly feeling a sharp pain across my right side hip flexors and abs. Gone.

Underwater in a bit of pain I was getting rolled and my head was spinning. I tried to breathe out slightly to equalise and my right ear blew out! Tore muscles and perforated my eardrum within seconds of each other.

Caught a whitewash wave in, stumbled up to the carpark, struggled out of my wetty then went home and went to bed. Slept all Sunday. Still got the flu.

ha......I feel you......it fucking flattened me too.....luckily, between swells.

Thats shithouse.

VIC has had solid swell but crap winds(in arvo). surfed the Pines for shelter last night but swell was more inconsistent than Monday and Atlas was choppy due to sw direction. for once it was uncrowded, 2-3 footers till dark with a max crowd of 4 inc myself. prefect for testing my new fin setup on my 8 mal. : )

Did I mention the banks at Dbah are screwed?
Just watched two people get taken in the rip 250 metres straight past lovers, straight past VMR Point Danger 200 metres out to sea.
I got out of my car and went and tapped on the glass window and pointed.
Operator comes out with binoculars has a look and says Oh, I better call the lifeguard.

I woke up to find my secret spot near Broken Head looking rather tasty & got a few good ones albeit smallish before work. I am praying for bigger 3 to 4ft surf on Thursday on my day off.

No waves today.

Torn and bleary from a late night / early morning run down the coast shouldering double bogies and fatigue . Double shots and sweet Mary Jane the only stalwart against the tide of traffic and the blandness of the dual carriage way.

The Sandy Island was everything that the East Coast dream entails.

Long , lonely sand bottom right points . Starlit nights , crystal clear sweet water streams beneath towering rainforest. Palms , fat bellied skinks and lakes that filter through the purest of sands.

Deep water channels brush against the tip . Food rich Currents and mangrove lined oceanic nurseries feed an over abundance of life. Sharks , turtles, bait . Birds chasing sustainance and mates from diametrically opposing points on the globe.

Pandanus and dingoes.

Seeds of the former staking their claim on the whims of wind and tide . The latter following in the footsteps of a lineage introduced Millenia ago.

The schism between the domestic and the incumbent is stark. Curious and simultaneously disinterested. Opportunistic but not enslaved.

Tides determining movement. Temporary solitude as the high eats the golden highway.

Backpackers. Tour groups . Brahminy kites and loggerheads.

Australia is calling .

fraser?

Aye , Captain.

And what a lovely place to find.

Midday today I surfed a two foot righthander spiralling around a bank not far from home, yet it wasn't the waves, the weather (sunny!), or the crowds (just me!) that made the session noteworthy but the board I rode.

Underfoot was a 5'3" fat arse fish shaped by Josh Keogh and lent to me by the bloke who works downstairs. After not riding one for 15 years I've been thinking about fish lately, maybe just looking at a board across the carpark, or when someone's up and riding I'd pay a bit more attention than I otherwise would. All unconcious until it wasn't, and by then I needed to act on it.

So I borrowed this tiny fish and took it out in tiny waves. Only went out 'cos I had the board, wouldn't have bothered ordinarily, but I forgot how much fun those things can be in small surf. Long as you can get some lateral speed it's a blast.

Now I think I have to get one.

You reckon it would hold in the barrel, Stu?

Ha ha...smartarse.

:)
Sounds fun anyway.
I'm lacking a fish and a middy from my quiver still.

Was it a traditional swallow tail fish outline stu?
Twinny or quad?

I’ve been snooping around online for a second hand one

Yep, fish proper with deep, wide swallow and twin keel fins.

I'm thinking I'm gonna get a slightly toned down version of it: nose and tail pulled in ever so slightly, and maybe two inches longer.

this has been more drawn out than a reality dating program...stu is going to buy that fish at last! congratulations! we've all known he would, known for the last two years or so.

Feeling like I'm on the Truman Show here.

probably one of those mackies downstairs ... haha

20 knot Northerly. Cold(ish) drab green water. Small. Weak.

And I still had 30 minutes of fun.

Short but sweet.

Amazing what lowering the bar will do for your mental state.

Admittedly, If the bar gets any lower it'll be flush with the ground.

Better quality waves here Blowin but worse water quality. Cold water isn't the only thing that comes up when you have an upwelling.

You're kidding , right ?

Is that still going on ?

You'd think that it'd be sorted by now. I thought that shit was taken care of 30 years ago.

Shocking really.

Doesn't happen often now. I will do a bit of research on it this week..

What are we talking about?

Sewerage

Ah.. yes, well the water was filthy out Curly yesterday arvo..

Lagoon was not running out. No stormwater drains on the beach. Sewage caught in the upwelling is my best guess but I will see what I can find out.

Are you basing that on the colour of the water or somthing else?

Yellow foam bubbles floating through the line up. Yellow/green stains on the tide line. Noticeable odour. Pretty convincing trifecta for something being astray.

Yellow foam bubbles floating through the line up .

( retching sound )

Nah I'm with Blindboy, not usual green upwelling colour, was darker and as he said brown/yellow foam bubbles and high tide line marks. Also lagoon still enclosed. I actually had a slight upset stomach overnight and this morning!

I feel slight nauseous just reading the description.

I thought jellyfish were bad.

, 4 million litres a day of untreated sewage continues to be released into the sea from cliffs between Bondi Beach and South Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/raw-sewage-released-near-bondi-as-decades-of-g...

You have to be kidding,i thought they solved that problem,obviously not........spew.

Government has its priorities in order.

This week has had an autumnal vibe with swells from every available angle. I had two surfs yesterday, one in a south swell, and another at the very same spot in an ENE swell. This morning I lost a fin jumping off in the dark but couldn't bear going in to change it so forgot about cutbacks (it was the outside fin) and rode it out. Just had another surf at a reef north of home, not perfect but hugely satisfying with big, wedging drops and a head count so low that everyone was assured a hefty wave count.

Great time of year to have waves: school holidays haven't started so the beaches aren't chocked, just small groups of surfers exchanging out of season waves.

Good medicine for the craziness to come.