Let me tell you a tale of woe. It's not very long and listening to it may even make you feel better.

There's a fellow I know, one of the keenest surfers about, who injured his knee about four weeks back. Now, rather than rest and recuperate and doing the things sensible people would do he let his urges get the better of him. He went back out surfing and damaged his knee again. This time good and proper - months out of the water, surgery, big dollars...the lot.

For the average punter this would be bad enough, yet for this unfortunate chap it's particularly bad. You see, he has to report on the surf every morning and forecast it every second day. You'll read those reports and forecasts here on Swellnet. The poor bastard is, of course, Craig Brokensha.

He can't hide from what he's missing. Like rubbing salt into his own wound he has the job of telling us when the surf is gonna pump while not being able to surf it himself. Such was the case on the weekend when Sydney went off. At least he was a good sport and took photos.//STUART NETTLE