The Fish Fry

Frying at the Alley...

Most of the world will shut down on the 14th of March as the Currumbin Alley Fish Fry is on again.

Regards

TheBagwan

Macca's

Great description of Macca's reef break in the Mentawai islands.

"We pull up and there is one guy in the water, no boats, and Maccas is throwing sub-sea level death holes. It was a little onshore and backlit making the pit look especially dark. It's making my guts churn just to type this. When we paddled past the one guy he was sitting way off on the shoulder, wide-eyed, and visibly bleeding from his neck. The swell was straight south so there was no wall and no shoulder hopping. It's so rare to get such incredible and gnarly waves all to yourself - honestly it was as much Indo as anyone wanted. Hollow, perfect, the edge of anyone's ability, nobody around, the best case scenario you hope you'll be ready for. The carnage continued - another board died."

Macaronis

Regards
TheBagwan

Thoughts about my Surfing

My last surfari down the east coast in March gave me a lot to think about over the last few months. Like some old man that rediscovers cycling, I rediscovered surfing, a mid life crisis so to speak. Like all old men we dream that the body and brain can react fluidly to a situation, like we did when we were younger, and with the benefit of age reach a more rational conclusion to the problem at hand. Shit, life doesn't work that way. Now days the body doesn't react with speed and decision making is still clouded by occasional bouts of irrationality. Whereas before I dreamed of standing in the barrel hands held aloft, the reality of surfing these beasts sunk in very quickly during the last sojourn south. Ouch. A quick recoil from that idea set in..

Anyway, these dreams just need to chunked down into smaller components, refined, built upon,
and wave size built in an orderly manner until comfortable going after the end result. Confidence rebuilt. Easy. Even Slater struggled with surf over head high. I'll never be a Slater, just a happy trier.

The surf has been pretty ordinary of late. I decided if its ordinary not to bother riding the wave, simply practice the execution of a particular skill. This seems to have rekindled my enthusiasm, on the weekend I started practice feet adjustment whilst on the wave, this led into trying to do floaters on the white wash etc.

Its become apparent that the type of board I'm riding is also an impediment, due to the fact that they are boats. Becuase I'm older and have a weaker upper body strength, which I've worked hard to correct, I've tended to go for longer length boards in order to get a better paddle in. In retrospect this has served me well as it has got me back into this pastime. However, in the usual Gold Coast tiddlers I do not get the drive out of turns or the ability to get as vertical or through the lip that I require. My DHD, which I have a great affection for, works great once the wave gets over head height, its good at generating down the line speed but not great (is also influenced by the mediocre rider) at turning tight, turns are very smooth but longer than necessary, once the turn is completed I sometimes feel the drive out of the turn is not there.

In essence I need to find a short board with the paddle in of a short longboard (more foam, nose area, flatter rocker) with the lift of today's modern high performance boards (fat tails, concave/convex bottom contours). But then again as one surfboard salesmen said to me, "in the end its the clown who rides it that makes it look good".

Murray Bourton with some interesting thoughts on quads.

Regards
TheBagwan

Young Guns

Just been watching Young Guns 2. About five years old now, but, well worth watching. The best sequence is of a kid named Clay Marzo. He does some amazing things with a surfboard.

Regards

TheBagwan

Kirra is back

A great swell hit the Gold Coast over the last two weeks. Below is an aerial shot of the Super Bank. Two, maybe two and a half kilometers of surfing perfection. Snapper Rocks at the start of the pic, Greenmount in the middle of the pic and Kirra right at the bottom dredging sand. Pic courtesy of coastalwatch.com.
Monday was apparently the best day. I ventured out on Tuesday and got absolutely flogged. Waves were between two and five metres, I paddled out in front of Greenmount Hill. I thought I could punch through the white water and make it out during a lull. I was wrong. The sweep which was viscous dragged me from Greenmount down to Kirra in a matter of minutes. Not a great session. I've seen the Super Bank better than these conditions, it was a little messy. But, the talking point was the return of sand banks at Kirra. People were saying these were the best conditions seen in ten years. Monday saw the return of the ten second tube ride. Plenty of Pro surfers stopped off on their way to Bells Beach (Bells Beach Pro is on at Easter) to enjoy the bounty. Below are some badly taken snaps of the action on Tuesday afternoon.

Regards

TheBagwan

Surf Trip March 2009 Part 4

Ozi Pipe. A truly magnificent scary beast of a wave. Definitely one of the class waves in Australia. Flat pock marked rock slopes gently out into the ocean and when swells hit this ledge up jacks a truly great wave. The day I was there it was an awful day, howling onshore breeze early Sunday morning grey skies and half a dozen people out in the water. It still threw up some howling barrels. The guys that surf here are good. And yours truly admitted defeat after two waves. First two pics are of the set up from left to right.

I left for home after a couple of Ales in Sydney. Nothing much was happening on the swell front. On the way back home I checked out Crowdy Head, below, which is north of Taree. The left hander was offshore in a Northerly breeze and seemed to hold some swell, one to sock in the memory banks for later.
Regards

TheBagwan

Surf Trip March 2009 Part 3

Late afternoon at the "dulla" bomby. No joke some of the sets were three times overhead. And, I'm scared and not afraid to admit it.

Next day I set out to explore up the coast to Jervis Bay. I ended up camping for a couple of days at Bendalong point which has some nice little waves around its bays, beautiful place to stay. Just down the road from Bendalong point is Green Island, three pics below. It has a thumping left hander off the rock island point. A truly amazing place and incredible surf which looks like something out a surfing magazine special on Indonesia.
To be continued...

Regards
TheBagwan

Surf Trip March 2009 Part 2

I moved on South and checked out the Bawley point area. Below is Bawley Point. A wave which wraps around a dome shaped point. The take off is incredibly close to the point and the sweep is viscous. Nice wave when you can get one of these.

The photo below is of a point near Bawley, not sure what its called, but it was throwing up these nice little A frame peaks. What got me was the houses nestled in on the rocks, you would wake up to this view everyday, some people have all the luck, but, do they appreciate it?

From the point above I could see way in the distance what looked to be massive barrels being thrown up against an island. I eventually found my way through a national park and found an island sitting off a point. The swell would hit on the point and flow through the channel where it would peter out. This action would cause big right hand barrels to spit out into the channel. There was no one out here, and I was not game to go out, looked a very tricky wave to ride.

The pic below is of the island across the channel. Big thick left hand rides of at least 300 metres, the largest sets would barrel in parts.
Exploring South again I found bomby after bomby and all sorts of points throwing up interesting waves, to much to explore and surf, but I was able to make a note of the interesting spots for my next visit.

To be continued...

Regards
TheBagwan

Surf Trip March 2009 Part 1

I ventured down the NSW coast again, in early march. The stretch between the Gold Coast and Newcastle was as per usual flat as a tack. There was a little surf as I hit Newcastle, which must be a bit of a swell magnet, I had a quick dip there and kept on heading down the coast. I like to stay at Bateau Bay, becuase at the southern end of Bateau is Crack Neck Point. When its on, it is a heavy little beast that certainly does crack necks. Below is a pick of the set up, knee high and no one out when this pic was taken. You can clearly see the left hander pushing across the reef into the channel. There is also a right hander here as well which is the white water to the left of the picture.

I was originally planning to drive to Bells Beach across to Phillip Island and surf back up the Princes Highway. I thought it would be best to stay away from all the bushfire stuff and instead of turning right at Sydney, and heading down the Hume, I turned left and headed down the Princes Highway. When I hit the Ocean Road (pic below) at 5Am it was both beautiful and bloody cold due to a howling westerly wind. Naturally, of course, the surf gods knew that I was coming and ordered flat conditions.

Sandon Point, below, is one of the great Australian waves when it is on. Alas, water skiing time again. The South coast of NSW is a labyrinth of amazing surf spots and beautiful country side so I never have a problem coming here, I pushed on down the coast and based myself at Ulladulla, crossed my fingers, and hoped that the southerly change that blew in that afternoon would bring in some more swell.

People look at me strangely when I mention staying at the "dulla" but it boasts some incredible surf spots. Luckily for me my offerings and incantations awoke the surf gods and they granted me an incredible few days. The next three pics are of the famous Golf Course reef in front of the Mollymook Golf Club its a famous left hander that was about one to one and a half overhead.

Across the channel from the Golf Course left hander is, you guessed it, the Golf Course right hander. Here its about knee high. You can see the potential. On their day these are world class waves.
To be continued......

Regards

TheBagwan

The Superbank

Courtesy of Coastal watch web cams. The top picture is of the Rainbow Bay section of the Superbank in full cry. Its a great wave to ride. The bottom picture shows probably the section off or close to Greenmount hill, the wave usually reforms around here. My favourite place to sit is off the hill. Those dots in the water are people, and that's what makes this wave such a pain in the arse to ride, it is so crowded, and these days can get very aggro. There's at least 30 odd people here in, say, 50 metres of beach? Either get there very early or don't bother.

Regards
TheBagwan

Sean Scott Photography

Sean Scott takes the best ocean images and some of the best photographs of the SE Qld, Northern NSW seascapes ever, full stop.

Check out his collection here:
http://www.seanscottphotography.com.au/gallery.php

Regards
TheBagwan

Next adventure

Whilst the desire to conquer virgin surf is still burning brightly, I figure, I'll start planning a trip to the legendary Mentawai Islands. I talked myself out of a trip to Bali, I loath flying, so I figure if I book now, I'll have no excuse.


The Mentawai Islands lay off Sumatra in Indonesia, and are othwise known as the Disneyland of surfing. 21 big name surfing spots within a 30 km group of Islands, that is the big name spots, more are discovered all the time as there are thousands of islands within the group. These are the spots seen in TV commercials with palm trees in the background.

http://www.wavepark.com/pages/mentawai-waves-candys.htm

Do it now before I'm dead.

Regards

TheBagwan

More Surf Pics

Nice little 3-4 footers poking around the point at Emerald Beach. Previously that day I had been at Scotts Head where you could water ski. I made an ill fated decision to push on up the coast to check out a point in the Yuragir National Park which I felt may be working. Alas, I should have stayed here and ripped it to shreds, forementioned point was ankle high.


Probably, one of my favourite spots to stay is Scotts Head. The wave is full and slow. You need a Mal or Mini Mal to ride it, but its fun, easy to ride and very forgiving. Roll out of your cabin in the morning, walk 25 metres and your met with this glorious view. Scotts Head is a north facing headland so is offshore when the prevailing southerlies blow. Below is wave/ripple of the day in the background is Nambucca Heads.

Below, looking back down the headland at Scotts Head. Water Skiing time.

Below, top of Scotts Head looking south over Little Beach. Not a wave to be found.

Below, left hander on the other/southern side of Emerald Beach. Nice little wave and beach break.

Below, left hander off Woolgoolga Point.

Below, two different perspectives of the same point. Which contained both left and right hand waves. They looked good. But, required some walking through a National park to get to. A local told me that the point (forgot what he called it) worked only occasionally, but when it did it was the best wave in the area. No, I'm not tellin you where it is.

Regards

TheBagwan

Latest Surf Trip

Was down as far as Port Macquarie on the latest trip. People do not understand why I would bother driving hundreds of KM's in search of waves. It is in part adventure, exploring new places not seen before, the child like feeling of discovering a barely known surfspot (akin to racing to the christmas tree to unrap presents on christmas day). Partly its to ride good uncrowded waves. A lot of the time the surfing gods do not smile upon you, however, occasionally persistance is rewarded.


I discovered this little ripper around the Sawtell area:

The wave would jack up on rock ledge creating a little A frame peak. The trick was to backdoor it and make it through the little bowly section. I didn't make it, but it was fun. During the sets once through this section wave would reform due to a sand bank on the right hand side of this picture. See the pic below. The result was a little two section ride of about 100m maybe 150m whilst the wave walled up. Was able to get up a good head of speed through this section, even though I'm not great on my backhand. Its about shoulder height in the picture below.


Its one of my secret spots, if you want to find it you need to find it yourself.

Regards

TheBagwan

I'm a dad...

And here are my babies................



From the the right hand side:

Duke Longboard's Mini Mal, Height: 7'2 inch, Width: 21 inch, Thickness: 2 5/8 inch's.
Flat Bottom, square tail. More of a short board than Mal. Has the advantage of good paddle in, and easy to turn/ride, good alround board for surf that is full to sucky. I bought for those days that you need a surf but fullness or lack of wave do not justify the use of normal board. Also, I can't stand Mal riders, but wanted the advantage of the paddle in. So this was a good compromise. Mothers do not let your babies grow up to be Mal riders (any idiot can do it!).

http://www.dukeslongboards.com.au/

DHD Short board, Height: 7'0 inch, Width: 20 inch, Thickness: 2 5/8 inch's.
Flat bottom, square tail. Standard board for riding Gold Coast points and beachbreaks. I enjoy this board the most. The flat bottom helps generate the speed needed, the square tail provides the surface area for turns in smaller waves. I've noticed that this board tends to turn in a wider smoother arc than the boards I used as a kid (I think the bulkier rails back then let the back end of the board slide more, I love the feeling of digging in the back foot and feeling the back end slide out, very 80's I know). Tends to start working well in anything over chest height. Below this I prefer to use the Duke. You'll note I prefer riding larger boards due to my age and body type. What I call a short board is fully a good foot larger than most ride.

http://www.basesurfboards.com/boards-dhd.htm

Jim Banks Surfboards, Custom designed for Me by the Indo Guru himself. Height: 6,11 inch, Width: 19 3/4 inch, Thickness: 2 1/2 inch's. V Bottom, Pin Tail. The rails are slightly harder and thinner allowing the board to bite into the wave, the V Bottom allows the board to tip from side to side for full rail turns, although slower than a flat bottom to much speed in larger waves is death. Pin tail allows for more hold. Nicknamed "El Beast". For when the going gets a little more serious and you need to the board to sit up and take notice when your weight is moved forward. I have not fully come to grips with riding this board yet. I enjoy riding a pintail, when youre sitting in the pocket (the part of the wave just in front of the curl, is the fastest part of the wave), the backfoot is closer to the water, due to the reduced surface area in the tail, you can feel the water ripping out from under your foot. An awsome sensation.

http://www.jimbanksurf.com/index.html

Regards

TheBagan

That baldy wins again..

Someone remarked to me recently that Kelly Slater was like the Tiger Woods of surfing. I would actually turn that around and say that Tiger Woods is the Kelly Slater of golf.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24447685-5001023,00.html?from=public_rss

Regards
TheBagwan

Freak2

Kelly Slater

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_K-Yu2yGBY

Regards
TheBagwan

Observations from a Trip down the NSW coast.

Never liked going north. Mainly becuase the Barrier Reef stops the surf when you travel up past 1770. The NSW coastline is not only beautiful it contains many good and the occasional world class surf breaks. Whenever, holidays come around, the boards get packed and I hit the road.
To be continued...

Sunday Afternoon Kurruwa Beach Scenes

Today was one of those days that was to good to sit inside..
The temperature was just right, the girls in bikinis were all out absorbing the suns rays, baking and roasting. The breeze dressed the surf lightly and the ocean was that deep green you get at the change of seasons.

All the beginner surfers were out with their brand new longboards, falling off, getting back on and trying harder to stay on next time. Teenage romeo's trying valiantly to impress their beau's with vigorous games of football, cricket and volleyball, whilst their intendeds feign disinterest.

The old ladies and muslim women lift their long pants to paddle cautiously at the waters edge, whilst the japanese/chinese visitors snap reel after reel of film. They snap greedily at the sky, odd looking seashells, squabbling seagulls that have been tossed left over rice and dimsum by their partners and lifeguards who lazily wave to them from the shelter of their tent. The islanders sit up the back and watch and strumm their guitar whilst slowly sipping from a brown paper bag.

The little kids roar with the thrill of life and dart to and fro. Building sandcastles, digging holes, collecting shells and being pursued by incoming waves. One little tacker nearly bowls me over as I walk along, I realise he has no idea why he's running like that, he's just high on the thought of being at the beach, so much to do and so little time. I chuckle at the little ones verve and energy. The mothers and fathers standing around watching proudly over their broods, notice my amusement and smile knowingly back in my direction.

The bigger kids are busily testing their skills on their skimm boards and boogie boards. Whilst the joggers and walkers pass by. All nodding their acknowledgment of each others existence. I trudge on through four sets of flags and life savers. The lifesavers putter around in their little four wheel motorbikes and test their skills on various surf craft. Choppers occasionally buzz overhead.

I turn off the beach and walk back along hedges avenue. Home to the wealthy. Admiring the big modern beach shacks as I go along. One for sale has 4.5 bathrooms (do you get half a shower?), 4 bedrooms, six car spaces and an internal lift. You'd need a staff of 4 just to clean the thing.

Bikers, runners, walkers and skaters prattle past me in the designated bike lane until I hit the park. The smell of sausages cooking is in the air. As is the call of the kurrawongs. Ducks gather in small pond in the middle of the park. Large groups of people gather around under trees eating, drinking, playing sport. A lady with a huge boisterous laugh cracks the air. The old immigrants play their boccie in the corner of the park.

When I got back to my car it struck me.. There was only smiles and laughter here. I did not see any frowns, cross words, drunkenness, violence, frustration, animosity, racial tension. Everything was easy going, everyone was concentrating on a good time..

Now if heaven was like this, then maybe... q Jim morrison and the doors: Break on through...

TheBagwan's haunt:
http://www.coastalwatch.com/camera/cameras_large.aspx?cam=1400&state=QLD&t=6:58:23%20PM&camName=Broadbeach%20-%20Kurrawa

Regards
TheBagwan