wee swell

slightly bigger ripples

The southerly wind overnight pushed up a wee bit of south swell, but it was ‘nothing to write home about’. If you were out there early for a longboard wave while it was still clean this morning you could have had a bit of fun in a very pedestrian kind of way. However those who left it till the afternoon were beaten by the onshore wind as it soon went south, then around to the sou-east. The tiny dribbles at the Town beach were bigger than yesterday’s near flatness, but it wasn’t really surfable.

The sunset tonight was pretty inspiring though. The guys fishing off the end of ‘The Cut’ had more opportunity to catch fish than us surfers had to catch waves. However we should be back into some surfable swell by Friday. Just in time for the local Scholastics Surfing Trials. I wonder who will be selected to represent Gisborne/Eastland at the Nationals in Taranaki this October? I’ve got my picks. There’s a couple of young rippers who have been featured in the Daily Dose lately…      Ô

fisherman’s sunset

solid pointbreak off the wall …for a mouse

nature’s 3D TV screen

 

barefoot and carefree

Waikanae stream

 

 

 

 

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Dribbles

no significant swell

Not much chance of a surf today as the swell had all but disappeared. It hasn’t been this flat for months. You might perhaps have caught a ‘set wave’ on a longboard today, only to ride a short distance in a straight line before hitting the sand. But who can be bothered getting wet and cold for that? Nobody it would seem, as the Town and Coast beaches were free of surfers altogether today.

A southerly front passing through during the afternoon showed some promise for storm activity – some hope for a swell coming. However the front passed quickly. More southerlies are predicted for later in the week so there’s hope yet. In the meanwhile there’s always the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo, Tahiti to amuse us. If you missed the day’s action, check out the video replays.     Ô

Churchill Park ‘pot of gold’

wall art

just ripples at the Town Beach

good for skimboarding, forget surfing

Beacon of hope

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday funday

fun in the sun

Plenty of sun today for some springtime fun at the beach. The nor-west offshore hung in there all day and there were some super fun waves to be had along the coast beaches. Not as much swell as yesterday but there was still the odd set trying to hit the metre mark. It was a combo swell today with a wee hint of South-east mixing in with the North-east.

The Town Beach was missing most of it, with just half-a-footers dribbling in. If the swell drops more with these fresh offshores, it’s gonna be flat there tomorrow. Hopefully there will still be a remnant of swell along the coast beaches. If not, check out the action on the penultimate day of the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo on the interweb.     Ô

Northern Makorori

Manager mum & Coach dad

Jasmine chasing the sweet spot

only your daughter gets away with dropping in

 

Jasmine ripping

tandem fun

Wainui had some fun ones too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean and offshore

perfect combination

Just what the doctor ordered for one’s Saturday morning’s rest and recreation – sunshine, light offshore winds and a clean two-to-three foot swell with the odd bigger sneaker set. The Town beach really had one-foot surf today. (Yesterday it looked like it was only one foot -through the thick fog- but the reality was there were two-to-three foot sets to be had around the Pipe area. Ooops – damn fog!)

The last few days the banks have been all over the place at the coast beaches. Today the best form seemed to be in the area from the Wainui Surf Club to Schools. Teddy’s bank was throwing up some nice hollow ones on the low to mid-tide. A small crew enjoyed the morning’s offerings until the wind went onshore after lunchtime. Tomorrow’s forecast is for light northerly winds with the swell easing. The early session will be tricky at the coast beaches as the tide will be low. The Town Beach likes the low tide but might be just a bit too small tomorrow unless you’re keen for a bit of  pedestrian longboarding. We will just have to wait and see.     Ô

x marks the spot

weekend visitors enjoying the Gissy vibe

Teddy’s bank

 

the odd sneaker set

enough power to get ‘on-rail’

offshore and clean all morning

Wainui has long had a horse and surf culture

 

 

 

 

 

Fog

visibility 100 metres

I usually go to the Town Beach first when checking the surf in the morning, however the fog in town was so thick that I realised I wasn’t going to see much if I did, so I went straight to the Coast beaches instead. A good decision it transpired, as the fog at Wainui and Okitu was clearing enough to see the surf and at least 100 metres up and down the beach in either direction. A different story at the Town Beach when I arrived half an hour later. It was difficult to determine exactly how big the surf was as the visibility was less than 100 metres. I’m pretty sure there was only little one foot dribblers coming through ….hmmmm, probably.

The surf at the coast wasn’t too bad with clean two-to-three foot peaks breaking into a fairly fresh nor-wester. There was only one punter trying his/her luck first thing. No doubt others ventured out later when it was certain no-one was going to be lost at sea. “Sound those fog horns!”

It’s looking pretty good for the weekend with two-to-three foot of clean swell easing and offshore winds in the mornings, maybe hanging in throughout the day, although north or north-east is the prediction. Gotta be some clean waves to be had for sure. Enjoy!     Ô

fog funnel over Okitu

nice three foot peaks along Wainui

tails

Okitu emerges from the mist

“the sea is out there …somewhere”

 

 

 

 

Lay day

onshore winds, small surf

It’s a ‘Lay Day’ here in Gisborne, as well as in Tahiti for the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo.The surf was small and the onshore wind was on it from first light so nobody was bothering to surf, especially after last week’s epic swell. I couldn’t resist adding another photo to today’s post from the height of last week’s swell. Another view of the Stockroute arena, taken from up at Pines on the Tuesday evening.

On the positive side the days are getting a lot longer now as we head into springtime. The air temperatures are starting to creep up too. The water is still really nippy though. It’s light enough at 6:30 to be paddling out and the sun is coming over the horizon by 7:00 …if there’s no clouds to obscure it, that is. If you want a surf tomorrow, the earlier the better before the wind kicks in, although the swell will probably be a bit ruffled.   Ô

nice to have sun on one’s back

the only barrels you were gonna find today

 

Town beach was onshore

Coast beaches were onshore

…last week was pumping!

 

 

Dribbles

tiny leftovers

There was just a tiny bit of swell leftover from the epic swell that we enjoyed last week. The photo above was taken on Tuesday evening at the peak of the swell. The contrasting photo below was taken tonight – what a difference a week makes. Today the swell was small and weak. The only consolation for the evening beach visitors was the rather moody sunset going down over the Town Beach. Those up early this morning had small clean waves to enjoy, but malibu’s and small wave fish were the boards of choice.

Looks like we are in for onshore winds for the rest of the week. At least the swell is going to increase  but it’s going to be messy wind swell and with very few windows of opportunity for a clean wave. They are not having much luck for the Billabong Pro in Tahiti either, with the third ‘lay day’ in a row being called for the Teahupoo comp.  Some good news however, is that Damon Meade has exceeded his funding target for his new surf movie project, Under The Weather.     Ô

Pipe dribblers

Midway glow

moody sky

more rain, more puddles …more reflections

sundown