The big south swell sweeping up Australia’s east coast over the weekend meant a lot of surfing was done — specially on Sunday. But surely nowhere more intensely than at a certain left reef break a couple of hours’ drive south of Sydney.
Kipp Caddy on one of the waves of the morning. Photo: Matt Dunbar
The spot is gaining quite a rep, if the numbers in the water were any guide. According to lensman Matt Dunbar, it was definitely busy. Maybe that’s just Sunday, anywhere, but this isn’t just anywhere. “Boards were flying everywhere, people getting in the way,” reports Matt. “Ninety percent of the guys didn’t get a wave, they were just paddling around looking at it. A lot of waves went unridden because of guys paddling for them then pulling back at the last moment.”
Check the foam explosion from the lip landing. Scary even at a distance. Photo: Matt Dunbar
At the same time, a lot of bombs were ridden. Session stars included Kipp Caddy, Matt Dunsmore, Lachie Rombouts, and Russell Bierke among others. “Kipp’s just qualified for the Red Bull Cape Fear thing in Tassie, he could win it, that’s a cool story. Lachie was just coming back from injury, he had his knee strapped and his footy headgear on, pretty classic.”
Lachie Rombouts in a mid-morning shack. Photo: Matt Dunbar
Russell was on the bounce-back too, after filletting his forearm during a similar session at this spot back in January. He ended up getting the wave of the day, one he’s described as the best wave he’s ever had at the joint. Which, when you look at some of the waves he’s ridden there, is a serious call.
“For the first hour or so, it was as chunky as I’ve surfed it,” Russell told Surfline. “After that it seem to drop off a bit through the day. But yeah, there were a few crew out. Normally we’re lucky if we get one day like that in a year, but now we’ve had two in three months. Plus Covid has meant nobody’s been able to travel for big waves, so everyone’s frothing. You can’t help that.”
Lachie and his fabulous football headgear – whatever works in a wipeout, we say. Photo: Matt Dunbar
The spot has a notoriously high hit to miss ratio. “A few people have a lot of ambition out there,” says Russ. “There’s a lot of waves I look at and think, I should be able to make that, but I’ve learned on a lot of them you can’t.
“On a good day I won’t fall. I think yesterday I fell on one. But looking in from the side at everyone, it’s probably more like 40% of waves are made. Hippo (Ryan Hipwood) was out, and he was saying it’s one of the hardest and scariest places he’s surfed.”
Surfline’s head Australia forecaster, Ben Macartney, gives us a wrap-up on this weekend’s conditions and how it evolved:
“A deep Tasman low set up an impressive swell event over the last 48 hours. The early stages of the weekend’s southerly groundswell came in well short of forecast expectations on Saturday morning: arriving at a still pretty accessible four to five feet, with larger six feet + sets showing up infrequently at south-exposed beaches during the day, ahead of a further push in size in the late evening. Corresponding data from the Sydney Waverider buoy recorded 2.5 to 4.5 metre SSE swell offshore at 10 to 13 second peak periods throughout the day.
A lot of waves went unridden, which when you look at this, seems fair enough. Photo: Matt Dunbar
That led in an overnight spike, and by Sunday morning significant wave heights had jumped to 2.5 to 5.5 metres with peak periods of 14 to 16 seconds. That translated into a wide range of large and powerful surf conditions, running at a consistent six to 10 feet across south facing beaches, while hitting select deepwater reefs focussing the groundswell at a heavier 10-12 feet +. The groundswell did, however, rapidly ease throughout the day, with early bomb sets in the quadruple overhead range quickly settling throughout the morning and becoming more accessible as the afternoon progressed.
The tail-end of the groundswell was still with us at a well organised three to five feet across the region early on Monday morning, with a steady decline following throughout the day.
Comparisons to Pipe seem inevitable. Photo: Matt Dunbar
Sometimes the wave looks less like water than sculpted rock. Matt Dunsmore, Narrabeen visitor. Photo: Matt Dunbar
“I think I fell once,” Russell Bierke says of the day. Not on this one. Russell Bierke. Photo: Matt Dunbar
This swell had a lot of muscle. Photo: Matt Dunbar
“Damn it, why did I even paddle out?” Photo: Matt Dunbar
Lachie and his big board cruising through the end bowl. Photo: Matt Dunbar
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March 08, 2021 at 09:41AM
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Big South, Big Drops… - Surfline.com Surf News
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