Hey Oliver,

Had a great day yesterday at PRK. Got there a bit late for the low tide but still got a couple of good hours in knee to the odd waist high waves.

Torqauy point was a bit bigger with a small crew out so gave it a miss as I'm new to SUPing and didn't want to cause any hassles.

Same conditions today by the looks of it.

Had a hoot on my longboard and first ever go on my 11' PSH SUP.

Who said SUPing was easy? I felt like a complete kook the number of times I fell off but finally got a wave which made up for it.

Anyway I'm hooked....way too much fun.

Pete

Gorgo said...

I had a lovely 3 hours at Big Left on the Whopper. Pretty much classic conditions with 3'+ sets rolling through. A little bit of west in the breeze made for a little bump in the faces but overall it was nice.

No way Greg. The report on Swellnet said "Clean but very small waves at Flinders this morning with only small lines of 1-1.5ft" Surprised he didn't say to small for Western Port.

I could see on the webcam that Big Left was firing - what did you think of the Whopper? Ok. just found it: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51592&whichpage=-2#lastpost

Good on you for getting out there petemc. On days like today I just feel like chucking the towel in, and buy a shack on the beach, but then I get my pay packet and think, well my kids could buy some marajuana and cigarettes with that.

oliver said...
Surprised he didn't say to small for Western Port.

I guess they made the assumption that if Flinders was 1' to 2' everyone would know westernport was pretty much flat today.

If your kids are buying weed and cigs with their pocket money them maybe you should have a talk with them and perhaps cut the cash supply for a while.

Yeah I been checking as well. But I guess everyones definition of flat is different. Maybe tiny would have been a better choice of words.

Anyway, I was just fishing a bit, seeing if Oli was still online!

Also, Big Left is usually a foot or 2 bigger than the gunnery which to my knowledge is what Ben's *Swellnet* forecast was originally based on.

..Edit..

Bnaccas said...

I guess they made the assumption that if Flinders was 1' to 2' everyone would know westernport was pretty much flat today.

The problem with the Swellnets Westernport reporter is just what you say - he/she just assumes, rarely takes a photo and I doubt has very much interest in doing the report.

IMHO it's bull**** and they should either remove the clickable dot off their site - or get someone who is able to report the conditions accurately.

Brooko said...

Yes had two sessions today, morning one better than arvo

Got any pics Brooko of you ripin on the surfshapes?

If they are not going to report what they know is true then it should be like the press and "aledgedly" should be thrown in there!

But if they didnt report on Victoria then they couldn't attract sponsors from Victoria or national sponsors wouldn't get as much bang for their buck and I'm guessing they (swellnet) aren't providing the service out of generosity.

Brooko said...

I watched it on the webcam before I went for an arvo surf, it looked tiny, 1 -1.5 ft. I reckon I could see Gorgo out there.

That webcam is positioned almost 1km away from the break. 1' is an un surfable wave.

Bnaccas said...

"Dawn Patrol" is the wrong term, to my knowledge that report isn't even done from Victoria. They use models, maps and cams to give us the reports and forecast. At least thats how it used to be.

No - dawn Patrol is the right term. For all the other dots on the map they have actual guys/girls down there taking photos and reporting accurately most days - it's just the dick from Westernport who doesn't seem to care.

oliver said...

Brooko said...

I watched it on the webcam before I went for an arvo surf, it looked tiny, 1 -1.5 ft. I reckon I could see Gorgo out there.

That webcam is positioned almost 1km away from the break. 1' is an un surfable wave.

1ft is more like a 3ft face and is very surfable. Still very small though. *edit..Swellnet's forecasts and all other swell forecast sites measure the wave height from sea level.

oliver said...
No - dawn Patrol is the right term. For all the other dots on the map they have actual guys/girls down there taking photos and reporting accurately most days - it's just the dick from Westernport who doesn't seem to care.

Sorry, I mean it is wrong for that report if it not visual by the reporter. The "dawn patrol" report is done early in the morning. I don't understand why you (edit-not you Oli but anyone) would even read the "Dawn Patrol" report if there are 6 cams telling exactly what is going on in "real" time.

Oliver.......if the surf is no good, do a down winder to Tasie, 20 to 30 knts forcast for the coast.....be the first to do a direct crossing!
Have the bay down winders become boring?

nope. The people who do the reports for mornington peninsula, and everywhere in vic are pretty well spot on - they are obviously all individuals who take an interest, report daily, they take photos and post what they see - sometimes with their own rants. That's why it's called a dawn report. The guy/girl from Mornington Peninsula reported it as being "Surf: clean 3-4ft" which is more on the money.

It's just the guy/gal from Westernport who is out of line and consistanly doesn't report properly. BTW quite a few people were out in Westernport yesterday and today - it was small but clean.

Yep, LSD... quite amazing how you can do a dawn surf report at 7:00am in winter. I'm so sick of leaving for work in darkness and coming home in darkness. Don't think I've ever tuned into KRock what's the number on the dial?

Bnaccas said...
I would not be suprised if it is the same person doing the peninsula and Flinders/WP reports is the same guy. He would check Gunna or Rye then make an educated guess on Flinders and WP (not very educated in this instance). On a big swell day he might do the drive and check the wave data as people would rely on the accuracy more so as WP would have waves.

I will find out for sure over the weekend if it is the same person for both reports. I know myself and a lot of other crew could report surf conditions at Flinders and WP pretty accurately after checking Gunna or Rye (or the bouy).

Dawn patrol is just a term used for checking the surf at dawn. A person physically checking surf conditions at a beach or beaches at dawn is the definition in the surfers dictionary.

How's this, I just googled surf dictionary and there actually is one!

Dawn patrol - going for a surf at first light (sun rise), the crack of dawn

Open letter to Swellnet (I'm only posting it here as their contact us tab just resulted in an error)

Dear Swellnet administrator,

As an avid Victorian surfer, I am often annoyed by your Westernport reporter. He/She rarely posts a picture and only every couple of days posts a report. When the reports are posted I find them to be consistently inaccurate and will underestimate the conditions.

Take todays Dawn Report for example:

"Clean but very small waves at Flinders this morning with only small lines of 1-1.5ft. The open beaches will be a better bet during the day after light N'ly winds smooth out some morning lumps and bumps. Find a decent bank this arvo and you should get some fun waves."

I'm kind of surprised that the post didn't finish with the usual line "too small for Westernport today" despite the fact many surfers were out today surfing the high tide in the bay in nice small conditions.

The Mornington peninsula reporter is more consistant, as are all your other reporters:

"The northerly has just started so conditions will improve during the day. Little bit of bump early but ok with 3 to 4ft sets. HT6.15am and 5.40pm. Low11.45."

It is obvious from the web cam - almost 1km away from the break - that Big Left at Flinders was firing both yesterday and today with clean 3' waves. But I guess your Western Bay reporter doesn't look at them when he/she gets out of bed?

Take this time stamped pic taken from your website as an example:



My beef is that if you say that you provide surf reports. I think if you are serious you should make a far better attempt to report the conditions accurately or not at all.

Kind regards,

Oliver