TACTICS
Launching here is never easy and getting off the rock-strewn shore in one piece feels like reward enough. The trick is waiting in knee depth to keep your footing, then as a set fills more water into the bay and gives more depth to launch over the rocks, catch a ride out on the receding water and make it out the back without leaving half your board and fin behind. Now the fun can really begin. Sailing out through the channel I see what I already knew from watching the waves before launching, it’s a day to play smart. There was a big swell forecast, over 5 metres with a long period, but the day and night before the wind had howled offshore only switching onshore in the early morning. Computer generated numbers can look great on forecasts but it’s hard for them to model local effects or emulate a bit of local knowledge. The swell hadn’t kicked in as big as expected as the very strong offshore winds had kept it out at sea, hence the frustrated surfers earlier. It was bigger round here as the reef / river mouth setup does a good job of amplifying the wave size, especially with some onshore wind, but not without some side effects. There was a lot of water moving round the break and the sets were a mix of long period and locally generated swell on multiple peaks. This wasn’t ABC wavesailing but by watching carefully you could navigate the maelstrom. The white-water trail on the waves in front as you ride in give a good indication of where the wave will break and boils in the face show where it is about to suck and require avoidance. I’m watching how much and how wide the white-water is after the wave in front breaks. A face full of foam is too risky to ride as your fins and rail will struggle for grip in the broken water. It was a session for tactics not turns; chess moves not dice rolls.