Surfari - September Y2k

Here is my diary for the Olympic Holidays surf trips, September 2000. Be sure to check out the ratings of each of the beaches by clicking here.

Monday September 11th, 2000

Manly was on the cards today, and with the olympics approaching, the atmosphere in Sydney is certainly nothing to be missed. A couple of good waves, but mostly went bad by the end of the day. Early on was average. The best part was probably watching the Mexican Beach Volleyball team practicing on the beach... more exciting I suspect!

Thursday September 21st, 2000

Deewhy with Long Reef in Distance

After refusing a call from work to come in, we set out around 11am... very late as usual, being on holidays and all. After some undecisiveness, it was decided to once more try

Dee Why near the Point

the luck at good ol' Deewhy. I was a bit against the idea following the sea weed incident a few months previous, but eventually gave in to the hope, that this time, times would be better. As we made our way down the main street of Deewhy, perpendicular to the beach, it became apparent that we had perhaps chosen the wrong day to try our luck - the shore appeared flat. But with a case of DDF (Distance Distortion factor usually associated with the sighting of women) and a South East swell, it soon became obvious that initial thoughts were of no validity - it was indeed a day for the surf!

I was first to go in, with photographic equipment back on shore, only one-at-a-time was the call and there was no way I was gonna let this baby slip away. After taking a couple of shots, it was wetty on, and a pleasant warmness from the sea and I was in and catching them in no time. Sets were easy to come by, crowding a of little concern initially but became worse later, fortunately by this time the swell had died, and it was time to come out.

Looking towards South Curl Curl

It was now time to sit on the beach and survey the situation, while Chris had his turn, unfortunately for him, with crowding + the

North Curl Curl

dying swell... he didn't catch a wave!!! Hard luck eh boy? So by around 1pm we were on our way, to find a better site for the South Easterly... where better than up the road at Curl Curl? We strolled up the hill and down to Curl Curl, arriving around 1:15pm, again I went first, this beach was getting the full force, front on from the Sth-Easterly, and there was no way I was gonna let it go by. There was a great shore break as well as some good stuff out the back, I tried the latter first, and caught a couple of goodies. It was very sweet, taking the shore and back in turns, until eventually having a break out beyond them, waiting for the perfect time to strike. I eventually decided to come in and caught a couple towards the beach, then took off the fins and had some fun in the breakers for a while, it was great, nearly bent the board though... but no worries.

Curl Curl Beach

Being totally happy with the day so far, I was ready to move on. Chris didn't want to go in, so we took some shots, and then proceeded to walk down to Freshwater, to take a look eventually head to Manly. An that we did.

Chris and Me at Curl Curl

After scaring some old smoking fart half to death with one superlative Metallica quote, we made our way through some blokes' backyard and down the little hill towards Freshwater. Freshy was very straight and very smooth, which was impressive, although the surf had certainly decreased by this time. It was looking about 3 foot, compared to the 5 foot encountered beforehand. This reaffirmed my liking and partiality associated with Freshy, that had indeed been induced earlier in the year on the early morning surfs with Jono. I could've sat and watched for the rest of the day, but time was against us and wwe had to move along. After a quick snap, at about 4:30pm, we climbed up the cliff. Any more stairs and I would've just about collapsed, my shins feeling the effects of wearing fins for the first times in a while. The downhill run into Manly was a relief and with a couple more remarks made to members of the public, we made our way alongside Queenscliffe beach, and along towards North Steyne and eventually Manly.

Freshwater Beach

Manly, as usual, was less than impressive, disappointing considering the great day elsewhere. The waves were much smaller than is Northern neighbours and were not breaking in much of an even fashion.

Manly Beach

Few people were out, many happier to play beach volleyball or sip Cherrys by the seasise... I mean that's what Manly is there for... right? Of all the times I've been to Manly, and it has been frequented mostly by me (with ease of transport etc in the past, I have only ever had one "very good" day, and at that time I was only learning to board so it was of no use to me. Indeed the board was kept in the bag, and after a quick catch of a Jazz band, it was time to Ferry it back to the good ol' city, and onward home! Okay, okay, I'm beginning to hate Manly, much like it's football team but deserved it is + it has too many shark sitings... and I hate sharks too. Getting back to the overall picture, today was an excellent day, great surf, great weather... what more could you ask for eh? A great day had, madly glad I didn't work!!

Monday September 25th, 2000

One Mile Beach was the site of the trip. Things weren't looking all that good, with impending bad weather threatening to ruin things. We went out early, around 8am, and the swell was big. The waves were good, but very choppy, and messy - ridable, but not all that enjoyable. It was difficult to find your way out through the breakers, and eventually the closer stuff was opted for instead. With the rain, came the wind to make things even more difficult, and after an hour or so, we left the beach and headed back, all out stuff was soaked. Cold and wet - the story of today!

Tuesday September 26th, 2000

Following a bad forecast and a hard night, today didn't have too many hopes riding on it. A lazy Rob got up around 8am, and after realizing that the forecast was shite, and that the surf could be heard from the caravan, sudden expectancy arose. Soon, after skipping breaky, and getting Chock and Tunni out of the caravan, we made our way across the dunes, and down to the beach. Initially it looked very much like yesterday, except it was much cleaner and with a closer look, it seemed like today would not be forgotten easily.

I paddled out ASAP (the water was at least 3 degrees cooler than yesterday), and after getting through the breakers, found myself approaching some rather clean, big surf. They was one other body boarder out there with me and together for the next hour or so, had a very sweet time of good uncrowded waves. You know things are going sweet when ur letting the 6 footers past... this most certainly wasn't back in Sydney.

Consistently remembering the anger of Waimea, complacency is one thing that I have seemed to have adopted concerning Aussie surf. And soon it came round and smacked me... I got decked by one of the first waves, cause I didn't paddle onto it, almost hitting the bottom, after that, the respect grew somewhat, and a great ride was in store. A few surfers were out, but up the other end of the beach. A few 7-8 foot sets came through which were very very nice to ride but after an hour, the swell decreased to a steady 5 feet. The wind got up from the off shore, settling the heights without providing much more opening. But what did it matter? This was certainly a great day!

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Sausman @ Sausenterprise (r)
"Jesus Christ is Lord"
E-Mail Me At : Sausman@Start.com.au
Page Last Updated : 4/10/Y2k 23:28:12

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