Every Tuesday I head down to Town Beach to check the surf conditions with the lifesavers who are all too willing to point out to me that I didn't quite get the conditions right the previous week.
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They say that I should take more notice of the advice that they give me (all in good taste).
They give up their time to talk to me, it is so good to get their professional advice as they are on the beach from 9am to 5pm. They see the tide come from high to low and constantly see the changing power of the surf and the rips that develop at Chickens where the swimmers are, and at the breakwall.
This week they made a point of the crazy surf conditions we have had over the past four weeks, with NE to SE swell with wind constantly changing and the major water movement with the sweep across from Flagstaff to the breakwall, even on the full run out tide.
The river channel seems to have changed, with major water flow charging out near the north wall and then going straight out to sea, depositing more sand at Middles which has now almost got a beach break at low tide over 100 metres wide.
I haven't seen this for over 60 years, since before they dredged the bar in 1968.
To the conditions this week
Winds will be S to SW at 20 knots over the weekend, then mostly NW 10 knots from Monday onwards.
Swell will be good on Friday and Saturday at 1.8-1.5 metres and then dropping to 1.2 metres from Monday.
Tides will be high mid-morning between 1.8-1.6 metres with low tide in the early afternoon at 0.4-0.6 metres.
Water temperature should sit around 20-22 degrees.
Looking at other beaches, Flynns has nice banks, Lighthouse will have poorer conditions, Bonny Hills, Middle Rock, and North Haven should have reasonable waves with the southerly swell and wind.
Just looking ahead, we have two major surfing events coming up. First, is the Ride the Wave Festival which is in early April, with a write-up to come and second, we have the Bird Rock Memorial in May.
