Summer has started a bit over a week ago. However, I do think the weather god is slightly confused. Whilst we had a winter with longish flatspells that are usually a sure sign of summer, we are blessed with epic waves at the moment.
Mid week Huey brought us a rather large East swell, which meant Tamarama was off the charts. Tuesday, I checked the surf and it got bigger by the minute. My ‘hm not sure if I should get out, it looks like a lot of paddling’ turned quickly into ‘no way in hell I’m going out there’.
There were some solid double-overhead sets coming through and I don’t know if you’ve ever surfed Tama before but you really want to get the moment right you jump off the rocks. We watched countless surfers who tried and just did not make it during the lull. The rip had no mercy and would take them right across the bay within minutes. We watched some unlucky buggers who even got swept over to Bronte and one gidget against the rocks. It looked pretty gnarly. For one second we thought the lifeguards have to intervene and pick her of the rocks between Bronte and Tamarama. Luckily, the gidget seemed to have gotten away with only a few scratches and no doubt a bit of a scare. Admittedly, I was happy I had listened to my gut feel and had decided against giving it a try, otherwise the lifeguards would have probably picked me off the rocks.
The East swell subsided fairly quickly and got replaced by a South swell rarely seen during summer time. Bondi was maxing out and as such closing out most of the time but it looked like there was the odd good wave in between. Even though I knew the likelihood was big to get the one or the other on the head, I was really keen to get in the water on Saturday and I was willing to take that risk. I felt good and had a good feeling about the surf.
On the way to the beach I bumped into a few people from the surf. Everyone with a comment along the lines…’pretty big out there…are you sure…’ Oh well, I decided to ignore any doubters and to just go for it. And my determination was rewarded. I successfully dodged all close-outs and caught some fun waves. Yay for me.
Not so yay for the lifeguards and swimmers. The lifeguards had their hands full in Bondi. Big waves, sunshine. offshore winds and warm water sure is a great recipe for epic surfs. Not such a good thing if you are not quite a surfer but more the recreational swimmer type of person. A lot of peeps had to get rescued. There were massive rips and lot of water moving. Also not the ideal conditions if you are just starting out as a gidget. Sometimes it’s better to sit a session or two out and wait until it calms down again. If you go out in bigger waves or waves that are challenging, make sure you really feel up for it.
Over the years, I’ve learnt to tune in and listen to my body and my general gut feel if I was not sure if I should give it a go or not. The waves change every day and so does your body. What feels too big one day, might be just right the next. Wednesday for example I was really not up for a big session whereas Saturday I was frothing and was super keen to get out there. I guess it also helps that I don’t feel like I have to proof anything to myself or to anyone else and I’m more than happy to admit these days if I’m not up for it.
It looks like the big waves are dropping quite fast and we should be in for some fun three footers at the beginning of the week.
Have a great week ahead, lovely gidgets and friends of gidgets.
x Clauds
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