Rob's Blog

Following a minor accident in the surf on Sunday, I ended up being to get a CT scan on my neck. There was no real damage at all, however I was amazed at how things have changed since I last had cause for a scan like this. When I collected my results, I was given not only the films, but also a CD containing the images, plus a rather neat bit of software which let me export the images into an animation. This is very much like the Visible Human Project, although for the cost of a scan the visible human can be you.

This is the movie produced as the machine scans down from my nose to collarbone:

Amanda managed to get a pretty good shot of someone on a monster wave at Bronte. Here ’tis:

To quote Mr Ben Macartney of CoastalWatch:

“There is a massive south swell on the way and forecasts wave heights are completely off the planet. This is the kind of swell that will move hundreds of thousand of tons of sand in the space of a few hours, surge up over promenades at high tide and kill fisherman.”

Sounds like this swell will make last weeks look a little bit lame. Will try to get down to Icebergs balcony and get some photos. Yeah – I’m too pussy to paddle out.

CoastalWatch have also just released their new inshore wave height forecasting toy, ANNA. These guys have the best jobs in the world as far as I’m concerned… Playing with computers, surfing… If only they got free beer

Here’s a picture from last Sunday. Was taken from Icebergs – unfortunately the camera on my phone doesn’t really do it justice. Watched a guy try to paddle out for 20 minutes, only to screw up a duck dive and get washed back to the beach. He didn’t give up though, and another ten minutes later he’d made it to the line-up.

http://www.kcpc.usyd.edu.au/polymers/uses/wetsuits

Monday and Tuesday brought some of the largest waves I have ever seen to Sydney. Bondi was, surprisingly, one of the picks with super-clean conditions and 8 ft+ waves. Too big for me, but it was great to watch. Check out some of the pictures here

Well, I finally managing to drag myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6:00am, and was in the water at sunrise on my new board. The swell was pretty small, so I was just sitting there, enjoy the view and waiting for sun to creep over the rocks at Ben Buckler, when something surfaced in the water next to me – scaring the crap out of me so I almost fell off my board in true amateur style… Thanks Uge! My photo is at the bottom of the page entitled Patience