Dawn Patrol.....watch out for Bali currents.....

[Big H]

Went out this morning to what is a usually fairly crowded early morning spot.....typically about 30-50 out at daybreak. Today there was some remnants of yesterday's swell hanging on, fair amount of offshore wind and really hard currents running. I showed up at the same time as a crew of 5 local rippers and we all paddled out together. There were about 30 in the water at 6:30am and waves were pretty big, up to 1.5oh on sets but more than that they were just wonky.....hard to read, breaking funny, hard to read the currents, a lot of foam everywhere. Good waves mixed with a lot of closeouts, and a constant beat with two different swells driving the waves in.

Then the currents picked up......I noticed the crowd thinning but the ripper group that I paddled out with was hanging tough on our peak down from the rest. Keeping up with the sweep slowly evolved from equal parts rest and paddle to hold position to a decent constant effort.....the whole ocean was like paddling in a rip current and the rips showed up like angry rivers in otherwise fairly choppy seas. Ten minutes later and it was just us out there; the rest had called it. I was on my big awesome paddling fungun and was still having to pay attention to my dwindling reserves.....by this time to hold position was an effort for sure......a set came through and I got my best wave of the session - caught it at the peak and rode it out about 200m then lay down and rode on my belly the rest of the way in. I turned around when getting out and the crew I had been with were following suit one by one, all headed for the beach. There was one guy still out there, a pale island newbie on a wide nosed fish who was gamely paddling directly against one of the rips. I walked down and pointed him out to the lifeguard who was already watching closely. I left it with him and looked at what usually was a crowded break with only one person out in that wonky ocean.

Walked down to my car, cleaned up and did a parking lot change of clothes......stopped by to have another look and in 20-25 minutes the complexion had shifted.....the swell had dropped, the tide had come up, waves were noticeably fatter and smaller and 30-40 people had re-emerged and gotten into the water. But still the waves were breaking funny which only indicated the run of the currents.

Amazing how currents can spring up out of nowhere......the stretch I was on is notorious for that, but this morning was a bright reminder and illustration of what can occur. Be careful.

[oldmansurfer]

He casually mentions he rode the wave for 200 meters before laying down and riding it in I imagine where tide changes are a big thing this stuff happens a lot but not where I live On the other hand I am never on the beach for more than a few minutes before or after surfing soo.....still probably not

[jaffa1949]

Good thing you are now an old hand. Nyai Roro Kidul, was hunting new lovers in green boardshorts.
A current affair!

[Big H]

You were the one that clued me into that a couple of years ago.....had two pair of greenies but now swimming pool only!!! Better safe than sorry!

[Big H]

He casually mentions he rode the wave for 200 meters before laying down and riding it in I imagine where tide changes are a big thing this stuff happens a lot but not where I live On the other hand I am never on the beach for more than a few minutes before or after surfing soo.....still probably not

It was a heck of a wave....I tucked into a real gem that was right on time.....I'd have taken a closeout if that was all the set had to offer....it was time to come in!

Big tide coefficient today.....high was 9:16am (I was on the rising tide) at 2.5m....low this afternoon at 15:30 was 0.2m for a coefficient of 107.....its no wonder the currents were ripping. Swell was 1.9m at 15sec. Tomorrow the coefficient will be a brutal 110, but the swell is 1.5m at 14 sec so on the whole easier conditions.....we will see!

[Big H]

Saw this on Facebook.....these are pics from the same day, looks like the spot I was at. This looks like high tide, more like when I left than when I arrived.....you can see how wonky the wave is though on the closeup shot.

[Big H]

Tomorrow the coefficient will be a brutal 110, but the swell is 1.5m at 14 sec so on the whole easier conditions.....we will see!

Went to the same spot as yesterday this morning.....almost no current at all, swell nearly gone, lineup crowded with everyone waiting on 1-2 set waves then nothing for 5 minutes..........I paddled deep and took most of my waves from the rip since no one wanted to crowd me for position in that.....thing is the rip was running less than half of the sweep of yesterday so it wasn't a big deal......used the big fungun again to be safe but could have surfed anything out there today.....tomorrow swell is definitely off so I'll change up and take out the longboard.....should be even more crowded......good times!