same.same.Well… it’s about the best surf day of the week so far… and it really ain’t that great. One of the worst weeks for surfing we’ve had in such a long time. The junkie 3 footers were hindered by an onshore easterly breeze (10 knots). A few guys were out trying to reach their minimum […]

archival goldI’m gonna run out of archive glory should this onshore smashup persist. Bondi was a skanky… The 25 knots of sou-easterly butchery continues, but the swell looks to be growing in size (hard to tell really, it’s a blur of whitecaps). So um, not much else to write about really. Still onshore for a […]

bondi junkiesWaves have gone from messy to shabby onshore junk. It’s barely surfable – so just fuggedaboutit. At least there is some sunshine. Talking of junkies, let’s talk about the Astra Hotel, a heritage listed building in Bondi…yeah that big mustard coloured, 6 storey slab of concrete above Motion and Bondi Tratt. It’s been around […]

the inside waveJust peeping out that window for one second you can work out that it’s totally onshore, wet, and ugly. 3 foot wind-butchered dribbles plague Bondi. Definitely a day to get heaps of work done. Swell gets a bit bigger tomorrow, just needs those winds to back off otherwise it will remain junkie. Today’s […]

fresh serveThere’s plenty to go around this morning. A solid ESE swell with 10.5 second gaps is feeding Sydney with the goods. Flanked with an optimal NW offshore breeze you should really stop reading boring email and head somewhere with a few decent banks. Bondi was around 4-5 foot; BUT we’re not blessed by the […]

dead bodyThe talk on the beach this morning was the dead body that washed into Bondi’s south corner last night at 2:30 a.m. Police were scouring the sand this morning looking for any clues. The word on the street (not official) is that it was a 30 year old Asian female in her pajamas. She’d […]

wobblyOvernight the swell has jacked up. Waves are hittin’ the 3-4 foot heavens, so it’s def worth getting into that little rubber 2nd skin n’ tip toeing over the icy sand for a bash. Lots of wobble in those bumps this morning, legacy of yesterday’s onshore agitation. The odd one rocks in, and breaks quite […]

pilesPost Bali trip, I was quite surprised to see that little pile of sand in the southern end hanging in there. The lil’ swell magnet bank continues to break, even in this small southerly wind swell. With a wave period of 7 you can’t expect much power, but it looked like 2-3 foot of fun […]

bond*ageI know what you’re thinking… It’s been a while since one of these little Aquabumps puppies hijacked your inbox. What the hell is going on? In summary, was in Bali last week for a decent swell (and to do nothing). The Island of the Gods turned up the heat last Tuesday / Wednesday – Ulus […]

deckchairYou’ll probably open this email and roll the eyes thinking that punk is on the run again, back to Indonesia. Yep, my plan to avoid the claws of a cold Sydney winter is coming to fruition. Hey it’s only for a few days, so relax and enjoy some equatorial sunshine in your day. Like Oz, […]

blacksun Its one of those mornings that you think the sun is just not going to shine. Damn hard to get out of bed when its this dark. Thick cloud blankets Sydney as an imminent south change lingers off our coastline. Would you believe this micro ESE swell is continuing to provide fun waves down […]

calmNice warm day for the middle of winter (max 23 today). Loads of people down the beach this morning taking advantage of the calm conditions. Waves broke around 2-3 foot (se swell), wind was pretty much non-existent and there was quite a few crew scrambling for whatever was available. It looked pretty weak, and fat […]

::muddychainsawThat subject line has absolutely no relevance to the surf today. I got it from one of those random sp**am emails that try and sell you toolkit enhancements (1 of 100 a day). I just thought it was a funny one. Who thinks up that stuff? Some pimply face hacker in the backyards of the […]

To do…I would put a big fat "go surfing" on my to-do-list today. All that other stuff, like pick up dry cleaning and get new chrome spinning rims for the Gemini just fade into insignificance when there is 4-6 foot, sun kissed, well groomed chunks breaking at your local south facing beach. This swell has […]

sneak.A sneaky little south swell entertained us yesterday after a ‘flat as’ Saturday. It’s no secret as a pack of fifty blokes squeezed into a 20 sqm take off zone on a southern bank in Bondi. Today the swell continued to grow, breaking around 3 foot but a little on the messy side. Not many […]

L-plates.Beginner’s day today. Its 1-2 foot and very inconsistent best suiting newbies. Every wave seems to be a team wave. Super clean with very light offshore NW winds early, that may get up to 18 knots later today. It’s a pearla of a morning – fantastic sunrise. The weekend looks pretty similar, very small to […]

patienceYou’d need to be patient this morning. Rock up at the beach at the wrong time and you’d call it flat, then happily going to work. Sit on the Bondi hill for 30 mins and you might see a 2 foot set breaking super clean in the corner. It’s not great, but you could at […]

byron 153° 39´ eastToday’s Aquabumps is broadcast from beautiful Byron Bay, some 800 kilometres north of Sydney. Byron is Australia’s most easterly point – sticking way out there collecting all the swell from the Pacific. After 3 days of persistent onshore southerlies making a mess of things, today the sun is shining (and 21 degrees) […]

drivebyThe fact that I drove around for 1.5 hrs looking for something that resembles a wave tells you that it’s not such a good morning for surfing. This SSW wind just won’t let up. It’s big, like around 6-8 foot, but more like a washing machine than anything you’d want to ride. So rest up […]

contrastFlat one day – 6 foot the next. Gotta love how things can change so fast around here. The predicted southerly swells arrived into Sydney after grinding along Victoria. It was really junkie for a perfect offshore wind. This new swell needs a bit of time to settle – but its solid and very consistent […]

it’s coming… Yeah yeah I know…late slack report. But it’s not like I’ve been surfing – it’s flat! The swell has dissipated and we’re just left with a chilly morning + perfectly clear skies (min6, Max13). Good news is that a new swell is due tomorrow, and I’d expect it be large by Thursday sundown […]

3point-freakin7Leaving a toastie heated car for a wet wettie and frosty dash across the sand was hard work this morning. Serious motivation required. The Icebergs thermometer said 13 degrees at 7:20am, I knew that was wrong. Fact – coldest July morning in 21 years. Yeah that’s right. 3point-freakin7 degrees to be exact. 3 hours later […]

Chilly, fresh start to the week. 6 degrees this morning..Felt colder. You know it’s really cold when you see local loonie Spot Anderson donning rubber on his morning training sess. (1st time ever). There were some fun waves for those that braved the cold down at Bondi. A south end bank producing fun head high […]

northboundHate to say it…but if you’re reading this email you’re definitely in the wrong place. Basically the surf is crankin’ – well, correction – was. It’s rapidly deteriorating right now. A short sojourn in the northern beaches proved very rewarding this morning. Yesterday afternoon was the talk of the town as waves hit the 10 […]

froth.Gotta say I woke up frothing this morning as I thought it was going to be pumping. No such luck. The swell has come up, tick, and its from the east-south-east, and its quite solid breaking around 5-6 foot at exposed breaks, but we’re too early and it suffering morning sickness – wonky as hell. […]

crumbed sausageOn this very grey, ugly morning I’m sitting at my desk playing with my pen thinking, "how the hell am I going to entertain you lot today". The rain outside has barely stopped for a decent photo opportunity. The waves look a junkie 3 foot (didn’t really see anyone out). So I decided to […]

agitation.Well that howling onshore butcher has backed off and swung around to the S/SW. That’s good news. But the ocean still shows signs recent of agitation, taking its time to settle. I would leave it for another day. The 5-6 footers that I saw breaking in the southern corner of Bondi were completely random. The […]

Junkie.After a weekend of good surfing we’ve defaulted back to a very stormy, wintery day in Sydney. Howling 30 knot Sou’Easterlies not doing us any favors today. It’s butchered onshore slop. But hey…let it blow as a swell is in the making and will arrive mid week. Good day to crank out the work. When […]

fresh serve.Yesterday was one of the flattest days ever… this morning it’s totally turned around with a new south swell punching out waves in the 5-6 foot bracket. Size will continue to build all day so tomorrow is looking like a Christmas with all day offshores. It’s super wobbly this morning, as she’s a brand […]

spent.Well if you thought it was small yesterday…it’s really flat this morning. Our June swell machine is totally spent. Today it’s the smallest it’s been in a long time. Still 4 guys out on mals optimistically waiting for a gift from the horizon. Tomorrow will be different story as the swell increases overnight. Westerly winds […]

gale She’s pretty much flat out there…damn windy though. North Westerlies terrorizing the town at 30+ knots. The 1st picture above was shot last week in those big swells. How good does that look? That’s North Bondi headland in the background. Yeah. That’s right. Anyways, nothing much to write about until Friday when we get […]

pasha Today is a great day for many things. Surfing won’t be amongst them. Its 1 foot and super clean on two distinct sand banks down at Bondi. Perfect for beginners. The sunshine is out so enjoy it. Here are some suggestions to kill time today: Check out what’s in your neighbor’s yard through Google […]

calm.It can’t be 6 foot and pumping everyday. Today the swell backed off leaving 2 footers down at Bondi. Perfect morning with clear skies, very little wind and a water temperature that wasn’t too bad at all. Expect offshore westerlies all day and fun waves on two distinct banks at Bondi. Loads of people out […]

crossoverswells How good has the past few days been? Just ridiculous. So as the smokin’ ESE swell of the past 3 days declined overnight, a new south swell starts pumpin’ into town. The ocean looked confused this morning as the two swells from different origins wobbled their way into our bays. It’s still around 6 […]

peakin’Like my friend Nicky always says about her husband Jamie…"it peaked early". The predicted monster swell for today actually arrived a day early. Yesterday afternoon lit up as Sydney was bombarded with a huge ESE swell. I saw waves on sundown around the 10-12 foot solid mark. Only a handful of surfers braving the large […]

XXXL.June is big season. Write it down. Only been back from Mentawai 6 days and have witnessed 2 of the biggest swells of the year. At 6:40am I peeped through the blinds expecting a swell increase…and wow, we got one. Saw a monster 8 foot set peeling across the bay bathed in beautiful morning light. […]

skankshank It’s been big huh. The beefy south swell of the past few days has subsided this morning as a strange NE wind butchers. Bondi has some rideable 2-3 footers in the southern corner, but they looked really fat and a skanky black sludge was seeping into the line up from all the rain water […]

stormsSo what’s been happening since my Mentawai disappearance kids? "Storms" seems to be the common thread in everyone’s convo. Big storms. Like 30 year storms. Big tankers wrecked in Newy, big swells, sand pushed onto roads blah blah. But dang it’s cold back here. Freezing today. Haven’t worn shoes let alone much clothing for two […]

Statistics.12 days, 6 surfers, 400 nautical miles traveled, 20 cartons of Bintangs drank (mostly by Damo), 85 kit kats, 40 Tim Tams, burning 4000 litres of diesel, 15 breaks surfed, 0 Broken boards, 1 spilt open head, the captain smoked 3 cartons of ciggies (and he’s on a health kick he reckons), 6 ipods, 6 […]

tidur.I woke to our Indonesian deckhand ‘Indurah’ calling ‘Ombak tidur’ (the waves are sleeping). Yep he nailed it. They’re definitely sleeping. After a week of smokin’ waves it’s backed off…making for an opportune time to go through 50 gig of hot shots and give the body a chance to repair its aches and pains. We […]