Albany surfing reef
woah - that's a thing.. get Dave Beeck on the blower @stu!
Been on the Cards for a While...was going to be a Right Hander...?
https://raisedwaterresearch.com/detailed-design-starts-on-albany-artific...
https://raisedwaterresearch.com/spot/artificial-reef/australia/western-a...
Going to need to be Netted .
some research from tbb, in this thread @the_b:
https://www.swellnet.com/forums/surfing-reef-designs/393451
https://www.albanyadvertiser.com.au/news/albany-advertiser/final-piece-o...
(I notice an earth moving company is a major sponsor of the club ; )
Reef Must be Nearly Finished ?
Ha, AW asked about it a few weeks ago. I wondered how long before it appeared on SN
Stu if you want to interview someone about it Peter Bolt is your man, he’s been part of it for a long time.
Soggydog. Hi mate. I’ve just returned home Albany I was away for four days, checked the progress, had good talks with junior and senior surfers down at the beach.
I’ve seen the drawings and it looks promising but I’m still a bit sceptical.
It’s not fully finished, it’s purported that’ll be a left hand breaking wave, but at present the produced bank breaks right.
Just its location to me lends itself to a right hander, I’m definitely no coastal geomorphologist, but I am a keen observer of everything coastal and anything to do with the ocean.
See, Middleton Beach needs a SE swell to be directly aimed at the beach.
That’s such a rare angle for that area of the coast when we know the predominant angle of swell coming past Augusta is 225deg, SW in direction.
Albeit, when the swell is big, refracted lines and energy get into the beach no problem.
Over the weekend, I didn’t really see any quality waves ridden, breaks too quick, but at least there is now a rip and a minor bank.
Watch this space I say, if it comes off, the locals and the designers will be stoked. AW
We’re already stoked AW and looking forward to the completion. On larger S swells that would normally be quite straight has had the above mentioned rip bowl working at various sizes. We’ve had a couple of SE swells during the construction and again the inside banks seem better than normal. The reef peaks the swell and will foam through on larger sets.
But yeah, Albany sux…….don’t waste your time. He he.
soggydog wrote:We’re already stoked AW and looking forward to the completion. On larger S swells that would normally be quite straight has had the above mentioned rip bowl working at various sizes. We’ve had a couple of SE swells during the construction and again the inside banks seem better than normal. The reef peaks the swell and will foam through on larger sets.
But yeah, Albany sux…….don’t waste your time. He he.
Soggydog. Hi mate.
It looks promising, many I spoke to wondered why they’ve ceased construction.
The company who designed it has stated that if it doesn’t work, they’ll remove the entire structure.
A surfer told me early on Sunday morning that already down near Emu Point the sand has changed, he didn’t elaborate.
I really do hope it works for all concerned. AW
They’ve been on and off around the weather and swell AW. Only working when it’s quite small. We’ve had a couple of South swells of late that seams to stop proceedings.
Nice weather on the weekend. Hope you had a good one.
And I do apologise for not replying to your enquiring a couple of weeks ago. A bit of the South Coast, keep it secret keep it safe mentality, which is rediculous on my part given it’s a Government funded project with publicity. Old habits I suppose.
soggydog wrote:They’ve been on and off around the weather and swell AW. Only working when it’s quite small. We’ve had a couple of South swells of late that seams to stop proceedings.
Nice weather on the weekend. Hope you had a good one.And I do apologise for not replying to your enquiring a couple of weeks ago. A bit of the South Coast, keep it secret keep it safe mentality, which is rediculous on my part given it’s a Government funded project with publicity. Old habits I suppose.
Soggydog. All good mate. Apologies not needed, we are grown ups.
Thanks for asking, yep was on it all weekend, very boozy which is not my norm but a lot of fun, particularly hanging out with my own mates from the Surf Coast, Vic and mates who’d come down from Perth as well as all the Albany guys.
A great Anzac Day football match at Railways, huge turnout, phenomenal amount of money collected over the bar. Brilliant ceremony prior to the game.
Checked out the two old houses us Bob Hawke Surf Team surfers use to live in.
It was a 41. 40 and 39 year club reunion of premiership years.
Did a bit of bird watching and submitted a few bird lists on line.
Albany is truly a beautiful place, but not blessed with quality waves in the immediate town area.
There’s no place like home pal, you must love it. All the best . AW
udo update continues....Drone View shows the process...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/albanyWA/posts/10165600852980329/
Big Swell/s on Big Left
https://www.facebook.com/ABCGreatSouthern/videos/big-swell-off-albany/19...
Locals are Stoked
Wilson Inlet...tbb surfed alone 3 hr session about 300m offshore here...
That Sawblade Seaweed is Scary around yer ankles but Majestic Bay it is at Ocean Beach.
Tide / swell can change fast here...ended up well offshore...with no aids...Gulp!
Bodysurfing reverse Lefts all the way to shore & wade slowly back out.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1066107504532153
I remember in 1984 whilst living the life in Albany on the Bob Hawke Surf Team, in the month of September, an enormous cut-off low pressure system completely hammered southern Australia.
Us guys could not believe what we were seeing. The storm of all storms.
Middleton Beach was 10ft solid and breaking off the point of Marine Drive, headland and the Ellen Cove boardwalk area.
Waves were breaking kilometres out to sea off Breaksea and Michaelmas Islands and rolling on through to the beach which copped the full brunt.
We stood taking photos amidst the weather associated with it.
Eventually a large merchant cargo liner became trapped inside the two islands and located off Middleton Beach proper.
What’s going to happen to this artificial reef when one of these events occurs again ?
I read the specifications about the rock sizes being placed, no rocks are more than 1m in diameter.
In a storm like the aforementioned, those rocks will be like Neptune playing with marbles. Just my opinion. AW
I be really Concerned about sitting 120 Meters or more off the Shore and a 4M long plus GWS shows up .
udo wrote:I be really Concerned about sitting 120 Meters or more off the Shore and a 4M long plus GWS shows up .
Udo. Hi mate. Hope ya well.
Inadvertently that may or may not happen.
There’s no doubt that the reef platform comprising various sizes of rocks will act as an initial substrate to all manner of aquatic life, similarly to a home fish tank, you don’t need to do anything, algae grows and the rest follows.
Fish species will frequent the reef also.
We have vivid memories of one of my Bob Hawke Surf Team mates becoming one with the ocean at Muttonbird one day, everyone else had left the water bar him, from the hill overlooking the beach there was a 4m GWS between the beach and himself, in a large gutter over white sand. He had no idea until he got out and was informed, they are everywhere around there, ask the locals.
There use to be a b&w photo behind the bar in The Premier Hotel on the main strip in town, a fucking behemoth of a GWS on top of a white Mini Minor car, it looked like it had wings , the pectoral fins were enormous.
I think it’s the largest photo of a shark I’d ever seen.
I hope the reef works for the locals sake, but Ive seen enough human intervention on the coasts of Australia to suggest there will be issues, whether it be at the reef itself or somewhere in the vicinity of it. AW
AlfredWallace wrote:I remember in 1984 whilst living the life in Albany on the Bob Hawke Surf Team, in the month of September, an enormous cut-off low pressure system completely hammered southern Australia.
Us guys could not believe what we were seeing. The storm of all storms.
Middleton Beach was 10ft solid and breaking off the point of Marine Drive, headland and the Ellen Cove boardwalk area.
Waves were breaking kilometres out to sea off Breaksea and Michaelmas Islands and rolling on through to the beach which copped the full brunt.
We stood taking photos amidst the weather associated with it.
Eventually a large merchant cargo liner became trapped inside the two islands and located off Middleton Beach proper.What’s going to happen to this artificial reef when one of these events occurs again ?
I read the specifications about the rock sizes being placed, no rocks are more than 1m in diameter.
In a storm like the aforementioned, those rocks will be like Neptune playing with marbles. Just my opinion. AW
udo wrote:AlfredWallace wrote:I remember in 1984 whilst living the life in Albany on the Bob Hawke Surf Team, in the month of September, an enormous cut-off low pressure system completely hammered southern Australia.
Us guys could not believe what we were seeing. The storm of all storms.
Middleton Beach was 10ft solid and breaking off the point of Marine Drive, headland and the Ellen Cove boardwalk area.
Waves were breaking kilometres out to sea off Breaksea and Michaelmas Islands and rolling on through to the beach which copped the full brunt.
We stood taking photos amidst the weather associated with it.
Eventually a large merchant cargo liner became trapped inside the two islands and located off Middleton Beach proper.What’s going to happen to this artificial reef when one of these events occurs again ?
I read the specifications about the rock sizes being placed, no rocks are more than 1m in diameter.
In a storm like the aforementioned, those rocks will be like Neptune playing with marbles. Just my opinion. AW
Udo . Nice find. Yep, 1984.
I’ve just found some photos from that day .
what's the app you're using @AW?
the vintage effect is par excellence.
basesix wrote:what's the app you're using @AW?
the vintage effect is par excellence.
Adhesive page photo albums were a thing. Mum used to love digging out the books filled with instamatic prints, processed via the local Amcal Chemist. Unfortunately they lose their stick, like we all do, with age.
blackers wrote:basesix wrote:what's the app you're using @AW?
the vintage effect is par excellence.Adhesive page photo albums were a thing. Mum used to love digging out the instamatic prints from the local Amcal Chemist. Unfortunately they lose their stick, like we all do, with age.
Blackers and Basesix hi to you both. No app ya goose. No IT back then, even if there was I wouldn’t have embraced it.
Just be able to use a camera was a skill.
You definitely gave me a good evening giggle.
Blackers is a photographer from way back, he’s description is perfect, 100mm thick album purchased at Pinneys chemist in Geelong on return from the West in 1984.
Sticky pages, that lose their stick as stated.
It’s full of photos but when you pick the album up, half fall out.
Don’t you love the round cornered photos.
Here’s a couple of gems from 30km out of Mt.Tom Price circa 1984, it’s 45c , mate rolled one of our surf mobiles and me being the son of a panel beater had to repair it all the next few days in that heat after a skin full of piss most nights and an acre of the Devils Lettuce. Finally made it back to the coast. AW
Edit. The guy on the bonnet is the ‘General’, he surfed under 4 Prime Ministers if you get my drift.
oh mate! that's gold, like a cosmic psychos cover, with a homoerotic man-spa in the gatefold.. sticky pages, indeed : o
haha Good one AW.
Nice shorts on the crew btw. Do they make em for men? ;)
Oh fuck , I can’t stop laughing @Tubeshooter and @Basesix.
How’s the nuts grabbing boardies and the cut-off denim shorts right up the cloaca !!!.
That body of water was Millstream pond in today’s Millstream-Chitchester National Park, what a relief it was to find that along the roughest of roads corrugated from truck use along the Hammersley Iron railway line back to the coast.
An oasis in the desert. A crystal clear aquifer and surrounding mostly Livistona sp. palms. Freshwater turtles everywhere. We had swimming pool stuff like balls , noodles etc.
Night before at Tom Price Pub, well , every night at the pub, we won all the meat trays and bottles of whiskey, none too popular with the locals, aggro was brewing just before closing so we staggered out, next door is the local pool, break in, go for a swim, steal, all their towels and play gear then fucked off out of town. AW
rest assured, it's a safe space @AW
"some of 'em are wearing thongs where you can see their dirty arses"
Chaucer
All A.W adventures.
Pack up ya swag, let's go.
AlfredWallace wrote:I remember in 1984 whilst living the life in Albany on the Bob Hawke Surf Team, in the month of September, an enormous cut-off low pressure system completely hammered southern Australia.
Us guys could not believe what we were seeing. The storm of all storms.
Middleton Beach was 10ft solid and breaking off the point of Marine Drive, headland and the Ellen Cove boardwalk area.
Waves were breaking kilometres out to sea off Breaksea and Michaelmas Islands and rolling on through to the beach which copped the full brunt.
We stood taking photos amidst the weather associated with it.
Eventually a large merchant cargo liner became trapped inside the two islands and located off Middleton Beach proper.What’s going to happen to this artificial reef when one of these events occurs again ?
I read the specifications about the rock sizes being placed, no rocks are more than 1m in diameter.
In a storm like the aforementioned, those rocks will be like Neptune playing with marbles. Just my opinion. AW
AW that last swell was 6m @20secs and staight South. It found it's way in there.
Old mate from over East paddled out and smashed his face into dry reef,...lotta damage. Pretty bad. The reefs first victim!
There was an assessment after the swell and not a single rock moved even though most of the coast got completely ravaged by the swell. Look it up. There was seaweed getting washed into the Emu Point dunnies!!
The only spot that maintained any beach, was of course, right in front of the reef at Mids. Widest part of the beach! What a surprise!
And it's not finished yet. Still gotta do the last layer to hold it in place. A swell of that size and period and particularly direction is unprecedented at this time of year.
I'm neither an advocate or in opposition of the reef.. I'm too far away but got mates involved in it and it sounds good to me so far. And i'm happy to see it succeed. Would be good for the Albany crew. Plus might keep a few away from where i like to lurk ;-)
Fuck it's a slab too! haha.
Good luck with bringing in the tourists though when theres a tiny take off into a gnarly slab dominated by locals.
That'll be your next headline. Albany locals scare off tourists!! ha!
AlfredWallace wrote:udo wrote:AlfredWallace wrote:I remember in 1984 whilst living the life in Albany on the Bob Hawke Surf Team, in the month of September, an enormous cut-off low pressure system completely hammered southern Australia.
Us guys could not believe what we were seeing. The storm of all storms.
Middleton Beach was 10ft solid and breaking off the point of Marine Drive, headland and the Ellen Cove boardwalk area.
Waves were breaking kilometres out to sea off Breaksea and Michaelmas Islands and rolling on through to the beach which copped the full brunt.
We stood taking photos amidst the weather associated with it.
Eventually a large merchant cargo liner became trapped inside the two islands and located off Middleton Beach proper.What’s going to happen to this artificial reef when one of these events occurs again ?
I read the specifications about the rock sizes being placed, no rocks are more than 1m in diameter.
In a storm like the aforementioned, those rocks will be like Neptune playing with marbles. Just my opinion. AWUdo . Nice find. Yep, 1984.
I’ve just found some photos from that day .
Wow great pics @AW.
That second pic, is that straight out off Mids surf club?
Don't reckon that bank exists out there now.
Guessing that this pic was pre rockwall intervention from the length of Mids cafe to the end of the caravan park and that whole corner has been scoured of sand. Probably would never have needed a reef if that sand was still there. From my uneducated opinion of course.
As you said, no good ever comes from intervention ;-)
An article on this popped up in by FB feed - anyone know much about this?
https://www.albany.wa.gov.au/documents/804/southern-ocean-surf-reef-proj...
Google search of the project indicates a fair bit of news and momentum on it.