Interesting stuff
Jeez the RFS page is sobering viewing. Like a war zone from Forster to the border.
Next 24 hrs is gonna be hell for some of those towns.
Meanwhile I just spoke to a fella at URBNSURF Tullamarine and it was 9° with an apparent temperature of 1°.
Scary as shit.
The southerly change is just more shrapnel in the hand grenade. It’s gotten to the point where the degrees of west in it could potentially change lives in my family.
Come on , Huey .....be nice.
yeah your right,scarey times .... nightime here now at 4.30,lights on... deep orange tinge to the sky with embers coming down around the house and i think the fires are 10 to 20 ks away........ferk
Same here. I’m just bailing now to go look after my parent’s place . Black leaves everywhere here.
All the best guys. Thoughts with you and your families.
As with Craig, best wishes to all up that way. Be safe.
Just spoke to a firey mate who, if it wasn't for being on annual leave, would be driving up there this afternoon with his squad. The prognosis didn't sound good. Fingers crossed the fireys can make a difference up there.
Good luck NSW crew, may you all be safe.
This was the light at 3 in the arvo today. The eeriest feeling across the whole town. Everyone just walking around going faaark.
The only thing that will make a difference is rain.
I don't think people have any clue as to the magnitude of the problem. We're talking rainfall deficiencies in the order of 600-1000mm across lots of the northern rivers and ranges/river catchments.
That means we need, not just a few showers, but an abnormally wet summer just to get back to zero.
Climate change is smacking us in the head. The climate of the sub-tropical areas has been becoming more arid/meditteranean.
Toxic, hot dry summers.
The normal summer moisture laden Tradewinds are now flukey, becoming rare even.
It's cumulative, a drive up through inland NSW in March was terrible to behold, paddocks with not a thing growing in them, just dirt and it hasn't seem to have improved. Then there's the extra landclearing - facepalm - so less vegetation holding less water in the landscape. And then the weather pattern whammy. I wonder if this is a feature of the SSW that's seeing us all green, cold and with lots of puddles down here in Vixico?
Coming out of late 1990s drought conditions in SW WA, Mildura stunned me in 2002 at peoples sheer scale of wasteful water use as the 'Millennium Drought' took hold. Sprinklers on all arvo in the front lawn, full bore car washes...
FR epic board review over on the other surf site. Geez those were fucking shit boards in the early 1990s, that whole lack of volume thing. Kelly did sell us all a ruse and TF said at the time "90% of you are riding the wrong board." The features in the boards of that era - the concaves, domed decks & change in rails - were good and were a progression for the better (maybe except the excessive rockers), it's just they were fitted to submarines.
cheers VJ.
I think the big diff between the Millennium Drought and this one is the millennium drought was mostly west of the divide. This one is just as bad on the divide and even coastal.
Talking to a local farmer the other day. He was close to in tears. Has to destock his land and this is pasture in sight of fucking Mt Warning. The wettest place in NSW!
only approx. 70 days water storage left for supply of taree, forster, Harrington and surrounds. Unable to draw from manning river due to very low flow. current fire emergency isn't helping either.
need rain.
Steve that’s incredible and so sad. From what I’ve seen the past couple of years compared to when I moved here... It’s clear as day the lack of rainfall and change in weather from the lush green landscapes that are quintessential of the coastal regions of NSW. Even down near Bega the other week is was much drier than three years ago... Parched and needing rain.
Cd, and the coming fortnight isn’t looking too fruitful.
Fire line is visible a few kms away across the valley to the South. Just watching it push southeast at the moment.
Strong southerly change due in an hour or two. Done as much prep as possible. So fucked.
Just heard the southerly. Very friggen nervous .
Very scary and very sad seeing the whole coast and hinterland go up and no sign of rain. Won’t be any bush to burn if it keeps up.
Good luck Blowin, the southerly is really pumping. Hopefully it backs off quick
Blowin, any news mate?
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Hope alls well Blowin.....
Just got back after bailing just after midnight as the southerly was about to hit. It wasn’t worth risking anyone’s lives trying to fight a fire pushed on a 50km/h wind when perched on top off a hill . Can’t say how close the fire came in the valley cause I can’t see anything. The RFS site is still saying watch and act , but the map of the fire’s perimeter is gone.
The daylight makes things way less hectic.
Big shout out to the crew at Marcel Towers , Nambucca who found a room for us at 1AM , who couldn’t be nicer or more concerned and who then refused to take any money for their troubles. That’s the spirit of human kindness writ large. The fact that they’re ex-firies didn’t hurt their understanding of the situation.
View from the verandah looking SE on a normal day and this morning:
Glad to hear your safe Blowin and also your parents place. While not changing the situation much at all the coming of the new day today and being able to see a little bit more would have been somewhat of a relief.
Horrifying.
Holy shit.
We are so lucky ( so far . Fingers crossed). Looking at the news now and people have been devastated. Lives and homes lost.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and their homes are out of harms way.
Meanwhile, 30cm of fresh.. Linked to SSW
A land of contrasts for sure.
As our PM says "thoughts & prayers"...
Wow @ snowfall Craig! The BOM guys really got the prognosis right when they worked out how the SSW would go down. Could you paste that pic over on the SSW thread as well - people might come back to it in the years ahead.
Blowin glad to hear you & parents' house OK, hope everyone else is safe up there also. Legends at the hotel. Ash Wednesday it was the fire starting in a northerly, then strong westerly 'dry front' that did the damage, that was freaky. Black Saturday I was driving north past Adelaide going back to the West, you couldn't see the mountain ranges in the dust with the hot 100km/h northerly. Hope the winds abate up there.
Unprecedented scenes on the mid north coast and no end in sight. Listening to the emergency scanner guys asking for backup and being told no one is available...
Most crews been at fire front for 20+ hours
some of these North coast fires have been burning for 2 months.
I think one of those Port fires started even earlier.
That southerly is cold yet it carries the very real threat of conflagration.
Bizarre
Yep the fire in Port is through a forest in an old peat swamp. In calm weather with rain they said it would burn for at least two months. It just keeps flaring up every time the wind picks up. It's the current fire threatening the outer suburbs of Port near the highway.
Wow, i didn't even know there was fires.
Crazy how different a thousand plus km's can make, its freezing down here and our dam is over 90% full.
Glad all Swellnet crew are okay.
$$$$$
This is a shot of the last guy helping himself to dinner
https://ibb.co/7NHL823
Current lab as a puppy and his idea of fun while the older guy is looking on
https://ibb.co/x1KQjD2
Current lab after a swim
https://ibb.co/603wyW8
That last photo is a cracker GS.
If you want to embed the photo, scroll down a bit to see 'Embed codes'.
Click and scroll down to the third code 'Full image (linked)'
Select BB code and tap copy.
Come back to this post and paste.
Link to how to use imgur if you're interested but I'm finding imgbb easier using a phone.
https://www.swellnet.com/forums/wax/41251
Frankie
Any recent surfing dog shots among the tribe?
No dog or surfing dog pics, but seeing everyone is posting pics, i got a nice eating size Gummy the other night and a few Snapper too 
Smallest flatty was 1cm over legal size 2 bigger Snapper were 60cm + (already scaled, last time i will ever scale fish on the boat though, made a mess)
Nice work IndoD.
Fresh gummy delicious
Indo, scale fish underwater in an esky.
On land or on the boat, good way to keep scales flying everywhere down to a minimum.
(what i mean is half fill an esky with water and scale the fish submerged- just in case that wasn't clear)
btw- looks like someone ate well tonight.
try some of that Snapper raw (sashimi) with a little light soy and wasabi or minced ginger. it'll open up a new world for you.
A mate of mine breeds these Tibetan Mastiff’s. He got this big daddy imported from America to use as a breeder. It cost him US$15,000. It resembles a small lion but has a beautiful temperament. Just the most placid dog despite its appearance.
I’d love to get a puppy off him but I don’t think I could handle the constant brushing.....
that thing would send you broke with food and vet bills surely?
Plus they don’t tolerate the heat well at all so running the air conditioning 24/7 in summer would cost a fortune. He actually has four of them and they hardly ever leave the house in summer. When he does walk them people freak because they’re such an unusual looking dog!
Plus they don’t tolerate the heat well at all so running the air conditioning 24/7 in summer would cost a fortune. He actually has four of them and they hardly ever leave the house in summer. When he does walk them people freak because they’re such an unusual looking dog!
@Zen
Great idea on water filled esky.
I love meat and Japaness food but I just cant do raw meat even fish, as close as i get to being a vegan.
Morning surf check and the high tide line look littered with red weed. Had a closer look and it’s all charred leaves from the fires.
Have it cunts