Well, once again we're at the arse end of the year - the arse end of the decade in fact.

It's not a year that was notable for any particular incident or trend, there were no design breakthroughs or blockbuster weather events, though if we're looking for ways to remember it then Italo Ferreira's World Title is the likeliest to create an impression. It was an enormously popular win, and not just because it was against the odds, but it also dragged in surfers who don't usually care for contests, and it got Aussie surfers doing the improbable: cheering for a Brazo.

Well, their flag is green and gold after all.

2020 is a year that promises much clarity, but right now it's time to reflect on the year that was here at Swellnet. 

These were the top ten stories on Swellnet in 2019, some of them ranked because of the traffic, but mostly because they gave us a laugh or they were stories we enjoyed telling:

Boiling Pot from the sky

Here at Swellnet, we can spend days and days researching a story, we fact check it and fine tune the syntax before it goes live, and we hope it's gonna get a good response from the readers.

Yet no matter how much effort we put in we're no match for a bloke with a drone and a lax sense of copyright.

It was the day of the year at Noosa, sun out, crowds to match. Yet the hostility at sea level fades away when you're not surfing but hovering overhead with a ripping soundtrack to boot. The Damned, The Clash, and The Sunnyboys were the score to this flight during Tropical Cyclone Oma that copped six-figures of traffic.

The Polyester King

Two weeks ago Levi Jones handed in his resignation at Wizstix Surfboards. He'd been there for 25 years. Can you imagine that kind of loyalty?

It was at Wizstix that Levi learnt how to fix dings, however rather than use that as a mere stepping stone into the industry, Levi, more than any other person I know, turned fixing dings into an artform. He now restores boards for Mark Richards, Terry Fitzgerald, Mitchell Rae, not to mention the burgeoning horde of vintage collectors who'd like the toasty single-fin their dad rode in '78 to be revitalised.

And if you think that's as simple as mixing up a bit of Q cell and some colouring then you've no idea of the practical, not to mention ethical, hurdles a modern ding fixer must clear.

First waves ridden at the Tulla tub

Aside from Italo's win, another landmark event of 2019 was the wavepool race coming to a head in Australia. Surf Lakes broke dirt first, but then broke equipment as well, KSWC kept circling and circling, looking to extract maximum government largesse, yet in November URBNSURF flicked the switch in the most user-friendly tub to date.

That's user-friendly in the sense that many waves can be ridden by many people, 'cos this video was the first unveiling of the Beast, a short but intense wave that within a few weeks had speared many an unsuspecting punter.

More from the mind of Greg Webber

A name not included in the wavepool list above is Greg Webber, who's slipped from sight in the wavepool race, though he's sold the US license to Floridian company, OSD (Ocean Sports Development).

Greg, however, isn't know for sitting still, and while waiting for the gears to turn on the wavepool enterprise he combined with his brother Dan on 'floating artificial reefs'. The Webber brothers - working together as Webber Reefs - conceived two ideas: the V-Reef, and V-Wall. The first one augments existing waves by creating wedges, while the second is a floating reef that creates peeling lefts and rights.

Both are V shapes and attach to the sea floor in one place only. 

Quick teaser: You'll read a bit more about one of these inventions shortly.

Sudden Stratospheric Warming and a summer of swell?

When the Earth's stratosphere suddenly went warm back in August it set of a slow chain of events down here at surface level. Craig Brokensha started tracking them in real time and readers got an indication of how a distant, infrequent, but overarching weather event could filter down and influence surface condistions, including swell.

That was an atrocious explanation of SSW, truth be told I can't actually recall how it unfolded, but if you click the story you can read it for yourself.

Mark Thomson found guilty of assault on Jodie Cooper at Lennox Head

Forty years after moving from Sydney's Wester Suburbs to Lennox Head, Mark Thomson's campaign of localism came to an end. The judge presiding over Thomson vs Cooper found him guilty of assault, sentencing him to 300 hours of community service.

The case both fascinated and revolted as the complexion of Aussie surfing changes under a demographic shift: more females and adult learners are picking up the sport, while surfers flee the cities and put the squeeze on once-quiet country breaks.

That said, few sympathised with the guilty party.

Watch: Palm Beach Artificial Reef

Artifical reefs are so last century.

Following failed efforts at Mount Maunganui, Bournemouth, Kerala, and Narrowneck, proponents of artifical reefs quietly packed up their site cabins, and rebadged their companies. Goodbye ASR, hello eCoast!

And for a decade or more, the artifical wave game meant wavepools. Meanwhile, sand flow issues on the coast are getting worse, while knowledge of coastal processes are getting better, and together that's leading, or in this case, led, back to artificial reefs again.

Strictly speaking, the Palm Beach Artificial Reef is to halt erosion, construction of it got across the line due to wealthy landowners living in the lee of it, however surfing amenity was considered, it was designed by Simon Brandi Mortensen, a talented coastal engineer and surfer, and back in August we got the first sight of it.

After a very long flat spell, the Coral Sea is again starting to kick and we'll shortly be seeing much more of Mortensen's Reef.

Swell of the season inbound for Indonesia

Most surf publications operate at the other end of the swell cycle, playing vids and running photos and stories after all the waves from a swell have been ridden. While that's got merit, here at Swellnet we think the story begins way before that, when a storm system behaves in a particular way in a particular location, and your heart rate begins to bracket creep.

Doesn't matter if you're gonna ride that swell or not, watching a storm form into something significant, and knowing many people will benefit, is something that never grows old.

PWCs and the new normal on the Gold Coast

Every single year around February the complaints came in, and every single year around February Swellnet would run stories about tow surf cowboys on the Gold Coast. Like sand through the hourglass etc etc.

Didn't seem like anything would change.

This year, however, Maritime Services Queensland (MSQ) contacted Swellnet to put the word out about their recent blitz on PWCs: This is the new normal.

Of course, everyone had something to say about that, but the big question is, will it last?

What say we convene here in February and discuss it, eh?

The waves you've never heard of

They're called infragravity waves, and despite surfing for thirty-something years I hadn't heard of them either. However, after reading their description, dutifully researched by Craig, I realised I'd encountered infragravity waves a few times and therefore there was one less mystery in my world.

Also, connecting two dots in this list, towards the end of each set, the Tullamarine Tub experiences infragravity waves. Keep that in mind when you surf it, and later on you can impress the lads or lasses when you casually drop that trivia while sipping spritzes on the lawn.

Gallery: Shipsterns roars into spring

It was supposed to be a top ten list but spare a thought for old Craig. He hiked a few hours into the Shippies lookout, sat there all day, not surfing, just shooting, squinting as he tried to ID the little men whipping in, growing more and more thirsty by the hour, then tramping back to the carpark as the sun set.

Least I could do is include the fruits of his labour in this list.

And that's Wade Clemens on the wave below if you must know - one fella who had himself a huge year.

OK, it's a few days till 2020, after minor respite the mercury is again heading north and the RFS site is getting regular refreshments, the first tropical cyclone has formed, and every coast in Australia has got something to look forward to.

See you on the other side where we'll have not only forecasts and reports, but also the news, stories, and video that matter.