Review: 'Thirteenth' By Steve Arklay

Stu Nettle picture
Stu Nettle (stunet)
The Depth Test

Sometimes it takes the view of the outsider to capture what locals take for granted.

Distance adds perspective.

If you’ve been visiting Swellnet for any length of time then you’ve no doubt seen Steve Arklay’s photographic work. Aside from the odd gallery he's a regular in the Wave Of The day slot. West Oz, King Island, remote Victoria, his work roams where he does, yet overwhelmingly the surfscape in his viewfinder is that of Thirteenth Beach - the stretch of sand-over-rock west of Port Phillip Bay.

Steve didn’t grow up there, not even in nearby Ocean Grove. He’s originally from Geelong and the introduction to the coast came via schoolmates and long trips via public transport. Time spent overseas followed, plus he discovered photography - his own lens upon the world.

When he returned, Steve set up home in Barwon Heads and found the ideal studio just over the dune line; the beach to where those distant journeys led.

The coastal orientation gives Thirteenth an advantage over nearby waves. From Cape Otway to Breamlea the coast faces away from the incoming swell, yet a kink in the coast at Thirteenth increases incoming energy - also increasing the hit rate.

“There have been instances in autumn or winter,” says Steve, “when I’ve shot seven days straight from dawn to dusk - whether that’s from the water or land or a bit of both.”

So far so good.

What really elevates Thirteenth, however, are the things that you can’t see - a series of offshore bommies that transform the incoming energy from long straight lines into joyful wedges and peaks. They also add to the complexity and options for surfers and photographers.

“The variety of breaks along the seven-kilometre stretch is unique,” says Steve, “Beachies, bommies, reefbreaks, miniature slabs, shorebreaks, not to mention the marine sanctuary around the bluff on the eastern end of the beach.”

The on land features are also part of the appeal. “One of my favourite aspects of Thirteenth is that when surfing or shooting you can’t see any houses along the beach,” says Steve.” It's pretty amazing to have the houses set back behind the dune system to give surfers a rewarding connection to the beach and environment.”

Published last month, the eponymous book isn’t weighed down by text or story, and the reason is simple. “It would result in less images,” explains Steve. “Besides, I thought I’d let my photos do the talking as a picture says a…” you know how the rest goes.

Doing the sums, that means 'Thirteenth' contains 200,000 unwritten words.

Some of the images Swellnet readers may have seen before, though most remain unpublished. In its entirety, 'Thirteenth' is an all angles, all seasons study of a single stretch of coastline. It must sound like madness to anyone but a surfer. 

Though not part of the artistic process, Steve pays kudos to the locals who, along with the waves and the light, also compel him to keep visiting the same stretch of coastline.

“Creating this book has been an awesome passion project,” says Steve of the hours going through his archives, short-listing images from literally thousands of prospective files, “but I’m thrilled to share it with the surfers, locals, and others who love Thirteenth Beach.”

'Thirteenth' is 160 glossy pages and is available from Steve's website.

Comments

Tooold2bakook's picture
Tooold2bakook's picture
Tooold2bakook Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 4:52pm

Nice work. When I lived in Melbourne I often favoured 13th over the points for the variety. Also helps that it spreads the crowd a bit. Lots of good memories.

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 5:09pm

just ordered 2, chrissy presents for myself and a mate.. love steve's work, (and that he sorts chris stirk's internet-machine sales for him.. top feller), cheers!

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Tuesday, 26 Nov 2024 at 12:20pm

(dig the article-guts' bookends too ; )

Jelly Flater's picture
Jelly Flater's picture
Jelly Flater Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 5:22pm

Lucky 13th ;)
… A-frame heaven

- Steve’s photography is a gift, can’t wait to check it out

dbut's picture
dbut's picture
dbut Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 6:42pm

Looks nice from afar, but most overrated vicco wave. I’m glad it’s all the hype though as it sucks in a lot of travelling and local surfers away from other spots.

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 8:41pm

Not sure about that, but I've been caught out chasing peaks many a time. As soon as you paddle over to one, it breaks just where you've been. Can be a frustrating place.

natjon651's picture
natjon651's picture
natjon651 Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 8:12am

Ha. You couldn't have described it any better!!!

Bungan33's picture
Bungan33's picture
Bungan33 Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 1:48pm

It's funny that comment.... Im torn between letting people think it is over rated and defending my local.
If you think it's over rated then you mustn't live here. It's a pretty mind boggling array of breaks. I think the wonder of the place is that it can look average....then you paddle out and it often exceeds expectations.

dbut's picture
dbut's picture
dbut Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 10:19pm

In no way I’m saying it’s bad, just the hype around it.. young crew lurking juc pub yelling and screaming Beacon at dawn just bores the flavour of surfing I’m looking for. I’ve had good waves at beacon but I’m usually somewhere else when it’s good. It would be a great local but you could easily plan to drive an hour to get there and have a shit surf and get none. The thing is you have to be so precise with your position across a couple hundred metre stretch of beach to time the barrel there as most the right hand peaks converge so quick and flap over in an almond fashion bending away from itself before you get to your feet and then you end up just getting a shoulder ride which doesn’t feel that great. The lefts are usually better but still people claim they are getting a lot more tubed there than they are imo. And if I wanted to do turns youd better off surfing Torquay main beach.

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 8:39pm

Enjoyed your work for a long time Steve. Thanks and well done on your book. As an aside, despite living pretty close for most of my life, I have no idea why it's called 13th. Anyone care to shed any light?

Sprout's picture
Sprout's picture
Sprout Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 8:53pm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Beach

"the name is taken from the close proximity of the beach to the thirteenth hole of the Barwon Heads Golf Course."

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 8:53pm

Icandig. It’s called 13th because of the golf course.

I concur with dbut. Lovely photos in Steve’s book, beautiful scenery, but the waves are so frustrating, I agree with you Icandig, you sit on what you think is a peak, frustrated, then you see a peak in the distance with a half decent one.
Have been going there for 45 years, rarely does it get good.
Some Winters, a frames at Beacon turn on.
Give me the Torquay coast any day. AW

Dx3's picture
Dx3's picture
Dx3 Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 11:21am

Reckon of all the surfs I have there, they range from shit to fun/low-ish end of good. Never great. But it's a lovely stretch of beach, guess I've just never scored it at its best. Or I'm just shit, which is also the case.

Regardless, it's very handy to have it to soak up 50-100 surfers at any given time from other breaks in the area. Quality photos from Steve though, that we can all agree on.

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 10:07pm

I suspected the Golf Course but oddly enough when I first started surfing there over 40 years ago, I don't even remember a golf course being there.

*Edit. Although I'm finding it hard to confirm, I think it was named after the 13th hole of the Barwon Heads golf course - not 13th Beach golf course which looks like it opened in 2001.

*Edit of Edit......sorry Sprout, in my haste I only half read your response.

Weatherman's picture
Weatherman's picture
Weatherman Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024 at 10:33pm

Yeah, been surfing 13th for nearly 50 years, although not that often these days as it's a bit of a drive. Great variety of waves from the punchy peaks of the Beacon to the mellower waves along the beach more suited to mals etc. Even the point at Black Rock can be fun on the right board. Genuine barrels on a good day at Beacon, although can be frustrating as mentioned. Biggest issue these days is the crowds I find. Geelong, Armstrong Creek, Barwon Heads, Ocean Grove, everyone wants to live near the coast and good waves. Who doesn't? So many great WOTD photos by Steve.

juegasiempre's picture
juegasiempre's picture
juegasiempre Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 9:04am

When I was travelling through that area I was pretty shocked by the sprawl around that area all the way to Torquay.

As for good waves, it wouldn't be where I would be living in Victoria if I had to live there.

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 12:58pm

Juegasiempre. Hi.

This is my opinion. For a person whose name roughly translates to ‘always playing’, go back and read all of your comments on Swellnet on any topic.

You must live in utopia. Your world sounds amazing wherever it is you live.
Please send me some of that ‘fairy dust’.

99% of your comments are negative about surf, it’s either too cold, waters too cold, too crowded, to close to a city , too expensive, too much money for a place on the coast, not enough sand at a certain bank…….ad nauseum.

I chuckle everytime I read your posts, like, here we go again.

Do you ever have anything positive to say apart from where you reside, which is from memory around Port Macquarie kind of area or on the eastern seaboard, where it sounds like the surf is perfect everyday.

Are you Portuguese or Brazilian ? Just asking.

I’m so curious about your attitude towards the surf fraternity.

As I’ve said, my opinion. All the best. AW

juegasiempre's picture
juegasiempre's picture
juegasiempre Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 2:09pm

I'm from straya. Born and bred but do speak another language and have lived overseas for a few years.

How can I spout 99% negativity but only speak positively about where I'm from? Unless that's the 1%? Anyways that's not true because I've only had a couple of decent surfs this whole spring!

I do plead guilty to being to harsh on the surf though. I'm not working anymore and can kinda live anywhere in the world, within reason, and have done for about 5 years of my life, so that does colour my surf experience and the more you've experienced, the harder it is to just be happy with what you have in front of you. Sorry if I've offended, I welcome diverse opinions and that's why I love forums in general.

My opinion on anyone, surfer or otherwise, is that we're all humans and despite our differences we all have more in common than anything else!

Dx3's picture
Dx3's picture
Dx3 Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 10:42am

I do recall you spent a bit of time down in Vicco in the last 2 years, but that the window you chose was Spring and Summer? Think we can all be a bit harsh on surf at times, but for a good experience down here (west coast vic), you definitely chose the worst 6 month window possible. Add to that, autumn/winter of 2023 aside, we've had some lean runs with La Nina.

juegasiempre's picture
juegasiempre's picture
juegasiempre Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 10:56am

Yeah, horses for courses. If people love vicco, power to them! Who am I to say they're wrong and I'm right? Even if the waves were better than other cold water destinations (they're not IMO), the idea of a summer wetsuit is gross to me. I hate wetsuits!

That said, Phillip island and Portland are both good surf destinations IMO, just too cold, too far away from the equator! Also Victoria is where we saw the most wildlife by far, it's cheap to buy, so it's got a bit going for it.

I'm not a hater, I just have my preferences.

rj-davey's picture
rj-davey's picture
rj-davey Thursday, 28 Nov 2024 at 11:20am

Taking an alternate position I've actually quite appreciated your comments. I've been distantly curious (and, confession, a tad jealous) as to how you've managed what appears a fairly transitory existence enjoying different coastlines and breaks. And I intentionally say enjoying because personally I don't recall your reflections being overly negative. I mean geez, if you froth on how good a place is you risk being charged with blowing secret spots and increasing crowds. So do as you do I say.

lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy's picture
lostdoggy Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 8:05am

Nice work Steve.

World tour perspective. Rip Curl Pro 2010.

Bit of lighthearted meteorological comedy to start, then details about how mobile the comp was back then. 13th Beach recap from about 17.20.

peabo's picture
peabo's picture
peabo Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 9:54am

Disagree about 13th being an overrated spot, but I guess it depends what you like. Beacon is regularly pumping out quality A-frames. I get the frustration factor of having to watch good waves coming in either side of you and not right where you're sitting, but a bit of patience usually sees you end up with a good one without having to fight for it.

I think it's the inconsistent banks either side of Beacon which are of lesser quality... but are where the main car parks are and often what people paddle out to. There are some other spots along this stretch of beach which i'm sure people wouldn't want me broadcasting which are much more consistent.

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 11:42am

Steve is a great photog, love his work.

Him as well as Judy and Romy always bringing the quality images from the south. Todays WOTD no exception.

blackers's picture
blackers's picture
blackers Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 3:45pm

Indeedy do. All have a good eye and make dreamy images.
Purchased a copy of Steve's book, looking forward to flicking through it.

ken.vincent's picture
ken.vincent's picture
ken.vincent Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 11:52am

Nothin' to do with Golf, coastline was divided up into beaches which could be defended by Barbed wire, Pill boxes & marked on WW2 maps of the time for ease of use. ie: 13th Beach is the 13th division of the coastline into it's various parts as marked on those maps.

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 12:29pm

Thanks Ken - got any references please? I had a bit of a search around but couldn't find much. Wikipedia has this....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Beach - but we all know we can't always rely on it.

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 12:45pm

Ken,Vincent. Hi.

Appreciate your knowledge.

This is where information from one source collides with another.

In the 1970’s I was taught by a teacher in Geelong who was as a surfer, he’s long deceased.
He told our class that it was because of the 13th hole of the course.

Alas, it’s a beautiful spot, I survey Hooded Plovers there along with other volunteers, I had plenty of good beatings at Beacon in Winter when there’s been a straight Northerly.
Love the rawness of 13th. My son and I used to be in the Boardriders Club, great bunch of locals and larrikins. All the best. AW

Bungan33's picture
Bungan33's picture
Bungan33 Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 1:54pm

Yep...everybody hear this...13th beach is SOOOOO over rated. it's terrible. Surfcams lie, rips everywhere, dead whales, sharks, close outs, rocks, the SN reporter often under calls the size by half so your "4 foot" session becomes double+ over head heaving onto churned up sand bars.... give it a miss. Seriously. Tell all your mates too. Hideous place....

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 2:10pm

I'll look out for you at Beacon next time it's firing Bungan.

Bungan33's picture
Bungan33's picture
Bungan33 Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 1:26pm

Maybe SN could get a bunch of branded stickers with our handles / user names on it....or we invent some Freemason s*#t...secret hand shake / smile thing....
But I just thought that through.... imagined paddling past a guy, and kind of jiggling your eyebrows in that "in the know" kind of way to a stranger. I might end up with a black eye or notes with phone numbers left on my windscreen.....
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just not my cup of tea.
Would be worse doing it to a female surfer - just plain creepy!!!

tommy southcoast's picture
tommy southcoast's picture
tommy southcoast Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:16pm

Hahaha. I CONCUR! ;)

ken.vincent's picture
ken.vincent's picture
ken.vincent Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 2:12pm

AlfredWallace appreciate you checking facts, and I knew someone would have to ask!. Wiki is very thin on info, so I think can be ignored as a primary source. My Dad trained at Breamlea, Barwon Heads & Ocean Grove for WW2, and reported the entire coastline was cordoned off with Barbed Wire & Tank defences. Pill boxes can still be seen at Thomson's Creek and Pt Lonsdale. I asked him about the maps when I was a kid, but he couldn't confirm the story as far as I remember. Many years later I was shown a WW2 map which was exactly concurrent with the time, and 13th Beach was absolutely marked where it is today. The area covers from Black rock to the Bluff at Barwon Heads ( far more than the area backed by the Golf Course).An old school friend Steve Mahoney said this was true also. RAAFs beach ( on the spit near Ocean Grove) was named thus, as this is where the RAAF encampment was when my Dad's AIF battalion was camped at Geelong Racecourse. It appears the strength of place names associated with wartime was strong in the area.

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:16pm

Hi mate. You are absolutely correct, I was just passing on what I’d heard.

So true of RAAFS, I’ve mentioned it plenty of times. The beach landing strip.

Time erases good memories sometimes, but a fact is a fact.

Good stuff.

I wouldn’t trust any of those ‘guess on line ‘ databases , the input is from anywhere, basically unsolicited publishing. No Wiki around my hood. AW

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 2:57pm

Thanks for that Ken....that's awesome. There are plenty of concrete bunkers etc... remnants of WW2 stuff from Q'cliff to Poss and beyond. Somewhere in the depths of my brain I had some inkling I'd heard a story that conflicted with the golf club theory. Maybe that's why I asked, but who knows? My brain is porridge.

nickca's picture
nickca's picture
nickca Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 3:21pm

Swellnet surfcam at RAAFs has been misspelled for years

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 4:03pm

actually, that's an interesting story, too. All sites call it 'Raffs' correctly.

My grandfather met the guy that Raffs is named after, feller by the name of Rafferty. He was a surveyor with the RAAF (just a coincidence). What annoyed my grandfather for years, after meeting Raff, was people leaving out the apostrophe in the beach nickname, writing Raffs, rather than Raff's.

But he met old-man Rafferty down at Raffs again, years and years later and asked him about the missing apostrophe. Rafferty looked to the horizon, sighed and said, 'there's no missing apostrophe, son. There was another Raff; there were two of us. Italian ex-POW on a work transfer - gentle chap by the name of Raphael. Svelt! Sometimes under the cover of night, we'd bribe the guards, and meet down at this here beach and swim together in the moonlight..

'Some of the airmen knew of our rendezvous, and would yell 'watch out for the Raffs..!' jokingly to civilians, who were passing the base during the day, heading to the beach.'

He then turned to look at my grandfather and said sadly,
'you ever been in love, young feller..?'

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:16pm

Brought a tear to my eye that did. Beautiful......just beautiful...*sniff

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:26pm

theramin soundtrack?

blackers's picture
blackers's picture
blackers Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:41pm

Please, noooooooo!

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:46pm

hehe : )

blackers's picture
blackers's picture
blackers Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:47pm

Posted one for you in the tunes thread. No theramin on my watch thank you very much.

zenagain's picture
zenagain's picture
zenagain Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:56pm

Had to look that up. Cheers guys, never heard of a theramin.

nickca's picture
nickca's picture
nickca Monday, 25 Nov 2024 at 8:36am

The beach indicator sign spells it RAAFs

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Monday, 25 Nov 2024 at 9:48am

that's because the beach is named after the RAAF SLSC, mostly dudes from Point Cook, when they were allocated that section to patrol in the early 1950s, so that the Ocean Grove SLSC and the RAAF SLSC (both newly established) had their own sections.

Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 3:58pm

A stupid question from the there’s no such thing as a stupid question department: why is it named ‘Thirteenth’ ?

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 4:18pm

Ordinarily, there are no stupid questions.

However in this case the answer (a couple of 'em, actually) has already been canvassed above.

Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:29pm

Touché
… you actually ventured to assume I’d steal valuable time to read the article?

Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:43pm

I’m obviously really really really stupid. But, ere goes….
How did that particular beach acquire the title ‘Thirteenth Beach’?

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 5:45pm

actually, that's an interesting story, dates back to dutch explorers who were using a lunar calendar..

Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula's picture
Baron von Spatula Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:14pm

Cheers squire!

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 7:07pm

I think we’re getting somewhere. Actually, the moon orbits the Earth roughly 13 times in a year, resulting in 13 lunar months of 28 days each. The word lunatic comes from the Latin word lunaticus, which was used to describe epilepsy and madness, diseases that were thought to be caused by the moon. The story goes that on the last (13th) orbit of the moon the famous dutchman Abel Tasman, on the way to Tasmania, went mad from the sound of crew member Basich’s early experiments with radio magnetic navigation devices; the earliest recorded iteration of the theremin. Seeking reprieve from the awful caterwauling in the crow’s nest, he spotted something unusual near land. Tasman exclaimed “Hey Basich look at that sick tooob. Remember this place – we’ll come back and get fully shacked.” They made it back 13 years later but couldn’t find a single wave in the shifting peaks. Tasman ended his days in the Lakeside asylum and is remembered by a song of the same name by groovy aussie band Australian Crawl, who coincidentally sponsored the most famous surfing competition of all time for Bells Beach’s 21st birthday.

basesix's picture
basesix's picture
basesix Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 7:25pm

hahah, ooh, that deserves a soundtrack named music of the spheres played on a dusty Fairlight CMI with patches missing! onto it.

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 8:40pm

ken.vincent's picture
ken.vincent's picture
ken.vincent Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 8:53am

Exactly Icandig , I'd forgotten about the early explorers, and the WW2 story is probably just those old blowhards trying to make a name for themselves !!!. And yes , 13th always has crap waves, so stay away from the place if you can.

Chris Cornell's picture
Chris Cornell's picture
Chris Cornell Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:01pm

Awesome book Steve.
Do yourselves a favor and put one under the Christmas tree.

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:16pm

My timeline with 13th goes back to the time before the dune protection work/fence was put in, a time when the dunes were still active in forming the banks. I had some fantastic hollow surfs in the Beacon area and the reefs to the west (Head Injuries?). The sand movement all along the road was massive sometimes the road would pretty much disappear with sand. Still a favourite stretch of coast. Back then Raffs used to break consistently well but if my memory is correct that all changed after a massive swell coincided with a king tide and a flooding Barwon River (didn’t the main street of Barwon Heads flood at this time?). Absolutely love that stretch of coast …

paddlepoplion's picture
paddlepoplion's picture
paddlepoplion Saturday, 23 Nov 2024 at 5:04pm

Absolutely. Golfies has never been the same and even Beacon was way better before the road went in. In my opinion both breaks are a shadow of their former incarnations. Surfing creates so much value to a the community they should put it back the way it was.

mattlock's picture
mattlock's picture
mattlock Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:20pm

When did the fences go in Guy?

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 6:44pm

My guess would be early 80’s @mattlock.

Note the original road ran much closer to the ocean, very close in fact, dangerously close, near the Beacon. The road as we know it today was located perhaps 15 metres inland from the original

adam12's picture
adam12's picture
adam12 Thursday, 21 Nov 2024 at 11:29pm

@Guy,
I remember the days when the sand would cover the road, no carpark, park on the roadside above Beacon, the wooden beacon was still on the cliff and there were rip bowl banks all along. The cliff that is now at Beacon used to be a big sand hill you'd have to climb, only a little jump off cliff at the top. I broke my foot in a wipeout the day the space shuttle blew up and had to get carried up it in 35 degree heat, that was 1986, so it was still a sand hill back then.
The dune vegetation has stuffed most of the banks around signies and clubbies, needs a massive swell to punch some holes in the shoaly banks now to turn on there properly, and it fills back in pretty quick. You used to be able to see the water on the whole drive along 13th, now the vegetation is so high it's only parts that you can see now.
But there is still a set up down past Beacon that I target, along with many others it seems these days, it used to be a sneaky no one goes there or is onto it. even up until maybe five or ten years ago. When it's on it's a way better wave than Beacon I reckon, maybe not as juicy, needs certain conditions, but a longer, better shaped wave. The right handers anyway. I'm sure you know the one I'm talking about.
It's funny, I've sat in the dunes or been checking waves with old boy locals who have had the same "is it named after the golf hole or was it named during the war" discussion quite a few times over the years, and Raafs still gets good I reckon, especially on the big high tides.
And the Lonnie pill boxes have seen some wild parties over the years, even today they tell me. I came across a couple of young local whippersnappers hitting bongs in one on a walk only a couple of weeks ago, I had to stop and give them a stern word, along the lines of "Got one for me", something like that.
Yep, still love this coast.

pittsy's picture
pittsy's picture
pittsy Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 8:08am

wish i could have seen back in the day, sounds similar to alot of the peninsula beachy's - significantly better back in the day (seems more vegetation based vs. rose tinted glasses?).

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 8:23am

Adam12. Hi fella. I hope you’re doing well.

I wrote on here several years ago about the banks or lack there of.

I clearly remember sand covering the road more often than not, on many occasions it was blocked entirely.
Stupid ideas in the 70’s and 80’s to revegetate dunes was a very poor decision. Our school use to go there planting marram grass.
Subsequently those areas have blown out by natural processes thankfully.

As I penned last time we discussed this beach.

It’s the road that is the problem, sand dunes are mobile and immobile.

The road is like a continuous black tar lid on top of mobile dunes that would under a normal system, have their crests blown off , thus sending sand back toward the ocean.
Most of the changes to the cliffs and dunes besides the road area are just normal coastal geomorphology processes. I agree , it’s still a beautiful strip of coast.
Pity about the road location, it would have been better if it was built another kilometre inland towards the north and below the height of the highest mobile dunes. AW

adam12's picture
adam12's picture
adam12 Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 12:00pm

@AW,
hi mate, good to chat online again, yep the road, should have mentioned that, that fkn road.
So dangerous too, especially in warmer months when the cyclists come out. I would never ride a bike along that stretch, there's no shoulder, half the drivers are looking at the ocean not the road, two way traffic having to bunch up behind the cyclists and overtaking. A death trap.
And yes, how much better would that beach be without the road, same in so many places, the SLSC's and roads and carparks built on dunes. Grove main beach and Lonnie front beach come to mind as well, how different they would have been back in their natural state. So many places like that. All over Australia.
I recently saw a photo of Apollo Bay before the boat harbour was built and it was an epic looking right point, destroyed forever.
Also wanted to ask you, seeing as you are a hooded plover volunteer, if you knew John Murray, Lonnie and Queenscliff local, and a really dedicated plover guy, always down checking on them, putting up signs, roping off sand, talking to the dog owners. Great guy and good mate of mine, good surfer too, in his 70's now but still fit and still charging the reefs on big days, he's an Outside Impossos regular.
The plover community down here is pretty tight, so wondered if you knew him.
Anyway, hope you are well and getting your fill of waves and life, I know you probably are. Been reading your comments here on SN lately and enjoyed your contributions as always.
Go well mate.

AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace's picture
AlfredWallace Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 6:35pm

Adam12. Hi mate.

Very true, Point Bunbury surf break was destroyed once the harbour stone wall commenced construction in 1948, which went on for six more years until completion.
My father was 9 years old when they started the rock dumping.

He and his two brothers were all surfers, he tells me they loved it and the chicks loved them because they were surfers, no shit that’s what he told me a decade ago.

In fact, I will dig them up, but I’ve got photos of his surf mobile and other cars with big wooden planks on the roof racks parked behind the big Monterey Cypress (Hesperocyparis macrocarpa) (Californian native) trees that lined the foreshore on the east side of Collingwood street, which is the main drag.

The trees were synonymous with the arrival and approach into Apollo Bay as you came from Geelong to Lorne etc. , some still remain but many have aged and contracted bacterial canker, where sap oozes out of the vascular system, mostly a result of aged trees.
The trees were perfectly suited to The Bay, even though they were exotics.

Monterey south of Santa Cruz , California, similar weather and very cold water currents like water around The Bay. Note, the water there is much colder than back up around Torquay.
Sorry, I’ve digressed, so before Point Bunbury became redundant, the wave according to my fathers information from surfers older than him was it was a long wave like Winkipop.
The natural sand distribution from the point once replenished the main beach and especially the area as you come into The Bay where you are very close to the waters edge on the road, the area where in modern times the road gets eaten away in storms. This area now has a few groynes to compensate for the fact that the natural process of sand deposition was completely altered once the harbour was finished in 1954.

My father said the best sand banks were in this area where the new groynes were constructed recently.
One photo I have shows cars down at this particular spot .
For as long as I can remember the area where my father use to surf has been a straight hander for ever and a day, you pull up in your car , it’s super clean and you think you see a decent wave, but it’s an illusion.
Without the harbour , Apollo Bay would’ve had a smoking dredging right hander off the point and good sand banks just as you come into town , but no, no and no.

Adam12. I’m in the Geelong Field Naturalist Club, we have a huge membership and we share or delegate volunteers who assist with others, like the folk you know with all facets of care required so as these tiny Hooded Plovers can do what they’ve been doing for millennia, pass on genetic information to their offspring in perpetuity.

Great writing about trades stuff recently, I concur with everything you said.
I will elaborate more on Monday, I’m launching a new forum topic. All the best. AW

GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley's picture
GuySmiley Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 8:29am

@adam12, your comments are spot on, remember parking the car right on the edge of the bitumen only a foot or so away from the dune drop off at the Beacon, and yes the old wooden beacon marker, being able to see the ocean pretty much all the way down the road or keeping an eye on your car from the water. Reckon I surfed the other set up for years before Ross at the Rasta Emporium (top bloke & business) called it head injuries .. and yes a cracking right.

Bnkref's picture
Bnkref's picture
Bnkref Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 11:53am

Ross is a great local character. I've only met him a few times getting boards repaired but he does a top notch job on repairs.

adam12's picture
adam12's picture
adam12 Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 12:41pm

Yep Rasta Ross is a ripper bloke, shared many sessions with him over the years, he loves Raafs and a couple of other sneaky spots I always seem to run into him at when they are on, and yep he's the ding master and a great guy to do business with. In fact that's one thing about the Bellarine and Barwon heads/Grove, some great surf shops and shapers, you really don't need to go past Barwon River to get sorted. Tonic always has great prices on wetties, don't know how they do it really and some of the boardmakers, won't go into names because I'd probably leave someone out, are as good or better than anywhere I reckon.

GONAD_MAN's picture
GONAD_MAN's picture
GONAD_MAN Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 10:28am

I think a part of the old road is still there. Down near the Black Rock and 13th Beach rd intersection.

icandig's picture
icandig's picture
icandig Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 10:58am

Lycra clad individuals only.

natjon651's picture
natjon651's picture
natjon651 Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 2:11pm

This is a great read. Many like to bag 13th, but those of us that surf here daily have learnt to love all she offers. Everyone is proud of their local, we caretakers are no exception!! Just on the subject of the road, I recall talking to a bloke this year at Beacon who said the original road that runs past Beacon was meant to be about 50 meters north (inland) of its current location, but certain influence from political aligned people (cyclists) put a stop to that, hence why it runs so close to the edge of the dunes. Anyone heard of this?

hamishbro's picture
hamishbro's picture
hamishbro Friday, 22 Nov 2024 at 6:03pm

Such a good read.

Standingleft's picture
Standingleft's picture
Standingleft Saturday, 23 Nov 2024 at 6:54am

First time I surfed 13th was maybe '89? Hot day, 2.5 feet, inconsistent but nice.
I paddled out to where I saw a peak but got nothing, paddled to another nearby peak, it was a phantom too, paddled back to original, still nothing, paddled across to another, still out of position?
Then noticed a local sitting by himself in the middle, waiting patiently he was scoring a micro barrel every ten minutes.
Know your patch of sand kids.
Drove there for many dawnies after. When it's firing it is thick, black and even steep which is unusual around here, needs a slightly different board too.
The thing about southern Victoria is the light. Its got excellent light, haha and Steve has captured it perfectly and artistically.

purny's picture
purny's picture
purny Saturday, 23 Nov 2024 at 7:59am

I want to comment on the previous story.... hahaha great yarn Clark.

Standingleft's picture
Standingleft's picture
Standingleft Saturday, 23 Nov 2024 at 4:17pm

Is that for me? Who's Clark?
The thing about writing comments about spots, I've thrown in a couple of tips for rookies, I dont want to be giving rookies tips on the internet about local surf spots.
Get out there and get pile-driven into the sand, that's how I got em.

purny's picture
purny's picture
purny Saturday, 23 Nov 2024 at 6:26pm

no not for you, was commenting about the previous story about the girls surfing stuff as comments were not allowed. I'm pleading ignorant as I didn't read your yarn, I'm sure it was good 8)

ron's picture
ron's picture
ron Saturday, 23 Nov 2024 at 11:55am

Some of these 13th comments that call it average then go on to explain you don't know how to surf a peak in your own words is funny. Maybe re read your own posts for the answers to your own problems.

The variety at and around 13th is what keeps me interested. On the same beach on the same day you could choose between over head meaty barrels at Beacon, long fatter walls up towards the bluff, various other hollow peaks with less people, user friendly lefts and rights of various shapes and sizes. Add to that the limited parking and not many close houses means it never gets insanely crowded.

Will get the book!

Itsmemickyb's picture
Itsmemickyb's picture
Itsmemickyb Monday, 25 Nov 2024 at 9:43am

haha paddling to where the last set broke at beacon wont get you many waves

Bungan33's picture
Bungan33's picture
Bungan33 Monday, 25 Nov 2024 at 12:32pm

Yep! Rookie error.
What I love about it is the sit and wait. You are 100% guaranteed to get a peak come your way if you just sit. You need to know WHERE to sit - but the broken peaks are what make the place a dram I reckon.

suckin-sand's picture
suckin-sand's picture
suckin-sand Monday, 25 Nov 2024 at 4:15pm

Love the Beacon. And love that a lot of crew can't read the lineup even more. Once you get it - there's waves a plenty. One of the few places on west coast you can get a proper barrel. Even tho it is not as good as it used to be. Used to be more sand out there with longer rides. Been patchy for long time.

elmo's picture
elmo's picture
elmo Thursday, 28 Nov 2024 at 8:44am

Re 13th. As I type this looking at 2 photos on my wall from a long time ago, one of me and a random. 3-5ft offshore and pumping.
Also got the secret spot in the Bay 4-6ft on the same trip, spent all day there, was a great day that one.
Must of been lucky :)
Never been back.