The Mid
Haha, it's just in one of patterns where all the fronts are pushing up towards WA and then through the Bight before quickly dipping away. Has to do with the position of the Long Wave Trough in the upper atmosphere being focussed either near WA or in the Bight and you can read more about it here.
https://www.swellnet.com.au/news/2318-long-wave-trough-the-waves-that-create-waves
January hasn't been this good for ages..hope it continues..6ft ledge at the moment yeeww!!
Had my first ever surf on the mid last weekend. Have to say that I was (not unexpectedly) underwhelmed. I just wish I'd been around the weekend before, when it was supposed to have been about as good as it gets. Oh well, it's better to get wet than not...
Surfstarved - if you are hanging around the mid then your name is appropriate and prepare to be underwhelmed on an extremely regular basis - if not downright frustrated - almost every day of the year. Been there done that in my youth, death by a thousand cuts by my way of thinking. Excellent waves further afield of course but if you want or need business/lifestyle opportunities and good waves as well then you better like driving...
It is easy to pay out the mid but.....
1. It gets better than Melbourne,Darwin,Canberra, Brisbane or even Perth beaches.
2. So many classy little reef breaks in about a 4km. stretch is quite uncommon.
3. If you live there and are onto it its surprising how often you can bag a few nice
little runners and go through the motions.
4. Paddling out at say Seaford reef on a glassy 4' evening after a grill and watching
perfect walls of water peeling along without a drop out of place can give you
flashbacks to long forgotten Indo and Maldives trips from the past.
5. It takes a lot of skill to ride these small waves with grace and style without
looking like a kook as you have to generate your own speed.
6. It could be a lot worse, it could be like Middleton.
7. I have surfed all over but still get excited and impressed at the sight of the mid
on those rare 4' swells. Cheers.
I'm with ya old dog. As fun as it is to bag the Mid, I've had manly epic sessions over the years. And as you said, the shape and quality of the waves is quite incredible. Imagine Seaford Reef, Fred Nerks, Snakes, even Triggs - at 6ft? Crew would travel from interstate to surf 'em.
Seems like a bit of a sick joke really - the mid is a wicked stretch of coast with so many quality reef setups but it doesn't get any swell - well not really. Then you've got Victor which gets a heap of swell (360+ days of the year I reckon) but no reefs...not many anyway.
Still can't complain - between the Mid, Victor, Yorkes and the West Coast you can pretty much get a reasonable to good surf most days of the year.
How many good surf days a year you lads on the East coast get you reckon - more than SA?
Sorry Maddog but you've just listed a 1,000km stretch of coast, of course you'll get a decent wave every day of the year if you could access those spots, haha. But who's gonna drive 10 hours between each day :p
Over here in Sydney you can surf nearly every day of the year if you have the right equipment. I have my go to shortboards when its good to pumping, fish for mushy/weaker stuff then an old single fin for when it's 1-1.5ft.
With this quiver I'd say there's probably no more than a few weeks each year that will be totally flat. It's a different setup over here, the beaches love windswells more than groundswells and that's why you can get fun waves nearly every day.
Ben and Olddog talking about the Mid like it's Indo, cummon guys that happens like once every 2 years, haha!
Mundies, I wouldn't describe it as 'hanging around' exactly, but i'm a reasonably recent arrival in the State - an east coast refugee - and I can usually be found hitting the water at sunrise down at Waits or Parsons. Have been hearing about the Mid for years now, but the reports didn't exactly inspire my sense of adventure, so I'd never ventured down that way until now.
What tipped me over the edge was getting hold of a battered copy of Nat Young and Brad Farmer's Surf atlas over Christmas, which has a reasonably flattering (and detailed) account of that stretch of coastline, combined with that persistent SE that's been blowing around these parts over the past few weeks.
Actually, it wasn't all that bad. Weak as piss and knee-high, but you could see the potential of those reefs. And as Old-Dog said - it could have been worse, could have been Middleton...
Yep fair call Craig - the West coast is a bit far for a day trip! I don't get to surf everyday but do travel from Victor to Yorkes depending on what's best when I do get time to surf.
Seems that Waits/Parsons quite likes those peaky swells as well - that's when I seem to do best anyway and Middleton to Goolwa likes peaky swells too but it needs to have a bit of grunt behind it. Waits/Parsons not so much - wind swell is fine. Perhaps most beachies like the peakier swells and the ones with deeper water actually prefer wind type swell? Probably cause you would need a really good bank otherwise. Yorkes and the Mid on the other hand love a solid ground swell - guess cause they are reefs.
Hey Old -dog, you sure it's not the "grill" making seaford look 4 foot and "tropical"?
You are right though,it can get good but you just have to have the planets align and yes it is better than Middleton. I always remember a mate of mine telling me that an american magazine (surfer or surfing) years ago had an article with the best and worst waves around the world,and Middleton was voted in the Worst category at Number 1 and Number 2! Classic
Grew up on the mid, same old story, imagine if KI wasnt there, could be world class,imagine Ysteps at 6-8ft would be world class. All those quality reefs copping swell right round to the south,the mind boggles...
O.k. It's the SANFL compared to AFL. Good standard,easy to get to,Beers always cold and no great planning effort.If you're on the treadmill,it,s no great interuption to family life for a coupleoof hours before or after work. Embrace it. Anyway got to go,Saturday is suppossed to be 2Ft. with a light southerly. That will do me.
living in adelaide, i surf about twice a week throughout the school year, sneaking down for cheeky surfs during and after school or on the weekend. if the mids got waves its definitely first preference. a lot of people, even local adelaideians will bag the mid, and sure it doenst pump alot, but you would actually be super suprised how often it is possible to score fun waves on the mid, even if its onshore. With no offence to swellnet or other report sites, but a lot of the times when reports says the mid is 1-1.5 ft, its suprisingly bigger, and i dont have to worry about finding those days crowded now that ive said that, because most people wont believe how many days of reasonable surf you actually can get on the mid in a year
Seaford.
Seaford Reef.
Triggs (stills lifted from Weasels Couchsurfer vids.)
thermalben wrote:
I'm with ya old dog. As fun as it is to bag the Mid, I've had manly epic sessions over the years. And as you said, the shape and quality of the waves is quite incredible. Imagine Seaford Reef, Fred Nerks, Snakes, even Triggs - at 6ft? Crew would travel from interstate to surf 'em.
ecfuckingxactly
I'm with you Ben, I love manly epic sessions - a wide stance, invisible watermelons under the arms, an offshore breeze ruffling the chest hair.
Quite invigorating.
At the end of the day, what could be better than a few middies of midstrength after a Mid coast session on your midlength?
^ haha,
Star of Greece seafood supper post Sunday Seaford session ?
Hehehe those invisible watermelon guys!
Is there anything funnier?
Nice work with Ben’s typo there Andy M
haha. Got hassled by a security guy sporting a pair of invisible watermelons the other day.
Nothing too heavy. I had every right to be where I was, and he was just checking, but jeez those melons made him look 'well ard'. ;)
What's goin' on. waves every weekend on the mid and in between.No longer cursing but welcoming sou'easters. I must be in heaven. Even if it's Hell,sign me in