Swellnet: Soon to be new and improved
It's that time of year when people reflect on the year that was and look forward to bigger and better things in the new year. We here at Swellnet are no different except this time around we have very good reason to believe that next year really will be bigger and better.
You see, we've been building a new website in the background alongside a whole host of new products, some of them never before seen.
First of all, the website. It only takes a cursory navigation of the current site to discover dead links and pages that don't work well. We've deliberately ignored them knowing that the new site is coming. So a big bonus of the new site will be smooth and workable navigation. It'll also have a whole host of new content. There'll be new writers, new topics, new photo displays (bigger is better!), and a video portal choc full of content both new and old. The site will be launched early in the new year.
On the product front we'll be adding new locations to our surf camera network. As always they'll be placed in prime vantage points and have excellent low light capabilities, perfect for checking the surf in the pre-dawn glow. We're also overhauling our morning surf reports so that they're the most convenient and provide the greatest range of locations yet available.
Most exciting of all is a brand new global wave model to forecast swells. We've spent four years developing the model, calibrating the numbers and tweaking the formulas to arrive at the most accurate wave data available. Unlike other wave models ours has been created by surfers to provide information that surfers want with forecast points the world over.
There'll also be a series of mobile apps that'll feature surf reports and surf cam vision.
On top of the new site and mobile phone apps we'll also be launching a new 'Swellnet Hardware' range of accesories. Legropes, wax, deck grip and boardshorts. No fashion, just straight up surfing accesories.
If, however, surf fashion is your bag then you'll be pleased to know that there'll also be an online store to buy your trendy duds.
We'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks for using Swellnet and also for being patient with the current site. We'd also like to wish everyone a safe and wave-drenched holiday period. May 2013 pump!
Comments
Swellnet is by far the best surf report and forecast website in Australia, stuff CW. Keep up the good work lads! yew
I concur, cj wilson. I barely ever even look at CW anymore. But is Swellnet likely to take on their model of incessant advertisements and paid subscriptions? Please no. We love you just the way you are :)
Awesome,looking forward to it.All the best for Christmas,new year and beyond.
"Unlike other wave models ours has been created by surfers..."
So you're telling us it's not gonna work then.
Oh, it'll work. But of course we can't guarantee that your four foot is our four foot, or that three foot really means head high, or that head high means head high on a six foot person or a head high on a five foot person.
But aside from that, it'll work.
I'm just a squirrel with enormous nuts so it's all well overhead for me.
Can you please keep all the forums from the past. It's cool to revisit them from time to time or to add to as new topics or developments come to hand.
I like Swellnet but as surfinado mentioned above, please don't go too crazy on the ads. Don't become Surfline.
Yeah ZA, all the forum content should be saved. We're going over to a standard phpBB forum layout but the database migration should keep everything intact. The current forums are the product of an ambitious developer who tried to build them from the ground up, hence the design is clunky and a bit difficult to use. It'll be great to have something fast and easy to navigate.
As for the ads, it needn't be said that they keep us afloat but we're also very conscious of their impact on the user experience. Ongoing input from users is always welcome.
Sounds all good stu, will I still be allowed the occasional gripe?
ZA,
Further to the above points: I recently re-read your 'Japanese tsunami' posts after the Fukushima incident. On the strength of those alone we'll do all we can to save and migrate the forum content.
Oh fuck, Floyd. Every site needs a curmudgeon, a counter-weight to the fey and feelgood pop music that gets played.
Please, be our guest.
Love the new avatar, BTW.
Hey, my tail wags pretty much all day everyday like every other mongrel about the place. Its just the show dog side of the business that gets me all cranky. I'll work on that next year.
Wot about the surfing reef forum?
Ha ha...could've guessed that'd be your request, Philo. Yep, we'll get that operating too. I know Andrew Pitt and co. are very keen to use that forum as an exchange of reef ideas worldwide.
Apologies for not being able to fix the current forum but our attention has been elsewhere.
Thanks Stu.
Well aware that ads are necessary but those sneaky drop-down ones that you find on ninemsn and others drive me crazy. Not too many of those if possible.
Looking forward to the new site.
PS You could have an 'Ask Indo' section. That guy is a wealth of information on the islands. And a couple of more stories from 'the blowin' would be cool.
reinstate the OUTSIDER....freeride returns !
I'll see what I can do, Vic.
Didnt read this article before i posted a thread but thought a water temp in each location report might be an idea.
For travellers or weekend warriers and new swell up swellings etc.
east coast has a lot of north swells due with cold water surfs between warm water days
Water temps are hard to obtain because accurate data would ordinarily require (a) purchasing a calibrated and certified scientific thermometer for each of our reporters, which is very expensive, (b) then asking our reporters to take the daily SST readings, which is very time consuming.
I actually purchased a couple of thermometers a few years ago to test this out but it was quite impractical at the time. There's no way to guarantee the quality of the data and the low sampling frequency would potentially miss some localised upwelling events.
The other option is to replicate what many other weather/surf/boating websites do, and that is use satellite derived SST data. However this data is coarse (generally one data point for every 100km) and therefore doesn't always reflect SST in the near shore zone. As such I don't feel comfortable using it as a guide. But it is a possible solution.
We could also use data from those directional buoys that have SST sensors on them (ie Sydney) however as the buoys are usually ~10km offshore, they also frequently miss localised upwelling events too.
I am however working on a different solution that I hope to have operational in the next couple of months. Can't say much more than that for now though.
Congratulations Stu and Ben, and also the other staff at Swellnet, it's been great watching you develop and grow, I've admired your integrity, ability to cop criticism, and 'play a straight bat' with surfing issues.
I imagine the new site will launch you into a different realm of exposure which also brings related costs and advertising pressures, is there likely to be a change in editorial direction?
Cheers TS. The simple answer is no, it'll be business as usual. In the past the surf industry paid us scant attention and we developed other means of income. As we've grown so has interest from the industry, however we won't be changing the formula that's worked for us.
Well done guys, looking forward to the and improved site. Just one question in regards to the apps, will there be an android app or just and apple app. cheers WW
It'll be an iPhone app to begin with. An Android app - plus a few other variations - will be launched shortly after.
Onwards and upwards - looking forward to it. Go get 'em lads.
regarding sea temperature, for NSW dwellers the manly haudrylics laboratory web site has a satellite image of sea surface temps in it's real time data section. I think the free image is one day old, but enough to give a good idea. Blank areas in the map tend to occur under heavy cloud cover. Perhaps swellnet could link to it?
Thank you swellnet, stu and ben. Well located surf cams, thought provoking articles and more than a few outrageously hilarious trolls and commentators. 2013 should be even better then.
Congratulations Swellnet look forward to seeing the result. Best forecast site in the world - by far!
I reckon Swellnite is best website in the world. It even beats porn.
Thanks for the nice words everyone!
scoopmaster, that data source is equally sparse (ie doesn't resolve near shore temps very well) and is somewhat unreliable due to the cloud cover issue you mentioned. It's also restricted to the Australian domain (we are launching international locations with the new site) so even if the data were good it'd restrict us in other parts of the world.
Stu, Ben, et all,
Great surf site, even better to hear it's being improved.
Can I suggest a Repairs section in the forum. I have an interest in doing my own repairs, minor and not-so-minor. I've just posted something under the Shaping Bay section.
Don't know if everyone is interested, but I'd reckon there are a few who'd like to share tips, and wins/losses.
I had a win last night Rushy.
The missus and I did it twice.
Thought I'd share it with you.
Hope all is well with you and your's and you get a nice peak to yourself over the holidays.
Haha, classic Zen!!
No need to brag, Zen!
Hey, I nearly had sex every day last week - nearly Monday, nearly Tuseday, nearly wednesday......
Stay safe brother, and blessings and good tidings to you and your family and friends.
How long before we can look forward to live streaming of random surfer's sessions via gopro cameras? The latest models have wi-fi, though i'm guessing this is receive only?
The technology does exist to streaming live vision from one camera over 3G networks, but currently not for GoPro cameras (GoPro WiFi is for controlling the camera, not viewing the stream).
To be honest, I reckon live streaming from 'someone's GoPro' would be boring to watch anyway. You'd have to sit through hours of shite in the hope that you saw the ten seconds of glory that's what we usually see in an edited format at a later date.
As for streaming freesurf sessions - I've been looking into this for a long time (since about 2006, when I bought my first webcast rig) - however I'm yet to be convinced of a workable business model. It all sounds feasible but the logistics are very challenging and it's also very expensive to implement.
Workable business model?... Innit it true that in any given 25 or 30 minute ASP heat, viewers are fortunate to see 3 minutes of actual surfing?
https://www.vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters2012/heat-a…
The main place i've seen live streaming used is for storm chasing in the united states. You can look at a radar image, find a severe storm and then watch live as there will nearly always be a storm chaser in close proximity. If there were a number of free surfers similarly equipped it could be interesting to click around and have a 30 second look at wherever they may be.
Roller - when I say workable business model, I'm referring to something that's worth watching (and, this discussion is worthy of its own topic). Suffice to say that you need a hell of a lot more than waves to make an interesting broadcast. As such the infrastructure required to create something viewable is considerable and therefore expensive.
Scoopmaster - it's easy to tee up live 3G connections from a car; audio can easily be added to the mix too. Almost impossible from an aquatic environment (on a shoestring budget anyway).
WOW! I must say the new look for swellnet is, um, retro?
What are you talking about, savanovaovait? The new website is still a little while off (not far now though).
Speaking of an updated "look"....
How is it that in the video at this linked site, old Wayne Rabbit looks more ummm.. "floppy" than Westerly Pete?
https://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=11201&display=0…;
I wonder if Rabbit's hair is real?
@yorkessurfer,
noting that both Wayne and Westerly are professional entertainers, would it be that surprising if we were told Rab's fake curtains matches Windina's fake carpeting?
Given that we're now into the 2nd qtr of the new year, what's the ETA on the new website gents?
Not too far off now Don. Still doing some testing but almost through the bulk of it.
Thanks Ben. Very keen to get my teeth into your new swell forecasting models!!!
So we talking a month, 2? or more?
Should be around a month at most I reckon. Although - just like the NBN - things sometimes take a little longer.
Colours, I'm not seeing anything about colours here! - and wardrobe, please Ben, please - get out of that red thing and mute down.
- and the best advice for a fellow without hair is getahat. Pull it together Ben.
with affection
Nah not a fan of the hat Pete, unless it's a scorcher. Although running zinc on my noggin seems to add another ten years.