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Looks like they're at Middles right now.. seen a couple of incredible drops (and some nasty beatdowns too). If anyone paddles out at Cape Solander we'll swing the camera around.

Cool concept.

i like the idea of setting up a cam at a name break around oz when it's firing and being able to watch the local guys get into it.

Logistically would have to be tough but great idea. Cheers.

It's actually been in the planning for about 6 years Zen, since we started webcasting surfing competitions. As you say, the logistics are insane but technology is slowly making things possible (albeit at great expense). Looking forward to expanding a lot more within this genre over the coming months.

Agree with Zen - great idea, thanks Ben! Now if only my employer's firewall would permit the live stream...

We're offline for a bit.

Wind has come up from the south and a few crew have paddled in, so we'll keep an eye on it and push the start button if it turns on again.

Cheers Ben. Was the previous live stream recorded & can it be played back for us punters that missed it??

Not available right now but I'll see if I can dig it up this evening.

5/10 lads. We were hoping but that summer wind moved in by 9.50am.

I'm sorry - but how is it ok to live broadcast from somewhere like here?!

It wasn't too many years ago that this wave was relatively "unknown" - now its getting named and live broadcast?

deckstrus , take it up with the Bra Boys weren't they behind the world wide live streaming of the Red Bull comp .

udo, sure i appreciate that - but that was @ "ours" a spot everyone knows and "middles" was never mentioned to my knowledge?

They're about 50m apart mate. You surf one or the other depending on conditions.

I'm impressed........THIS kind of thing IS progress.
Be nice to just have "set wave" times given for the playback so we can skip to em.

Geez there are some keen blokes out there.
F--k that

I'm not sure that locals at very many spots wold appreciate that tho.
Maybe a comp in the Chat-----ummmms would be cool ;
haha

This is groundbreaking stuff!
I am in qld so I am hardly about to contribute to crowd!
Being able to move around and focus on take off spot, depending upon conditions makes it a real step up from the static swell cams.
Am imagining big screen TV with screen split into 10 pictures of my favourite 10 surf spots, live around Australia, or the world for that matter.
Go BEN go Swellnet!!

One area that I truly am a xenophobe in is the world of surf cams. You blokes do a Stirling job, but developments like this scare me. Whilst Swellnet display admirable discretion, some other players in this field are a lot less scrupulous.

One surf site has at least one surf cam that is a slap in the face to anyone with a modicum of reserve about the betrayal of low key spots. Fellas responsible should be limited to surfing on sunny two foot Sundays at Manly for the rest of their lives.

dont think there's any risk of this wave getting too crowded. No thanks boyz

It's not the same without the inane Yank commentary. I sort of miss it.

Gotta admit I feel deeply uneasy and queasy about this new use of technology.

Name spots. Now it's Solander. Where's next? Lennox, Angourie, Sandon, Voodoo?

I kinda thought, RedBull comp notwithstanding that Ours was sort of a wilderness spot on the edge of the city. Still kind of wild.

But no, Big Brother is watching, beaming it out to the World. The concept of entering the ocean and removing oneself from the technological Bullshit of dry land is now disappearing under the impetus of consumer voyeurism. Surfers are falling over themselves to sell the wildness and sanctity of the pursuit of surfing to the demands of the Surveillance Society.
And for what? A few moments of titillation and distraction.

It's just one more example of the Commons being exploited for Private gain.

.

Probably was Stu but you can't deny the issues are pertinent.
We are living in an increasingly surveilled society and surfing is now becoming more and more part of that matrix.
You don't feel in some part of your self a bit uneasy about these developments?

I suggest this is helping to head towards man made or 'adjusted' point breaks, like footy fields, etc. This live cam just highlights popularity but also we are looking for more spots to surf. Bit off topic, granted but to me the comments indicate we want live access but privacy or exclusivity.

My feelings on this don't change - and the sentiment is echoed by a few I've spoken to.

Yes, everyone knows "Ours" but 98% of surfers don't want a bar of it so will never go out there to discover there could be other options within stones throw.

There is just NO NEED to do it - so why would you?

Stu, you've clearly got a handle on the local sentiment there.

Apart from Mark Matthews who makes a buck from exposure what is the feeling of the guys who surf out there recreationally?

About what? This webcast, or exposure in general?

Well both. There seemed to be a fair bit of chagrin over the RedBull comp.

But about this setting up a camera and live webcasting recreational surfing there.

I've never heard any blowback. Most crew know each other so understand the dynamics, and dialogue happens in the carpark and in the lineup and not on the internet.

The fella manning the camera the other day is very heavily embedded in the local scene there, as is his brother, and he's got full consent to film.

The Red Bull comp could''ve been handled better but that was mostly about RB denying public access - nothing to do with webcasting. Every now and again you hear people arcing up with indiscriminate rants but they're mostly like that Deckstrus dill; never surfed the wave, never likely too, yet prepared to tell locals what they can and can't do.

You surfed the Cape Stu??

Yeah 50young, I have.

BIG Kahonas!! I say :)

This sort of mobile technology is only going to get better & cheaper, there's no stopping the exposure anywhere really. If people/organizations want to pursue it, particularly if there is money to be made, directly or indirectly, they will. Some will see it as positive & some negative. It's just the way of the world. Supposed "secret" surf spots will continue to be exposed, more so as the desire to search for uncrowded surf grows exponentially.

P.S. I am not reffering to the Cape region as a "secret" surf location. I'm sure it was a long time ago....

Hi Stu, yes...I have surfed out Middles a number of times over a period of years. Increasingly its become more crowded. But no, I wouldn't surf "Ours" and unless someone removes the pinnacle of rock that sticks up out of the water half way through the wave at Daggers then I won't be going out there in a hurry either (and probably not anyway). So clearly you're wrong on this...

I am not going out of my way to be "outraged" - you're really putting words in my mouth mate.

I am quite simply saying I'm surprised we're now blatantly naming and broadcasting from a wave that was considered a semi-secret spot not all that long ago - and the benefit of why we would do that...

Rabbits68 it'll really be up to local communities to make a stand if they want to preserve sanctity/privacy of spots. Not in the sense of trying to keep them off limits to other people but in the sense of maintaining them as public spaces and away from commercial activities.
I've seen local communities band together and achieve that.

Oh and for the "deckstrus dill" comment - screw you hero.

Hey Stu, have you left any room for some humble pie? :-)

sorry stand up boys but I think the lids have won on wave count got to lift your game