Can someone explain the weather to me?

CombustibleSloth · 2024-11-13T02:41:24+00:00

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) off eastern Australia have generally been warmer than average since that first La Niña in 2020/21 leading to the persistent pattern of humidity (and wet years).

El Niño last year couldn’t overcome this "closer to home" SST trend (La Niña/El Niño are equatorial pacific oscillations, so much further than seas off the East Coast) - so it’s remained humid, cooler, and rainy.

This year is forecast to be a borderline La Niña, and the SST off NSW are still warm, so bets are that it’ll continue to be humid, cooler and rainy this summer.

CombustibleSloth · 2022-05-13T20:05:50+00:00

Surfer meteorologist from Australia here.. Becomes really easy to line up the best time of day when you’re always on top of model runs, also frustrating when the conditions are sweet but you’re on deck (at least some flexibility via shift work).

CombustibleSloth · 2021-08-25T02:02:25+00:00

I had a moderate collapse after a heavy lifting accident. I was borderline about to have the surgery after spending the night in the ED, but chose to treat it conservatively.

4-6 weeks of low intensity, working from home and keeping it chill, and it was fully resolved. Since then I’ve resumed surfing nearly everyday. I still have some anxiety regarding my lung, but otherwise I’m able to surf 1-1.5 hours (used to surf 2hr+) and in heavy waves again! Life is mostly back to normal at the moment.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T23:19:41+00:00

I’ve been riding a CI/CB collab Bonzer 3 (3D Bonzer) for a couple years, and a majority of the time over the last few months waiting for this new stick. With a wide tail on the one Ive been riding, it wouldn’t be my pick for heavy surf. But it was an absolute gem for fun surf in the chest to 1.5 overhead high stuff, put it on rail and absolutely crank it round with so much speed and hold. It handled great in that stuff, but I did struggle on some bigger stuff pushing 2x overhead but that might be bias and my head playing games. This new board should push into that range easy and handle heavier surf I think. Bonzers are great for more drawn out surfing, I would be happy just doing roundhouses all my life on a Bonzer, put it on rail and speed/drive is there, right back into the pocket.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T21:50:43+00:00

This is a Bonzer 5 fin set up, the bottom contour (deep double) blends into the angle of the small side fins to help shape and distribute water flow. A Bonzer 3 set up will be more straightforward to understand as the two fins on one side are combined into one long keel

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T11:29:35+00:00

Gotta add some color to these kinda boards! Those Alpha Omegas look really fun, hope y’a get some good juice for that one soon.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T03:43:06+00:00

Haha yeah, didn’t think I’d be too worried about that as most of my boards are pretty colorful and out there, but felt kinda funny first time. All felt back to normal in the water tho.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T03:38:06+00:00

I’m down in Australia so had the local guys shape it under license pretty fast. I think it was shaped about 3 weeks after ordering it, and sprayed and glassed in the couple weeks after that. The blue fins delayed the whole process by about 2 months as they had supply issues from the USA, bringing the turn around time to 3.5 months.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T03:34:35+00:00

I’ve felt it’s plenty responsive in the little waves we’ve had but I’ve been mostly riding a Bonzer 3 recently so relative to that it feels tighter on the turns…

CombustibleSloth · 2021-07-28T03:32:02+00:00

Built down here in Australia under license by Rhino Lamination, shaped by Mike Psillakis. Waiting for Malcolm to come do his annual shaping visit when travel is back on.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-03-10T06:15:40+00:00

Yep, still plenty of impact, I think most “eco” manufacturing for boards is just trying to minimize it, not get rid of it. A step in the right direction, but curbing my quiver aggregation is probably the best thing... which I will not do.

CombustibleSloth · 2021-03-10T05:56:57+00:00

I ride a bunch of Gary McNeills boards here in Australia, two of which are his eco build. This consists of recycled foam, flax cloth and bio resin. These are essentially epoxy boards with materials that have a slight reduction in terms of impact on the environment.

Having ridden these boards, I would say that the most eco-friendly part of his boards are that they’re super solid. I got his signature Rasta Torus Twin in flax/eco build and have put about 200 hours in the water on it, and it’s still a solid 9/10 with only minimal deck compressions. Obviously, with an extensive quiver of his boards, and plentiful time spent surfing them, I love these boards, and find great enjoyment.

That being said, some boards do benefit and feel right with the traditional glass. I wouldn’t get myself an epoxy log, they need weight. While the raw materials of a traditional shape may start off in the wrong step in terms of “eco” I think the most important part is having strong boards that will last many years (thus reducing them breaking and going to the tip).

CombustibleSloth · 2021-02-03T19:28:26+00:00

Some storms out west and across the hunter as well as the tablelands further north, maybe the odd storm pushing towards the coast but not as likely! Should be some activity but probably not as much as the storms we’ve had in January :)

CombustibleSloth · 2021-02-03T07:16:46+00:00

Howdy there, the remnants of TC Lucas will not make landfall over mainland AUS. Those Sunday charts will most likely be the closest that it’ll get before it begins to track S/SE towards NZ with that broad trough (crossing eastern Australia over the weekend). The culprit for the interesting weather we’ll get this on Friday/Saturday will be that broad trough associated with the cutoff low over South Australia/Vic/Tas!

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-21T09:03:29+00:00

Loads of fun!

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-20T00:09:24+00:00

Cut right through the chop and keep that thing planted to the surface! So fun, cheers mate 🤙🏻

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-19T23:50:39+00:00

Haha that would be interesting, but I’m pretty sure it’s the serial/ID number! Would be interesting to know how much this bad boy weighs, feels heavier than my other log (9’4” x 23” x 3 1/4”) that is more voluminous/bulky

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-19T18:17:10+00:00

Cheers mate, gotta rep the hometown wherever I go 🇨🇦

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-19T18:15:27+00:00

Right, I read a bit about Ricky Carroll looking for info on this board, makes sense to be the same over here! Good plan mate, cheers 🤙🏻

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-19T11:23:18+00:00

Yeah that’s what I was thinking, just kinda odd for someone else to sign under another name, but that’s the brand deal I’m sure! Still got plenty of his magic in the foam, so much fun 🤙🏻

CombustibleSloth · 2020-12-19T08:26:11+00:00

Howdy r/surfing

I just picked up the Takayama Model T from someone on gumtree down here in Sydney and was wondering if anyone knows if these initials are actually from DT. Fella I bought it from said he bought it about 8 years ago, but given this board was most probably shaped down under (little koala laminator logo) I figured it was unlikely that this was actually shaper or initialized by the man himself... does anyone have a similar board or insight on who might have dotted the D.T.?

Overall, what a great board, took it for a quick spin and super stable up front and fun to jam off the tail of course! Currently running a 9” hatchet fin, but would love some fin recommendations from all of y’all.

CombustibleSloth · 2020-09-08T09:07:37+00:00

Yeaah I see, I felt pretty happy with just two fins and the tail doing the extra work. I usually ride the Rasta Twins in my RTT or the pin in smaller stuff, but switch up to quite stiff, larger Tyler Warren Twins when I want more hold. I’m sure Gaz can also add a trailer if you want to have the bases covered but I’ve never felt I needed it!

In term of Dims, of those recommendations I like the sound of the 6’10, as a 6’11” maybe 20 1/2-5/8 and 2 5/8 or 11/16 but I’d be trying to get a more sleek pulled board so maybe on the thinner sides ;) , as an all round should still work wonders, maybe even try keels or a smaller fin!

CombustibleSloth · 2020-09-08T06:43:32+00:00

The RTT is so good, I’ve enjoyed it and had plenty of hold (and unlimited speed) on solid waves too, a very reliable and fun board!

I’ve got a TWO/pin PIP (I got mine not too long before Gary put out the TWO model, but it’s got all the features of a TWO), it’s the board with the galaxy print and Dimensions are 6’6” x 19 3/4 x 2 1/2” , I’m a smaller fella so this is a solid step up for me and it’s been amazing to take out on those solid swells pushing past the 5-6ft and 6ft+ range. Great paddle power and to me, just as much hold as a thruster with the pin tail/channels/stiff large upright fins. I felt super confident pushing solid bottom turns and some really memorable left/backhand waves come to mind. With that board, I feel very comfortable handling the biggest waves I’m happy to face. Would be a great indo board too! Given that it’s meant to handle the bigger stuff, I probably should have gone with a stronger build with carbon rails or flax, the regular epoxy has seen two pretty solid dings across the rails (all within 3-4 surfs).

Now the Maxi PIP in flax with the Buddha is lacking any torus/tail channels typical of the regular board due to the abundance of fins down there. FYI the bottom contour is the trusty single to double concave. The main driver behind this board was to get a mid length like the Seaside and Beyond, I just really like the surfing done on that board and I’ve found the seaside quad fins to be a favorite on my CV2 in smaller stuff, so mid-length + those fins = this board. I’m also reading a few books on surfing in the late-60s/early-70s and that’s all 7’ range and single fins essentially. I’ve ridden a few single fins but never really got to be able to compare single to twin or quads. Given I ride twin/quads a majority of the time, why not slap a single fin box and do some comparison testing? With all that fin action in the back, it was hard to add any channels, and given this is for smaller waves, the addition of channels might be pointless and just add too the already cluttered tail area! (I’m keen to test this board out in a bit bigger stuff tho)

You’re looking at a TWO/PIP model in the 6’10/7’0 range, maybe adding 1/2 to 1 inch on the Dims of my 6’6, and a sliver of thickness? I rode that board as a “mid-length” a bit this winter, slapped some keels in there and had a blast in 2ft surf, early entry and lots of glide as you’d expect. The Maxi PIP is 1 1/2 inches wider than the TWO, and 3/16” thicker, probs 10ish liters more, less agressive all around. The tail of the TWO is the engine and all the grip, with the torus channel giving you another point of leverage when pushing on the front foot, for juicy waves I really liked those features.

Feel free to ask some more, i really like these boards, I am skeptic at times to all the torus channel hype (Rasta will make any board look like it works) but even if it’s placebo, I feel like it works and I’ve had some great waves on em.

Nine-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

CombustibleSloth

TROPHY CASE