April 16th 2000: The weather had improved and the promise of some clean 2' conditions beckoned for a mellow, confidence building session. On arrival, the light breeze had switched more easterly (onshore) but wasn't mucking it up just yet. Three quick rides early on eradicated Friday's nightmare straightaway. Now I was cooking with gas once more, with a rythmn once again. OK, I know with a bit more thought and a longboard, I could be catching an awful lot more. These days, it is a case of when not if. As the breeze stiffened an hour or so before HT, the inevitable happened. Time to get out after a pleasant 2 hours.

April 14th 2000: A lot of 'umming' & 'errring', saw me crack and check out conditions for myself an hour or so before high tide. The swell was definitely building but a stiffish cross-shore(N) was spoiling it. That said, as I was there, I went in for an hour but had a miserable time of it. An awkward take-off and wipeout straight off set the tone, and recent improvements meant nothing. Throw in the ebbing tide taking hold and reducing it to one foot 'chop-slop', and this session is best forgotten.

April 13th 2000: Talk of a strong swell put everyone on alert. Checked out Skeg' this morning but it was still too early. The signs were there, but an onshore breeze wasn't masking anything yet.

April 6th 2000: The early part of the week had been stormy which blew out any chance of catching the continuing NE swell. The weather improved by yesterday, but the swell died with it, at least down as far as the Lincs coast. Pity really, as the warmer weather with the light offshores would have made for nice session or two.

April 2nd 2000: After four weeks without so much as a view of the sea, let alone a wave, it was a welcome change to get back in at Skeg. After several false dawns, it was looking as if this w/e was going to be a no-go as well. However, Soul had forecast a wave for Sunday on my local patch thanks to a North Easterly fetch eminating from Scandinavia. Yesterday's check hadn't been promising, but ringing Coogee anyway at lunchtime was enough to get the adrenaline flowing once more. By 3pm I was in and it felt good. I'd got three hours before HT, but figured things would drop off around 5, judging by the 2-3 foot swell coming in. It was clean too,thanks to no breeze whatsoever, and the next 2 hours were good fun. Rides were regular with two in particular standing out. One pretty early on for it's speed of take-off and confident turn; the second towards the end of my 2 hour session, when there was only one section further up the beach left producing anything rideable. This required a very keen sense of geography to avoid making the acquaintence of a solid groyne!

March 5th 2000: The low that had been promising a decent swell towards the end of last week finally got into position a day or so later than forecast. Yesterday had apparently been 4-5 foot but quite difficult with a stiffish, cross-shore (NNW) breeze. Besides, I was busy burning rubber on the race track. Today though, found a perfect clean 3 foot swell, with the breeze now lighter and offshore...which was nice. Checking with Coogee at Skeg at lunchtime, it had been really glassy on the morning ebb too. I'd opted for the afternoon flood from about mid tide on, getting in around 2.30. The following two and a half hours produced a really enjoyable session with no more than 8 in at any given time. My take-offs seem to improve with every attempt and I can certainly feel the confidence beginning to creep in. The rides too are becoming more positive, although I still must provide any watching passers-by with a laugh or two, not to mention fellow surfers :o). An hour or so before high tide, the steep beach did it's usual thing and killed off the waves.

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