WTF….?

This is one bizarre Sydney summer. We have been ready to go now for about the last 3 weeks, yet the weather is still stuck in a typical spring pattern, with cooler days, onshore winds, even unseasonal easterlies & sou ' easterlies, and no set summer conditions.

Typical Black Nor' Easter conditions off Sydney

By now we usually have a very settled weather pattern, with hot dry days, a sea breeze from the Nor 'east by early afternoon, and the very occasional ball-tearing southerly buster to blow away the grime.

Wacky predictions for the coming week off Sydney (thanks to Seabreeze.com.au)

The success of our One Degree South paddle is to a large extent dependent on a 'Black' nor 'easter, a wind which follows hot summer weather & blows hard for about three days, with the middle day usually a long strong day of winds around the 20-30kn mark.
Game fishing skippers in the Illawarra have also been keeping tabs on the EAC for us, and it continues to swirl & send back eddies of 1.5 - 2knots running back north along our B-Line. You don't have to be Einstein to imagine what a 2 knot current opposing a 20+knot wind would be like 12-15km offshore, probably amazing fun for a couple of hours, but a bit wearing after 15 hours!

Current set of the EAC off NSW (thanks to imos.aodn.org.au)

So, the strange twists of this El Nina pattern have us in a holding pattern awaiting the ideal sort of conditions we feel are necessary not only to go the distance in a day, but also do it in the rollicking style we are hoping for.
Stay tuned….!