Another 62/63 Winter

[Ron Troversial Clay]

Wow that truly is some wave.

And that truly is one heck of an action photo. It must go down as one of the most impressive photos of its kind ever taken. And how was it taken?

When I was a lot younger I used to do a bit if surfing off Durban. The waves were quite good but nothing resembling the Hawaii waves of course.

I reckon a wave like that must have been a Tsunami of some kind. What people don't realise is the enourmous amount of energy that is realeased when such a wave hits shore.

Find a way of harnessing the energy of tides and waves and our energy requirements will be solved, without burning all that black shit.

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

Seriously for those of you who have never surfed, it truly is one of the most exciting and exhilerating thngs anyone can do.

You are battling with nature. You require supreme fitness and co-ordination. Boozing is out. Try it after a couple of beers and you will probably kill yourself.

It's also a sport that does no harm whatsoever to the environment. You are not driving a stink machine, you are not polluting the water.

You are using the energy of nature, that's all.

I wish I was 25 again.

 

[Frothey]

it just uses some of the most noxious chemicals known to man in the production of the boards, the petrochemicals involved in wax/wetsuits/leashes, not to mention all the driving around checking out the waves and jetting around the globe - and not to mention the noise pollution from jetski's pulling people into the bigger waves.

we're eco warriors eh!

 

[Frothey]

if the billabong oddesey is on at a cinema near you, go have a look.

 

[Frothey]

25 again ron? a lot of the best big wave riders are 40+!!

have a look at Mavsurfer for some big pics and video clips....

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

I didn't think of it that way.

We used to paddle to find the best waves.

And of course everyone used to drive to get to the beach. 400 miles from Joburg to Durban. And to go fishing.

The only thing I used to worry about was sharks.

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

Never used a wetsuit.

Surf temperature off the Natal coast averages 24 deg C

 

[Frothey]

24deg one side of the cape.....10deg the other.......

if i could only visit one spot before i drown, it would be jefferies bay.....right hand point break perfection yummmmm.....

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

No mate, you won't get me surfing again at my age.

I wouldn't mind watching a bit of it on Telly - especially those big waves in Hawaii.

I used to work with a guy in Joburg who was a surfing fanatic. He used to do the 800 mile round trip to Durban virtually ever weekend. He aso spent a great deal of time in the Port Elizabeth area.

On top of that he would jet off somewhere in the world every year to surf. Australia, Hawaii, Mexico - all over the place. He was very good and won a few competitions.

I was never all that good. Just used to enjoy the odd ride on a nice steady wave about 10 foot high.

 

[Phil Hackett 2]

Frothey
:0):0):0):0):0):0):0):0)

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

I have fished near to Jeffries bay. And I have spent time watching the surfers.

Cape Point is where the two oceans meet.

On the west side, the Atlantic, the sea temperatures are lower than off much of Britain. On the East side - The Indian Ocean - 10 degrees higher.

Reminds me of the story of the posh Pommie walking along the sea front in Durban.

He stops a local Indian bloke and says:

"I say my man" pointing to the sea, "Is this the Indian Ocean?"

"No Sahib" says the Indian "This is the bloddy White Ocean - The Indian Ocean is 1/2 a mile up the coast"

 

[Ron Troversial Clay]

Thanks for the Mav surfer Link Frothey. Brought back many memories of days spent by warm oceans in tropical climes when I was a lot younger.

The fishing was darned good too.

Nothing to beat a couple of fresh bluefish caught in the surf as the sun rises on the Indian Ocean which we barbied for breakfast.

Happy memories.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Ron,
there is a theory that very hard winters happen on a cycle around 23 years. It has been predicted that around 2008 we might get a very hard winter like 47 or 63. I have fishing magazine from back in 63 and there are massive fish kills not only on lakes but also rivers like Nene and Welland. Whether we'll get one this year remains to be seen...

 

[jason fisher]

by my reckoning we should be due one round 2007.

 

[Jeff (Cheeky Monkey) Woodhouse]

An scorching summers every 14 years means we should have been burning our nuts off this year and last. I know we had a bit of a drought last year, but it was hardly like the Caribbean.

The only thing you can say about weather is - it's always the opposite of the forecast. NOTE - on the forecasts these days they spend more time telling you what it did today rather than what it will do. Do you really want to know when it's been p*****g down?

 

[stu]

Your right Jeff. There is no way any forecaster can predict a coming season. Even 5 days out is less than 50% accurate. There are simpy too many variables to model effectively.

And on global warming. Yes, it is happening, but as I have said before, I remain unconvinced that we are the main cause. Its been warming up well before we even started using fossil fuels.

And if the ice caps melt quickly it would create a massive "correction" due to the rapid influx of cold water.

Nature will have the last say.

 

[Baz]

I worked for a weather forecaster who said the only way to predict the weather is to go outside youre own house and look at the clouds , estimate the height and type and that's as good as you can get.

 

[Phil Hackett 2]

Stu let me see if I can clear something up for you.

When scientists talk about Global Warming they do not mean natural Climate Change.
Climate Change has happened naturally throughout the history of living organisms on this planet. The rate of that change has been very constant over millions of years, happening about every 70-100k years. According to the fossil records, ice cores, and what they call proxy records.

Global Warming is the slice on top, which appears in those records over about the last 200 years. The like of which has never appeared in the records before. The ice cores (most reliable source of data) show elevated levels of Co2 in this time period. Because we have reasonably good global records about world naturally occurring events e.g volcanic eruptions and such like, which are known to increase Co2 levels globally. They can be calculated as to how much Co2 was emitted from them.

When all the numbers are crunched, the figures just don?t add up. But when you add all the amounts of fuels burned over the last 200 or so years, and again the records are pretty much there, they do.

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) not known for its radicalism (many sceptics on it), after reviewing all the evidence from all the sources believes that Global Warming is most likely to be caused by the burning of fossil fuels over the last 200 or so years.

It is unfortunately politicians who have confused the two meanings not the scientists.
And the reasons they?ve blurred the lines and meanings I?ll leave you to work out?

 

[Phil Hackett 2]

As a postscript to the above Blair today said they would be scaling down the targets for cuts in emissions of Co2 as it was detrimental to industry.

Somewhat at odds with his shock and horror statement a few weeks ago!

Effectively he?s said bollox to future generations they can sort HIS mess out!

 

[Big Rik]

Ron/Frothey

I work with Craig Cuff who's a surfer, 4th in the world longboard champs I think.
He's one of your lot Ron.