We awoke to grey skies and a relatively light onshore wind for day 1 of Nomadic 5. An early morning check of the various breaks around the Marrawah region revealed a very small, weak swell. Disaster! After making the decision to run Nomadic, I watched in horror as the conflicting but promising forecasts converged predicting less than ideal conditions as the low pressure that was bringing us wind and waves wreaked havoc in the Southern Ocean. Nonetheless we were expecting a very strong south westerly change by early afternoon bringing a building windswell.

After two hours of waiting the wind had built to 25 knots, sitting at Nettley Bay watching, Leon decided to hit the water on his 4.7. After a few sizeable backloops Kaleb was right behind him. I stayed onshore to catch the action on video while we waited for the full force of the front. During the time it took Klaus to rig his 5.6 the wind built and soon enough we had sunshine and 35 knots!  The wind swell built to a solid 2-3m allowing for some big jumps and decent onshore waverides. Tappo arrived to take over video duties allowing me to hit the water on my 3.6. After a few hours of aerial carnage at Nettley's we took a break for lunch and decided on a change of venue to Greens wanting to score some smaller but clean conditions. There were some fun down the line rides to be had, offering potential for the aerials and goiters before the wind turned more onshore and finally dropped in the early evening. We were left pretty tired and sore after a day of pushing our limits in the strong conditions, resulting in the damage total of  1 broken board,  damaged shoulder ligaments, a slightly broken nose and a hyperextended foot.  There were a few games of table tennis later at Tappo's with some intense competition before we called it a night.

Day 2 presented with similar dreary conditions, with the exception of the presence of a ground swell. A check of Back of Lighthouse revealed solid logo high sets grinding down the reef, the wind was in the right direction but very light. By midday the cloud had cleared and we had warm sunshine bringing with it a promising 15-20 knots. The flags were set up for some photos while we waited for the wind to build further. As we waited an ominous cloud built on the horizon and moved in, bringing slight drizzle, killing the building wind. By late afternoon the sun finally returned, but it was too late, the mini low pressure system kept the day too cold for a seabreeze to develop. It was painful watching some sick waves going unridden but in hindsight it could have been worse. After sailing for the previous six days my body needed a rest anyway!

The epic conditions we hoped for didn't really materialise over both days but you can't really complain about 35 knots and sunshine! Many thanks to Neil Pryde for providing the prizes and to Justin Tapson for operating the video camera. The video should be finished by the end of the week.

Al

Best move - Leon Jamaer - a massive backloop above the horizon at Nettleys

Best crash - Kaleb Smith - pushloop attempt turned into a double pushloop!

Hardcore prize - Klaus  - taking a 5.6m sail in 35knots!

Most injured - Alastair McLeod - smashed nose on the mast and damaged shoulder ligaments overrotating a stalled forward.

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