Article & Journal Resources

Jano Gibson

WILD seas whipped up by a tropical low off Queensland forced the closure of hundreds of beaches along the eastern seaboard yesterday, with dangerous surf conditions set to continue over the coming days.

Dozens of people - many of them surfers who dared to enter the treacherous waters - required assistance from lifeguards as waves towering up to five metres high pummelled the coast.

The huge seas came on the last day of Sydney's wettest December in 15 years. The city recorded 123 millimetres of rain last month, compared with the long-term average of 78 millimetres.

The weather caused the cancellation or postponement of almost all of the New Year's Eve fireworks displays planned for beaches along the Gold Coast.

By 2pm yesterday, all of Sydney's main metropolitan beaches, which were being bombarded by two- to three-metre waves, had been closed to swimmers.

Beaches from Nambucca Heads to the Gold Coast were also off limits, as were many others at Newcastle and on the Central Coast.

"Given the forecast and given conditions on New Year's Eve, it would be expected that many beaches in the Sydney metropolitan area and throughout the state will remain closed," a Surf Life Saving NSW spokesman, Brett Moore, said. "People are strongly discouraged from entering the water unless there is a patrol on duty, which is signified by the red-and-yellow flags."

Thousands of surfers took advantage of the big seas, but two, who were washed onto rocks at Stanwell Park, had to be winched to safety by the Westpac Lifesaver helicopter.

A surfer at Woolgoolga, north of Coffs Harbour, was treated by an ambulance officer after injuring himself when heavy seas washed him onto rocks.

And a crew member participating in the Navy George Bass Surfboat Marathon near Moruya, on the South Coast, had to be rescued following three unsuccessful attempts to get their boat to shore.

Stephen Leahy, a lifeguard co-ordinator for northern NSW, said waves were peaking up to five metres at some North Coast beaches, while the more sheltered Byron Bay beaches experienced peaks of about three metres.

More than 600 swimmers were ordered from the water and eight people had to be rescued at northern NSW beaches, he said.

Mick Sylvester from the Pittwater lifeguard service said inexperienced surfers were endangering themselves in the huge seas. "There's so much volume in these waves, they are what we call a meaty wave … When [the surfers] wipe out, their board gets whipped off."

As he spoke to the Herald, three lifeguards at Palm Beach had to be sent to pull four surfers from the water after they became separated from their boards.

The tropical low that has caused the wild weather was last night located about 400 kilometres north-east of Fraser Island. The Bureau of Meteorology said waves in the surf zone at some southern Queensland and northern NSW beaches could exceed five metres today.

Because of the tropical low's slow pace, it is likely the wild weather will remain for several days, although wave heights are expected to gradually decrease.

"It's what [surfers] dream of. It will be Christmas and New Year's for them to remember for a long time," a forecaster, Dave Williams, said.