Acca Dacca

Hey guys sorry it has been a while.. Been a bit going on..Went to a AC/DC concert a few weeks back with family and friends and it was epic..Those guys are still at the top of there game and they are charging in there 60's.. We hired A Maxi Van and me and Joss, her family Steve,Pen and Simon our mate Reidy from Bondi (of Bondi Rescue Fame) and my Brother Justin and his Fiance Rachel made the trek to Bris Vegas to check them out.. We had the Esky packed full of beverages and Steve was our Captain and driver and we made our way there.. Long story short it was such a fun night they rocked out and sounded as good as they did when i last saw them in 1998. The next morning i started working at the Quiksilver Pro .. Me and a bunch of mates work doing the water Patrol. May seem like a cushy job but its very demanding and draining.. Especially if the swell comes up like it did.. But all went pretty smooth and the event went off in pretty good conditions seeing the bank at Snapper was non- existent 4 weeks ago.. Congrats to Taj and Stephanie for taking out the 1st event. If u missed it try and check out Dane vs Parko heat in Rd 4. Epic.. Dane was out of control.

At the moment i just arrived in Bondi with Joss and we are hanging out here for the weekend and catching up with some of my mates who are lifeguards check out www.bondirescuelifeguards.com and im going to try and show Joss around even though i will probably get us lost.. Well we are a few beers deep and on the way to dinner so i will post after the weekend in Sydney.. Take care JM

How things can change!!!!!!!

Well its been a while since i sat down and let u guys know whats been going on.. And there has been a reason. Where do i start? It was last Wednesday and i was cruising here on the Nth Shore all stoked i had got a new 11'6 SUP Gun and me and Billy had just went out to Waimea to test it out and we were the only ones out and it was fun 10 to 12 feet but windy so no one was on it and we had heaps of fun. So i was eating dinner when i get a call from my Mum and she says mate i got something to tell you. Straight away I'm like shit what has happened? She says your Grandma has had a turn for the worst and we are heading to Coffs Harbour to see whats going on and it doesn't look good so u may want to look at flights and see whats available.. I am pretty quiet at this time and sort of loose my thought process and so i hang up and am about to jump on my computer when i get another call from my Mum and she says mate she hasn't made it.. Whoa I'm shell shocked. What happened i say? They cant tell me and say we are on our way back to pack and then we are going back down to Coffs.. Ok i said I'm on my way home.. So at this stage I'm scrambling to pack and I'm so scattered because I'm meant to be surfing in a Sup contest at Sunset another Sup comp at Makaha and so I'm thinking well I'm not gonna come back so i need to pack all my stuff which is alot and i have so many boards and stuff that im just going to have to leave and Billy will have to deal with it for me.. So i get a flight and 7am the next morning I'm on a flight back home to Australia. As u can imagine it wasn't the best flight home. Fast forward to Tue and i am driving to Coffs Harbour for the funeral with Joss and meet my Family and we talk story have a few beers and dinner and get to bed early for the service the next day.. The day of the Funeral was picture perfect.. It was a beautiful service and me and Justin got up and tried to say some words which was super hard but we got through it but it was hard... The hardest thing was having to leave after the Funeral to drive back to the Gold Coast to catch a flight back to Hawaii( my family insisted that i try and make it back to Hawaii for the Comps ! They said Grandma would of wanted that).. So we left Midday got back at 4pm i jumped on the plane at 5pm arrived in Sydney and jumped on a flight at 9pm and was back on the Plane to Hawaii... Long story short i made it back in time but a day before i had to surf i busted my left eardrum practising at Makaha on a 3 ft wave and was in some serious pain.. I saw a DR and he said there was blood in my ear canal which means you have Perforated your eardrum and it can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to heal properly and the only thing u can do is to keep out of the water.. Great... So i pretty much resigned to the fact that i wasn't going to surf the next day as i didn't want to make it worse. I woke up the next day and couldn't make my mind up and last minute i decided to try and surf in memory of Grandma and i didn't care how i went i just wanted to honor her by trying.. So i blue tacked my ear then glad wrapped and tapped my head up then wore a hoodie to keep it dry.. I looked like a goose but it got me out there. And that's all u can do in life is give it 100% and try.. I didn't get through but i tried and that was for you Grandma..May u rest in Peace and hope u and Grandad are together once again.. Jamie

Down time (but we have been keeping busy)

Yes well here we are and not much to report on the swell front from the past week.. There has been some funky winds and lumpy swell..Still waves around but definitely has slowed down from what seemed like swell after swell.. But we have been using the time wisely and have been fine tuning some of our equipment and also have made quite a purchase in the last few days which will see us not have to rely on friends anymore for skis.. Yes me and Billy found ourselves a great deal on a pair of 4 stroke skis on a double trailer and decided to take the plunge and we are now proud owners of them..So we celebrated the other night with a feed and a few beers at Haleiwa and also it was our mate Rob's last night in Hawaii so we hung with him and had a few laughs.. So between all that and a trip into Town to Surftech to grab some Stand Up Boards and Wetfeet Surf shop to grab some stand up paddles we have been on the move...Thanks Clark for helping us out with the Quickblades and cutting them down..Legend. Go check the Wetfeet store out if u are ever in Hawaii Kai.

Today we took our skis to Mike Slattery who owns and runs HSA.. He is the guy to go see about rescue sleds and all the equipment for the skis. He is going to pad and strap them all up for us and make sure they are good to go.. After that we went and grabbed Dennis Pang who is a legendary shaper and surfer here on the Nth Shore and his son Makana and we drove and had a surf at a spot called Silver Channels..A fun left which works on today's light and variable winds.. We had fun and called it a day after a few hrs and went and had some lunch. Then we went to our mate Terry's place and watched the final quarter of that American Football game haha. Playoffs are on and everyone is into it with the Superbowl coming up in 2 weeks time. So yeah as they say in Hawaii its been a Mixed Plate this week and looking forward to spending alot of time in the ocean this week... Ok got to go my beautiful girlfriend is on skype and is calling.. Till then..Cheers Jamie

Hawaii Time!!!!!!

Gotta love Hawaii time.. Up when u want to and surf on tap.. We are back on the Nth Shore at the moment and have just been getting settled into our accommodation. We have finally rounded up all our boards that have been stashed away under houses and cleaned all the dust off them ready to go.. Yesterday was my Birthday and we had a nice surf at a outer reef . We actually hooked up with Trevor Hendy who was in town and we lent him a board and took him out to surf..He had a blast and we got some medium size waves out there but uncrowded which was nice.. Then me and Billy went and saw a few friends and cruised back home..

Then for my Bday we went to Laie a little town towards the east side from the Nth Shore and had a feed and a few beers for my B'day then we went to a little bar at Turtle Bay and played some pool till Midnight and we were home... We got up this morning to surf but there's a contest on at Sunset and Pipe and Backdoor looked like it had morning sickness so we have been cruising at the condo and will probably hit it for the arvo session.. Nothing HUGE is forecast in the next few days so will be nice to get on the shortboard again. Well I'm going to post a few Random photos and some surfing shots from Mavs session courtesy of Fred Pompermayer/TheShot.com.br

Waves, Wipeouts,Barrels and Good times..!!!!!!!!!!!

Well guys sorry for the delay(Penny,Steve &Shaq) haha.. Things have been full bore... But to start things off we arrived on Oahu last Sunday and were contemplating what to do? Stay on the Nth Shore and paddle some big waves or try and go to Maui and surf Peahi..We got the go ahead late Sunday that we had a ski(thanks Dave and Laird) so we got a last minute flight to Maui with Tim Bonython who was going to shoot footage all day.. All the last minute preparation was done and we got to bed and ready for what was looking to be a swell close to the size of the Eddie swell that hi in early December.. But what we awoke to was something different.. We launched the ski's around 7am and started the 30 min ski ride and it looked pretty similar to the last swell i surfed but when we got there we saw a 3 wave set that must of been 25 ft Hawaiian plus and just thick and raw and mean.. It had a energy about it that was different.. As Laird said the Garbage compacter is going to be at work today and it was.. Me and Billy sat in the channel and ran safety for the boys for a few hrs and then got the go ahead to go get some.. So Billy was up.. I knew after watching it for a few hrs he needed to get on the horse and get some straight away.. This was his 1st time surfing Peahi.. He ended up getting about 12 waves.. Mainly rights but a few lefts and 1 big left that had his heart in his mouth.. He didn't make a mistake and made all his rides. Then it was my turn.. We had a rough time getting some waves..Crowd was crazy and out of control and i must of got burned about 8 times while Billy was trying to get me some waves..He did get me a good right the biggest one i have had so far and i took a pretty good wipeout as well.. One i will remember for a long time..

After Jaws we booked a flight and were off to Northern California to follow the swell.We left that night and took the red eye to San Jose which had a stop over in Salt Lake City ,Utah which when we got there was 0 degrees, snowing on the tarmac and freaking freezing.. Billy was wearing thongs and was losing it.. We arrived and had Rob from Surftech pick us up in the Van and dropped us off at Pete Mel's place where we were staying.. We went through the routine again got ready and were waiting for another big day at Mavericks.. We were up at 430am and the buoy readings were down a touch so that was a little bit of a worry for us.. We arrived and things didn't look to good.. High tide not much swell and morning sickness from the night before.. But we went out and waited for a few hrs and then it started to do its thing.. I whipped Pete in to a few for a hr then Billy jumped on the rope and on his second wave his got fully Barrelled at Maverick's.. Pete and the guys in the channel were going nuts saying it was one of the best they have seen in a long time..He got clipped at the end and actually took a good beating and was down for a while and then i had to go in and get him before the next one mowed him.. After that Pete's ski broke down so we towed him in and made our way back out and we towed till sunset and had a blast..It wasn't huge but we got plenty of waves and the crowd was super mellow and was really cool to be out there.. We had planned on getting up at 4am this morning and driving 4 hrs to a slab we know about but we slept in and missed it..So we cruised this morning and got some stuff done then we went and paddled Mavericks this afternoon for 2 hrs ..Was only 12 to 15 feet but was good to test a few new boards out and get in the cold , sharky waters again.. So we are now about to crash to sleep as we are flying back to Hawaii in the morning. Looks like another nice swell hitting the islands on Sunday... Ok till then take care and will try and update every few days.... Cheers Jamie

Thanks to Tracy Kraft for the great images...

Adventure Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys hows it going..Been a while since my last blog and i hope everyone had a great Xmas and New Years.. It was a quiet one for me and my girlfriend..Just hung out with family and friends and had a mellow one..Anyway looks like things are heating up again in the North Pacific or should i say hasn't stop heating up..Its just been non stop swell after swell for for Hawaii and California. And another BIG one is on the way which will be hitting Hawaii on Monday morning and then Northern California on Wednesday.. Looks like same size as the Eddie swell and even bigger maybe??? Time will tell.. So I'm off tomorrow night with my buddy Billy and we will spending the best part of the next 4-6 weeks chasing whatever swells we can... I have a couple of Stand Up Contests on stand by plus the Maverick's Contest is on Stand By and very well could go on Wednesday if the winds get a little better for there..But one things for sure there will be plenty going on and i plan on trying to blog every few days and show some photos and footage of the trip..Quiksilver have been good enough to hook me up with a HD Handy cam that i will be taking with me so I'm sure we will have some stuff to show... Well I'm off to pack and will talk to u all in a few days..Take Care JM.. Take a look at the charts below for the incoming swell...

MONDAY'S FORECAST HAWAII

Sunday 1/10

Morning

Light winds with a slight chop. Moderate long period swell. Winds: W 9 to 12 knots Seas: NW 10 feet at 12 sec.

Afternoon

Light winds with a slight chop. Large long period swell. Winds: NNW 7 to 9 knots Seas: NW 14 feet at 15 sec.

Monday 1/11

Morning

Light winds with a slight chop. Very large long period swell. Winds: NE 8 to 10 knots Seas: NW 20 feet at 19 sec.

Afternoon

Light winds with a slight chop. Very large long period swell. Winds: NNE 8 to 11 knots Seas: NW 19 feet at 16 sec.

Santa is going to Deliver( BIG TIME)

Well first of all Merry Xmas to everyone..I hope everyone has a great holiday season with there friends and family. Lots of food and drinks to be had I'm sure.. Well looks like Santa is going to deliver with another round of solid swell on its way to Hawaii predicted to arrive Xmas morning at 19ft @ 17 sec which will mean Peahi( Jaws), Waimea Bay and all the outer reefs will be firing and most probably solid 20 ft Hawaiian. The perfect present if you are a surfer and over in Hawaii right now. Got to love El Nino hey.. As for here at home on the Gold Coast we are dealing with some weird weather at the moment and small surf .. But its all good u just have to be motivated and get on it early before the dreaded northerlies kick in.. I have been pretty busy with my Jamie Mitchell School of Paddle & Surf business.. Its been pretty busy the last few months and coming into Xmas and New Year it's only getting more and more busy. My brother Justin has come on board and is helping me alot with the School so its working out awesome.. Well that's about it for now. Not sure if I'm going to try and catch this swell in Hawaii or not.. Bad timing Santa..ahah.. Take care everyone and enjoy the time off...Jamie

Oh yeh check the forecast for Hawaii below.Looks insane hey.

MARINE FORECAST FOR 21.75º N / 158.25º W "Nth Shore Oahu" Conditions suitable for most marine activities Caution. Small craft advisory Hazardous conditions. Use extreme caution 7 Day Marine Forecast Model Cycle 2009 DEC 23 12Z Time Zone: GMT - 10 Hours Wednesday 12/23 Morning Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Large long period swell. Winds: ENE 6 to 8 knots Seas: NW 12 feet at 14 sec. Afternoon Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Large long period swell. Winds: NE 2 to 2 knots Seas: NW 11 feet at 14 sec. Thursday 12/24 Morning Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Moderate long period swell. Winds: NW 2 to 3 knots Seas: NW 9 feet at 13 sec. Afternoon Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Large long period swell. Winds: NW 3 to 4 knots Seas: NW 11 feet at 13 sec. Friday 12/25 Morning Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Very large long period swell. Winds: E 14 to 20 knots Seas: NW 19 feet at 17 sec. Afternoon Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Very large long period swell. Winds: ENE 13 to 18 knots Seas: NW 17 feet at 16 sec. Saturday 12/26 Morning Breezy whitecapping conditions with moderate choppy seas. Large long period swell. Winds: ESE 11 to 15 knots Seas: NW 12 feet at 14 sec. Afternoon Light winds with a slight chop. Large long period swell. Winds: ESE 8 to 11 knots Seas: NW 11 feet at 14 sec. Sunday 12/27 Morning Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Moderate long period swell. Winds: SE 4 to 5 knots Seas: NW 8 feet at 13 sec. Afternoon Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Moderate long period swell. Winds: SSE 3 to 4 knots Seas: NW 7 feet at 12 sec. Monday 12/28 Morning Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Moderate long period swell. Winds: SSE 3 to 4 knots Seas: NW 9 feet at 15 sec. Afternoon Light and variable winds with smooth seas. Moderate long period swell. Winds: SSE 3 to 4 knots Seas: NW 8 feet at 14 sec. Wind & Wave Forecast Wed 23 8am Wed 23 2pm Wed 23 8pm Thu 24 2am Thu 24 8am Thu 24 2pm Thu 24 8pm Fri 25 2am Fri 25 8am Fri 25 2pm Fri 25 8pm Sat 26 2am Sat 26 8am Sat 26 2pm Sat 26 8pm Sun 27 2am Sun 27 8am Sun 27 2pm Sun 27 8pm Mon 28 2am Mon 28 8am Mon 28 2pm Mon 28 8pm Tue 29 2am Tue 29 8am Tue 29 2pm Tue 29 8pm Wed 30 2am 8 6 2 2 5 4 4 3 3 2 4 3 17 12 21 16 20 14 18 13 18 13 17 13 15 11 11 8 9 7 7 5 5 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 ENE NE NE NW NW NW NE ENE E ENE ENE ENE ESE ESE SE SE SE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE SSE 16 12 15 11 13 10 12 9.1 12 9 14 11 18 14 24 18 24 19 22 17 20 15 18 14 16 12 14 11 12 9.5 11 8.5 10 7.7 9 7 8.4 6.5 10 7.7 11 8.6 11 8.5 10 8.1 9.8 7.5 9.7 7.5 9.4 7.2 9.1 7 9.6 7.4 14 14 14 13 13 13 17 17 17 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 13 12 12 16 15 14 13 13 12 12 12 11 NW NW NW NW NW NW NNW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW