A previous device mounted on a buoy in the same location recorded an even larger wave of 19.83 metres in July 29, 1985. The Bureau of Meteorology's Richard Carlyon said there would be some "pretty large waves" off the west coast of Victoria this weekend, "At the moment in western Bass Strait we're forecasting wave heights of seven metres ... But waves of that height won't be seen along the Surf Coast. "Tasmania and King Island get in way of waves reaching the surf coast. The magnitudes are somewhat reduced." Dr Carlyon said the largest waves to strike the Victorian coastline on the weekend would be west of Cape Otway to the South Australian border.

Victorian surfers scoping a weekend of big-wave riding should keep their eye on local conditions, he said. "We're still forecasting waves of around three to four metres in the Surf Coast region, but surfers should keep in mind our forecasts are for offshore," Dr Carlyon said. "It can be hard for us to forecast surf heights at particular beaches," Dr Carlyon said. ‘‘We’ve had fairly deep low pressure systems moving south of Tasmania and they’re throwing up these waves. ‘‘We’ve had a very stationary type of weather pattern. We’ve been stuck in these south-westerly winds blowing off the Antarctic peninsula up towards Tasmania and it’s been like that for a number of days.

‘‘It’s been a slow-moving pattern that has allowed those wave patterns to continually build along the west coast of Tasmania.’’ Dale Sumner, general manager of the Lakes Entrance Fishermen’s Co-operative, said most of the 40-boat local fleet had chosen to stay at home to avoid the conditions. ‘‘There are vessels at sea working . . . but those vessels are used to working in extreme weather conditions,’’ he said. ‘‘I take my hat off to these guys. How they can work in some of these conditions is beyond belief. The weather forecast is going to keep the majority of the fleet in port until at least Tuesday. The wind might drop off but the seas will be too high for them to go to sea. ‘‘When you hear of 100 km/h hour winds, in some areas they find that extreme, but we get that quite regularly.’’

Rod Casement, who owns two of vessels which have braved the conditions, said his men were working in conditions which were ‘‘a bit rougher than usual’’. He expected the swells to hit five metres. ‘‘We actually like it when it’s a bit rougher because we get better prices for our fish,’’ he told The Age. ‘‘A lot of the other boats can’t get out. It’s not so much bravery, it’s just part of the job.’’ In Sydney, surfers can expect a weekend of dangerous conditions as huge swells smashing the shores. Weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Martin Palmer said southern Sydney was expecting waves up to 2.4 metres.

Mr Palmer said the surf would begin to drop tonight but swells were predicted to remain high around Sydney until early next week. "All this has been caused by a big, big low which is now hitting New Zealand and is moving away from us for the weekend," he said. Loading Weatherzone.com.au is owned by Fairfax Media - with Paul Tatnell

