Anyone else get some today...?

Had some nice summer sessions in waist to chest high a frame surf at high tide. Only 2 people around. Would have been 30 in Spain or France.

The storm of doom (full on winter storm with "up to" 970 hPa) is in the forecast for next week. May hit ireland directly. A bit too south in the models atm.

Some spots had funny forecasts in magic seaweed with 20+ foot and 100kph+ onshore. Storm track is still Very uncertain. Let's hope for the best. With some 10 foot 15sec and off shore that the models had one run earlier.

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Originally Posted by subtle plague

And I've seen an adult start with 20+ and get good. Erwin, Indonesian Co owner of the banyak Islands floating surf house. He rips, but he has some of the best waves with minimal crowds on his door step.

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That is probably about as ideal a situation as one can have for learning late. It would certainly make sense that he is an exception to the rule.

The last couple of days have been fun. Yesterday was actually great south of the HB pier, about head high on the sets with good shape. The peaks a couple of towers down were less crowded, but a bit soft. The current was dragging north, so eventually I would get out and walk back south. I had some fun ones, and I got 4 that were REALLY great, just head high, lined up lefts. Not heavy, just really fun. It reminded me a bit of Lowers. The problem was, I got dropped in on for three of those waves. Two kids kicked out, not completely ruining things, the other kid tried to pull out and ended up collapsing a foam section in front of me that I could not get around. He apologized. The one beauty that I did get alone was an absolute gem though, it made that crowd worth it. People are really chomping at the bit here, I saw more drop-ins than usual. I surfed north of the 56th street jetty in Newport this morning. It was packed at the jetty, maybe 20-25 guys on one peak. The peaks north were not all that great, the sand bars are not as good as they used to be, but I was not going to fight that pack.

Can't wait to get some!

10' @ 15s is pretty damn large. That is pushing triple overhead on the open ocean reefs in these parts. My favorite ledge I really like in the 6-8' @ 13-16s range. More amplitude or longer period and things start to get a little scary and it is time to head over to the submerged point with a deep ass channel nearby.

Hot as hell up here yesterday. It was above 100F for four hours at my house less than a mile from the ocean. Went for a bike ride Thursday and was wondering if I should have been chasing down the dying south. Weather was right and wind was light.

Heh. I know what 10 foot indo (anything upwards of 15sec) looks like, and I would run for cover.. Don't forget: I own a step up, but am to scared to go out when I need it. :D

I just meant that 10@15 and offshore are better than 100kph 20@10 onshore.. ;)

Latest model run pushes the low further south and further back in time. So it's 7@12 and onshore atm. Let's hope for some change.

Actual swell right now is zero, nada, zilch instead of the 2.5@8 that were supposed to be here by the models yesterday.

What is the coastline like there? I imagine nooks and crannies but have no idea. If you could find something tucked away, 12 sec is enough period to wrap in. Just looking for a silver lining.

Pretty flat in these parts. Had fun yesterday paddling around the sushi fish (5'9" foamy) while my kid and his friend boogied. Just shore break kind of rides, but good to move the shoulder.

Today was really fun. I looked at 56th street, it was pumping right at the jetty with around 25 people. The peaks north, which used to be good but are now usually walled, were completely walled. The tower 68 to 74 (Santa Ana rivermouth) area was walled everywhere except the river mouth. I ended up surfing HB, north of the pier at around tower 10. It was fun, around shoulder high breaking on the outer bar, then reforming on the inside. It was a bit walled, but there were corners to be had, some of which led to beautiful, lined-up lefts. It would soften up in the middle, HB tends to do that, but then line-up on the inside if you could stay in it. I brought the 7'6" and was glad I did. The glide helped me negotiate the slow middle section and get to the inside goods. I can certainly see why some people like mid-range or super fat fishy type boards for days like today in HB. In Newport I only surf a 7'6" type board if it's waist high with good shape, Newport is steep enough at shoulder high that you don't really need to work to stay in the in it. But in HB with the outside bar it helps to have a board with some glide to deal with the middle section. I can see why the term 'Huntington Hop' was coined. I saw a number of guys on smaller boards have to kick out because they didn't have the glide. There was a strong south to north drift, I was getting in at Tower 10 and getting out at Tower 14 to go back.

I have a mid-morning window tomorrow and I'm thinking of hitting the same area. It's nice to see a bit of surf again. I hope the rest of you guys are getting something.

Are you picking up a south down there?

There is not zero energy in the water here, but not much. I took my kid to the beach yesterday so he could boogie board a wedge-y shore break. I saw a south set every once in a while, but minimal. I get jealous f y'all down south this time of the season. But give it a few weeks and we will see some small NW action and we will be back in the game.

So the swell will come I've traveled down to lahinch and Thursday I'm going back to easky when the system moves.
Right now I'm camping in front of crab island, a slabby right hand break 500m offshore. No I won't surf it and stick to the fun reef in lahinch. Because here is a sign to get in the water that says:
Attachment 337576

And I'm afraid might not qualify.... :D

Ha. All you need is aboard and say “dude”. They will let you by for sure. Love that sign.

^^best sign ever!

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Originally Posted by Ottime

Are you picking up a south down there?

There is not zero energy in the water here, but not much. I took my kid to the beach yesterday so he could boogie board a wedge-y shore break. I saw a south set every once in a while, but minimal. I get jealous f y'all down south this time of the season. But give it a few weeks and we will see some small NW action and we will be back in the game.

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Today was actually pretty great.

I surfed the same area as yesterday, HB, north of the pier, getting in around tower 10. I surfed from a bit before 10 until 1230. It was actually about head high, maybe occasionally a foot overhead, breaking on the outside bar and reforming on the inside. HB is really fun at this size and high tide, there is some push but it is not heavy or sketchy. I got some really long, lined-up lefts, you just had to work to stay in them until the inside. The outside peaks were fun, a big drop flowing into a cutback, then down the line and maybe bounce off the lip. Then try to stay in it for the inside section. I got a few that must have been around 100 yards. The current was insane, I got in at Tower 10 and got out at tower 22, which is where dog beach/hb cliffs is. It took me about 10 minutes to walk back. I did the walk a couple of times, I was going left so no point in fighting it. Today was one of the better days I have had this summer, it helps deal with the flatness. I will have a fair bit of work tonight to make up for 2.5 hours of water time, but I feel lucky to have days like this. When I always had to be in the office I would be itching to get an evening session in hoping the wind was not too bad on a day like today.

The water is around 71. I trunked it and had no issues. Surfline is only calling the north side of the pier 2-3+. I hit it at max tide, but I would think it should be bigger than that. I saw some very solid sets today, I bigger than I have seen since early July.

Hopefully some of what we got will end up in Santa Cruz. I didn't really pay attention to the direction on this one.

I should have another window tomorrow, although it won't be quite as long of a session.

Fuck. It's 4am here and we've nearly been blown to bits and pieces by hurricane force gusts. I wonder whether I'll surf today.

Our neighbors (rv) left at 2:30 with a broken roof hatch. One big family tent / caravan hybrid has been blown to pieces and the people inside fled in their car. Carnage. [emoji79]
May get pictures in a few hours.
So far our rv batters the storm except some water that has been pushed in via the fridge ventilation(for the propane cooling system) . We've repositioned our rv twice tonight. Fun times. [emoji16]
The system is much stronger than forecasted (976 to 980 hPa forecast and 967hpa measured over central Ireland).

Edit: It's been calming for the last hour or so and I'll get some sleep.

And BTW. Don't you get some swell from your hurricane over bahja?

Side on head high. Supposedly the wind will get better this evening. The reefs are a lot smaller than the sand bars. Attachment 337701

Finally back in easky. Real reef tomorrow. Fun surf the last two days. Tough nothing more than shoulder high.

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Originally Posted by subtle plague

Fuck. It's 4am here and we've nearly been blown to bits and pieces by hurricane force gusts. I wonder whether I'll surf today.

Our neighbors (rv) left at 2:30 with a broken roof hatch. One big family tent / caravan hybrid has been blown to pieces and the people inside fled in their car. Carnage. [emoji79]
May get pictures in a few hours.
So far our rv batters the storm except some water that has been pushed in via the fridge ventilation(for the propane cooling system) . We've repositioned our rv twice tonight. Fun times. [emoji16]
The system is much stronger than forecasted (976 to 980 hPa forecast and 967hpa measured over central Ireland).

Edit: It's been calming for the last hour or so and I'll get some sleep.

And BTW. Don't you get some swell from your hurricane over bahja?

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Sounds wild!
Hope you get a couple more good days in

Saturday and Sunday were two of the best days I have had this summer. Surfed south HB pier, shoulder to head high, peaky. Some were a bit soft, but there were so many peaks that it spread the crowd out. Surfed for 3 hours each day. The water was 75. It was very consistent. I love Orange County.

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Originally Posted by nortonwhis

Sounds wild!
Hope you get a couple more good days in

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Yeah. Not much left.

Surf wise has been okish. Either small or big and close out. Yesterday (3rd Pic) was kinda fun surfing punchy headhigh straight handers. I practiced duck diving the overhead clean ups. Attachment 338177Attachment 338178Attachment 338179

Today was fun, but short chest to shoulder high rides. Unfortunately the banks are rather meh. At least it's not onshore and /or flat like in the north.
Attachment 338293

Pretty good last week ahead. Constant swell and offshore winds at the reefs. Thursday afternoon and Friday morning could be huge. I might have to check out a sheltered spot for the Friday morning session before we have to leave for the ferry.

Surprisingly good session today. Shoulder high glassy beach break leftovers from the onshore wind of the last two days. Now off to the reef parking spot. [emoji2]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by subtle plague

Today was fun, but short chest to shoulder high rides. Unfortunately the banks are rather meh. At least it's not onshore and /or flat like in the north.
Attachment 338293

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How big is that peak? The shape looks great in that shot.

The last two days I have surfed south of HB pier. Shoulder to head high and fun, but the water dropped into the low 60's. A juvenile Great White was spotted a couple hundred yards off shore on Friday. There were signs on the beach, should have taken a picture.

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Originally Posted by Long duc dong

How big is that peak? The shape looks great in that shot.

The last two days I have surfed south of HB pier. Shoulder to head high and fun, but the water dropped into the low 60's. A juvenile Great White was spotted a couple hundred yards off shore on Friday. There were signs on the beach, should have taken a picture.

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As I said. Shoulder high but pretty short rides.

Right now It's 6am and the swell hasn't hit the reef yet buoys showed it coming into Donegal Bay an hour ago. (50km out to sea) We'll see.

It's really nice to park right at the spots here.. Second Pic is a different spot but gets the message across. Attachment 338614Attachment 338615

What I the period on the buoy? How far out is the buoy?

13 sec period waves travel about 20 mph in the open ocean
17 sec period waves travel about 26 mph in the open ocean
20 sec period waves travel about 30 mph in the open ocean

They all slow down once they feel the continental shelf.

Also, buoy data can be misleading unless you have spectral density data. Meaning, it can clump together wind waves, chop and swell to generate the top third amplitude. Actual swell heights may be smaller.

An 8@14 swell can be a 3@14 swell with a ton of wind waves and chop piled up on top. Even if the bigger swell fills in a while later, you may only see a jump to 10@14, but is a 6@14 with chop on top. The swell at the reefs might double in size when the buoy only goes up 20%.

That looks like a killer vacation. RV tripping empty surf breaks driving right up to the overview. Killer.

Yesterday morning south HB pier was shoulder high and fun. The water was still 63-64, but it was a bit better. It was clean and the shape was really nice. It ended up being much better than expected.

I don't know what has happened to the sandbars in Newport. I can count on two hands the number of decent days I have seen between the 56th street jetty and the Santa Ana River. The peak right at the 56th jetty is still good, but the second base type options just don't work well now. And that whole zone used to have fun peaks, now it is just walled. Even tower 68, which used to have a good bar most of the time, has mostly been walled this summer. I am usually hitting 36th street, if there is enough swell, or going to HB. Yesterday I didn't even bother checking Newport for my window. Having been here more than 15 years I guess I can be the old guy that complains about how it used to be now. The lower jetties have good peaks, but the upper jetties are only good right at the jetty.