Thursday, July 31, 2008

Surf on Friday - A good reason for a 4 day work week.

That S swell continued to show pretty well on Thursday...I got a decent lunch session at the local beach break, and even with the midday higher tide there were still a few overhead sets sneaking in. It was even a bit more broken up than the last couple of days which was pretty nice as well. I got a few mixed reports from the points further north that said the tide and wind caused a few issues but that it was still pretty decent there as well. Anyway on to Friday…

Friday is looking like a surf day…the swell will be dropping but if you can time it right to take advantage of the tide swings it should be pretty fun.

We will have a mix of dropping S swell, some SW energy, and a bit of windswell from the WNW. Most spots will hold around waist-chest high…and get pretty soft during the high tides. The Standout S facing surf spots, particularly those in Orange County, will have surf in the chest-shoulder high range…with a few rare bigger sets in the morning.

Winds look pretty similar to Thursday…sort of eddy…sort of variable. Basically expect a little bit of texture at the really open beaches, and cleaner conditions at spots with a little shelter. W winds around 10-15 knots build in through the afternoon.

I think tomorrow will be fun…I wish I didn’t have to work tomorrow so that I could grab a couple of sessions as the tide shifts around. Is it really worth taking the day off? Probably not…well unless you are burned out, need some surf, and are currently field-stripping your AK-47 “to teach your co-workers a lesson in manners”…then yes you should probably take the day off and go surfing. It will be sunny, the surf will be playful, and the winds light…it is sort of going to suck staying indoors.

Here are a couple of random pics that I shot Wednesday night when the swell was hitting…











8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool pics..

Danimal said...

Did you surf that evening? I was on the purple and blue Tudor egg. So fun!

Autumn said...

Question- why when i call the 536-9303 to check HB surf it will say 3-4 head high and overhead? I consider head high and over 6-8 ft, since the average man is like 6 ft. I am reading surf the wrong way? I like what I consider 3-5, which to me would be waist and a bit over my head!!

Anonymous said...

Yes Autumn, you are correct. When you call the number for the local surf report you are actually getting the odds on a 5 monkey poker game. Odds are 3-4 monkeys will sling poo at, or over your head.

Anonymous said...

You have to work on Friday? Aren't you a surf forecaster? Doesn't that take like 45 minutes at most?

Anonymous said...

really like your blog, man.
and was wondering if you can perhaps tell me why when i look at the Del Mar surf cam on surline.com all i ever see is a freakin tree!
Do you have a connection to tell them to turn the damn thing in a different direction or mount it somewhere else entirely?

Unknown said...

while I have a lot of friends still working at surfline I don't have much influence on the cameras over there. Try dropping an email to tech support over there...they might be able to help you out.

Notablogger...while I get paid to be a surf forecaster there isn't a lot of money in it...and you know how it goes "the baby needs a new pair of shoes". Of course if I was getting a few more clicks on the google ads I wouldn't have to work so hard :)

Autumn...that is always an issue with surf reports...you sort of need to know who is giving you the report. One guy might be calling it hawaiian style, or is a midget, or a giant, or just really has a hard time estimating things...who knows. If the same guys are giving you reports or forecasts you sort of start to get a feel for the person and the way that they look at the surf...once you have that sort of relationship they could call the surf "chicken" and you would know what they mean. But to finally answer your question...yes 3-4' would be waist-to-shoulder high in my opinion and 5-8' would be head high to a couple of feet overhead (maybe even an overhead+ on the 8' sets).

Anonymous said...

T-Street was head to maybe a couple of feet high before sunset... Or like Autumn would say: 10-15ft...