Surf for Friday – Friday Funtime

Friday will be a surf day.

Sorry the forecast is lagging. I played a little hooky today and went looking for some surf a little further afield than I usually go…it is definitely nice to surf a point break (or 3) when I am usually locked into the local beach break. Unfortunately I paid for my session by being stuck in traffic hell on the freeway ride home. I will share a few of the photos I snapped in a bit. Anyway, back to Friday.

Friday our mix of WNW energy (275-300 but mostly 285-300) will continue through the day…holding similar or slightly smaller surf at the exposed breaks. Small SSW swell (190-210) will hold in the background. Check this out…this is the “nowcast” from CDIP…so it is showing the current swell mix that we are seeing here on Thursday night.



And this is the same chart but showing the Peak Direction…it is kind of a cool way to look at the swell, though it is telling us a lot of what we already saw in the swell-height image. Looking at this you can see where the W-WNW swell is having some shadowing/energy issues, which is causing the SSW swell to be more dominant. Keep in mind that this is the “peak” direction…not the only swell direction in the mix, so just because the are showing more southerly directions in those areas doesn’t mean that you should ignore the W-WNW swell in the water.



Just thought I would share…got to love the big brains over at CDIP. Here is the forecast for tomorrow morning.



Surfwise the average W-WNW facing spots as well as the OK combo spots will continue to hold in the chest high range with some shoulder high sets pushing through on the manageable parts of the tide swing. The top WNW-NW facing spots will have consistent shoulder-head high surf with some overhead and overhead+ sets still showing inconsistently at times.

Winds will be good on Friday…mostly variable to NE in the morning (so light to light/moderate offshore for many spots and freaking chilly early in the AM). Look for variable onshore winds around midday and watch for another shot at cleaning up conditions as the sun sets in the evening.



Expect for the tide being a bit high I think the surf looks fun tomorrow. Points and Reefs are definitely going to have the best shape…but now that the SSW swell has strengthened a touch it may get a little more peaky at a few of the combo beach breaks, so don’t rule those areas completely out (I would check the points/reefs first though). The high tide peak is getting a little further back from the dawn patrol hours, but it is still sort of awkward…I think your best bet will be to pick spots that can handle more water so you can surf longer…well that or wait till the tide drops in the afternoon and risk the wind picking up too much.

Here are the tides…one more day till Christmas vacation!

12/18/2009 Friday
03:05AM LST 2.4 L
09:10AM LST 5.7 H
04:45PM LST -0.5 L
11:19PM LST 3.6 H

Surf for Friday – less work more surfing

Friday is looking pretty surfable.

We have some swell in the water, winds will be light in the morning, and, if things hold together long enough for the tide to drop, we should have some fun zippy shape.

I even got a session in on Thursday...a few little dumpy peaks on the lunchtime low tide. (I even dared my immune system by surfing close to a rivermouth...but now a feel a bit funkier than normal). Anyway it was fun, and sort of racy, and the water was brown and cold, which is what I expected.

On Friday we can expect a mix of WNW energy (275-300) from all over the place...some is from over the dateline, some is from storms just under the Aleutians, and some is from the nice little storm we just had form up off the coast. There is also some SW southern hemi swell in the background that is helping to round out the swell mix.



Surfwise we can expect some building sizes tomorrow...it won’t be huge but it will be bigger than Thursday. Look for the average WNW facing breaks and decent combo spots to see surf in the chest-shoulder high range tomorrow...maybe even a few bigger sets when the swells mix right.

Standout NW facing spots and top combo breaks, which have the most exposure to the swell, will be in the shoulder-head high range fairly consistently on the sets...and then some bigger, potentially head high+ surf, on the lower tides in the afternoon.

Winds and weather look good...mostly light and variable to light offshore for the morning. NW winds around 10-12+ knots for the afternoon.

Size and consistency are going to depend on the spot tomorrow...breaks in San Diego, Ventura, and a few of the really well exposed spots in the other areas, are going to see the most size tomorrow. The winter spots in those regions will be the most consistent but you should have fun at the combo spots as well. Points/Reefs/Beach Breaks should all be working tomorrow but I think the points/reefs will have slightly better shape...the beach breaks may get walled up on the lower tides. The wind may start to get to it a little before lunch so try and weigh the “tide shape” vs the wind bump and see if you can some middle ground.

Here are the tides...

12:09AM LST 2.5 L
06:02AM LST 4.8 H
01:30PM LST -0.3 L
08:00PM LST 3.5 H

On a personal note I want to give a big Congrats to my good friend Scott, who reads the forecasts and just had a baby girl (but since he is flying a Blackhawk in Iraq hasn’t had a chance to see her in person yet). Congratulations Scott! Welcome to fatherhood man!

Random Friday Morning Surf Report - WNW swell is showing nicely

Hey Guys...I just got out of the water and I thought I would throw up a a quick report. The WNW'er is showing pretty good...I was out in North HB for the dawn patrol and there was some definite size.

Most waves were running around shoulder-head high+ but a few of the (less consistent) bigger sets were overhead to a couple of feet overhead. Shape was good, peaky with hollow shoulders and some zippy sections as the waves lined up on the inside bar.

The swell is a bit fickle from a swell direction standpoint...between where I was this morning and the pier the size dropped about 2-3' feet off the sets...it was still fun by the pier but a bit smaller. Check out the CDIP from this morning and you can see how the swell is wrapping through the Nearshore islands.



Most of the energy is heading to SD, in particular south San Diego, but there is plenty of swell hitting Southern Ventura, the South Bay, North OC, and the rest of San Diego as well. (The green and yellow colors are your friends).

Anyway I hope you are out getting some this morning (and not reading this on the computer)...if you are stuck in an office somewhere try and sneak out. The surf may slow down a touch as the tide fills in but it is sunny, winds are light, and we have a fun winter swell in the water. Definitely a good reason to go home, uh...sick.

Surf on Friday – New SSW swell filling in

Friday will be a surf day…but it will have its issues.

Tide swamp, building onshore winds, and sort of walled up shape at the beach breaks…you know…the usual problems you have on SSW swells.

Our new SSW-SW (185-205) was just starting to fill in on Thursday…and it will continue to fill in more on Friday, eventually peaking on Saturday. We are also going to see a bit of WNW energy trying to leak around the corner…but most of it is pretty NW and above the 300-degree shadow. Hopefully (and I am not real optimistic) we will have enough background WNW-NW energy from the mix of medium-period and windswell that it will break up the SSW’er.

Check out the Dana Point buoy this afternoon. (I made sure to put my professional opinion of new swell on the image…man I should make art for a living).



On Friday we can expect the average spots to see surf in the waist-chest high+ range with some shoulder high sets.
Standout spots in Orange County and North San Diego will have more consistent surf in the chest-shoulder high range with some head high sets slipping through at the top breaks.

Winds look decent in the morning. Mostly light and variable with some light texture here and there. Onshore breezes pick up around 10-14 knots out of the W. Here is a shot of the winds about 7-8am tomorrow.




I would expect sort of a slow start in the morning…the tide is going to peak with a 5’+ high around 8-9am and that is going to burger out a lot of spots. You might be able to get a few fun waves before the high tide peaks but you are going to be rolling the dice if head to a spot that “has” to have a low tide. I am expecting the points and reefs to have the best shape on Friday…the better sandbars that can handle a little higher tide might be a good fallback but I would still watch out for wally shape. I don’t think it will be worth burning a lot of gas...so try and stick with your local S swell spots. (and if you live in Santa Barbara do some sort of magic wave dance to see if you can get some of the NW swell to sneak around the corner. Yeah good luck with that.)

Here are the tides for Friday.

02:02AM -0.3’ Low
08:17AM 4.9’ High
02:06PM 1.2’ Low
07:57PM 5.7’ High

Friday’s Surf – A little more energy

Friday will be more of a surf day as we see a slight increase in both S-SW and WNW energy.

The new WNW’er is actually showing pretty good up along North and Central California (a fat lot of good that is doing for us)…but some of it is leaking around Point Conception this afternoon. It looks like this energy will hold overnight into Friday and mix with a slight increase in the S-SW energy that has been leaking out of the South Pacific.

Here is the CDIP model from this afternoon…I expect it to be pretty similar tomorrow morning.



Overall most spots will be around waist high…a little inconsistent on sets but fun when they come through. The top NW facing breaks and the better SW facing combo spots will be in the waist-chest high range with the potential for a couple of chest high+ sets on the right tides.

Winds will be on the light side again…mostly light and variable to light S-SW through the morning and then W winds around 10-12 knots by the afternoon, but stronger up at spots North of LA.

I am still not super excited about the surf tomorrow…it will be rideable, but sort of inconsistent and soft even on the sets. If you have the right equipment and the right attitude you can still probably have some fun, but don’t expect any sort of critical sections. Since we have a mix of swells you won’t need to hunt around a ton…likely you will be able to find a halfway decent wave at any of your local spots that have open WNW or SW swell windows.