Hello, wishing everyone a happy Monday. Apologies for the week off, not much we missed, but I’ll be sure to catch everyone up if you haven’t gotten to the beach. This morning things were looking pretty dismal, but it wasn’t the actual swell height that was hurting things. It is the tide swings in the mid morning hours that are slowing things down. On a positive note, we should start moving on from the traditional spring conditions soon, and start getting into the summer months, known for smaller but less beat up surf.
Where are these waves coming from? Nothing in particular is credited with throwing waves our way, so we can conclude that the usual perpetrators are to blame. Off-shore winds and tidal swings are casting a solid two feet worth of swell our way, but near-shore winds and tidal swings are slowing things down as soon as the swells get within reach. Heavy winds in the past week have made things even worse, although this is not uncommon for this time of year. Colder air further out in the ocean mixing with the warmer air over land causes wind storms that chop up the ocean, resulting in whitecaps. For now, swell height looks consistent for the rest of the week, peaking around an even four feet. Early morning would be the best bet this week, avoiding the tidal draws and the winds.
An Aside: In case you didn’t manage to get out this weekend, the waves were very slow, although that can occasionally mean they were really friendly to surf. The overall mushy-ness of the rolling waves this weekend provided for an easy takeoff, as well as easy carving and cutting. If you are trying to improve your surfing as I am, these kind of days can be very good opportunities to improve your ability, and practice the things that can result badly if done wrong in rougher and faster surf. Don’t get discouraged when the waves are slow, it can be the difference between struggling during the next swell and feeling better than you did before.
Finally, the semi-finals are on for the ASP world tour in Australia. Catch them at www.aspworldtour.com .
