What surf report do you guys trust the most?

[wydopen]

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=41012

i highly doubt the waves you ride originate between that buoy and your surfspot....whether or not the bottom shape effects the size of the surf by the time it gets to you it is all relative...like i said..look at the buoy then look at the surf...after you do that a few times you can start to get an idea of what to expect...once you do it for several years you should have it all figured out..

 

[JetManiac]

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=41012

i highly doubt the waves you ride originate between that buoy and your surfspot....whether or not the bottom shape effects the size of the surf by the time it gets to you it is all relative...like i said..look at the buoy then look at the surf...after you do that a few times you can start to get an idea of what to expect...once you do it for several years you should have it all figured out..

Your surf and conditions are very different from ours. Much of our (often little) surf is windswell or some combo swell which is highly dependent on other local factors like sandbars, etc.

What works for you and your ride spots doesn't necessarily translate to our spot(s).

 

[rasper99]

For anyone tuning in from the west coast this site has a handy expert view mode:
http://www.surfermag.com/surf-reports-and-forecasts/forecasts/?RegionID=2|rt=Oregon
If you click on expert view on the surf section it breaks it down nicely. The Pacific is a big chunk of water. The swells can come in from several directions. If the component swells are all similar in size it makes for some mean surf. If there is a dominant one and others are traces it's good surf.

 

[wydopen]

Your surf and conditions are very different from ours. Much of our (often little) surf is windswell or some combo swell which is highly dependent on other local factors like sandbars, etc.

What works for you and your ride spots doesn't necessarily translate to our spot(s).

actually its allot like here...where i live the beaches face directly south with islands off the coast that block all south swell, to the north/west there is a huge point that blocks all of the north swell...we only get waves if the swell is in a 20deg window...there can be a 30ft swell and if its not coming from in between 265-285 deg it will be dead flat here... Like today for example..i just surfed double overhead waves 45min north...in town its not even waist high...aside from a few times a year in the winter when we get big west swells it is only good on windswell days...if you go to a surf report website on a day when there is a big swell that isnt in our window the forcast website will say there are waves in town when there isnt...where you live is allot like here...there are too many variables for some guy on a computer that dosnt live around here to make an accurate call...thats even more of a reason why you guys should rely on local knowledge instead of some guy in san diego looking at swell models and buoys and giving you a report...

the only upside to the super small swell window we have is that because there is so little swell activity the coast hasnt been eroded away for thousands of years like everywhere else and we have literally hundreds of point breaks that offer up some of the best waves in the world when its on...

 

[wydopen]

for example

http://cdip.ucsd.edu/?nav=recent&sub=nowcast&xitem=sb_channel

this is actually very accurate..

 

[FlightPlanDan]

Plain and simple: The buoys off the northeast coast of Florida are there to predict weather and marine conditions. Not to predict surf conditions. However, they are commonly used for that.

Agreed, Temp has little to nothing to do with swell. But, when we get a good groundswell, it is usually because of a tropical storm or hurricane. Our waves are mostly wind driven.

Wind driven waves are less powerful. Even if the buoy has 10' ..... it usually peters out b4 reaching the riding areas and we might get 2-3'.

As I said b4. A true groundswell is different. It's a rare treat.

I understand. I've lived in San Diego, and Oahu, and Florida. The waves here are the least predictable of the three. (and the smallest)

But you can't apply Pacific prediction methods to Atlantic waves. Hell, you can't even apply Carolina methods to Florida!

 

[MADMAT]

I look at the window at the trees...and use NOAA......today!!

Labor Day: N wind 15 to 20 kt. Scattered showers, mainly after 10am. Waves 6 to 7 ft.

Tonight: NNE wind 16 to 19 kt decreasing to 12 to 15 kt after midnight. A chance of showers. Waves 6 ft subsiding to 4

 

[SuziQ]

“…Surfers use the reports to see if wave conditions are, or will soon be, promising. Many of these boaters and surfers live well inland, and knowing the conditions has saved them many wasted trips to the coast…”


http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dial.shtml



Here is some good general info relative to a few off topics within this thread:


http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/waves.htm

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Ocean-Floor-Bathymetry.html


Happy Labor Day to all motoheads, and don’t forget to watch the U.S. Open today/night !!! :woot:


(live stream within the link below)

http://usta.usopen.org/US-Open/2011_us_open_national_playoffs/?promo=subnav

 

[SuziQ]

Here’s a surfer’s website which actually accounts for predictions at Monster Hole in Sebby, as opposed to just near shore like most of the others do. They are currently calling for an average of 7-8’ Wed/Thurs, 13/14 secs and pretty darn close to straight offshore winds @ 7-10 mph for some of it. I notice they now have a buoys tab noted, “Coming soon” as well.


http://www.yosurfer.com/surf_reports/nwa/united_states/florida_central/monster_hole.htm

(Isner is set to take court at 11:00 a.m. today :fingersx

 

[Freakrider]

Interesting: http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...4+does+wind+swell+become+ground+swell&ct=clnk

"Windswells are swells that are generated by local winds within a few hundred miles of the coast. As a result, the swell periods are short (four to 10 seconds between crests) and the waves tend to stack up on each other with very consistent sets. Also, a windswell's energy doesn't extend very deep -- maybe only 100 feet or so -- so it can only travel a few hundred miles before dissipating because most of the wave energy is concentrated closer to the ocean surface.

Groundswells are swells that are usually generated by winds much farther away. These swells are created by strong winds over long distances -- we refer to this distance as the "fetch" -- and over longer periods of time. As a result, more energy is transferred into the water during the generation of the waves, which create longer swell periods. Waves with longer swell periods can travel great distances without losing the swell energy like windswells do. Furthermore, swell energy in groundswells can also extend down to around 1,000 feet deep. This allows greater interaction with the ocean floor when the groundswells move into shallow water. For example, this process of refraction will allow groundswells to wrap into a spot -- up to 180 degrees or more -- while windswells wrap very little if at all."

 

[MADMAT]

Apparently at this new house I can just look out my window and see if my chairs are blown over!

Blown over chairs=5 to 8 footers!

 

[FlightPlanDan]

ALL of the surf shops had it wrong today. The size was pretty accurate, (10' faces) , but they ALL called for a west wind to glass them off.
Wind was light, but out of the east. Katia was a bit choppier than Irene, but still a boatload of fun!

Sorry suzi, we concentrate on riding.....no vid (that I know of).

 

[FlightPlanDan]

Here's my buoy.

Please tell me when I should ride.
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=41012

 

[yamaslut]

actually its allot like here...where i live the beaches face directly south with islands off the coast that block all south swell, to the north/west there is a huge point that blocks all of the north swell...we only get waves if the swell is in a 20deg window...there can be a 30ft swell and if its not coming from in between 265-285 deg it will be dead flat here... Like today for example..i just surfed double overhead waves 45min north...in town its not even waist high...aside from a few times a year in the winter when we get big west swells it is only good on windswell days...if you go to a surf report website on a day when there is a big swell that isnt in our window the forcast website will say there are waves in town when there isnt...where you live is allot like here...there are too many variables for some guy on a computer that dosnt live around here to make an accurate call...thats even more of a reason why you guys should rely on local knowledge instead of some guy in san diego looking at swell models and buoys and giving you a report...

the only upside to the super small swell window we have is that because there is so little swell activity the coast hasnt been eroded away for thousands of years like everywhere else and we have literally hundreds of point breaks that offer up some of the best waves in the world when its on...

I agree totally with the locality of it all... That is very much like here. It could be pumping in South Beach but flat here or even in Sebastain..

let's clear this up. www.sunglowpierlive.com

this is about 2 miles from where we are riding.

 

[FlightPlanDan]

Still assuming that winds will remain constant.
Any offshore fisherman knows that it can be a different world in 15 minutes. Good or bad.

No matter what the buoy says.

 

[SuziQ]

Dan, if you wish to utilize the buoy system and make friends, you will need to access more than just that one buoy north of your ride locale in which you seem to hate; you should utilize three buoys. Also, you have two different onshore stations at the spot which will give you useful info (like the winds you keep mentioning, etc…).

Here is one of them, Station GTXF1: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=gtxf1.

You can also take a quick glance at this link below, with all mentioned above: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/Forecasts/FZUS52.KJAX.html.

Just dig into the NOAA Website; you will find plenty of other useful tools as well.

 

[SuziQ]

This is another site I am partial to and posted long ago, strictly for detailed information on various locales. I like it, because the descriptors are typically noted by local surfers having vast knowledge about a locale, or at least by one having surfed it. It is useful for when one is free to travel at times of decent swell and is trying to choose which places will be best on a given day (one place may be working, while the next place on the coast may not). It advises as to what is necessary to make a specific location work/fail, as well as exactly how the wave works (when working), in addition to other useful information.

http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/North_America/USA/South_East/North_Florida/monster_hole/

 

[djkorn1]

Apparently at this new house I can just look out my window and see if my chairs are blown over!
Blown over chairs=5 to 8 footers!

Yep, we have 90% windswell...So looking out the window at flag direction and checking the wind mph works for us....Sometimes I check the winds in Buffalo or Detroit depending on the direction of the wind and if there is a system out there generating swell....