nwBroweather.com

There are lot of factors involved with predicting surf conditions. Swell, wind and tide all play a role. Some spots will break on a given set of conditions and another spot a short distance away will not.

Generally the bigger the difference between the size of the swell and the interval of the swell means cleaner, more powerful waves. For example a 6 foot 15 sec swell would typically be better than a 6 foot 8 second swell. The Northwest has spots that break on every swell direction–some better than others.

Wind can play a big part in how clean the swell is and the shape of the waves. Onshore winds usually smash down the waves and make them crumbily. Offshore winds can scoop up the waves and shape them better. The direction of the wind can make a big difference in the wave conditions too. Depending on the orientation of the beach one spot could have offshore winds while another spot close by might have more of an onshore wind direction.

The influence of the tide at certain spots can literally turn the waves off in a matter of minutes. Some spots are so tide dependent that they’ll work for a while and when the tide switches–flat. Typically most spots break better on an incoming tide. Another major influence is the change from incoming to outgoing tide. Some places break better on a big tide swing, some don’t.

What it really comes down to is each spot is unique. They all break different–different swells, different winds and different tides. You have spend the time to figure out how each spot works.

Now that i re-read this i realized that this is probably completely useless to someone who didn’t already know this stuff. Good luck!

Word on the street is that a shark was seen last week at the Jetty in Westport. To my knowledge this is the 1st shark sighting at a Washington surf spot. Not sure what kind of shark it was.

Evidently the shark was milling around ~100 yards south of the Jetty. Maybe it was the consistent south swell for the last week but a shark sighting in WA was just a matter of time. Surfing’s gotten so popular in WA in the last few years that statistically it’s bound to happen. Statistically.

Here’s a link to a map of US shark attacks. Florida wins! http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/statistics/GAttack/mapusa.htm

Here’s an interesting site devoted to reporting shark sightings and attacks. http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/

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What up duder.

Did you know that Friday June 20th is International Surfing Day?!

What do you do if you’re a surfer and you live in a city 3 hours away from the Ocean you ask?  Answer: celebrate International Surfing Day with a bunch of other dudes wondering why they don’t live at the Ocean either of course.  More info at Surfrider Seattle.

Reluctantly i decided to surf Westport this weekend. The pro/con balance of the place usually gets me surfing elsewhere but myself and a couple friends decided to giver a go this weekend.

We were hoping to get to the coast in time for an evening session. But getting out of Seattle on a Friday afternoon is challenging. You pretty much gotta leave before noon if you expect to miss traffic. Traffic was chill when we left Seattle around 7pm. No evening session though.

We woke up to crows attacking our camp at about 5am. Perfect alarm clock. Checked the spots: Groins was a mess of swell, heavy current and wind. Cove was (more…)

Last weekend being as the surf was dead flat, i caught a couple surf films. Both of them were documentary style–Surf Wise and Bra Boys. One is about crazy jewish surfers and the other about crazy aussie surfers. Surfers are crazy!

Surf Wise was easily one of the (more…)