A tale of two cities.
SURF:
The waves and weather can't make up it's mind. Labor Day hit and the weather turned cloudy, water temps dropped, and we had a mix of small SW and NW swells the past few days. So are we transitioning to Fall? Not so fast.
Major Hurricane Olivia formed a few days ago (and went promptly towards Hawaii) but luckily for us, was big enough to send a little SW swell today.
There was also a small storm off Anarctica around the 29th which sent a shot of SW swell for tomorrow too. So for Friday, look for fun chest high surf from the dual swells.
We also had a sizeable storm off Antarctica around the 31st that is sending reinforcements over the weekend for head high sets Saturday/Sunday. Along with NW windswell joinging the mix, the beachbreaks should be peaky. And as mentioned above, the winds have been blowing from NW and clouds have kept air temperatures on the cool side, resulting in water temps in the high 60's the past few days. Time for a spring suit! We also have a slight heatwave for the weekend (more on that below), so this weekend is shaping up to be fun.
And tides the next few days are around 3' at sunrise (6 AM), up to 5' at breakfast, down to 1' after lunch, and back up to 5' at sunset (7PM).
FORECAST:
The fun SW on Sunday rolls into Monday for more head high sets.
We got a small break on Tuesday then another shot of chest high+ SW on Wednesday.
Charts then show 2 storms off Antarctica in a few days which will give us more chest high+ SW towards the 16th/17th. All the while, we get shots of little NW ground/windswell during this time frame. Cliffs Notes version: Lots of fun surf the next 10 days. Make sure to keep up to date on the new swells at Twitter/North County Surf.
WEATHER:
This past week's taste of Fall is being replaced by another shot at Summer this weekend. High pressure sets up shop tomorrow and by Saturday, we'll have temps in the mid-80's at the beaches and sunny skies. That will last into Monday. Early next week, high pressure breaks down and we'll start to see clouds and cooler temps again for the 2nd half of next week. Make sure to enjoy your time outside this weekend!
BEST BET:
This weekend with combo swell and great weather.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Before Kelly's pool, before Big Surf in Tempe, before Nland, before BSR, before Snowdonia, before Typhoon Lagoon, there were artificial reefs. Not a sunken ship or a little pile of rocks for fish to congregate- I'm talking about a reef built by man for the purpose of surfing. There's been attempts over the years to take a beach with a bunch of closeouts and make it surfable with artificial reefs; just drop a bunch of rocks into a pile offshore and BAM!- you've got rideable waves, right? Wrong. It wasn't as simple as it seemed:
- The 'rocks' that were used (i.e. bags of cement), either moved around on the ocean floor due to the power of the waves or they broke apart
- The artificial reefs were too small resulting in short rides. Bigger reefs = lots of money
- Not everyone in town is on board with surfers dropping a pile of boulders in the ocean
So scientists, surfers, and the local Western Australia government wants to take a stab at it again, and they just approved the installation of the world’s first inflatable surf reef at Back Beach.
Troy Bottegal, is the man behind ‘Airwave’, the company behind the installation and design of the artificial eco-friendly reef. The plan is to deploy a 12-meter round inflatable dome, anchoring it to the sea floor in shallow waters. The two-meter high blob will help under the motion of the ocean and produce surfable waves- hopefully.
“Ten years ago, I sat at my local beach. Staring sadly at the infinite amount of closeouts, unable to motivate myself to paddle out, I asked myself how could I transform these closeouts into surfable, A-frame peaks? Then after ten years of research, design, and product development, I’m ready to install and test a dome-shaped bladder that mimics a surf reef”says Troy.
The science is pretty simple, the Airwave by Waveco lifts, peaks and holds the swell to create a concave, tapered wall of water that retains its shape as it peels toward the beach. Apparently, Airwave can be installed as close as 30 meters from the beach, constructed by an environmentally, super resistent compound.
“These features are very economical and affordable to install in multiple locations along any stretch of beach, creating multiple surf peaks. Six Airwave modules can be installed in around 14 days,” adds Troy.
But Troy Bottegal needs our help. The project is trying to secure funds via Kickstarter to drop in the pop-up reef in Bunbury, Western Oz. Airwave needs $181,290 to become a reality. So if you happen to win the lottery soon, do a 2 for 1 offer and buy Troy's reef and pick up one for yourself. Moonlight beach will thank you for it.
PIC OF THE WEEK:
What's your idea of the perfect left? Pipeline? Skeleton Bay? Chicama? I'm still impartial to Raglan. Fairly empty. Rippable. Beautiful scenery. I'd like to retire there but I'm pretty sure my legs won't hold up on those long lefts when I'm 80. For more amazing surf shots, check out Rambo Estrada's work here.
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Got Ice In My Veins
Not Sure If I Want To Live Off The Grid Or Off The Griddle
MVP, National Surf League's The Game, 2010
