I'm activating the Emergency Boardriding System.
SURF:
Now before I get ahead of myself, let's have a look at the week that was.
Had some fun small surf last weekend with clean conditions. That was replaced on Tuesday by bigger SW and... wind from a weak cold front. Today we had another weak low pressure system above us with small surf.
That will last into tomorrow before new fun SW starts to arrive Saturday morning. Look for chest high sets late in the day and shoulder high sets late on Mother's Day. The only fly in the ointment (again) is a weak low pressure system moving through this weekend. The wind will be spotty so pick and choose your sessions wisely!
Tides this weekend are:
- 3' at sunrise
- -0.5' mid-morning
- 3.5' late afternoon
Daylight hours this weekend are:
- 5:55 AM sunrise
- 7:35 PM sunset
And water temps are holding at 63.
FORECAST:
So here's where the Emergency Boardriding System comes in. The SW over the weekend fills in more on Monday for consistent shoulder high sets.
On Tuesday we have the odd head high set around here (and bigger in the OC) from a reinforcing SW. That holds into Wednesday. We also have a fun late season NW arriving on Thursday and along with the fading SW, we should have more shoulder high+ surf. The weather is also supposed to cooperate with nice conditions. Should be lots of fun next week.
After that, the surf takes a breather next weekend and then more chest-shoulder high surf is on the charts around the 21st from the SW. Make sure to keep track of the waves and weather at Twitter/North County Surf.
WEATHER:
Winter just won't go away. We've got a weak low pressure system off our coast that's kicking up our low clouds and squeezing out some showers. That moves through on Saturday and we may see 1/4" of rain at the coast and up to 1/2" inland. The benefit to all of this late season shower activity of course is that it delays our fire weather. Sunday we've got left over clouds and we should see some consistent sunshine by Tuesday/Wednesday. Models though show another weak trough coming through late next week- but that's a long ways off. Until then, enjoy the sun mid-week and worry about the future later!
BEST BET:
Tuesday with good SW swell and nice weather. Or Thursday with combo swell and nice weather again.
NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Years ago cities wised up and banned plastic bags at retailers. They were piling up in our landfills, blowing like tumbleweeds on the side of the road, and looking like a poor man’s jellyfish in our oceans. Biodegradable plastic bags aren’t any better as they still are mostly intact after being exposed in the natural environment for three years, a new study shows. Here’s what researchers from the University of Plymouth had to say:
Researchers from the University of Plymouth examined the degradation of five plastic bag materials widely available from high street retailers in the UK. They were then left exposed to air, soil and sea, environments which they could potentially encounter if discarded as litter.
The bags were monitored at regular intervals, and deterioration was considered in terms of visible loss in surface area and disintegration as well as assessments of more subtle changes in tensile strength, surface texture and chemical structure. After nine months in the open air, all the materials had completely disintegrated into fragments. However, the biodegradable, oxo-biodegradable and conventional plastic formulations remained functional as carrier bags after being in the soil or the marine environment for over three years.
The compostable bag completely disappeared from the experimental test rig in the marine environment within three months but, while showing some signs of deterioration, was still present in soil after 27 months. Writing in Environmental Science and Technology, researchers from the University's International Marine Litter Research Unit say the study poses a number of questions.
The most pertinent is whether biodegradable formulations can be relied upon to offer a sufficiently advanced rate of degradation to offer any realistic solution to the problem of plastic litter. Research Fellow Imogen Napper, who led the study as part of her PhD, said: "After three years, I was really amazed that any of the bags could still hold a load of shopping. For a biodegradable bag to be able to do that was the most surprising. When you see something labelled in that way, I think you automatically assume it will degrade more quickly than conventional bags. But, after three years at least, our research shows that might not be the case."
In the research, scientists quote a European Commission report in 2013 which suggested about 100 billion plastic bags were being issued every year, although various Governments (including the UK) have since introduced levies designed to address this. Many of these items are known to have entered the marine environment, with previous studies by the University having explored their impact on coastal sediments and shown they can be broken down into microplastics by marine creatures.
Professor Richard Thompson OBE, Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit, was involved in those studies and added: "This research raises a number of questions about what the public might expect when they see something labelled as biodegradable. We demonstrate here that the materials tested did not present any consistent, reliable and relevant advantage in the context of marine litter. It concerns me that these novel materials also present challenges in recycling. Our study emphasizes the need for standards relating to degradable materials, clearly outlining the appropriate disposal pathway and rates of degradation that can be expected."
Long story short, if you’re not using recyclable bags when you go to the store, there’s no better time to start than NOW.
PIC OF THE WEEK:
Nazaré, Portugal is home to some of the largest waves on earth. The name Nazaré itself has a religious background as it is named after the city Nazareth, Israel. I'm sure it's just coincidence that anyone who surfs this spot also prays intently before paddling out...
Keep Surfing,
Michael W. Glenn
Hip
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Starred In The Lesser Known 'Four Summer Stories'
