Surfing Waves

This winter at my south facing beach break, there seems to be more destructive cross swells than in years past.

The main swell (18 secs, 4 feet) comes from the west and wraps around a reef to create fun longboarding waves. The cross swell (7 secs, 2.5 feet) rolls from the south making waves nearly a large as the main swell. The result is a lot of chop that embraces the nose of my board when I'm paddling out, taking off and riding. l usually lose the wave when riding from the back and pearl when stepping forward to trim. The rides I get force me to crouch super low or kneel to avoid getting bucked off. Yeehaw.

I've noticed that the incoming tide amplifies the cross swell's power and the retreating tide calms it down. So, I'm having a lot more fun starting my sessions an hour after high tide. Is there anything else you can recommend?

I've read that some shapes better handle chop when riding than others, like V or rolled V in the nose, as opposed to concave, I guess. Also i think a heavier board has more momentum and handles chop better. I don't have experience with it though.

Yeah, heavier board. I vaguely remember someone (taj B?) drilling holes in the nose of his board during a comp and filling it with lead to deal with the chop!

The alternative, which might be more fun, is to become a heavier surfer. No more diets

Hulls do go through the water more than sit on top but I’m not sure it will make a big difference

I can vouch for the weight helping I just got a board with a v nose. My current boards have a boat nose which is a v only in the tip of the nose. New board has a v going back 6 inches or so from the tip of the nose. I haven't ridden the new board yet....hopefully soon.

A constructive cross swell in Portugal. I love how he switches waves on ride 1.

The storms are killing me in Northern California. The cross swell will be as big as the main one and yet MSW rates the morning conditions with 4 stars. I'll jump on the skateboard instead.

BoMan wrote:

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The storms are killing me in Northern California. The cross swell will be as big as the main one and yet MSW rates the morning conditions with 4 stars. I'll jump on the skateboard instead.

Yeah, MSW's ratings for us seem crazy. The cross swell makes the surface very bumpy. I found Surfline to be more accurate.