Surfing Waves

What is it called when the waves hit the beach with so much frequency that the water is churning like a washing machine? On days like that you will often find that many beginner-intermediate surfers have trouble pushing through the whitewash and the currents are sometimes very strong as well.

I know there must be a name for this...it would make it so much easier for me to describe when warning other surfers about the conditions.

What is going on when it's like this? Is it a groundswell? Does it only happen at certain types of breaks? If I had to guess, it occurs in bays that funnel in swells from different directions creating chaotic conditions. Am I close?

you describe wind swell...close period, consistent, disorganized.....wind swell.

ground swell is much more defined, and has longer period between swells. ground swell good......wind swell not so good.....usually...but if things come together wind swell can be good.

Lomax wrote:What is it called when the waves hit the beach with so much frequency that the water is churning like a washing machine?

Time to go kitesurfing!

KS

Yeah sounds like you describing wind swell. Which can be a hella lot of fun. Just gotta paddle your heart out and hope you get outback. Although there are much harsher conditions when you will see no one out. Its called...

...Victory At Sea Its when you get a short period swell with decent size and a lot of wind making it near impossible to paddle out unless you really enjoy duckdiving a lot - int hese conditions there is no such thing as time between sets it is continuous even if you made it outback which would be a looong way out you will probably end up getting duffed by sneaker sets which are much more frequent in such conditions.. In such conditions it's best to find a more sheltered spot or somewhere where there is something that resembles a channel.

parrysurf wrote:you describe wind swell...close period, consistent, disorganized.....wind swell.

ground swell is much more defined, and has longer period between swells. ground swell good......wind swell not so good.....usually...but if things come together wind swell can be good.

But some wind swells don't do that.

Case in point, El Porto this week. 3ft at 15s SSW and 2ft at 9s W. Not exactly a huge wind swell. But if you paddle out, it's just mush. Wave after wave after wave of whitewater, until you get WAY out back.

That's why I thought it was colliding swells.

isaluteyou wrote:...Victory At Sea

LOL now that would take some SERIOUS paddling!

its called a surfer's treadmill.