Surf prediction swell hight/period,wam chart ,confused? i am

[k mac]

ive been reading up and searching the web read stuff on magic seaweed and other such sites ,i m starting to get the genaral jist off things but has anyelse got such a wide breadth of knoweldge that theyd like to preach to all us small feeble mindied people out here ? any help be appreciated cheers .....

[PapaW]

What you need to do is look at the conditions and then go to where ever your surfing an see what thoese conditions produce. You will build up your knowledge of what makes where work, how big etc...

Its all a long learning process and unless you do it yourself you won't develop that knowledge. People may tell you but you need to expecerance it urself to make it sink in.

[PapaW]

He's allready there....

From what I gatherd from Kmacs posts he having trouble interperating the data for his surf spots.... that right?

[k mac]

spot on i just didnt get that that across to well in the title , there dont seem to be any webcams or relible/valibule sources of info for my favourite regular break ,praa sands cornwall, but i know so far it works best in on a south westerly swell and a nw/ne/n wind the only proplem is i cant find this info any where and i dont have any mates down the beach who i can give a quick ring to ask if its goin off or not ,d'you know what i mean also i wouldnt consider myself to even have much knowelde of interpreting the info i can get hold of ,

[Brent]

If you have any problems understand that stuff, or just making sense out of some aspects, go to a website titled www.stormsurf.com, click on tutorials and read, it lays out in very simple terms everything, from the very beginning... from how highs & lows create wind, what fetch is, how wind swell changes to groundswell (definitions of each as well), what period is, what terms like significant wave hight mean, how water temperature affects weather, how to interpret virtual buoy readings, how to use several different sources to "paint a picture" and forecast rather than rely 100% on one source. And, for those really anal applied-maths lovin people how to calculate when a swell will arrive.
Actually, even after several years of having it firmly in my favourites I still go back there to refresh & jog my memory about some things. It is a wealth of serious & practical knowledge for any surfer.

After absorbing this knowledge you'll be able to sit on any headland near your local, watch the swells and see our beloved waves in a whole new and much better educated light. I did.
Read a chapter a night & make notes. Go to it!

[k mac]

wow ive checked out the site and added it to my favourites brent ,quite a lot to take in may be an understament but saying that i was suprised that i already knew a resonable amount of info already ,i think ill read a chapter a night and try to fully absorb the complicated bits ! cheers for the link, -k mac

[k mac]

oh and it is just me or has phil deleted his post

[k mac]

well ive finally learnt somthing and its payed off, i ve been looking at these charts reading up on them and got the wind and swell direction for today and looked at the beachs i usally surf and applied the knowladge .and i turned up at the said beach Praa sands with perfect shoulder to head high sets rolling in with a nice offshore wind ,well chuffed !!!!!!!

[PapaW]

Good to hear dude.. Now you can use that everywhere else and also you can start forcasting....

[meister]

yeah i never understood all that weathery stuff aye ... and it duznt help that i live inland. all i no is when the isobars are close 2gether it means surf and offshore winds are good!!