Surfing Waves

http://magicseaweed.com/Newquay-Fistral-Surf-Report/1/

wow.

still dont see how you can have a swell height of 9ft and a wave height of 13ft

Phil wrote:still dont see how you can have a swell height of 9ft and a wave height of 13ft

details schmetails, thats just classed as big to me.

it wont be that big,head high if your lucky on tuesday but wind will mess it up slightly

sunday monday tuesday should be good though but smaller

even with all the details thats still gonna be a major sesh!!

Phil wrote:still dont see how you can have a swell height of 9ft and a wave height of 13ft

Swell is out at sea and wave height on the beach? Shallow water makes waves stand up more? Still a big difference though!! Sounds good. I'll be stuck at work hoping that some of that makes it over to Bournemouth/Poole for the evenings!

boardofwork wrote:

Phil wrote:still dont see how you can have a swell height of 9ft and a wave height of 13ft

Swell is out at sea and wave height on the beach? Shallow water makes waves stand up more? Still a big difference though!! Sounds good. I'll be stuck at work hoping that some of that makes it over to Bournemouth/Poole for the evenings!

i was looking that the bournemouth/poole predictions, i am hoping some sort of swell holds out till next weekend.

i doubt it.

exactly so as the swell height will allways be bigger than wave height unless you had a big enough period

so a 9ft @10 sec swell would not produce a 13ft wave which MSW was predicting

I will be there next weekend !

Phil wrote:exactly so as the swell height will allways be bigger than wave height unless you had a big enough period

so a 9ft @10 sec swell would not produce a 13ft wave which MSW was predicting

Other way round. Swell out at sea has more space. All of that energy and water is then squashed into a smaller space as the water gets shallower (ie on the beach) so the wave gets taller than the swell you get at sea. Energy is then dissipated when the wave eventually breaks onto the beach.

boardofwork wrote:

Phil wrote:still dont see how you can have a swell height of 9ft and a wave height of 13ft

Swell is out at sea and wave height on the beach? Shallow water makes waves stand up more? Still a big difference though!! Sounds good. I'll be stuck at work hoping that some of that makes it over to Bournemouth/Poole for the evenings!

doesnt work like that (i know im studying ocean science)

the wave incresses in size as it hits the shore but before its even got to the shore its lost the majority of its energy and height, from the constant shallowing of the bottom

a 9ft@ 10sec would produce a 6ft wave at most on the push in north cornwall i know ive been predicting surf on the north coast for years

boardofwork wrote:

Phil wrote:exactly so as the swell height will allways be bigger than wave height unless you had a big enough period

so a 9ft @10 sec swell would not produce a 13ft wave which MSW was predicting

Other way round. Swell out at sea has more space. All of that energy and water is then squashed into a smaller space as the water gets shallower (ie on the beach) so the wave gets taller than the swell you get at sea. Energy is then dissipated when the wave eventually breaks onto the beach.

only if the period is big enough the wave will get bigger or places like hawaii where it just comes stright off the ocean onto shallow reef

before the wave even gets to us it hits the continental shelf and loses alot of energy

sorry but no way a 9ft @10 sec wave would produce a 9ft+ wave on the north coast of cornwall

its all about wave period, because alot of the time a 4ft swell with a 15second period will make a head high wave, even with a 4ft swell, well thats what i find here in south wales

bingo. Plus it all depends on the nature of the break. reefs will alway make for a bigger wave (hight) from most swell becuase of the jack up effect.

Sand breaks build over time and disapate in hight due to the gradual build as the swell approces shallowing waters. put simply :p