Saturday 29 December 2012

Poogers

There has been plenty of frolicking over the past week or so and also some not bad waves if you are prepared to put some mileage in to find the. Shamefully I don't surf the south coast much these days, as when it is good its a mighty fine place to be - especially this time of year when the wind is veering and backing like a fiddler's elbow.

It never ceases to amaze me that the same faces I used see around 20, and in some cases 25 years ago are still pounding the backroads between the Texaco garage in Snorstul down towards Veryan. I wonder how much petrol has been wasted over the years hunting around for scraps? Wonder if they'll still be doing it in another 25 years?

I can't remember the water being so warm around christmas time and I was happy as Larry for a few hours this afternoon with no boots, nor hood, nor gloves. Lots of bird action as well, think there was some sort of midwinter petrel and shithawk symposium the other side of Black Head as that's where they all seemed to be going.

2012 won't go down as a classic year I don't think - there was nearly 6 months with hardly any south-easterly wind from March through to September and I reckon that must go down as one of the worst spring/summer periods since (my) records began.

The winter storms of the last few weeks will continue for the next few days but there looks like being a big change just after the new year beds in.

Before that though, the south coast is going to bowl one mighty last over and I'm having trouble stopping my trousers from bulging.

The American forecasters show dream south-coast charts - a pretty decent south-westerly hoolie, and a decent sw swell ahead of a big isobar elbow creeping east through Monday afternoon.

Mon Morning

Noon Mon

 
 
So the rough plan for Monday - As soon as the rain stops, wheel spin out of Polgooth and turn left on the Meva road.
 
Spect Levvie will be heaving too and there will be some leftovers on NYD I think.  

Friday 21 December 2012

Good week

Blimey - what a week - hopefully I've brought home some bacon this week, and oh boy, what lovely waves in Spain. Me and one other out at one stage, the day before was allegedly the best it has been for years but you won't hear me complaining.

King of the Goblins
Thanks to Peggy for the photo lending me a towel. Wish I could have stayed as there looks like plenty more to come - They buggers off to Morocco tomorrow for some xmas, waves must be foaming with excitement.

Back here, the pattern looks locked down for at least the next week as a deep, entrenched upper trough sits to the west of Ireland - this will bring low after low and strong winds, not to mention the a bathtub of rain. Most of the next week the wind will be whistling in from the south-west, so its a case of tucking in out of the wind,  but it will be veering and backing from time to time and this might make the main beaches and perhaps the south-coast worth a sniff. Monday and Tuesday are perhaps the most interesting looking days, as there are hints of some disruption to the main upper trough and perhaps the development of a smaller system turning the wind more southerly on Monday.



 Meanwhile, fronts moving through on Christmas morning may swing it northwesterly in the afternoon so the south coast could have a short offshore window. Nice way to burn the turkey off.








 

Sunday 16 December 2012

EggNog

Some not bad waves in the last week or so and some big units crashing in over the weekend if you were prepared to tuck in away from the wind.

I think that's going to be the story of the next week or so - There'll be waves alright but getting detail on the wind and when it will be offshore is going to be tricky in such a mobile scenario. Tuesday afternoon is probably the next decent window for some nice waves - in fact it's looking pretty classic.



It's also way to far out for any confidence but if the current set of charts from the weekend workout, then the south coast is looking pretty sexy just ahead of Christmas - might have do my shopping early and off the eggnog.

I've managed to score a work trip to the Basque country this week and am hoping to be able to swing by Mundaka - winds are forecast to be berthing in from the south-west so I have everything crossed. Camera will be at the ready so I hope to upload some pics. I bet it's pumping now - SW wind, 11 foot and 16 seconds. Same on Friday - Deep Breath!

Monday 10 December 2012

OH dear, what can the matter be,

... three old ladies got stuck down the lavatory,
the wind was south easterly from Tuesday til, Friiiiiiiday
lalalalalala la  la

or something like that anyway.

What better way to start the week than with a forecast of southeasterly winds from more or less tonight until the end of the week - it will get pretty wild out there towards the end of the week, as the gradient tightens ahead of the next load of flooding and wild weather this weekend, but there should be plenty wave coming.

The best swell is most likely to be the Tuesday and Thursday, with Thursday getting into a range which will be getting the big waves spots raising the eyebrows.


Friday 7 December 2012

Logs on the fire

I'm a notch more confident about next week now - several runs of the magic swell machine and Tuesday and Wednesday aren't looking too shabbuth. A nice neat pulse of swell and a lot more east now in the wind than north so pencil a couple of afternoons off and get down the beach.


spot the ball

After that and it might get into the big & beefy range for the end of the week/weekend - the Atlantic is threatening to kick up a stir and return the westerlies, with big fetch, big wind pointing big swell right into the north shore. I suspect it'll be a howling mess but if the high over Scandinvia can hang on in there and keep the wind southerly, as some of the ensembles suggest, it could get interesting.


12 out of the 20 ensemble members below all want to keep the wind sourthely next weekend - that's more than half  - 14 and 19 look particularly nice!

Thursday 6 December 2012

had forgotten about this...

...r, c and me shaking the bumptee - s on camera. 



The Siiiiiidewinder



Brrrrrr


If you don't mind surfing when it is utterly freezing, then next week is going to offer up some pretty decent waves I think.

Here's the Atlantic chart from ECMWF on Sunday - a nice low berthed up in the middle of the Atlantic and the ridge I was talking about earlier in the week snuzzled down over the UK. Meanwhile, flipping cold air is nestled in over Scandinvia and with a general easterly flow that means it'll be icy. It's not the most powerful low, nor is it aligned in the best place way but I think there's some good potential that will get waves into the medium sized range by the middle of next week.


The wind direction has some work to do to, it's a little too north of east for my liking at the moment but only by a fraction, but it will be offshore all along the Aardvark's nose so you might have to go west to get the best.




Monday 3 December 2012

The north-westerly jet


A north-westerly jet is currently blasting us with a low pressure system every few days, with each successive low that comes through ploughing in with a howling northwesterly. Sooner or later, high pressure will settle over the north Atlantic and then it'll get cold perhaps even really cold as the radiators get switched off.

that's the theory anyway...


NW'ly low #1 (the jet is running in a rough line between Iceland and Les Alpes). 




NW'ly low #2 (jet in the same place)


#3 - and note by this time the high pressure ridges between Iberia and Iceland are linking up as the jet weakens. 




Now its blocked... the jet is gone gone elsewhere and lows are stopped from coming from the west and it'll then get cold



Good for south-easterly wind mind - these kind of patterns are great when it comes to forecasting long range and long periods of south-easterly winds. With luck, swell generators will tuck a couple of long range high period swells in under the south-easterly winds and fingers crossed these might get into the midium sized range at some point