Postcard from Cali (+ reflections on Sydney)

Hello Friends,

Your humble servant has returned to the world of powerpoints and internet connections after a sojourn in the remote desert of SE California. And what do I see? 2 metres of SE swell showing on the MHL buoy off Sydney, that’s what. Period is ranging from a windswelly 8 seconds to a punchy 12 sec. A quick check of the latest coastal observations reveals that the wind is pushing along at 15-20 kts from the SSE at most of Sydney’s coastal weather stations. And from the look of the marine forecast, it’s going to keep that nonsense up all day. Indeed, the situation seems to be SE right through to the weekend. Even so, my teeth are gnashing because there should be building swell sufficient I would guess to get into some of the protected corners. From the look of the models, there should be solid se swell into Monday when the wind just might get more around to the SW… ya lucky pups!

Meanwhile here in California it’s early spring, so the water’s still around the 14 mark in Santa Barbara county and the prevailing NW wind is pushing up a tiny gutless and essentially largely unsurfable little windswell. Pretty typical conditions for this time of year. It’s still possible to get the kind of long period west to NW swell that lights up the points, but the odds are steadily decreasing.

Scroll down below the marine forecast for a few snaps…