Church Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s headed our way.

The next couple of weeks at Church are a bit of a mixed bag. We’ve got a long stretch of small, wind-affected surf coming up, with only a few brief windows of cleaner conditions. The overall pattern is one of persistent south-southwest swell, but it's mostly weak and the wind is a constant problem. The water temperature is sitting about average for the time of year, so nothing unusual there.

The period kicks off on Monday the 17th of August, and honestly, it’s not worth paddling out. The swell is small, around 3ft from the SSW, but the wind is cross-onshore and the surf is choppy and messy. That trend continues right through the week. Tuesday and Wednesday see the swell drop a little and the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore, with the wave energy sitting in the moderate range. The conditions are either poor or marginal, so it’s a good time to work on the ding repair or check the tides.

The first real glimmer of hope pops up on Wednesday the 26th of August. The morning brings glassy conditions with only a 3 mph breeze from the west and the swell steady at 2ft from the SW, with a period of 16 seconds. That’s a groundswell, and while it’s small, the clean, glassy face will make for some long, lined-up waves. The energy is on the weak side, but it’s the best offer we’ve seen. Even better, the following morning, Thursday the 27th, is also glassy with a slight breeze from the northwest. Again, 2ft SW swell, but the light winds and clean conditions make it a real standout for a few fun, uncrowded waves. Remember, though, it’s a long-period swell, so the sets will be spaced out, but the paddle out will be easier.

The standout option in this whole outlook is that Thursday morning the 27th of August. Glassy conditions, a clean 2ft SW swell with a nice 14-second period, and the wind is dead calm. It’s not going to be pumping, but for a quiet, clean session on a beach and point setup, that’s the one to target.

Towards the end of the period, around the 29th of August, the swell size bumps up to 3ft from the SSW, and the energy gets into the moderate range. But the wind swings back cross-onshore and the conditions turn choppy again. There’s a brief window on Friday the 28th afternoon with a cross-offshore breeze that could clean things up slightly, but it’s not a guarantee.

For the first week, the pickings are slim. The second week has a couple of those glassy mornings that are worth chasing, but don’t expect big waves. The long-range stuff around the 29th and 30th of August looks promising in size but is likely to be blown out.

Rusty, signing off.

Read more