D and W Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, surfs up... or is it? Let’s be real with you. I’m looking at the next couple of weeks and it’s a bit of a flat spell for the D and W stretch. The swell window is just not lining up. We’ve got a lot of small, weak pulses coming from the west and southwest, but nothing with any real push behind it. It’s going to be a waiting game, and the board might stay in the car for a while.

We kick things off on Monday the 17th with tiny 3ft of west swell. The period is a weak 5 seconds, so it’s just wind slop, not surf. Water temps are sitting at 71°F, which is a solid 5°F warmer than normal for this time of year - that’s pretty unusual and definitely nice for the skin. But the conditions are poor. The wind is onshore from the WSW at 9 mph, killing any chance of it being rideable. The energy down there is barely a whisper at 33.

Tuesday the 18th isn't any better. Morning has a touch of light cross-onshore wind at 6 mph, but the swell is only 3ft with a 6-second period. The energy picks up a bit in the afternoon to a moderate 155, with 4ft of west swell, but the wind goes onshore again. It’s messy. Wednesday and Thursday just get smaller, dropping down to 1ft. There’s a long-period pulse of 19 seconds on Thursday morning, but with that tiny size, it's nothing but a ripple in the channel.

The weekend is more of the same. Friday and Saturday have some 1ft to 2ft waves with long periods (18 seconds), but the energy just isn't there, staying under 100. It's all "poor surf conditions" across the board. No juice.

We get a bit more energy rolling through from Monday the 24th and into Tuesday the 25th. The energy numbers start climbing into the 160-290 range, which shows a bit more activity in the water, but the swell height is still pretty marginal. Tuesday the 25th afternoon does push up to 5ft from the west with a short, weak 6-second period. The wind is onshore, so it'll be lumpy and unorganized. That’s the biggest wave of the whole run, but it doesn't mean it's good. The morning of the 25th has the most energy, with a combined swell energy of 289, but the swell height is only 2ft. It just doesn't add up to anything surfable.

From the 26th of August through the 1st of September, the trend is consistently small. Most readings are between 2ft and 2ft. The period drops back down to short, weak 6-10 second waves. The energy is mostly weak, occasionally touching the moderate 100-170 range, but the swell height never makes it over the 2ft mark. The wind is mostly onshore or light cross-onshore, which keeps everything choppy and uninviting for a paddle out.

Honestly, for the entire 16-day forecast, there is not one standout day. No day gets a green light. It’s a prolonged stretch of small, weak, and wind-affected surf. If you have a kite or a foil, the afternoons with stronger onshore winds and some of those 4ft to 5ft bumps might be more interesting, but for a traditional surfboard, you're better off finding something else to do for a week or two. The lack of any decent swell means the banks won't get any work either. Keep an eye on that longer period energy, but with these heights, it's just not going to break properly at a sheltered beach/jetty spot like this.

It looks like the forecast is building some energy around the 24th and 25th, but it's not translating into size. It's a frustrating outlook. I wouldn't drive any distance for this. Stay home, maybe tinker with the quiver, and wait for the next proper swell to fill in the window. Forecasts can change, but this is looking like a pretty flat run.

Rusty.

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