Freshwater and Harbord Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty here, and it’s a bit of a tough one to start. We are looking at a 16-day stretch for Freshwater and Harbord, and to be honest, the first week is a write-off. The ocean’s been churned up by a solid southerly push, and we’ve got some serious size, but the wind is all wrong.

For Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th of July, we’re looking at a big, ugly, cross-onshore mess. You’re talking 10ft to 12ft of southerly swell with 10 to 11 second periods, but that wind is just destroying it. The combined wave energy is very strong, sitting around 2549 to 2766, but it’s all for nothing. This is one for the kites, not paddle surfing. The water temp is sitting at 64°F, which is pretty average for this time of year.

Things start to clean up by Thursday the 9th. The swell drops to 6ft, but it’s still a cross-on wind and the conditions are marginal. By Friday the 10th, we finally get a bit of a window. The wind swings to a light cross-off from the WSW in the morning, and the swell settles to 5ft from the southeast with a 9-second period. The energy is moderate at 433, and the wind is light, so it’ll be clean. That’s your first real window, but the size is small.

Saturday the 11th of July has a morning offshore from the NW, but the swell is only 4ft. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. We then hit a flat spell from Sunday the 12th right through to Thursday the 17th of July. The swell drops to almost nothing – we’re talking 0.3ft to 2ft – and the combined energy drops into single digits. A total blank run.

Then on Friday the 17th of July, a new SSE swell pushes in at 5ft with a 10-second period. The wind is light and variable, so it’s marginal but rideable. Saturday the 18th of July keeps that trend with a cleaner 3ft swell and a morning offshore from the NW, but it’s only a 9-second period and the energy is light at 176.

The standout of the whole window, and I mean the only real highlight, is looking a bit further out. It’s coming up on Monday the 20th of July. We get a fresh, strong offshore from the NW blowing at 19 mph, and a clean 3ft swell from the south. The period is short at 5 seconds, so it won’t have much push, but that fresh offshore wind will make everything look and feel way better than it is. For a place that’s been under the pump or flat for two weeks, that’s your best bet. It’s the only time the wind and the swell line up properly. Get on it if you can. It won’t be big, but it’ll be clean and empty.

That’s the story for Freshwater. A long wait for a brief moment of salvation.

- Rusty

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