Junkyards Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G'day, Rusty here, lookin' at the stretch ahead for our little corner of the rock. Gotta be straight with you – this is gonna be a tough run. The first week or so is a real struggle, with only tiny, wind-affected slop and then a weird spike in size that’s just gonna be a mess. We’re talkin’ days of onshore chop and nothing you’d paddle out for. The good news? There’s a wild card right at the very end, but it’s for the absolute experts only.

Alright, let’s start this painful story. Monday the 17th kicks off with a tiny 2ft SW swell at Junkyards, but it’s cross-off and the report says “poor surf conditions.” A combined energy of just 83 (weak) tells you all you need to know. Tuesday the 18th is a little better with some offshore wind, but the swell is even smaller at 2ft. It’s “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” The next day, Wednesday the 19th, the wind picks up to 22 mph and it’s a risk of thunderstorms with the swell dropping to 1.0ft – forget it.

Then we get a weird spike. Thursday the 20th morning brings a 8ft swell from the SE, with moderate wave energy (1022), but the wind is a cross-off from the SSE and there’s a risk of t-storms. The comment says it’s “marginal.” The afternoon gets worse with a cross-shore wind and chop. That’s the start of a really ugly pattern. Friday the 21st has 10ft waves from the SSE, but it’s a solid cross-onshore wind at 16 mph, making it “poor surf conditions” with chop. The combined energy is way up (1097 and 1202), but the wind is just trashing it. Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd are more of the same – 8ft and 5ft, but all with cross-onshore winds. At this size and in this wind, Junkyards would look better for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

We hit a dead zone from the 24th of August through to the 31st. The swell drops away to nothing, with heights from 4ft down to flat. The wind is mostly onshore or cross-onshore, and the combined energy is pitiful – often below 100. The forecast just says “poor surf conditions” day after day. It’s a real drought, and for an area like this, a blank run is pretty normal when the winds are this stubborn.

Now, here’s the one that gets your heart thumping. On Tuesday the 1st of September, the forecast throws up a massive 33ft SE swell with a very long period of 14 seconds. The combined energy is a colossal 37,801 – that’s very strong. The wind is a fresh to strong offshore from the ENE at 22-25 mph. That combo is textbook for a clean, scary day. But, the internal note says it all: “the swell is predicted to be too big for this break.” This is for experts only – if you’re not a seasoned charger, don’t even think about it. That long-period groundswell on a reef like Junkyards will be a wall of water. It’s a long-range call, so treat it as promising but uncertain.

So the best on offer is that monster on September 1st, but it’s a gated community for the brave. Other than that, the pickings are slim. The water temp on the 17th was 84°F, which is about average for this time of year, so at least it’ll be warm while you’re sitting there frustrated.

Stay patient, and keep an eye on that September swell.

Rusty

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