Lake Ferry Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what we’ve got on the cards.

Right off the bat, it’s a slow start. The first few days aren’t offering anything worth paddling out for, with tiny, weak energy and poor conditions. We’ve got a real dry spell to kick things off. Saturday the 4th through to Monday the 6th morning are a write-off, with minimal swell and onshore or cross-off winds. Lake Ferry (sandbar) is pretty flat and uninviting. The water temp is sitting at 11°, which is about a degree colder than usual for this time of year – a little nippy but nothing too wild.

Come Monday the 6th afternoon, things start to *look* like they might fire up, but don’t get too excited. We see a jump in swell height to 6ft from the east, with a short period of 10 seconds, and the combined swell energy is moderate (1156). The wind is light cross-shore, but the report says it’s a marginal forecast with questionable tides, so it’s not a standout.

Tuesday the 7th is similar – 6ft from the south, but again cross-onshore winds and marginal conditions. We’re not talking about a good session here.

Now, Wednesday the 8th of July morning is where it gets interesting. Swell is pumping at 10ft from the SSE, with a short period of 8 seconds and a combined energy reading of 1238 – that’s strong wave energy. The wind is light and cross-offshore from the east, keeping things clean. But here’s the catch – that 10ft is getting chunky, especially for a sandbar. This is expert territory only. The waves will be powerful and closing out quickly given the short period. For the brave and the skilled, it could be a session, but for most of us, it’s a spectator sport.

After that, Thursday the 9th sees a massive 13 ft swell from the SSW, but cross-onshore winds and a short period again. Huge, messy, and dangerous – that’s a hard pass unless you’re on a jet ski. The week following is a write-off, with consistent onshore winds and dropping swell. There’s a window on Tuesday the 14th with clean conditions and offshore winds, but the swell is tiny (2ft) and the energy is weak (102). It’s surfable but ordinary.

Further out, Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18th show some promise again with 3-4ft swell and long periods (up to 17 seconds), but it’s accompanied by light cross-onshore winds and marginal conditions. Not a standout, but not a complete washout either. There’s nothing in the whole 16 days that screams ‘go now’ – the only real spike in size comes with severe wind issues. For kites, though, some of those windy, choppy days around the 9th and 10th look more interesting than for paddling.

Overall, it’s a pretty bleak run for Lake Ferry. The consistent lack of quality windows makes this one of those periods you just wait out.

Rusty.

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