Lefthanders Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s break down the next couple of weeks at Lefthanders. This is a reef set-up, real exposed to west and southwest swells, but the first batch of days is a rough one. Too much energy in the water and the wind hasn’t got its act together, so it’s messy.

We start on Thursday, September 3rd with a big SW groundswell running 4.0m, period around 15 seconds—definitely a groundswell. Problem is, the wind is a moderate cross-onshore, and it’s just poor out there. The combined energy is 6562, so there’s a heap of power. That trend holds through Friday the 4th, with swell hitting 5.0m in the morning and 4.5m in the afternoon. The afternoon lightens up a bit with a gentle breeze, but the swell is still too big for the break. The energy reading Friday afternoon goes to 10411—that’s a serious amount of water moving. Not for the faint of heart.

Saturday the 5th stays lumpy with fresh cross-onshore winds and 4–4.0m swell. Sunday the 6th brings a brighter note: a clean, cross-offshore SSE breeze at 19 mph, and a 4.0m SW swell with a 13-second period. But again, the comment says it’s too big. Energy is 6282. That clean wind pattern sticks around for Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th, with offshore and cross-offshore flows, light winds—gorgeous conditions. But the swell size is still 4–4.0m, and the periods jump to 16–18 seconds. That’s very long-period groundswell, perfect for a reef, but at that size it’s big and heavy. The energy on Tuesday afternoon is 10815. Only the experienced ones should be suiting up.

Wednesday the 9th stays clean with swell easing to 3.0m and a 15-second period, energy at 4565. Still big, but slowly dropping. Thursday the 10th sees the swell finally come down to 2.3m from the SW, period 14 seconds, but the wind turns cross-shore and the wave comment calls it marginal. Energy is 2335—moderate. It’s not a standout, but it’s close to being okay.

Friday the 11th gets messy again with moderate cross-onshore winds and a 2.5m swell. Then Saturday the 12th throws another massive spike: 5.0m swell with a 16-second period, energy hits 11914—the highest all forecast. Onshore and choppy. No chance. Sunday the 13th and Monday the 14th still show 4–4.5m with cross-onshore winds, still too big and not clean.

The real gem shows up on Wednesday afternoon, September 16th. Swell finally drops to 2.1m from the SW, period 13 seconds, and the wind goes light and cross-offshore from the NNE at 6 mph. Clean as a whistle, the comment says excellent for experienced surfers, and the combined energy is 2993—solid and fun. That’s the session to aim for.

Tuesday morning, September 15th also looks clean with a 3.0m SW swell and cross-offshore wind, energy at 3431. A little bigger, but still clean. The tail end, Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th, shows swell dropping to 1–1.7m, but with fresh winds and only marginal conditions.

So the pick of the fortnight is Wednesday afternoon, September 16th, with Tuesday morning the 15th as a backup. Don’t even think about paddling out on those 5.0m days unless you’re on a big-wave rig.

Rusty.

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