Red Strand (Dirk Bay) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Well, let’s be straight with you. I’ve looked at the charts for Red Strand (Dirk Bay), and honestly, it’s a pretty bleak run we’ve got coming up. For the next week and a half, the surf is mostly a write-off. We are looking at a long gap here where you won’t want to paddle out. The wind is the big killer – it’s nearly always cross-on or cross, blowing fresh, and the swell just doesn’t have any consistency or size behind it.

Things kick off on Sunday, August 30th with some rain showers and a fresh cross-onshore breeze. There’s a bit of a bump at 4ft, but it’s short-period, fat, and lumpy – total mush. The swell energy is weak (118). By Sunday afternoon, that wind swings more westerly and the swell jumps to 8ft, but it’s stormy, messy cross-shore junk and probably too wild for most of us. Combined energy jumps to 1136, but it’s just not rideable in that state.

Monday, August 31st drops right off to 1ft with a longer period from the WSW. It’s clean, but there’s nothing to ride. The energy just dies (31 to 56). We stay in the doldrums through Tuesday and Wednesday – no size, short period, and a fresh cross-onshore wind just making it choppy. Not even worth getting the wax out.

There’s a snapshot on Thursday morning – it’s clear and the swell is a weak 1ft, but the wind is howling cross-on at 19 mph. Forget it. The entire first week is a bust, honestly. The swell energy is weak (under 170) except for that one Sunday afternoon pulse, and the conditions keep ruining any clean window.

Now, here’s the thing – there’s a tiny glimmer on Saturday, September 5th. The wind goes glassy in the morning with a slight air, and the swell, while tiny at 1ft, is showing a long-period SSW pulse at 14 seconds. It’s basically flat, but the ocean will look pretty. For a beginner, that might be a paddling session, but there’s no wave to speak of. Saturday afternoon gets a bit of onshore wind, so that’s gone.

After that, it’s more of the same. Sunday the 6th brings a weak, short-period bump under 3ft, but a fresh onshore wind makes it sloppy. The entire second week is a struggle. The period swings around a bit, with some 10–14 second waiting periods, but the size just isn’t there, and the winds, while sometimes offshore for a few hours (like the 9th and the 11th in the morning), are never enough to make the tiny 0.7ft to 2ft dribble feel like anything. The energy readings are almost all in double digits – pathetic, in other words.

There is a mention of a brief spike on September 10th morning – 4ft from the SSE with a short 5-second period, and a glassy morning. But it’s short-period onshore junk, so it’s going to be a closeout, and the afternoon goes cross-on anyway.

I’m sorry to say it, but for the full 16-day window, there isn't a single day I’d call a surf day. The water is running a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, with the anomaly at 2°F. That’s a bit notable, but it doesn’t save the surf.

If you’re really jonesing, that Saturday morning glass with the long-period swell is the only time the ocean will look friendly, but even then, you’re just floating around. It’s a bleak outlook, but this stretch of quiet is normal for the area when the winds turn fickle. Forecasts can change – keep watching.

Rusty

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