Scratby Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you. The forecast for our stretch of coast over the next couple of weeks is pretty grim. There’s no sugar-coating it. We’re looking at a long stretch of tiny, weak, and mostly un-rideable surf. This is one of those times where you might be better off dusting off the fishing rod or going for a long beach walk than dragging your board out.

Looking at the first week, it’s a write-off. We’ve got a little bump of swell on Wednesday morning – maybe 6ft – but it’s a short-period, wind-blown thing with a cross-off breeze that’s going to make it a messy, frustrating mess. The energy is at 468, which sounds big, but the period is only 8 seconds and the direction is all wrong. It’s not going to be any good. After that, it just dies. We’re talking knee-high slop for days. The energy levels drop right off – we see values at 39, 8, even 3. There are flat spells and the swell direction is just not working for us. We’re looking at a whole week of nothing.

There’s a slight tease around the 18th, where the energy picks up to 67, but the swell is still only 2ft with a long period that will just make it fat and gutless. It’s what we’d call “surfable” in the most generous sense, but it’s not worth getting excited about. And then the wind swings around and blows strong from the north-west on the 19th with rain. That’s a full-blown cleanup. That’s a no-go.

The long-range stuff, into the following week, is a bit more promising, but still nothing special. There’s a fresh offshore on the 23rd with a 3ft to 3ft swell, and the energy starts to climb a little. It’s still short period, but that offshore wind is a godsend. It’ll clean things up. Then by the 24th, we see the swell building through the day – from 4ft up to 5ft – with more energy behind it (135 and 200). The morning has a cross-off wind, but by the afternoon it’s swinging offshore, which could make for some decent, clean waves, if a little raw. It’s a date to keep in mind, but as always with a forecast this far out, treat it as promising but not set in stone.

All this is for Scratby. The water is much warmer than average for this time of year, at 66° when we first look on the 9th, so if you do get in, you won't need a thick suit. But honestly, there’s not much else going for it. This spot is inconsistent anyway, and with a run like this, it proves it. The beach-break setup with the onshores and short-period swell looks more interesting for the kite surfers than anyone with a paddle in their hand right now.

So, my advice? Don’t bank on any epic sessions just yet. Hang tight, wait for that potential window around the 24th, and hope the forecasts firm up. It tends not to stay this poor for long.

Rusty.

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