Shooting Gallery Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty. Let's have a look at what's on the table for the next sixteen days around Shooting Gallery.

Man, I gotta be straight with you—this is a tough stretch. The surf is there, but the conditions are just not playing ball. This is a reef break, a consistent one that's fairly exposed to the swell, and it loves a good NNW pulse. Problem is, the wind is blowing from the wrong quarter almost the entire time. We're looking at a solid sixteen-day window with nothing but poor surf conditions flagged up. There's no standout, no day to circle on the calendar. Every single session is described as poor.

The whole run starts on September 5th with a 3ft swell from the north, but it's a short-period 6 seconds, and the wind is a cross-on from the north at 12 mph. It's choppy and messy. The water temp is sitting at 75°F, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year—a bit of a anomaly, but it's not gonna save the surf.

We roll through the weekend and into the next week. The swell height bounces around between 1ft and 6ft, with the combined energy swinging from weak (100) up to strong (523) on September 17th. The bigger energy days—like the 17th and 18th—have 5ft to 6ft swell from the north, but it's all cross-onshore wind. The period is a short 8 seconds, so it's just a lumpy, wind-affected mess. Even the few times the wind goes "on" or "cross," the underlying wave comment is still poor. There's a morning on September 13th with light NNE wind at 3 mph, but the swell is a weak 4ft from the north.

The one tiny flicker is the very end of the run. On September 20th, we get a little 1ft to 2ft swell from the NNW with a slightly longer period of 10 to 11 seconds. The wind goes cross-shore on the afternoon. It's still considered poor surf conditions, and the energy drops to 100-112. It's a reef break, so a longer period groundswell from the NNW is the ideal direction, but at that size, it's barely a ripple.

Honestly, for the whole sixteen days, the wind is relentless. It's a constant cross-on or onshore breeze from the north, northeast, or east-northeast. The wave state is a constant chorus of "choppy," "lumpy," and "cross-chop." If you're a kitesurfer, this setup with the consistent wind and moderate swell might be more interesting than anything for a paddle surfer. For us, it's a hard pass. The forecast is clear right through, so the conditions are set. It's one of those runs where the surf just doesn't line up with the wind. Better luck next time.

Rusty.

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