Taylors Mistake Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, it's Rusty here, and I'm looking at the charts for Taylors Mistake. I'll be straight with ya – this is a tough stretch. We've got a big, long gap of nothing to get excited about before a couple of flickers of life later on.

The first record of any surf is on Tuesday the 8th of September, but even then it's a struggle. Before that, from now right through the first week, it's flat or near flat with terrible conditions. We're looking at a solid 4 or 5 days of nothing worth paddling out for.

So, Tuesday the 8th of September morning, things finally pick up a little. We get a small 4ft swell from the east, at 8 seconds. The good news is the wind is offshore from the WSW at 9 mph, so it should be clean. The wave energy is moderate (167), but with that short period it's gonna be pretty weak and soft. It's surfable, but it's very ordinary. The afternoon is similar but with a cross-offshore breeze, so not quite as clean.

The next real standout is that Friday the 11th of September afternoon. While the swell is tiny at 0.7ft, it's from the SSE with a very long period of 19 seconds. More importantly, the wind is glassy – dead calm. That's rare. It'll be clean as a whistle, but you'll be hunting for any little bump of energy. A long period swell like that tends to hold up better at a reef or point, but at a spot like Taylors, the sets will be far apart.

We then get another small window on Sunday the 13th of September morning. A 3ft north swell at a super short 4 seconds, but again, glassy conditions. The wave energy is weak (65), so it's more about the clean surface than any real power. This is another "surfable but very ordinary" situation.

Now, the best of the bunch, and the only one I'd really call a standout, rolls around on Wednesday the 16th of September morning. We get a 3ft swell from the SSE with a nice long 15-second period. That's solid groundswell with some proper energy behind it – the combined energy is a moderate 298. The wind is cross-off from the NNW at 16 mph, so it'll be clean with some push. That's the best combination of size, period, and wind in the whole 16-day window.

The last window is Friday the 18th of September morning with a 4ft NE swell at 9 seconds. It's glassy again, so the surface will be perfect. The energy is up there at 264, which is moderate. However, the peak of the swell from that direction isn't quite what Taylors loves, and it's a week and a half away, so don't lock it in.

Overall, it's a lean run. The water temp is sitting at 51°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so you might not need the thickest wetsuit. But the waves are mostly slim pickings. The glassy conditions on the 11th and 13th are nice for a paddle, but for proper waves, that Wednesday the 16th of September morning is your best bet.

Stay patient.

Rusty.

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