The Fort Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here.

Alright, let’s be straight with you. The next sixteen days at The Fort are looking pretty average, to be honest. It’s a reef break for intermediate crew, and it’s fairly exposed to the swell, but the conditions just aren’t lining up for anything special. We’ve got a long gap of poor surf coming up, so don’t get your hopes up for the next week.

Water temp is sitting at 55°, which is about normal for this time of year – nothing unusual there.

Right now, starting on Tuesday morning, July 14th, we’ve got a 4ft swell from the WNW at 8 seconds, so short-period stuff. The wind is cross-on from the west at 6 mph, which has the surface a bit messy. The combined energy is weak (361). It’s a marginal call at best, and only the keenest would even bother paddling out. Tuesday afternoon just gets worse – wind swings NW and picks up to 16 mph, the swell drops to 2ft, but it’s cross-shore and choppy. No good.

Wednesday the 15th and Thursday the 16th are a write-off. Moderate to fresh cross-shore winds between 16 and 22 mph, and a lumpy chop on the surface. The swell height bumps up to 6ft and 6ft on those afternoons, but period drops to 7 seconds – that’s just a messy windswell. Combined energy gets up to 632 on Thursday arvo, but it’s all blown out. Not worth it.

Friday the 17th morning offers a glimmer – 5ft from the WNW at 8 seconds, still cross-shore wind, but the energy is okay (813). It’s marginal, but if you’re desperate and don’t mind some chop, you could find a wave. Friday afternoon sees a 2ft swell with a 17-second period from the west – that’s proper groundswell, but barely any size, and the wind is fresh cross-shore. It’s a tease.

From Saturday the 18th all the way through to Tuesday the 28th of July, it’s mostly poor or marginal. The swell sticks around 2ft to 3ft, mostly from the SW and SSW, with periods from 14 to 17 seconds – so clean lines but tiny. Winds are predominantly cross or cross-on, light to moderate, so you’ll get bumpy conditions on anything with a bit of push. The energy is moderate at best, hitting 766 on Friday the 24th afternoon, but that’s paired with a fresh cross-shore and a 24-second period – that’s a very long period for such a small wave, meaning it’ll just stand up and crumble at a beachie-like reef. Not ideal.

Towards the end, on Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th, we start seeing stronger energy readings – 1137 and 1208 – coming from a 21-second and 20-second SW groundswell. That’s a lot of energy, but the height is still just 2ft to 3ft, and the winds are cross-shore at 12 to 19 mph, so it’s a messy, blown-out knee-high mess. Not the kind of power you can use.

The best of a bad bunch? Honestly, Tuesday afternoon July 28th is the closest to “okay.” WSW winds at just 3 mph (near glassy), 3ft from the SW at 16 seconds, and combined energy of 674. It’s marginal, but the light offshore-ish wind could make it smooth. Still tiny, though.

If you were hoping for a standout session, you’ll be waiting a while. The first week is a washout; the second week is small and messy. This setup looks more like kite surfing weather than a paddle session for most of it – especially when the wind gets up above 16 mph.

Keep an eye on that July 29th Wednesday afternoon – WSW wind at 3 mph, 3ft SW, 15-second period. Calm, clean, but barely a wave to ride. That’s about as good as it gets.

Rusty.

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