The Fort Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me break down the next couple of weeks at The Fort for you. It’s a quiet picture overall. There’s no big swell on the cards, but we do have a few moments where you might want to grab a board.

Your first real chance to surf is Monday morning, September 14th. We’ve got a small 3ft swell from the WNW, short period at 8 seconds. The wind is cross-onshore from the WNW at 6 mph, so the surface will be a little bumpy. The combined wave energy is moderate at 289. It’s a marginal call, nothing to write home about.

Tuesday morning, the 15th, cleans up nicely. Swell drops a bit to 3ft from the same WNW direction, still short period, but the wind goes glassy – just a light breeze from the WSW at 3 mph. That glassy morning is the best of the early part of the week. The energy is moderate at 238. It’s small but clean enough for an intermediate surfer. Keep the expectations low.

Then we hit a long quiet stretch. From Tuesday afternoon all the way through to Wednesday, September 23rd, it’s mostly poor or marginal. The swell hangs around 2ft to 2ft, coming from the SW, with periods that vary a lot – sometimes short, sometimes long up to 19 seconds. Those longer periods (16 to 19 seconds) could bring a bit of shape to the reef, but the size is just too small. Winds are mostly cross or cross-onshore, so it’s choppy or rippled. There’s a fleeting glassy moment on Saturday the 19th morning with a 2ft SW swell and an offshore wind from the SSW at 3 mph, but it’s still marginal. The wave energy stays in the low to moderate range, not enough to get excited about.

The real standout in this whole forecast is Wednesday afternoon, September 23rd. Swell is still small at 2ft from the SW, with a 15-second period. But the wind goes light from the south at 3 mph and it turns glassy. The combined energy is 310, still moderate. The report says “expect good surf conditions.” For this entire outlook, that is the one session to aim for. Clean, small, and glassy.

After that, it’s back to poor or marginal conditions through to September 29th. The swell fades to 1ft, and winds are mostly onshore or cross-onshore. It’s basically a long fade-out.

So, bottom line: Don’t expect any fireworks. The best window is Tuesday morning the 15th for a glassy small session, and the clear winner is Wednesday afternoon the 23rd for that brief window of clean glassy groundswell. Bring your log and some patience.

Rusty.

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