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  • High Surf

    There's a high surf advisory for North and West facing shores today. Surf is supposed to be 14 to 18 feet high this afternoon.

    Is anybody familiar enough with the north shore surf to know where, exactly, the waves should be biggest and closest to the shore?

    Will waves be that big unilaterally across all North Shore beaches, ie Waimea, Sunset, etc. Or, will they hit on beach sites that are literally facing north?

    Here's that actual advisory:

    "Oahu North Shore (Hawaii)
    COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI519 AM HST SUN OCT 12 2008...HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR RISING SURF ALONG NORTH AND WEST FACINGSHORES OF KAUAI AND NIIHAU AND ALONG NORTH FACING SHORES OF OAHUMOLOKAI AND MAUI....OVERVIEW...STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH A STORM LOW...WHICHMOVED ACROSS THE EASTERN ALEUTIAN ISLANDS LAST WEEK...PRODUCED ALARGE NORTHWEST SWELL AIMED TOWARD THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. READINGSFROM BUOY ONE CONFIRM THIS SWELL HAS ARRIVED. THEREFORE...EXPECTSURF HEIGHTS TO RISE RAPIDLY ALONG NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OFKAUAI AND NIIHAU LATER THIS MORNING...AND THEN SPREAD TO NORTHFACING SHORES OF OAHU...MOLOKAI AND MAUI THIS AFTERNOON.HIZ001>003-007-008-012-013-017-019-020-130215-/O.CON.PHFO.SU.Y.0030.081012T1600Z-081015T0400Z/NIIHAU-KAUAI WINDWARD-KAUAI LEEWARD-OAHU NORTH SHORE-OAHU KOOLAU-MOLOKAI WINDWARD-MOLOKAI LEEWARD-MAUI WINDWARD WEST-MAUI CENTRAL VALLEY-WINDWARD HALEAKALA-519 AM HST SUN OCT 12 2008...HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM HST TUESDAY...SURF WILL INCREASE TO HEIGHTS OF 14 TO 18 FEET ALONG NORTH ANDWEST FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU AND KAUAI LATER THIS MORNING...ANDALONG NORTH FACING SHORES OF OAHU...MOLOKAI AND MAUI THISAFTERNOON.A HIGH SURF ADVISORY MEANS THAT HIGH SURF WILL AFFECT BEACHES INTHE ADVISORY AREA...PRODUCING LARGE BREAKING WAVES...DANGEROUSRIP CURRENTS AND LOCALIZED BEACH EROSION. STAY WELL AWAY FROM THESHORE BREAK AND DO NOT SWIM ANYWHERE NEAR THE SURF ZONE."

  • #2
    Re: High Surf

    Originally posted by Jim75 View Post
    Is anybody familiar enough with the north shore surf to know where, exactly, the waves should be biggest and closest to the shore?
    No clue, dude, but happy hunting!
    "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
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    "
    Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

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    • #3
      Re: High Surf

      Just follow the traffic!

      Seriously, you'll have lots of opportunities during the upcoming months to take a plethora of your fabulous photos. Throw caution to the wind and just strike out on a photographic safari. And don't forget to post 'em to HT!!!

      IOW...I really can't answer your questions!

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      • #4
        Re: High Surf

        Haha, if you haven't left home yet, you're too late. Kam will be a parking lot by late morning. Best bet, park somewhere and get on a bike. Waimea will have a great "panoramic" view from above. Get out towards Pupukea/Sunset and you'll be getting a bit closer to the surf. It's not uncommon for high surf to surge over the highway in those areas, although 14' to 18' might be a tad too small for that to occur.

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        • #5
          Re: High Surf

          A little late replying but I would start off at Haleiwa and check the surf there. If it's decent there then the further north you go the better the surf should be. As was mentioned parking will be nonexistent but Chun's and sunset shoul have nice breaksas well as Ehukai.

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          • #6
            Re: High Surf

            I don't know if surf within the teens is really worth the effort to drive out to the North Shore. Wait until it's 20 feet or more. Wait until gas is cheaper. The only thing is, there ARE more surfers out when it's sub 20 feet, than there are when it's bigger. Me, I'm a 3-5-feet surfer girl. Weenie Waves Rock. That's why I'm always so happy when the surf gets big. People don't go to my break. Yay!
            Aloha from Lavagal

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            • #7
              Re: High Surf

              As said, Waimea will have a great panoramic, and the shore break will be thick. Near sunset, off the wall breaks close enough to get a good shot or 100, and most of sunset is easily viewed from shore.

              Biggest I got to see/go out in was 16-18ft, and it was perhaps the most humling and intense moments of my life, and I will remember it for the rest of it. Many props to the true watermen that call big waves thier playground.
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              From: God
              Date: 9/04/2007
              Subject: stop

              knock it off, all of you

              seriously, what the hell


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              God

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              • #8
                Re: High Surf

                Do we still get rideable waves on the south shores during the winter? Or is it going to look like a lake over here for the winter?
                ~ This is the strangest life I've ever known ~

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                • #9
                  Re: High Surf

                  Biggest I ever tried to ride was about 10 ft at Lymans on Kona Side.

                  Too big for this 41 yo grom.
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                  Energy answers are already here.

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                  • #10
                    Re: High Surf

                    Originally posted by timkona View Post
                    Biggest I ever tried to ride was about 10 ft at Lymans on Kona Side.

                    Too big for this 41 yo grom.

                    Notice Tim said "tried to ride", Hehe.

                    Are we talking 10 ft on a Hawaiian scale?

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                    • #11
                      Re: High Surf

                      Originally posted by turtlegirl View Post
                      Do we still get rideable waves on the south shores during the winter? Or is it going to look like a lake over here for the winter?
                      The South Shore has rideable waves year round.

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                      • #12
                        Re: High Surf

                        Originally posted by turtlegirl View Post
                        Do we still get rideable waves on the south shores during the winter? Or is it going to look like a lake over here for the winter?
                        No problem-- White Plains is good year-round.
                        Youth may be wasted on the young, but retirement is wasted on the old.
                        Live like you're dying, invest like you're immortal.
                        We grow old if we stop playing, but it's never too late to have a happy childhood.
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                        • #13
                          Re: High Surf

                          Yeah Keanu. 10 ft Hawaiian. For those of you who are asking, it means the height of the wave from back, not the front. It's a much more conservative scale for judging waves. Kinda eliminates the brag factor, and keeps folks honest. But it was WAY too big for my skills.

                          I came rolling up on the green bench, covered in wana, bleeding from everywhere, with 1/2 of my board, a tattered ego, and newfound sense of spirituality.
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                          Energy answers are already here.

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                          • #14
                            Re: High Surf

                            When did this "Hawaiian scale" for wave height begin or maybe I should ask who started it? I haven't surfed for a while now but surfed a lot growing up in the late 50's to the mid 70's and never knew anyone who measured wave height from the back. We always viewed the surf from shore and would guess at the height, never did we paddle out and look at the back of the wave to determine the size of the wave. I believe it might have started when they began giving the reading from the bouys because that really is a whole different thing. Anyway I'm just curious as to when and where this all began.

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                            • #15
                              Re: High Surf

                              Originally posted by D'Alani View Post
                              When did this "Hawaiian scale" for wave height begin or maybe I should ask who started it? I haven't surfed for a while now but surfed a lot growing up in the late 50's to the mid 70's and never knew anyone who measured wave height from the back. We always viewed the surf from shore and would guess at the height, never did we paddle out and look at the back of the wave to determine the size of the wave. I believe it might have started when they began giving the reading from the bouys because that really is a whole different thing. Anyway I'm just curious as to when and where this all began.

                              Basically, the Hawaiian scale is half of the wave face height- 10 ft face=5 ft wave Hawaiian style. There are different theories on the evolution of the Hawaiian wave scale but this scale has been in existence from as far back as I can remember.

                              I just wanted to add that I respect Tim for going balls to the wall, even if he did get pounded.

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