Sunrise 8-24-11

Beautiful sunrise from relatively placid ocean this morning.  Winds light, just a slight bump of swell in the water.  After breakfast we went to the back forty and cleared weeds from the garden area in preparation for a fall planting of herbs, lettuce, Swiss Chard, etc.  By the time that was done, and a decision made to put in some beach time in anticipation of deteriorating weather through the rest of the week, the first tentative swell from Irene, still a couple hundred miles to the southeast, had arrived, bumping up to a consistent 4 feet, with some bigger sets on a low tide.  Papa grabbed his trusty 9-footer, of course, ’cause I don’t think I’ll be paddling out at the height of this thing.  Some forecasts had wave heights of 22-24 feet.  That’s totally out of control.

Early Irene

It was fun, and you could definitely feel the power, even at this smaller scale.  The waves were thick and fast, and with a following southeast wind, tended to close out, meaning sections of the wave fell over in front rather than the whole thing uniformly peeling down a line.  West winds smooth off the face of a wave and tend to help it break more cleanly and uniformly.  We’re hoping for that by Saturday, when the monster aspect should have diminished and the storm is pulling away.

Set Waves

A few good rides today, but got worked a few times in close-outs, too, and endured some thrashing when caught inside by bigger set waves.  It started becoming unmakable at dead low tide, so I came in and just watched for a time as sets of 6-feet and more loaded in.

A few scudding clouds, and light off-shore winds, but it’s remained a beautiful day.  Have gone across to check the situation periodically, prompted by a pretty consistent roar from there.  Looks like its holding at about 4-5 feet, but mostly choppy and bad form.  Will probably try again in the morning, which I expect will be glassy and bigger, but not yet full-on.  Reflexes ain’t what they used to be, so no foolishness.