What was going on at HMB today?

I’m hoping someone with lots of experience on HMB can explain the conditions I encountered today. I’ve gone kayaking there 5-10 times and I’ve never seen the water like it was. I’m thinking maybe it was swell direction or period or a combination. I’d like to figure it out so I can know when to expect it. The forecasted swell was 5.2@17sec from the west. As I headed out from the jaws I noticed that it was a much shorter period and steeper swells than I expected. I wondered if the reef was affecting it. When I got out to my crabbing area it seemed normal for the day. Then when I headed back in I realized that the same area was still much rougher. Some of the swells were breaking between me and the entrance to the harbor. I was hoping I wouldn’t be riding over the crest right through the white water. It was the same shorter period with much steeper swells. It seemed to be the 1/3 of a mile or so near the jaws. Has anyone been out there enough to be clued in on what was causing it?

Sounds like you were crossing the reef which is directly to the right as you leave the jaws.  Go straight out the green can like 1/2 mile before you turn right. 

I been there done that before except it was foggy at the time.  Like paddling in a minefield!  Mooch was with me that day, we were creaming.

Bushy

Plus, with a West swell, it feeds more directly into that area, rather than a NW that has to wrap.  And spend its energy at Mav's.  The West swell has an open access to the reefs paralleling the long seawall, and they also bounce off that seawall creating a cross wave.  Can get all jumbled in there.  On the very inside, that bounce off the wall can make for perfect A Frame waves.

Bushy

I headed SE or so and probably paralleled the reef. The rough water was pretty much all the way to the opening of the jaws from around 1/3 of a mile out, coming and going. I assume it wasn’t the reef that close in. You may be right about the swell direction.

Directly out of the jaws headed due south towards the green can maybe a third of the distance there, it will stack up big and confusing-like, for some reason, on big days.  5@17 from the west has a ton of energy, and the reef may knock it down some, but it also shortens up the period and as others said, the reflection off of the jetty coupled with it stacking up right after it goes over King's rock can make that area very gnarly.  I would almost bet money that on the outside towards the far red PP can the swells were very gradual, regular long period swells as predicted, and it was prob pretty nice out there, but a due west swell 5@17 will make that area outside of the jaws "sporty."  Also, any smaller south wind swell will jack it up even more and make for a washing machine...  HMB can get pretty wild when the swells carry a lot of power.  Head on a swivel baby

If the swells are in the right direction, they will crest and crash, even outside the lines between the cans. When those conditions exist, you have to "go wide" and stay closer to the rock wall and head towards the beach, until you are far clear of the cresting/crashing waves. Several PB's have be flipped while leaving the Jaws and heading straight for the first can.