3 ft swell Sat

Mendocino is supposed to have winds but a 3 foot swell Saturday.

wow, that forecast is strikingly different to pt Reyes to Pidgeon pt to 20nm

Saturday: WNW wind 13 to 18 kt. Sunny. NW swell 8 feet. Wind waves around 3 ft.

And PA to PR to 20nm

Saturday:  NW wind 19 to 23 kt. Sunny. WNW swell 8 feet. Wind waves around 4 ft.

(Both from NOAA)

They changed it a little.

Tonight
Se wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 3 ft. W swell 10 to 12 ft at 12 seconds. Chance of showers. 
Wed
S wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 3 to 4 ft. W swell 8 to 9 ft at 11 seconds. Rain. 
Wed Night
S wind 5 kt...becoming NW after midnight. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 8 ft at 10 seconds. Slight chance of showers. 
Thu
NW wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 3 to 4 ft. W swell 7 ft. 
Thu Night
N wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft. W swell 6 ft. 
Fri
N wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 3 to 4 ft. NW swell 9 ft. 
Sat
NW wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 3 to 4 ft. NW swell 5 ft. 
Sun
NW wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 3 to 5 ft. NW swell 4 ft. 

Sat
NW wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 3 to 4 ft. NW swell 5 ft. 

Help out this nube here. Does that mean good or bad? I'm heading up to Van Damme this Sat for my first ab dive. Thx.


ernest

Hopefully you will get a window of slack or minimal winds at daybreak before they ramp up. Sometimes that nw 10-20 kt means daybreak and other times 9am or 12pm. You never know unless you go. But if you do go get on it early just in case. If that forecast holds it doesn't look promising.

Everyone has different standards for "good conditions". I consider 6 foot swell or less and 10 knot winds or less to be very enjoyable. You also need to consider that you can be in a pretty nice spot and move around a point and all of a sudden it's scary bad. The weather/water you launch in may not be what you come back in.

Play it very safe until you get a little experience interpreting conditions.   

 My experience for launching at exposed spots is anything over 5 knot winds and 5 foot swell will be rough. Forget the pot of gold out there ask yourself if you feel safe to go out. Lots of people loose their lives chasing game, common sense goes out the window.

I agree with 10kt or less and 6ft are fine but it always best to notice where the waves are coming from and find a cove in the opposite direction. Always remember that don't force yourself to go out there and get the ab when conditions aren't nice. It is never worth it that much to dive a rough conditions and at least you are hanging out at the ocean  and drinking a cool one

Thanks for the info guys.

I consider 6 foot swell or less and 10 knot winds or less to be very enjoyable.    

Boy, you sure didn't before you discovered the scopalimine patches.   

Just my measly 2 cents worth.
A 4 foot swell sucks big time if it's 4 seconds apart. No one mentions the period. Wind waves are a killer too, just as bad as a bad swell.
I like a 5' swell or less with a period at least twice the swell number. Wind waves bigger than 2 feet keep me home. A 4 foot wind swell means it's rough. More than 10 kts of wind keep me home.
I follow these numbers and I always have a good time out, even alone. I want to have a good/safe time out there.
I'm talking fishing from the yak, it's a little different if you're diving. I don't dive.
To each his own.

Great advice and thanks for pointing that out Juan. The period between swells is a huge factor. In my experience, I've gone out in big swells before and the fishing just sucked. Live and learned.... I'd rather catch fish than ride the all day roller coaster in a wind machine.



Freddie