Moss Landing Jetty...Can I handle it?

Hey all,
I was thinking of launching in Moss Landing with a crew but I've been having trouble coming in through surf lately. I've got a 12' Mainstream Kingfish and I flipped last landing I did in about 1-1.5ft surf and I almost flipped the couple of times this season before that. I had it down last season but I guess I forgot how to ride the bicycle! Until I get it down again I'm looking to avoid trouble. Is Moss Landing jetty very rough coming through? I saw pictures from Seabreeze with surf coming in through it and the one time I launched in a PB from it it was pretty nasty as well so what is it like? I'm thinking of this Friday. Report is 2-5ft with 5 knots southwesterly.

There is no surf really at Moss, and if there is no one launches through it. Moss gets tricky when there is a steady NW swell or a lot of boats are heading out because the waves just bounce around the jetty mouth and it gets very washing machine like in there. Once you make it out of the mouth the worst part is over, at least when compared to other launch spots.

Just be prepared to have a plan B. I have been at Moss, paddled out to the mouth and turned back around cause it was too hairy to get through.

Gato,
It CAN get ugly at times, but those are the day's kayaks and small boats should not be out there.  About 25 years ago, I drove over a wave and litterly surfed my dad's commercial boat, until he grabbed the throttle and gunned it out of the surf, to ride and stay behind the next swell.  SCARY FEELING, which has left a lifetime impression.

A big W swell, a lot of wind and a big tide swing from Elkhorn Slough funneling through the mouth/channel can make it get ugly. 
I wish my dad were around, as he'd know the deal with the tide and the deep water canyon.  I'm guessing its a big minus, where its really funnelling out, combined with a big W swell.  Could be the other way around though.  Either way, slack is probably the best.

My $.02. 
Watch the weather forecasts, but don't necessarily depend on them.  They can be wrong (both better and worse).
Assume the wind will pick up in the afternoon, so quit early if you are way out.
Plan to have the wind at your back on the way in.  IMO, this is more important that swell direction.

PS, I'm terrible through the surf too.

Good luck,
Stuart

Hmm,
Thanks for the advice. I just rechecked tomorrow's forecast and it has downgraded seriously. Small craft warning now. I'll be sticking home tomorrow. Figures....after I tell my professor I'm going out of town tomorrow and not to expect me....haha

the jaws are canted slightly south, to sheild against the prevailing nw wind, windswell and nw swell.

since the wind is not always that direction you will get some hairball days there for sure.

I would believe that a hard outgoing nearing bottom with a sw, w or s swelll of any real size (3 foot or
greater with some length to the period) would cause the most churn in the jaws.
the incoming swell will stack on shallow water and outgoing current.

wake cannot be discounted.

The waves really crack on that beach because they come through really deep water (the canyon).
A wave is a big circle reaching down many many feet (like 100). when it hits shallow water,
it starts to drag and steepen. At moss you can expect hollow powerful dangerous waves
on the beach, it's for expert surfers only (or at least those willing to take a beating).
As a surfer, that spot has waves whose quality can rival the best in the world. no joke.

So I could believe that at times the moss harbour mouth is pretty hairy.  A decent sized south swell is
always something to watch for, it's not the norm and it wreaks havoc on all the plans of the
corp of engineers as a result.

Best,

J

As the others have said, whether you can make it out and in Moss depends. On you and the conditions.  Be honest to yourself about your abilities.  Then deduct at least 10%, more if you have less experience or tend to boldness.
   Conditions: It's easy to check these sites the night before and the morning before going out, but nothing substitutes for a look see.
   www.garlic.com   
         This is Chuck Triblet's graphics of swell conditons. You can read up on swells on a lot of surfing sites, but at the least, you need to know that both height and period are important, and period more so; as well, swells mostly come from far away, and your local weather is very little help in knowing how big the swells are going to be.  Wind waves and swell are related subjects, but not the same thing.
   www.surfline.com
      "Dudes" go out and look before 7am and report. Also gives tides, swell, conditions. Check Steamer's, Pleasure Pt, 38th Ave reports and cams and compare to the weather and swell reports.
    www.wetsand.com
      Gives graphics and report of swell and weather predictions.  Nice tool to use if planning a trip a few days off.  Lots of basic explanations about why the ocean looks the way it does.

      National Weather Service Area Forcast Discussion, San Francisco
         You can get a link to this site at the end of the list of daily forecasts on the Weather Underground site for central coast cities.  Lots of jargon and abbreviations, but enuf plain English to really help you tell whether that storm is moving faster or slower than the local news would have you believe.
         NBDC 48062(ck this number, I'm doing it from memory, the site link is probably on Garlic.com)
      This is the automated info from the Monterey Bay Bouy, which is located way, way out there west of Moss. But it has hourly reports of swell, wind waves, wind, temps.   Because it's so far out there, it doesn't tell you what it is at Moss, but is a general guide. You can check it for about 24 hrs after it's posted. If you check this before and after going out, and keep a log, and compare it to your observations, you'll be building some experience to use to decide whether you can make it.
        Good luck ,be careful, and have fun!
       

 
 

Thanks for all the info, and thanks for all the good links Tom.

I was wondering about the short section of water at the mouth of the harbor but it seems like you might be trying to tell me that the outer conditions at Moss are nastier than where we launched from, Tom. Is it also a problem once you're out through the mouth at Moss with nasty surfing waves compared to the south part of the bay?

When out on the open waters, you generally have nothing but swell to deal with until the wind comes up.  Small craft advisories can be for just bad swell or just bad wind.  It's the wise grasshopper who returns to the launch before it's that bad....otherwise you hopefully end up with nothing worse than a cautionary tale to share...........

Alright. Sounds good. I might come along Sunday then.

Oh NO!  gatohoser, you will then apply newbie effect to the day!  I won't get my salmon and you will get two!................ 

Pat......jerking gh's anchor line

There was a medium period west swell today, as well as sw windswell, and a long period but tiny southern hemisphere swell (200).

paddling out the mouth at high tide in the morning was cake.

coming back through the jaws @ 2:30 (bottom of the ebb?) was a hassle.  Waves broke on both sides
of the mouth, I had a big set to deal with just as I hit the mouth.
The current coming out of the jaws was enough to be a pain.

Not too big a deal, but a ocean newb might not enjoy it.