when is the swell period too short?

I'm talking fishing not launching. There wasn't much swell last week but it was a shorter period. I assume the shorter the period the steeper the face, and rougher the ride.

You also have to consider wind waves.

This my "go fishing " forecast


 5-15kts or less wind
1-2' wind swell
NW swell 7' or less (regardless of period)
Due for a sick leave.
When all these line up then its a go!

It's too short when it's smaller than the height of the wave, that's for sure. 5 feet 10 seconds might be doable/fishable. But not 10 feet five seconds. When you look at forecasts pay attention to if they are calling it near shore or off shore. What it's doing 50 miles out doesn't matter often.

Don't forget that the reported swell is based on the worse projections of the day.  You may go out and it be calm but it could get up to the max while out there and things will change. 

Very confusing

I'm talking fishing not launching. There wasn't much swell last week but it was a shorter period. I assume the shorter the period the steeper the face, and rougher the ride.

Shorter period means there is less time between each wave, so you get a lot of them coming at you faster. If you have two short period swells running in the water from two different directions means you have a lot of waves coming at you from multiple directions i.e. a sloppy mess that is no fun to fish in. And for shits and giggles combine that with an incoming long period swell that will throw a bigger wave at you every so often that's buried in the slop. 

Cheers,
Brad

I'm talking fishing not launching. There wasn't much swell last week but it was a shorter period. I assume the shorter the period the steeper the face, and rougher the ride.

Shorter period means there is less time between each wave, so you get a lot of them coming at you faster. If you have two short period swells running in the water from two different directions means you have a lot of waves coming at you from multiple directions i.e. a sloppy mess that is no fun to fish in. And for shits and giggles combine that with an incoming long period swell that will throw a bigger wave at you every so often that's buried in the slop. 

Cheers,
Brad

We call it "washing machine" 

here is an example: NW winds 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. NW swell 4 to 6 ft at 9 seconds.

NW winds 10 to 20 kt = how hard the wind is blowing from the direction?
Wind waves 2 to 4 ft = is this the wave away from shore like when we are out fishing?
NW swell 4 to 6 ft at 9 seconds = this is the breaking of waves on shore?

am I reading this correctly?

here is an example: NW winds 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. NW swell 4 to 6 ft at 9 seconds.

NW winds 10 to 20 kt = how hard the wind is blowing from the direction?
Wind waves 2 to 4 ft = is this the wave away from shore like when we are out fishing?
NW swell 4 to 6 ft at 9 seconds = this is the breaking of waves on shore?

am I reading this correctly?

Wind waves are just what it says. Away from shore or not, depending on which way the wind is blowing. The NW swell will break on shore. When you're out fishing it is what causes you and your friends to move up and down going out of sight when you are down in the trough and they are in a different one.

Very confusing

This will clear it all up.    All for the same day.

After I gave up last Sunday I was watching a power boat head out from the cove. It was moving pretty slow and as it passed each swell the bow would fall off the crest and drop into the trough making a pretty good splash. To me that is a sign that it is rough. I guess I'm still trying to figure out why, what was a pretty good forecast on paper, seemed so unstable. I hope to learn what to look for in the forecast that will clue me in. It wasn't that windy for me to expect the wind waves to be the problem. Maybe it was windier off shore causing a problem. I thought maybe it was the period. I think it was 2-4 at 9sec. I don't know. Maybe it was just a bad combination of everything leading to unexpected instability.

Very confusing

This will clear it all up.    All for the same day.

DNA graph?

After I gave up last Sunday I was watching a power boat head out from the cove. It was moving pretty slow and as it passed each swell the bow would fall off the crest and drop into the trough making a pretty good splash. To me that is a sign that it is rough. I guess I'm still trying to figure out why, what was a pretty good forecast on paper, seemed so unstable. I hope to learn what to look for in the forecast that will clue me in. It wasn't that windy for me to expect the wind waves to be the problem. Maybe it was windier off shore causing a problem. I thought maybe it was the period. I think it was 2-4 at 9sec. I don't know. Maybe it was just a bad combination of everything leading to unexpected instability.

The forecasts are not always right. I was off the San Mateo coast last Saturday on a PB and it was crappier than forecast. Listening to the radio the Marin crews were getting it even worse with many calling it early and heading in. Its just the nature of the beast. Be prepared and don't be too stubborn to call it off when the conditions don't match up with the predictions.

Cheers

help me to understand
is it not real time data off the bouys for swell and period ?
what can change forcast enough for it to be way off ?
is just the local winds ?

help me to understand
is it not real time data off the bouys for swell and period ?
what can change forcast enough for it to be way off ?
is just the local winds ?

I assume if it is a forecast it can't be real time data. I imagine how the swell sets interact as they converge from different directions and are influenced by wind might be tricky to forecast.