This is my 2nd favorite Big Wave video. The sounds that go with this 1 plus minute video, and watching the footage they get from the back of the wave heading towards shore. The back is like 25 to 35 foot back, so you can imagine the front.
This one called “Passing the Torch” in Jaws, Maui, from January, 2010, and this one is my favorite Big Wave Video.
Laird Hamilton (around 46 to 48 years old) the mentor for Ian Walsh (around 30?), and they are both mentoring Billy Kemper (early 20’s?). The music by Guerilla Jazz is pretty awesome, and kind of ironic for a video of some incredible 50 foot tow in surf at Jaws.
I put both of these online in the last year, but if you have a nice screen to watch these, crank up the tunes and watch these, totally awesome.
This is called Kelly Slater @ Jaws & Rob Machado @ Pipeline
Thus endeth my obsession for the day of huge wave video.
I try to keep the Titles of my posts brief and to the point…;)
What can I say? A lot of stuff going on, such as my OBSESSION WITH BIG WAVE VIDEOS, when YouTube and/or Magicseaweed.com release the Mid-Year highlites for the Billabong XXL Awards (2012 now) I gotta put that one on the front 🙂
Surf report update in a minute…
In case y’all don’t get to keep up with the contests on the regular normal wave ASP tour, or keep up with the XXL Big Wave tour, this has been a record year for the world’s great big wave surf breaks. Teahupoo (of whom our local legend Kelly Slater won the ASP event), and the fact that he skipped the J-Bay event offering 6 foot waves in order to catch some 30 to 40 foot plus tow in surf at Fiji for the epic 50 year storm, 49 foot swell on the charts, that swept into the Tasman Sea. That storm hammered Australia, and brought the most incredible waves to Cloudbreak, Restaurants and Tavarua Fiji.
As I mentioned in previous posts, Kelly skipped the J-Bay event and got the best warm up session in Fiju that probably gave him more confidence to nail it at the Teahupoo ASP event where they had to shut down the event, and let the tow in guys have fun, until the waves hit a normal 10 to 15 foot for the regular contest event. (not like he really needed confidence, but surfing Teahupoo takes more character than any other surf break on the planet, not diminishing Mavericks in any way 🙂
Okay, the long wind ceases, surf in Brevard………………….
Today (Wednesday), a foot or so overhead in Satellite Beach and chest high plus at the Cape. (probably a few head high sets here at the Cape). The winds should be in the 10 to 15 mph NE direction, so right at dead high tide (around 2 PM), you can catch the easiest paddle out, the cleanest time of day for the faces, the best shoulders while it is high tide.
Thursday, probably a foot bigger down South maybe some 2 foot overhead waves, and with a lot more power because the ground swell rolls in after midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning. We ought to see some head high waves at the Cape, and the winds ought to be mild onshore, like 5 to 6 mph NE all day. So it could be real fun Thursday.
Friday, still looks like the epic day!Head high to maybe a foot or so overhead in Satellite Beach and solid chest high plus at the Cape. The swell does drop off a bit late Friday but not much. If the wind models hold out, it looks to be 4 to 6 mph offshore winds out of the West to SW. Yowwwwwwww!!!
Saturday, a new swell piggybacks the departing Friday swell with strong North to NNW winds, probably 15 to 25 mph. but it could be head high and semi-glass up North in the morning, and by dinner time, we may be seeing some 8 to 10 foot faces down South.
Sunday morningought to have some large sets come in with 8 foot faces at the Cape, and probably some 10 foot plus faces down South. But the winds (as a guess out of the 48 hour window), are looking to be NNW and over 20 mph, but it could be really sweet at the Pier and the Jetties.
I don’t see any drop in swells for a week out, so eat well, bring a rash guard at least for Friday morning, because it may be around 62 to 64 degrees in the morning, not cold, but with the water temp lingering only about 2 degrees above spring water temps, it may be a little chilly.
The next Friday Fest is scheduled for November 4th from 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm. Activities will include a variety of food vendors, an assortment of novelty & craft vendors, children’s activities including bounce houses, a giant slide & games, live entertainment along with beer & wine.
Live entertainment will feature “Entasy” on Taylor Avenue & “Lonnie & Delinda” on Poinsetta Avenue.
The fun will take place on Taylor Avenue & Poinsetta Avenue.
I do need to add one more video link here. Andy Irons, one year has passed. I could quote some of what they say, but just check it out here.
Massive swell hit Nazare, Portugal on October 17 2011. Billabong XXL 2012 contender. See the article at Magicseaweed.com
Big Wind Swell coming Sunday!Offshore winds for Saturday morning , possibly rideable…But before we do that…
Y’all know I love big wave stories. It’s kind of a surrogate release for me knowing that I’ll never get the big waves I want here, and if I did, I’d most likely break myself anyhow 🙂
The photo below is from a massive swell that hit Nazare, Portugal on October 17th, 2011. It may be a swell that has an entry for the Billabong XXL 2011-2012 contest.This swell on the charts showed 9 ft at 15 seconds! And the funny thing is, they have another on the way for Sunday October 30th, that clocks at 14 feet at 16 seconds at the exact same swell angle. Check out the article at Magicseaweed.com here.
Saturday, if the 120 throws a little more our way, (at least 3.5 feet to 4 feet with a low period), then we may have some thigh to waist high waves down South with West winds everywhere, light like 4 to 8 mph. WSW to NW until 11 or 12 with some early showers to keep you cool. Slim chance, but there is a chance.
Sunday morning we should have some shoulder highchoppy N and NE winds at 20 mph plus, and maybe chest high on the big set waves at the Cape. The swell is coming out of the NE, so we may get blocked out some.
Monday, same big chest to shoulder high chop, 20 mph plus winds ENE.
Tuesday, big winds , maybe some North winds, waist to shoulder, the Cape may block the winds some early in the morning. (just a guesstimate since its more than 48 hours out, and I only can have 80% accurate wind direction 48 hrs in advance)
Wednesday, the next possible huge swell starts rolling in on top of the former one. This swell comes in with a longer period starting at 9 seconds and kicking upt to 12 seconds. BUT KEEP IN MIND, RENA MAY NOT DO MUCH, AND THE OTHER 2 TD’S MAY OR MAY NOT MATERIALIZE.
So for now, just enjoy our big wind swell that should last 3 to 5 days.
Screenshot of 10 foot surfboards on the wave face in Puerto Escondido Mexico in June 2011, compliments of Magicseaweed.com
The surfboards in this photo are 9.5 to 10 foot plus surfboards, so it gives you an idea of stacking 4 to 5 board lengths to reach the height of the wave. One guy, Lander, broke his leg in 4 places. If you haven’t seen this video, check it out here and make sure and watch it full screen with your sound on 😉 I posted this video back in July I think, but while I was working, and having no surf to distract me, I had to do my usual escape into big wave videos. As far as waves for Brevard…….
No real visible swells on the horizon, except if you live on the Gulf. We have some real low period 2 to 3 foot wind swell that may have something rideable Tuesday and Wednesday, There is a slight chance of waist high waves with 15 plus mph offshore winds for a few hours Wednesday morning, however, since the offshores start before daylight, the light windswell may be blown flat before you can surf them, but don’t expect any power, and not much after 9 AM.
I had to put this screenshot of possibly the biggest swell in years at Puerto Escondido Mexico back in June. Many of the big wave guns were there; Shawn Dollar (biggest paddle in winner Billabong XXL 2010 ?), Greg Long (beat Kelly Slater in the last minute of “The Eddie” in 2009), Jamie Sterling, Maya Gabeira (womans winner overall Billabong XXL), and many more.
Shawn Dollar who has paddled into 52 foot faces at Mavericks, said that this Escondido swell was the worst beating and most intimidating surf session he has had. That had to paddle thru all the beach break to get out, and the size was in the 40 to 50 foot plus range.
That’s about all for now.
I’ll be posting some more local pics in the next few days.
(That’s the kind of music that should be in a surf video, as opposed to rap 😉
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Full size images below if you want to click on them and see full screen.
Image 1 of 5, MIke on a shoulder high right at 4rth street, Tropical Storm Maria, Thursday September 15, 2011, taken by yours truly 🙂
Okay, you know my obsession with huge wave video…This was the contest that Kelly Slater won (as I mentioned in a post a week ago), where Kelly skipped the J-Bay ASP event to catch the Epic 30 foot plus Fiji surf back in July at Cloudbreak, which gave him the warmup that he wanted or needed to explode at Teahupoo Billabong Pro. Some of the waves in this video have 20 foot plus overhead barrels, and some brutal looking wipeouts. Okay, my digression is over, back to Maria photos and incoming surf…
Image 2 of 5, MIke on a shoulder high right at 4rth street, Tropical Storm Maria, Thursday September 15, 2011
We have our incoming windswell Nor’easter rolling in, it just hit at 11 AM, 4.5 ft at 9 seconds at the 120 buoy and the 20 mile is showing 3.5 feet at 10 seconds, so we should be seeing some waist high choppy waves at the Cape and some chest high chop down South. It appears that this wind swell is gonna hang for the next 3 to 5 days, around the same size, and with onshore winds. At least we’ll have something rideable, though I’m just gonna let my wounds heal from the last two hurricanes/tropicals 🙂
Image 3 of 5, Tropical Storm Maria, Thursday September 15, 2011Image 4 of 5, Tropical Storm Maria, Thursday September 15, 2011Image 5 of 5, Tropical Storm Maria, Thursday September 15, 2011Image 1 of 3, Mike on a shoulder high left, Thursday September 15th, 2011, Tropical Storm Maria, photo by ArtImage 2 of 3, Mike on a shoulder high left, Thursday September 15th, 2011, Tropical Storm Maria, photo by ArtImage 3 of 3, Mike on a shoulder high left, Thursday September 15th, 2011, Tropical Storm Maria, photo by Art
The photos are from Slater Lane/4rth street North on Thursday (9/15/2011) taken by myself of my old surf buddy from Lakeland Mike. The first set is a sequence of 5 shots of a nice shoulder high right. The next is a shoulder high left of 3 shots. Really fun, epic day!
I’ll be posting more photos from the Cape and the neighborhood, and some more photos from Katia down at O’ Club, in the next week.
Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.com
Tropical Storm Katia on the way…….But I had to show a few more of the awesome Friday, Hurricane Irene pictures from Gulfster.com . Many of the pictures on their site are Satellite Beach, The Pier, and another spot I believe.
Tropical Storm Katia appears to be sending us waves on late Sunday or Monday, as it stands now, onshore winds bringing the storm in, in the 3 to 4 foot range. By Sunday, it looks to be about 1500 miles from us, as a Cat 2 or 3 Hurricane.
Tropical Storm Katia, headed straight our way, 60 mph winds, 20 mph. Possible hurricane by Wednesday some time. Sunday could place it about 1500 miles WSW of us. Compliments of Stormpulse.com
With the sole intention of being an alarmist, keep in your mind, preparation for a direct hit between us and Jacksonville. No one is saying this, just my thoughts. Consider looking at your Boy Scout list of Hurricane preparation items. Okay, here endeth the alarmist 😉 …Not! Katrina was 6 years ago in 2005. It’s like they’re related 🙂
Image 2 here of Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.com
We should have some more news on this puppy (Katia) by Wednesday night, or Thursday.
I’m waiting on some pics for Saturday, in the chest high range from Irene, by Slater Lane.
Oh, in case you didn’t hear it or see it in today’s Florida Today. Kelly Slater won the Tahiti Pro in huge waves meeting in the finals against Owen Wright.
Check out the killer slideshow at Magicseaweed.com . He was ranked 6th, after he skipped the tour in J-Bay (looked like 6 foot waves for that contest), and he caught the once in a lifetime swell in Fiji. 30 to 40 foot , tow in and paddle in. The same storm that they called the 50 year storm hitting Tasmania first, then Australia (thus the 50 year storm name) and on to Fiji and other places. That big wave surf, very similar to Teahupoo except longer rides than Teahupoo.
Don’t forget about the26th Annual NKF Surf Festival – Labor Day Weekend – Cocoa Beach – September 1-5, 2011. Read more about the Surf Festival here.
Later,
oldwaverider
Check out the board length to face size (yeah a little angled 🙂 in Image 3 here of Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.com Image 4, Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.comImage 5, Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.comImage 6, Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.comImage 7, Hurricane Irene, Brevard County, photographer at Gulfster.com
Quick Update at 8:45 PM Thursday night; Most will assume that I am on, or was on some form of a hallucinagenic, and I’m okay with that 🙂 , however, I just got to watch 45 minutes of surf shortly before dark, and I saw one individual catch 4 rides, the 1stwitch was 6 solid feet over his head, when he made his bottom turn, and he still had 2 or 3 further to the bottom, not of the typical slopey Florida wave. The 2nd epic wave out of his 4 that we watched, which was also glassy, was he dropped in, on the same but maybe an inch taller wave 😉 and after a rentry, slipped right into a barrel, standup, but only have of the wave covered him to the waist, but he did disappear, pulled out, and preceded to get 3 or 4 rentry that required at least 30 yards coverage for each top to bottom, it was like in slow motion. We estimated that it was about 200 yards, (2 football fields, based on the fact that it was around 10 seconds ride, but also, since it was about 400 yards out paddle to get out, and he made it most of the way in except for the inside section…which by the way, his wave kept on going when he kicked out. It was really breathtaking for Florida ( I could care less how corney it sounds, but I love guessing numbers, stats, financial data and trends, finding changes in treands, plus distance when I run 3 to 4 times a week, so am I anal , you make the call, and this site to see was awesome , especially for Northern Brevard County. The original post from today continues below starting with the Teahupoo video which is breathtaking again…a little poetic sounding, but my bad 😉 Last comment, I believe my numbers for 6:30 – 7 AM session made in this afternoons post earlier today at 1 PM, is still accurate, so take it or leave it 🙂
Friday morning surf report in a minute…I had to drop this video of Teahupoo (cho-pooh), from The Billabong Pro in Tahiti. It is absolutely incredible taken from a helicopter.
Friday morning, On the high side, with the models for Satellite Beach at daybreak, 10.5 feet at 13 seconds, in Satellite Beach we could see 15 foot plus faces. The winds are still looking 25 to 30 mph NW until noon and then WNW. There will be gusts over 35 mph, but that’s still less than TD Hanna in “09”. But by then the size has dropped 4 feet in face size.
Friday morning, Our models show 6 feet at 15 seconds climbing to 8 feet at 11 seconds at 9 AM At the Cape and Cocoa Beach, the Cape should see 10 to 12 foot faces with a rogue set every now and then, glassy, lots of spray with 25 to 30 mph NW winds, and gusts a little higher. The lefts should be incredible. High tide is 5:45, which is the best condition we could ask for, high going low.The size will probably kick up from daybreak to 9 AM a couple feet, and then start dropping fast by noon, but not to fast 🙂 By noon, we’ll probably have 8 to 10 foot faces and then lose a foot every couple hours.
The rain should be pretty significant in the morning so be ready for that, and also, for you old guy surfers, 2 guys, both 49 years old, very competent surfers drowned in the surf during Hurricane Florence in Sept of 2006. In fact the waves that day were 6 to 10 foot overhead, and this barrell taken shows that at Satellite Beach were this photo, this one taken just before one of the guys Rob drowned. He was a 15 or 16 year old surfers father.
Watch the Sea Lice stings “sea lice” which are actually the larvae of Thimble jellyfish. And also watch the big big Moon Jellyfish. I walked the beach at 8 this morning, and I saw one that was about a foot in diameter. I believe they are “Moon Jellyfish” They are clear, round, and inch or more thick, with 4 purple membranes if you will in the center. I will try to update later today with a photo of these large Moon Jellyfish.
South of Minuteman, with those winds, should produce slight offshore to sideshore winds.
North of Minuteman, we take a size hit but have the glass.
Saturday, shoulder to head high , 20 mph west winds and epic, anywhere.
Been swamped with stuff, yeah no excuse 🙂 But if you read my forecast in my very last post before this one, I threw down my call for Tuesday morning, 7/19. The wind swell we had, was providing us with potential NNW winds for Tuesday morning and it did for a few hours actually.
I surfed behind Holiday Inn cause it had to be a North wind break (anything from 4rth St North to the pier for this swell cause the Cape itself was kinda blocked by this swell). It was stomach to chest high when I paddled out at 7 Am, only 2 guys out, and it was ripping lefts and rights. The lefts were instant barrels cause me, a normal foot had to do rail grabber takeoffs on every one, and you pretty much got coverage on some waves if you kept at it. The rights were fast takeoffs, but gave you more time, and for the long boarders 100 yard plus rides. By 7:45 some short boarders came out, and we all tore it up together, giving each other waves, and we shared a few tandems with every one coming out happy.
By 8:30 it had some bigger sets, and I caught my only shoulder high wave, a right, shoulder high almost all the way in, and took it to the sand. Awesome session……………………………………….
Epic Day, all I can say! My buddy Rob from Newport Beach met me there and he was going nuts surfing great Florida waves. (he’s the guy in the picture in my very last post, surfing his Newport Beach break 🙂
Okay, as far as surf headed our way. Really nothing. Like Ross at cflsurf.com says maybe some knee high action, I looked at Hightowers today mid-morning and it was actually thigh to maybe waist and was ridable but I didn’t have my board. 2 guys out way North on the break but it was onshore not much of a swell so I wasn’t too upset.
The massive 50 year storm that hit the Tasmanian Sea, Australia and which made it to Fiji that motivated our own Kelly Slater to skip the ASP tour event in J-Bay so he could catch the most incredible waves at Cloudbreak and Restaurants, Fiji is shown in this incredible video posted on Vimeo by Magicseaweed.com and right here where you know I love to collect all the huge wave videos that I can find 🙂
Enjoy this epic surf with so many of the great big wave surfers including Jamie Sterling, Mark Healey, Kohl Christansen, Greg Long who won the last Eddie contest from Kelly in the last minute bumping Kelly Slater from being the first person to win the Eddie two times in a row. (the Eddie contest is the Waimea Bay contest that must be held in 40 foot face waves in order to take place in memory of Eddie Aikau)
Enjoy the video don’t forget to click the 4 little arrows right of the HD letters in the video for full screen view, and we’ll keep the watch for a swell. It’s almost cane time.
Massive and perfect swell to hit Fiji, (watch it full screen by clicking on the 4 little white arrows) the one I mentioned the other day that hit 49 feet at 17 seconds on the MagicSeaweed.com surf report. This one minute video shows a few awesome waves both face size and barrel, but first our local Swell coming in for Sunday, July 17th at our own East Coast of Brevard County, Florida.
Yeah, another swell rolling in from the NE ? what ? , in the summer, yup!
Okay, it is a wind swell as opposed to a ground swell, its only 3 to 4 foot wind swell but it could be fun and clean (light onshore winds Sunday morning and up till noonish), and Monday morning could be stomach to chest high and glassy based on data I have now . Don’t expect long lines cause it is a wind swell, and all this could be totally different data by Saturday, but……….it is summer so God is good to us. Monday could be stomach to chest high and glassy, so when Saturday night rolls around I will have more reliable wind direction data, which is always gonna be sketchy, but at least 50 % reliable anyhow 🙂 By the way, Saturday could have something hitting the beaches for us also, but I’m only excited about Sunday and Monday.
Recap, Sunday morning and day, waist to chest high and semi-clean 5 to 8 mph East to ENE winds. Monday, waist to chest high and light offshore winds until maybe mid-morning. Saturday night I will have more reliable wind data for Monday morning. Plus, Saturday night I will give you wind data for Sunday morning.
The Video above is from Cloudbreak, Fiji.Kelly Slater skipped the ASP tour event at J-Bay to make this massive and perfect swell that hit Fiji. Kelly in the picture below the video from Magicseaweed.com.
We’ll keep ya posted the next few days to see how the wind swell pans out.
49 foot waves on the swell chart coming to Tasmania, compliments of magicseaweed.com. Check out the chart below for Cocoa Beach for Friday and Saturday, pretty humorous 🙂
Today was beautiful glassy waves for an hour or two near the Port, some shoulder high drops with waist to chest high sets. A few workable walls, lots of power, but unfortunately most were closeouts. I decided to surf the Cape because of the morning NNW winds which are crosswinds for down South. But I heard reports that down South wasn’t blocked out totally by the Bahamas and actually had some overhead drops.
Friday, it should drop some in size even though it hit 7 feet at 9 seconds at the 120 buoy around 8:30 Pm tonight, but the reason I say this is the winds at the 120 are blowing direct out of the South at over 10 knots. Plus, we should have some SSW winds for a few hours tonight at 10 mph which could also knock it down some. But…………………
I still think Friday we should have some chest high waves down South with direct South winds in the 8 to 10 mph range, and by 8 or 9 Am they are supposed to switch to SSW in the 10 to 12 mph range until mid to late morning for both Satellite and Cocoa Beach. Saturday we may have some thigh high leftovers with possible offshore winds.
The Cape being a North wind break would have total sideshore winds so it doesn’t make sense to surf anywhere North of Minuteman Causeway.
Get excited, it should be a fun morning, and hopefully the 30 to 40 % chance of Thundershowers will wait until 11 or 12 like weather.com says it will 😉
Cocoa Beach swell charts, coming in at 7% of the swell approaching Tasmania. I'll take it for the summer. But man, we have some great video coming in a few weeks when this one hits, Tasmania, Fiji and some other spots.
Okay, the crazy first screenshot image above is a massive swell getting ready to hit Tasmania, the chart is showing 49 feet at 17 seconds, insane. As this swell moves on, it is supposed to hit Fiji with greater intensity than the 40 to 50 foot swell that hit Fiji last year, so when the video come out, my addiction for big wave videos will have those ready for you from YouTube, Vimeo and/or Magicseaweed.com
Johnson Avenue Surfers 