Hey all. Pretty bored during an extended winter break I'm having. Just got back from puerto rico last week and it was an awesome time. First surf trip and I can easily say that I will most definitely make it back to Rincon next winter. Thanks to everyone who shared some advice. Surfing down there made me question my surfing knowledge. For instance, one day I checked marias and it was literally ankle slappers and SUPers. Drive down the road a little bit and wham, its waist to chest and people are ripping. What it all boils down to is I think I need to learn more about how beach, swell, and wind direction affect ? effect? surf conditions. I'd like to know if anyone has any good book recommendations about I guess forecasting? As much as I love swellinfo, I have no idea how to read the bouys or what anything means except for big green man means surf and little red man means get more hammered than you already are. So.... Book suggestions on this kind of stuff?
Go to your nearest university's library and get every book on Oceanography you can get your hands on... That should get you started. Oceanography is the basic science (actually not basic at all) that encompasses pretty much everything having to do with the ocean.
Physical Oceanography Primer This FREE online text is used as a primer for many Oceanography Graduate Programs... It should be all you need to get started and then decide whether or not to continue into the depths of oceanic knowledge! http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/contents.html Enjoy!
The 3rd Policeman by Flann O'Brien. Mind blowing. The Onion Eaters by JP Donleavy. Pure hilarity. Its so played to say, but its honestly laugh out loud funny.
It's actually pretty simple as far as basic knowledge. You need to learn the direction of the beach and then look at the swell direction... Of course you can read books and get a real understanding of the ocean and how everything works, but if you just want to know if there's waves you'll be fine. It's always funny when you see people ***** about a report being wrong when it's actually accurate. I remember a few weeks ago someone saying the buoy said 10' but it was flat (in NJ). And when you look at the buoy is said it was 10' out of the west... Of course that's flat.
I tried reading the 3rd Policeman years ago without success. One of my Irish friends described it as book full of O'Brien "just completely taking the piss out of James Joyce and Irish revivalists". So maybe I needed to have read Joyce? I may try again some day. I've never read Donleavy but I've heard great things so I'll put that on my list. I'm reading a novel set in N. Ireland in the '80s by Adrian McGinty right now but its too soon to tell if I'd recommend it or not.
I would definitely look online. However, Chapmans for boaters has a decent weather section. It is pricey though and you can find that info online pretty easy. http://www.surfscience.com/topics/waves-and-weather/
I know this is an old thread but if anyone out there is interested in learning, the book you're looking for is called: Waves and Beaches:The Dynamics of the Ocean Surface by Willard Bascom. All the best!
hey man don't hate on blue crush two, not embarrassed to say i watched it, your boy here's surfed durban and J bay, show mad respect towards me