Question for Micah

Discussion in 'Mid Atlantic' started by Beef, Jul 5, 2008.

  1. Beef

    Beef Well-Known Member

    92
    Jul 14, 2007
    I have discussed this topic before and am interested in hearing your thoughts...I have always been interested in waves breaking where they shouldnt, ie:small rivers, even lakes...take the assawoman bay or the choptank river...I live on the choptank river, how possible would it be for waves to break there? Is it possible? I know waves have been ridden on the chesepeake bay...

    Thanks
     
  2. CurtFlirt732

    CurtFlirt732 Guest

    waves have been known to break on staten island if ya look at it on the map it is exposed and also there are a few spots in manasquan inlet that you can ride
     

  3. Chris Joyner

    Chris Joyner Moderator

    690
    May 23, 2006
    You can ride the James River in Va. I have surfed there and the Chesapeake Bay.
     
  4. MDSurfer

    MDSurfer Well-Known Member

    Dec 30, 2006
    Essentially

    . . . there are several ways for waves to show up in atypical areas like bays and rivers:

    1) Wind on water over a considerable distance (fetch) and over time wherein the energy of the wind is transferred to the water first creating ripples, and then ripples upon ripples. Oceans are more amenable to these waves first because they have the fetch (size), second because they have the depth to allow free movement of the transferred energy, and third because they allow winds free reign once generated by pressure and temperature differentials.

    2) Tidal Bores, where rivers at generally extreme lattitudes can get a wave that travels up from the mouth of the river (as in surfer Rodney Sumpter riding river waves in Nova Scotia). Basically it's the extremes in tides (as much as 30 feet or more) in the extreme lattitudes that cause the waves. The tidal cycle is still around 6 hours, but the extreme inflow is what can literally create a recognizable wave moving upstream.

    3) Refracted swell energy- when it gets really big in the ocean, some of that wave energy can make it into an inlet and refract off the jetties all the way into the bay where all it needs is some shallow water like a sandbar to produce a breaking wave, although the size is greatly diminished. Even here, the waves are still affected by wind direction and velocity. Back Bays can also generate their own internal waves (very short period) given enough velocity, fetch and duration. Great Lakes waves have been known to sink ships like the Edmund Fitzgerald.

    4) Standing Waves- rivers that have rapids can form standing waves over large boulders, much like a FlowRider does-
    . . .and of course there are a multitude of others like boat wake, wave pools, et al. where displacement of water creates the wave either from a boat or from pumping water up into a wall and then releasing it as Typhoon Lagoon does at Disney.

    Obviously, some waves are more ridable than others.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2008
  5. JerseySurfRat89

    JerseySurfRat89 Well-Known Member

    256
    Oct 6, 2007
    i usually surf in the belmar inlet when it gets REALLY BIG in the winter
     
  6. Swellinfo

    Swellinfo Administrator

    May 19, 2006
    i often have dreams of surfing the most obscure places, none of which are in the oceans.

    But anyway...

    The chances of you surfing a wave in the choptank river is not likely. Unless, you dug out a trench, and created a standing wave when you had enough current moving.

    MDSurfer explained things pretty well. For wind produced waves, the ones we generally ride, you need wind blowing over the water.

    There are 3 variables that are directly proportional with an increase in wave height:
    wind speed
    wind fetch (area covered)
    wind duration

    increasing anyone of those variables will increase your wave height. There is no room in the river you are referring to for any wind fetch, and thus no room for swell production.

    If a particular coast is exposed to the swell direction without barriers than it will see swell energy. The ocean bottom contour is the tricky part of the equation, as it can contribute to swell being refracted or defracted (meaning the waves bend towards or away from the coast respectively). The refraction process is responsible for swell sneaking into unexposed areas.
     
  7. Dawn_Patrol

    Dawn_Patrol Well-Known Member

    433
    Jan 26, 2007
    Now thats some pretty serious refraction if Lake Erie waves made it all the way up into Lake Superior where the EF sank.:cool:
     
  8. Spongah

    Spongah Well-Known Member

    134
    Jul 19, 2007
    Anyone old enough to remember the 1970's song about the Edmund Fitzgerald? :p

    Isn't called a lake wind effect?
     
  9. Jettylife521

    Jettylife521 Well-Known Member

    297
    Jul 16, 2007
    Isn't this how the boys do it over there at Waimea Bay when there's a big swell with that standing wave? How do they do that?
     
  10. swellinfo OG

    swellinfo OG Active Member

    42
    May 20, 2006
    gordon lightfoot - wreck of the edmund fitzgerald... not my type of music but the song just has chilling/compelling lyrics
     
  11. windswellsucks

    windswellsucks Well-Known Member

    520
    Oct 20, 2007
    behind the bay is the audibon bird thing and when it rains it fills up the lake real high. when it gets real full of water you can dig out the beach between the lake and the bay and then if you dig it right it makes a little standing wave from all the water draining out into the ocean. you gotta be careful not to have any open cuts or drink the water bc of all the runoff with pig feces and other animal crap
     
  12. aczaplicki

    aczaplicki Well-Known Member

    155
    May 10, 2008
    last summer I spent 18 days I novia scotia and pei only on 6 of those days was an extreme tide but I got too successfully ride the opening tidal bore wave 3 times. 1 of those days it was a 6 foot wave. illl findd pics and post.
     
  13. Spongah

    Spongah Well-Known Member

    134
    Jul 19, 2007
    There was a spot on Long Island many years ago (might still work, haven't been down there, heard there was a lot of environmental issues) that's a rivermouth. When the town would open the cut, it would make a really sick wave. It's the only time I ever surfed a rivermouth, and I'll probably never do it again. The locals there were brutal!!!!
     
  14. matthwh610

    matthwh610 Active Member

    35
    May 12, 2008
    I've seen waves big enough to surf in the James during Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Where have you surfed the James before? Huntington Beach?
     
  15. ritecoastsurfer3

    ritecoastsurfer3 Well-Known Member

    142
    Mar 26, 2007
    unusual waves

    dog beach in manasquan inlet can get really good for a longboard with lefts that peel for about 200 yards, there is a shoal in barnegat inlet that breaks up to chest high but it's in the middle of the inlet the currents are wicked and its a long paddle, or in the winter and spring when the wind is really hard west, the west side of cape may on the delaware bay is rideable with 1-3 foot onshore chop, there are jetties that can jack the waves up enough and the better breaks are within a mile or two of the ferry, too far north and the bottom gets too flat, surfed in january one year with a quad and it was actually ripable BUT it was 35 degrees out with a 35mph west wind in my face, i also share the interest in unusual waves and I have dreams about perfect barnegat bay all the time
     
  16. fatoldguy

    fatoldguy Well-Known Member

    87
    Oct 4, 2007
    Great Lakes Surfers, one of my favorite parts of "Step Into Liquid"
     
  17. Lostsurf121

    Lostsurf121 Active Member

    28
    Nov 10, 2007
    anyone ever see the videos or pictures of people surfing rivers in like munich germany its sick like i wish i could like walk into the woods and just go surf the river with no one there thatd be sickest thing ever i dream about it all day
     
  18. Beef

    Beef Well-Known Member

    92
    Jul 14, 2007
    :cool:i always dream about how cool it would be to look out of your house at your local creek or lake and just see waves...its an awesome dream...
     
  19. Beef

    Beef Well-Known Member

    92
    Jul 14, 2007

    tell me about this? how big was it?

    chris share your story as well..
     
  20. tbing

    tbing Well-Known Member

    595
    May 27, 2008
    On big hurricane swells, or even big noreaster swells. The Manasquan Inlet will hold the swell, so it'll wrap around perfectly for a good 600+ foot point break at Fisherman's Cove.