What makes waves peel. Why don't they just always closeout? NOT that I want them to, it's just been nagging my mind. Is it the angle of the swell? Or ocean floor?
the ocean floor man....sandbars, reefs, points and all that. Thats why tides play such a huge factor. Wind, Swell Direction (the way the wave is hitting the reef or bar) is very important in reef and point breaks as well
It's clear with a reef or point, but what about a normal beach break? What of those factors makes the peak of the wave become the peak and throw before the rest of the wave?
The process is called refraction. When the wave approaches the shoreline at an angle, the part of the wave closest to the shore feels the bottom first and gets slowed down (this part of the wave is going to break first), while the rest of the wave is moving faster and then bends towards the coast and breaks down the line. So, if your beach faces E, and the wave faces S, then the wave generally will break from south to north down the line. When a wave approaches the shoreline at a perpendicular angle, that is often when the beachbreaks will close out, because there is little refraction.
In a word, WIND! Just because ur dumb doesnt make you a KOOK. But since you had to ask that question, I'm pretty confident in believing you are!
