NASA’s website has a cool article about how satellites have helped to generate more accurate surf forecasts by providing accurate measurements of wave heights and wind speeds across the entire globe. The data that these satellites collect is freely available in case you’re interested in using it to create your own surf forecast. Here’s a link to the Winds Report from QuikSCAT.
And here’s a satellite image of Point Reyes, California. You can see the swell lines pretty clearly. That’s a lot of waves.
If you’re reading this, then that means you found broceanography’s new home.
At first glance it may seem as though nothing’s changed. The new site has a couple of new features:
Navigation bar at the top of the page just underneath the broceanography banner.
On the side panel there’s a section for surfLinks.
There’s a link at the bottom of the page that let’s you page chronologically through Previous Entries. This had been a popular request.
Hopefully, it’s an improvement over the old site. Let us know how you like it.
Brazilian surfer, Rico de Souza, set a Guinness World Record by riding a wave for 11 seconds on a 28-foot surfboard. Kinda looks like he might be in contention for the tiniest wave ever ridden, too. Link
Sharks like to eat seals. Everyone knows that. NPR has a story about some shark researchers in South Africa, who lure sharks to strike simply by floating surfboards on the water.
"To a shark, apparently, a nice little six-foot swallowtail does a near-perfect imitation of a seal. When retrieved, the decoys were often missing hubcap-sized chunks from their sides"
Correction: sharks like to eat things shaped like seals.
Here’s a site dedicated to "all things sharky…and other aquatic antics."
I guess when they built the Montauk Point Lighthouse in 1796, the builders didn’t expect the point to slowly disappear. Well, time has taken its toll and apparently, the lighthouse is now in danger of collapsing into the ocean unless something is done to stop the relentless waves from eroding the ground on which the lighthouse stands.
The Army Corps of Engineers is proposing a $14 million sea wall. Surfers are opposed to the sea wall because they say it would ruin the waves, so the local chapter of Surfriders has proposed moving the lighthouse back from the water in order to save Alamo. Although it would cost nearly twice as much to move the lighthouse, the surfers claim it’s a better proposition for the taxpayers: "You’re done for 300 years." I, for one, can appreciate their acknowledgement of the fact that 300 years from now we’re gonna be stepping on this same rake again.
What’s kinda funny here is that, according to the article in the New York Times, surfing is actually prohibited at the point (but only enforced sporadically). It’s amazing that the surfers have made it this far.
70percent put me onto these cool videos of Perry Farrell interviewing Kelly Slater. Slater mentions some new wave pool technology that he’s licensed. It’s called Surf the Ring. So far all I’ve been able to find on the web is this one-page site that offers very little info.
It’ll be cool to see if they actually produce one of these wave pools. These days the way mankind is learning to create and manipulate surfable waves…. just think about how much better you’d be at riding waves if you could go and practice at a wave pool that offered an all-you-can-eat buffet of perfect waves.
Surfing could be headed for a brave new world.
Here are links to the other 4 parts of the Slater interview:
Ironically, in the surfing world Florida is known more for producing great surfers, but not great waves. The folks in Coco Beach, FL (home of Kelly Slater) are looking to make some nice waves by installing an artificial reef. They’re working with the same company, ASR Ltd, that designed the Mount Reef in New Zealand.
http://spacecoastreef.com has some interesting info & links on their site. Here are some of their preliminary reef specs:
Surfable Days: 300 per year (assuming at least 2 ft swell for those days)
Surfing Ride Length: 400 ft (avg)
Surfing Ride Duration: 40 seconds (avg)
Breaking Intensity: High – tub rides during favorable swell & tidal conditions
Construction Cost: $3 Million (USD)
Great to see the people of FL taking matters into their own hands.
The Association of Professional Towsurfers is forming their own touring competition circuit. It will be interesting to see what kind of mass-media attention the APT garners. The 2004/2005 Maverick’s Surf Contest was broadcast on NBC. If the APT follows suit and really tries to sell their tour to the masses, then it’ll likely attract a lot more attention to surfing in general.
