Safety warning issued due to high surf 1/15/09

[dhammer]

Devin.

You pictures are great, But Buddy you suck for rubbing it in, You are on restriction from the board:mooner:

Aww maaaann! Grounded by the Ernst himself. I shall live in shame for the rest of my days. Then, I'm goin' straight to hell.

 

[Gombessa]

I'm kind of new to this. How does the P&R advisory compare with what NOAA is saying:

PZZ535-152330-
MONTEREY BAY-
835 AM PST THU JAN 15 2009

.TODAY...NE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
SWELL 1 TO 2 FT.
.TONIGHT...NW WINDS 5 KT...BECOMING E AFTER MIDNIGHT.
WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 2 FT OR LESS AT 12 SECONDS.
.FRI...NE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
.FRI NIGHT...N WINDS 5 KT. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT.
W SWELL 6 TO 9 FT.
.SAT...NE WINDS 5 KT. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT.
W SWELL 5 TO 8 FT.
.SUN...E WINDS 5 KT...BECOMING NE. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
W SWELL 6 TO 9 FT.
.MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...E WINDS 5 KT...BECOMING NE.
WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT.

Richard

To me, it's directly contradictory. The predictions you quoted above say, swells are no more than 9ft max (predicted) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with minimal wind and wind waves. I could not glean any potentially dangerous swell warnings just by looking at that or the CDIP or anything...

...which is why this weekend's warning is so curious. I'm eager to hear reports from the local weekend divers and see which is more on the money.

 

[dhammer]

I'm kind of new to this. How does the P&R advisory compare with what NOAA is saying:

PZZ535-152330-
MONTEREY BAY-
835 AM PST THU JAN 15 2009

.TODAY...NE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
SWELL 1 TO 2 FT.
.TONIGHT...NW WINDS 5 KT...BECOMING E AFTER MIDNIGHT.
WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT. W SWELL 2 FT OR LESS AT 12 SECONDS.
.FRI...NE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
.FRI NIGHT...N WINDS 5 KT. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT.
W SWELL 6 TO 9 FT.
.SAT...NE WINDS 5 KT. WIND WAVES LESS THAN 1 FT.
W SWELL 5 TO 8 FT.
.SUN...E WINDS 5 KT...BECOMING NE. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS.
W SWELL 6 TO 9 FT.
.MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY...E WINDS 5 KT...BECOMING NE.
WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT.

Richard

The key thing missing from the NOAA forecast on those days is the timing between swells, which I find is odd. Anyway, the reports I've seen are talking about 14-20 seconds, which can produce some HUGE waves on the shoreline, and heavy surge way down deep, like 60-80 feet.

 

[Jim Ernst]

Aww maaaann! Grounded by the Ernst himself. I shall live in shame for the rest of my days. Then, I'm goin' straight to hell.

Great come back

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

The NOAA coastal and marine forecast only gives intervals for the next
day or so.

There's a nice westy component to these swells, so the south end of
Monterey and Carmel Bays will get some protection.

I checked all the models I could find, and found one that said 10-12 feet
over the weekend, all the others peaked at 9-10 feet. So either Devin is
pulling our leg, or somebody at Parks & Rec has been smoking rope.

As always, inspect conditions with Mark I Eyeball prior to unload the car.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Well, it's in the Murky News, so it must be true:
http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_11457786

 

[dhammer]

More info: Public Safety Warning: High Surf Expected along the California Coast

http://www.wetsandsurfshop.com/swellwatch/swellwatch.asp?locationid=2&tabid=0&subtabid=0&CatId=293&SubCatID=293

 

[rstofer]

The NOAA coastal and marine forecast only gives intervals for the next
day or so.

There's a nice westy component to these swells, so the south end of
Monterey and Carmel Bays will get some protection.

I checked all the models I could find, and found one that said 10-12 feet
over the weekend, all the others peaked at 9-10 feet. So either Devin is
pulling our leg, or somebody at Parks & Rec has been smoking rope.

As always, inspect conditions with Mark I Eyeball prior to unload the car.

Chuck,

I am very interested in your opinion about this based on your experiences. My wife and son-in-law are doing Advanced Open Water this weekend. Saturday they will do 2 beach dives from Breakwater (unless the class is moved) and Sunday they will do 3 boat dives from the Cypress Sea.

I am deeply concerned for their safety. Both are fairly new divers.

Richard

 

[mikeguerrero]

Devin,
Great shots, by the way. The anemone and kelp shots are amazing!

Mike,
So, what do you think of Lobos now you saw what it can be like with good conditions?

Michelle,

I almost didn't go because my wetsuit wasn't completely dry, I had dove with Robin just the other day and he wiped me out with just two dives.

Michelle can you believe I haven't dove that sticken DUI suit yet? I've been so busy with all other crap in my life that I haven't had time to read the Nitrox book.

My instructor wants to knock out drysuit and nitrox at the same time. So I froze at Break Water, I couldn't do three dives.

Anyway, Devin threatened that if I didn't go he was never going to talk to me again, J/K He was such a cool relaxed diver to partner up with, no rush, just really easy going diver.

When I pulled up to Monastery I called Devin and told him it was looking nice and calm, then when I entered to pay, the park ranger said they had incredible viz the day before and that I was in for a treat today. I thought yeah right, I've been here twice before with rotten conditions. I was very wrong

As I pulled up this is what I saw...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7zhVCu6P4w&feature=channel_page

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

.SAT...N WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT.
W SWELL 7 TO 9 FT.
.SAT NIGHT...N WINDS 10 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 7 TO 9 FT.
.SUN...NW WINDS 10 KT...BECOMING N. WIND WAVES 2 FT.
W SWELL 8 TO 10 FT.

That's a bit on the big side, but with a W direction (I think it will be WNW), so there will be some protection from Pt. Pinos. And the
Breakwater is about as protected as it gets. It won't be ankle slappers,
but it won't be overhead either. If that forecast holds, I'm going.