Anything easterly is bad unless you go out of the hole and run straight south.
Anything northly is bad because it slops up between swells, and the ocean is confused. You can’t use the running south trick because it will take you twice as long to get back as it did for you to get out.
You want a southerly, variable wind. That’s called picking your day. A thunderstorm in a summer afternoon will educate you on how well (not) that technique works.
Use your tide charts and avoid the mouth of the jetties on an outgoing tide when wind is coming out of the east at all.
Remember it’s the ocean, and it can change rapidly on you. If you feel that you aren’t prepared for what can happen, then simply put, you aren’t- and you shouldn’t endanger lives until you do feel prepared. Some people aren’t prepared and never know it. That’s why it’s a good idea to go with people who have been doing it for years. You’ll learn from them what they have learned at greater expense hopefully.
Lot’s of truth in Phin’s assessment. A simpler approach is this: If the wind is running the same direction or opposite direction as the wave, prepare for a bumpy ride, the stronger the wind the more bump. If the wind is perpendicular to the wave direction there is a better possibility of the waves being more of a swell, again, dependent on the wind speed and wave height/period.
My “pick your day” scenario that I get excited about is an Easterly wave (low height and long period) coupled with a light and variable Southerly wind (hopefully below 7-8 knots). Those days may not be as rare as hen’s teeth, but they don’t happen with enough frequency to suit me.
I’ll never forget going one day when the forecast was for 7-10ft.seas at 13seconds, wave out of the East and wind out of the South at 3-5knots. We had the ocean to ourselves and it was fabulous. Long slow building waves and hardly a ripple anywhere. Kinda spooky but still a very fun day and caught lots of fish to boot.
Thanks guys, appreciate the advice. Was looking at the forecast for Sunday, if it holds, 2ft seas @ close to 10 seconds with winds out of the SW less than 10 pretty much all day. I’m assuming this might not be a terrible day to try going out to the Charleston 60.
Pretty sure Sunday is still fishable if your not in a hurry to be out there by early morning. Afternoon still looks good…
Thanks, not any more.
Mark
Pioneer 222 Sportfish Yamaha F300
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
