Categories: Report

If in doubt don’t go out…cyclone swells from the east

If in doubt don’t go out…cyclone swells from the east: Surfers say the opposite. But they only have a surfboard with them. Taking a fully equipped boat through the waves, with souls on board, is another case entirely. Not comparable actually. When you make a mess in the waves with your boat, it’s a real mess.

And so this morning we backed out. It’s about one in five launches that we back out of. Here at the river mouth in Port Shepstone. It’s not a friendly launch at all. But the swell on this day, also would have made Shelley Beach – just down the coast – also very tricky.

The movie

East swells

The stupid cyclone that is bouncing around between Madagascar and Mozambique to the north of us, has spun up this east swell like this. The storm is not very far away and so the wave period, is very short. Maybe 6 or 7 seconds. Meaning the waves are stacked up one after the other. And they are moving fast having not had time to slow down as they would if the reach (distance away the storm is) was more.

See how the east swells come straight in at the launch site

South swells

The technical opposite of the east swell, which could be caled a north swell to if you wanted to, is the south swell. That comes from the west?! These are waves that were generated very far away, in the southern ocean. By the time they get here they are beautifully sculptured and clean. With huge wave period up to 18 seconds.

This makes for easy launching, at all the spots. As opposed to the east swells, which basically blocks off the launch spots, by directing waves straight at them.

In a south swell launch situation here in KZN, you get to run through the gaps between the waves as they roll in gently. In an east swell, you face it all head-on.

Rolling south swells allow you through the gaps between the waves

Video

Bulelani is here at the Umzimkulu Marina, he is on his 4th day of his Fishing Guide Course with us. Having caught his first fish – a rock salmon on his very first outing, we are now trying to put Bulelani onto all the summer gamefish which are right here at the moment.

Stay posted – we are going to to try again as soon as the waves let up!

Bulelani Day 4 outing of Fishing Guide School by MYDO Fishing Lures

We (https://umzimkuluadrenalin.co.za) are running an Advanced Surf Launching course in the new year for some guys. If you are interested in a course like this, please get in touch via that website. Obviously we also offer Fishing Guide Courses, with practical training too. Here in Port Shepstone.

Check out https://mydofishinglures.co.za for more about what to do once you get out through the waves. And where you can order internationally. Local orders available here.

Stay with us in Port Shepstone at https://umzimkulu.co.za.

We can build you a website by Tiger Lily Consulting at https://tigerlilyconsulting.co.za and help you build sales. Or a complete system.