TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands High Surf Advisory

It's that time of year with a high surf advisory from NWS.

North Shores: Waves and Surf. Seas at 6 To 8 feet with breaking wave height at 10 to 12 feet increasing to 12 to 15 feet.

We head down tomorrow and we'll be starting on the south side of St. John and likely headed to Norman on Monday. We'll be on the lookout for free beer from Mardia Gras.

Cheers, RickG

Looks like a moderate N swell through Sunday.

TO 9 FEET. DOMINANT PERIOD 14 SECONDS. NORTH SWELL 4 TO
8 FEET. SCATTERED SHOWERS.

If you are worried about the seas, I think you might have a much more comfortable ride heading to Norman via the north side of St. John. The SFDC still offers some protection vs once you break free from the coast of SJ. Just MHO

We have other reasons to visit St. John, the beauty of the unpopulated south coast, access to the National Park trails and visiting land-based friends. We'll overnight at Lameshur Bay and at Hansen Bay, inside Coral Bay, and we'll make the short sail around to Sopers Hole to check in on Monday when the winds and swell are predicted to be average-ish for this time of year with 15kt winds and 4 foot swells. We know the area well keep clear of lee shores and our sheets in the boat!

As always, weather we go depends on the weather. Last year this week the winds were gusting over 35 and we just headed downwind to Jost and Cane Garden Bay. PredictWind thinks wind and swell could pick up a lot Tuesday/Wednesday next week. We'll see.

Cheers, RickG

What? You don't use your jib sheet as a fishing line? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />
What a mess that turned out to be.

Was in Little Lameshur Bay less than two weeks ago for the first time. Wow! We were the only boat in the entire anchorage. During Xmas week!!! Great trails too, as you mentioned. BUT, we got knocked around a bit on the South side

this past year was the first year we visited St. John.. we sure liked Salt Pond Bay, especially a treat to pick up the fast open wifi signal. Snorkeling was good, beach was good (although bugs on the beach in the evening were bad). After a run down to St. Croix I couldn't wait to get back to Salt Pond.

Unless there is swell/wind from the south, the south shore of St. John is remarkable. Great diving, snorkeling and hiking. From Lameshure, the brightest lights in view are a light glow from St. Croix. Looking forward to counting meteors.

Cheers, RickG

Hi Rick,

Curious if you could point me in the right direction for a site to monitor wave / swell forecasts. Something free <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> Are the swells and waves decreased a good amount on the lee sides? Sorry for the noob questions as this is my 3rd trip down, but never in this time of the year. Just trying to be proactive before arriving next week.

I use WindGuru...

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=58

Just a clarification, a lee shore is different from a leeward side. A lee shore means the shoreline is on the lee side of the boat, so the wind is blowing the boat towards shore.

another helpful link...
http://www.surf-forecast.com/weather_maps/British-Virgin-Islands

I like predictwind.com for waves and wind. Its free for one geography. Windfinder.com is good for wind with the ability to see actual and forecast wind. As msdj69 mentioned, windguru.cz works well for forecast.

Cheers, RickG

I just caught that myself! thanks for pointing out my error...I do hate looking foolish lol

Solid 6 foot swells at Apple Bay right now...

You didn't look foolish. Trust me, a lot of "sailors" in the BVI don't know the difference. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

thanks tradewinds, hallucinations, manpot and rick for the replies. Im assuming these events (waves and swells) should only last a few days typically?

I also like windguru. Here is another site that was discussed on the site not long ago. I've come to really like using it and then linking down into the charts and web cams in the surrounding area.

Windyty TTOL Discussion

Depends on you definition of "few"

Most of the time it is 3-5 days, but the swell are usually driven by systems coming off the US...as you can see, will be getting bigger in the next "few" days.

I have a curiosity, when the "every where" gets pretty high north surf, the entire area can turn this AMAZING light blue, bright electric color that is truly amazing to sail in. almost like a "hallucination"

why? aeration? Sediment stir? All I know it is wicked awesome.

It's
nothing new

The question makes perfect sense as stated. He's asking about the leeward side of the island. "Lee shore" need not enter into it.

And the answer is: not always. Sometimes you can have a SE wind and a north swell, really have to check the direction and period of the swell.

As stated by itself it makes sense, but it was in reference to a post above it, which was referring to lee shores.

A Lee shore can be on any side of an island depending on the wind, waves and current.

Or it can be a six million dollar man;)

Getting back to the surf advisory... we anchored at Pond Bay January 5th and 6th. It was very calm in there on the 5th, almost no surf at all on the beach. At around 3 in the morning on the 6th, we felt wave slap on our swim platform (we have a Nordhavn MY with an extended swim platform) which got worse over time, and we were bouncing a lot. A little after sunrise, I got up and say that the dinghy, cable locked to the swim ladder, had pulled the ladder into the water and was banging against the platform. Thw swell was breaking over the reef at about 5 to 6 feet. Every 4 or 5 waves, our cockpit got drenched from the wave slap, as the wind kept our stern into the swell. It felt dangerous, so we got out. Once we got past the reef, the seas were actually quite calm. We came into Leverick Bay, which was also calm. I now see what the guidebook means about Savannah Bay in a north swell condition...

The swell was well predicted but is dying right down now ( Sat 9th)..

Looks like another north groundswell is coming in on Monday.

Almost got rolled out of bed about 15 times last night by south swells into Christmas Cove...finally got up around dawn & moved to the hammock. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sick.gif" alt="" />

We haven't had anything out of the north for the last couple weeks- it's been from east or south.

On Monday 15K NE winds will take over the area for a few days according to the weather service along with seas up to 9'

That would be Lee Majors <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />