Jersey Surfari
Hunting for waves….
During the winter our Seafaris boats are put to bed until the following year awaiting the first signs of spring and warmer weather. We tend to keep one boat operational as the odd charters do come up, whether it be travellers affected by fog, broken ferries, or just unseasonably good weather (like the end of February!). It is always good to get out on the water.
The winter is a time when storms are much more likely, deep Atlantic depressions tend to push larger ground swells to our 9 x 5 rock. During the winter months and the bigger swells some of the rarer, sheltered spots around Jersey start to hold rideable waves.
The Seafaris team consists of a few surfers and the thoughts of unridden and unexplored perfect waves is a fantasy, which leads us to go hunting for new waves. With things like Google earth & the constant development of new forecasting technologies, surfers can find waves in pretty much any part of the world, it has made finding new waves pretty tough.
Around our island there are a few ‘secret’ spots (that are not so secret) and there are always reports of waves on offshore reefs. Trying to search for waves at places like the Ecrehous can be so tricky, due to our incredible large tidal range - in the period of an hour the tide can rise or fall over 9 feet so a particular wave may only break for a short amount of time!
Nevertheless when the swell does get bigger, we do go in search of that elusive wave. Most of the time our imagination gets carried away, excitement levels increase only to be faced with small unsurfable waves - but it doesn’t take away the fun!
surfing les Minquiers
Last month we headed South to try find waves at the Minquiers. The sandbanks are set up perfectly for long peeling waves with one slight problem… they are blocked off from the swell with large amounts of granite reef! On the way excitement was high & the crew were pumped… only to be greeted by perfect little knee high waves, not quite the size we imagined but great fun!!
Surfing Les Ecrehous
Over the last 10 years we have surfed waves out here a number of times, but it is so fickle and hard to get conditions perfect. When the stars align maybe this wave is awesome but possibly for only about 20 minutes every two or three years. Either way it is a great novelty to surf out here away from the crowds.
There are plenty of potential spots out there to be surfed. Its all about checking the forecast and keeping fingers crossed. Below shows a few different breaks off the south coast. Pictures probably oversell some of these waves as they are pretty dangerous waves breaking directly on to dry reef. Maybe rideable with a bigger board or a tow…. who knows!!
