If only the North Island didn't exist...
Here in NZ we often sit in amazement of the hefty E swells that hit the Oz east coast despite a relatively small stretch of Tasman. We've got thousands of miles of ocean out east and we get relatively fuck all east swell. Most of what we do get seems to be close generated.
Once there's no land mass to block them those systems just piss off at pace to the east. You guys should be paying us for your waves, and thank goodness we're not just a little bit higher to block off those long fetches across the top.
But yes, by all means let's take out Tasmania and maybe Farewell Spit (useless piece of sand)
What about reversing the jet streams and making our weather move from east to west...surely cheaper and easier than blowing up NZ or Tas?
yeah, the ability of the Tasman sea to quickly whip up large swells is amazing to me too.
see the last Tasman low for exhibit A.
Yendor wrote:Here in NZ we often sit in amazement of the hefty E swells that hit the Oz east coast despite a relatively small stretch of Tasman. We've got thousands of miles of ocean out east and we get relatively fuck all east swell. Most of what we do get seems to be close generated.
Once there's no land mass to block them those systems just piss off at pace to the east. You guys should be paying us for your waves, and thank goodness we're not just a little bit higher to block off those long fetches across the top.
But yes, by all means let's take out Tasmania and maybe Farewell Spit (useless piece of sand)
The angle of NZ would seem to be enough for fair bit of south / Southwest swell to make it up the east coast but I have heard that is not the case. Is that true?
As you point out fast moving systems often don't produce.
frog wrote:The angle of NZ would seem to be enough for fair bit of south / Southwest swell to make it up the east coast but I have heard that is not the case. Is that true?
As you point out fast moving systems often don't produce.
Sorry Frog, missed this ages ago. Yes we do get tons of Sth and SW swell up the east coast of NZ. Probably our primary source of swell. The longer the period the more wrap we can get from the SW and even get swells from fetch under the bottom of the Sth Island
Well I'm in the middle of training my obsessive eye on the forecast charts for the East Coast, and as usual when a rather beautiful lady of a low pressure system looks to be forming within the week, I begin salivating at the possibilities of it hitting my local North Coast beachie at just the right angle and swell period to produce either tapered walls off the breakwall or perhaps perfect chunky-a frames down in front of the club. Hmmmm... yum.
There's just one spanner in the works. That rather annoying yet lovable landmass sitting smack bang in the middle of my lovely stretch of fetch, the prime of the planet's oceans, the grand old South Pacific. And right now I'm seeing a large deep red and purple spinning low sitting projected to form right on top of that annoying North Island.
Sure, we may get some swell. But it will be half a swell, as the full power of that storm ejaculates prematurely and powerlessly on to a rigid landmass. But imagine that damn island just wasn't there..... imagine the full fetch, the strength, the power.
And then imagine all those other spinning lows on the other side... they seem so common around the South Pacific this time of year, beautiful cut off spinners, and trade winds as well, all pointing in this general direction save for that Island... that damn north island. Let's defeat the Kiwis and turn their island into dust to improve the quality of the East Coast swell window - it will be more effective than all the man made reefs in history!
Ahhh, I waste my time on such folly - that is what it is to be a surfer.