Bahamas Surf Report: Aug 2013

New Providence’s Bruce Hall on a July Eleuthera wind swell wave. PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Glucksmann.
New Providence’s Bruce Hall on a July Eleuthera wind swell wave. PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Glucksmann.

How do you sugar coat a month that consistently scores the hottest on the mean temperature charts and generally features rainy days and potential for stormy weather? Well, the key words were the last two, ‘stormy weather’. August is when we actually start expecting our first hurricane swell (or two) of the season, instead of the previous two months when we just hope for one. As of press time, conditions were still less-than favorable for much organization of tropical systems. The last month in Eleuthera we’ve felt a spike in water temperatures that were a little cooler than normal. So the warming water may mean there’s some storms to come. Be ready, not many swells pack a punch like a good, close hurricane swell that travels only across deep, open Atlantic ocean before detonating on the reefs of Abaco, Eleuthera, Nassau, Rum Cay and mysto spots you’ve been keeping an eye on. Expect swell direction to be from the east and if the storm is moving slowly, from the north also. Occasionally, a storm to our south will send swell filtering up through the Antilles. Once again, be ready. You may only get a day or two of good swell with favorable winds but the average is usually a good three or four days of swell if a storm winds its way through our optimal window. The month kicks off with annual celebrations of Emancipation Day, with the holiday falling the first Monday of August. Bay Fest in Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera runs the first weekend of August.

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