Surf Asylum

Photo Credit: Jensen Bell

Living 2024 felt like always waiting for waves. In reflection it was a good year of surf. Maybe it was the feast or famine nature of the year: a fairly typical mostly small summer, quiet during the peak of hurricane season (until Helene kickstarted the 2nd half of the season in late September), and a prolonged stretch of nearly non-existent surf in late November and early December (followed by a December to remember). December 2023 may have had the size but December 2024 had consistency. The wind started blowing on 12/12 followed by 6 days in a row of head high + surf. It was a bit up and down after that but December still managed to add 5 more days of head high + surf to the 2024 total.

At 61, 2024 had the most days of surf with head high or larger sets since I started publishing my wave log data in 2018, 18 of the 61 days featured offshore wind at some point during the day. 2020 comes in second with 51 head high + days, 13 of those featuring offshore wind at some point. It’s no secret that when it’s overhead it’s usually onshore on the East Coast.

Notable observations and surprises from 2024

• Each year Surf Asylum braces for a rough start or end to our camp season with the potential for late spring or early fall blustery, onshore wind. Summer was well under way when the wind started picking up on 6/17. It blew steadily from 6/18 to 6/20 and culminated in 2 fun days of surf on 6/21 and 6/22 as the wind came around to a more favorable direction for organized surf.
• When it rained it poured, literally and figuratively. It was windy for days on end, it was small for days on end, there was seaweed for weeks, rain, fog, etc… The dense sargasso this summer overlapped with an extended period of unusually clear water. During this timeframe Surf Asylum campers were introduced to 3 new (to us) species: the Sargassum fish Histrio histrio, the Sargassum nudibranch Scyllaea pelagica, and the Sargassum Pipefish Syngnathus pelagicus (a juvenile washed onto one of the camper’s boards and I thought it was an invertebrate until I looked it up).
• Powerful South wind swell from Hurricane Debby on 8/5 dramatically reshaped the island’s sandbars. In recent years we’ve had a lot of dredge sand pushed up onto the beach making the access signs look like they’ve been cut in half. Debby’s impacts were particularly noticeable South of Main Beach where the outside sandbar had been pulled much further out and seemed to be several feet deeper. This created a deep, wide trough and our windows of ridable surf around low tide seemed to be much shorter on the island’s central and southern beaches. You could surf North of Main Beach at low tide and feel like you were surfing a typical outside sandbar at Peter’s Point or Seaside Park. The impact lasted for over a month.
• Another notable impact from Debby was that despite the wind being largely from the South our water temperatures dipped into the 70’s in August, a time of year when we expect our water to be in the upper 80’s.
• From 11/18 to 12/12 there were no days much bigger than thigh high. You had to be really dialed in to find even a knee high wave during this stretch. An extended “flat” spell in late November is one of the most unexpected things to happen in North Florida surf since I’ve been tracking wave heights.

Photo Credit: Southern Edge Studios

Top 5 days of 2023 – in reverse chronological order.

• 12/29 – When the South wind howls on 41010 E Canaveral for more than 12 hours you can count on a South “suck-up” swell to have good follow through enabling the size and power of the surf to peak hours after the wind goes offshore. Being the northern most beach in Florida has its drawbacks but one advantage is that we get more fetch during South wind events than any other beach on Florida’s East Coast. Several generations of Fernandina surfers were out making the most of waves during the holidays.
• 9/27 – Tragic Hurricane Helene produced the biggest day with offshore wind. The waves were unruly at first light. I paddled out early alongside Kyle McCarthy to test the water but after just 3 or 4 waves I decided to give it some time to sort itself out. Even then it was hard to be in the right place for the good ones and it took me almost 4 hours to get 2 that I was proud of. I saw several unridden waves go pretty square. A backside barrel that I squeaked out of was one of my more memorable rides of the year. Just because the waves are good doesn’t make them easy.
• 8/18 – I hesitated to include a day from Ernesto in the top 5. The wind and the tide never quite lined up locally. An early morning high tide made the waves a bit swampy and inconsistent but there were waves all day. If the wind hadn’t come up from the South just as the afternoon tide push really got going it would have been an easy decision. Any of the honorable mentions, perhaps any of the 18 head high days with offshore wind, could probably be swapped out for this day. That seemed to be the kind of year 2024 was, a lot of good days, not as many epic days. Nevertheless, I got out my fish in the morning and the thruster for a short afternoon session and had fun.
• 8/6 – The clean-up day from Hurrican Debby was similar to the Hurricane Helene clean-up, if just a touch smaller. Gulf Coast or panhandle landfalls from storms with large wind fields create waves much like the South winds ahead of a frontal boundary. Standout days in 2024 with hollow, short period South wind swell include: 1/6, 1/9, 3/23, 8/6, 9/27, and 12/29. You got to see the local groms dial in their read in this type of surf. Noah Poteat really started to refine his disappearing act nabbing an epic ride on 12/29.
• 3/23 – If you count 1/6 and 1/9 this was the third outstanding South wind swell clean-up event of at least a half dozen in 2024. By far the most organized of those half dozen days, the period stretched from 8 seconds in the morning to 10 seconds in the evening. I put in 5 hours across 2 sessions. The wipeouts were as exhilarating as the makes.

Photo Credit: Bob McElhenney

Honorable Mentions

• 12/19 – Had I made it out for the morning session the day before I may have switched 12/18 into the top 5. I ran into the ER doctor, Adam, in the water and he said the morning of 12/18 was pretty similar to this day. I arrived shortly after low tide and the waves were steep, hollow, and fast. As the tide filled in it was like a skatepark with waves offering multiple sections to link turns and the biggest set waves still had tube sections off the take-off. The only drawback to our excellent run of waves in December was the presence of a thick blanket of fog in the mornings whenever the wind was light.
• 9/16 & 9/17 – Proving that you don’t have to have a named storm to get good waves, Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 delivered us a solid run of swell just as the sandbar was starting to come back after Hurricane Debby. Since PTC 8 was positioned off the Carolinas this swell had a more Northerly component to it. Justin Quintal was out asking for local restaurant recommendations.
• 7/13 – The peak of a fun size summer swell coincided with Special Olympics Area Games. During one of the first heats of the morning Luis, one of our level 1 athletes, made the waves look like Waikiki. The next morning I saw Aiden Flynn click the first of many clean, frontside air reverses I saw him ride out of this year and two of our instructors, Grace Wright and Emily Flint, were getting a couple fun ones.
• 6/22 – When the wind finally switched after the nearly week long nor’easter in June we had just wrapped our 4th week of summer camp. I was hungry to get a few waves of my own and spent Saturday switching between a conventional 5’10” thruster and a 5’6″ fish. It’s pretty special to get a couple decent tube rides in June.
• 1/6 – Whether the South wind is being pulled up ahead of a frontal boundary approaching from the West, or due to a large gulf tropical storm headed North, the resulting surf has very similar features. This was the first of these set-ups that produced remarkable surf in 2024.

With 2024 in Fernandina ending up more consistent than I realized, I’m looking forward to attending Southern Edge Studios’ premiere of “Local Motion.” Saturday – Jan 25, 2025 – 6 to 9 PM, at Mocama.

Photo Credit: Bob McElhenney

Data

1) Wave Heights

2) Water Temperature

3) Wind: Onshore vs. Offshore (Choppy vs. Clean)

4) General Wind Wave Direction

5) Swell Period in Seconds

Photo Credit: Kevin Maines

With a southerly ‘winter storm’ track producing consistent surf in the late fall and early winter after an active ‘2023 tropical season’ we seem to be getting the benefits of EL Niño without the drawbacks. The general consensus is that 2023 was a good year of surf and it tracked as a top 3 year for consistency in the 6 years I’ve been keeping records. We had great sandbars up and down the island. I heard comparisons to Costa Rican or Californian beach breaks when the swell was running. You had a choice between short, quick tube rides and decent length walls that would allow 2 to 3 turns. Some days allowed for both.

Notable observations and surprises from 2023

• Short hot summer. While most of us remember a sweltering July, extreme North wind events in June and September bookended summer leading to the smallest number of days (99) with 80°F or above water since I started recording in 2018. It doesn’t seem right to live in Florida and have less than 80°F water for more than 2/3 of the year. The average of the 5 years prior comes to about 125 days with 80°F water.
• No appreciable swell periods of 12 seconds or more in November. It makes sense for spring and fall to have a lot of short period windswell as transitional weather months but I usually expect some long period swell from large North Atlantic storms to mix in at some point. The good day in November was from a system sitting right off of the coast.
• 2nd year in a row where I didn’t notice or personally experience a bad jellyfish outbreak in the fall.
• 2023 tied for 2nd in number of ‘Head High +’ days since 2018, it was 1st in number of days with swell periods of 12 seconds or more in the mix (100, even without November), and offshore wind was distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. We had a lot of onshore wind but we had a lot of light and variable wind or wind switches to balance it out.
• We had a pretty classic, generally small summer. In a seeming contradiction, 2023 had the smallest number of ‘Near Flat to Shin High’ days since I’ve been recording (19). The fact that we run a summer camp may distort the number of days I decide it’s knee high instead of near flat.

Photo Credit: Betzy Mitchell

Top 5 days of 2023 – in chronological order.

• 8/30 – The clean-up from Hurricane Idalia passing West and North. Strong 8 second South swell seems to be a hallmark of the 2023 El Niño season. The rights were excellent. I saw Surf Asylum alumni Kate Heymann push herself outside of her comfort zone and get a couple good lefts and rights. It’s inspiring when young people want to do something enough to push past their fear.
• 9/12 – The first full day of the Hurricane Lee swell. The waves weren’t consistent yet but the sets were solid. Ran into Billy Fortier. The light crowd of friendly faces contributed as much to the day as the waves.
• 9/13 – The most consistent day of the Hurricane Lee swell. Kyle McCarthy and I were looking at a doubled up left that Brady McKenzie was deeper for. Ask him to show you the sequence if you get a chance. It’s not everyday someone gets spit out of the tube in Florida but it’s kind of cool that it can happen here or South Beach, two opposite ends of the state. This day was the most crowded. The time in between sets due to the long period swell made it frustrating at times.
• 9/14 – It feels a bit lazy to award 3 days from the same swell “Top 5” status but I surfed for just over 4 hours and had a couple attempts at some spacious tubes by Florida standards. Hurricane Lee had the kind of track that East Coast surfers hope for at the start of every tropical season.
• 11/18 – A low pressure tracked from South to North off the coast. There was so much South wind offshore that despite the local wind going from North to Northwest there was a solid 11 second ESE swell in the water. If there was one minor quibble with 2023 being a great year of surf it may be that on every hollow day you had to contend with secondary short period wind swell cutting across the waves. I’d say that’s a feature of most beach breaks throughout the world though.

Honorable Mentions

• 5/27 – Heavy, drifty, and more side-offshore than offshore. One of those days it’s hard to prepare for but the good ones had the classic Fernandina look.
• 7/1 – There were so many fun days this year. This day happened to coincide with a Nassau County Special Olympics Surf Team practice. There were a lot of great rides and stand out performances. Luis and Diego, brothers you may know from the checkout line at Publix, were two athletes that thrived this season due to days like this.
• 8/27 – You know it was a good year if a local ESA event had swell and decent wind. Aiden Flynn’s surfing proved deserving of his spot on the 2024 ESA All Star Team. We have a small dedicated district and in just the past 5 years we’ve had 3 All Stars (Noah Poteat, Aiden Flynn, and Michaela Nichols) as well as 2 Marsh Scholarship recipients (Jade Beasley and Emily Flint earned scholarships awarded specifically to competitive surfers). We’re always looking for members and volunteers (especially judges). The Facebook Page ESA First Coast District is the best way to stay up to date.
• 12/16 & 12/17 – The big day and the day after. My first paddle out was brutal but the tide was high so I wasn’t really getting slammed as much as pushed back. I caught one of my first set waves in front St. Augustine’s Gabe Kling. It was unruly and the biggest, heaviest barrels I saw went unridden. The next day was fun. If you didn’t watch it long enough you could have been forgiven for thinking it was flat but the sandbar was as good as it gets providing chest high waves that were a great balance of peaky and fast closer to low tide than you might think to surf.

Photo Credit: Raegan Heymann

Data

1) Wave Heights

2) Water Temperature

3) Wind: Onshore vs. Offshore (Choppy vs. Clean)

4) General Wind Wave Direction

5) Swell Period in Seconds

2022 was a good year in Fernandina surf. Since I’ve been recording (2018) only 2020 surpassed 2022 in the number of days the surf was head high or bigger. 2020 featured 51 head high days, 34 days with onshore wind and 17 days with a mix of onshore and offshore winds. 2022 had 49 days of head high or bigger surf: 22 days featuring predominantly onshore wind, 23 days with a mix of onshore and offshore wind, and 4 head high days where the wind was predominantly offshore. Taking into account that June and July were fairly consistent again this year the only knock against 2022 is that we were hard pressed to find a wave bigger than waist high for the whole month of August, which is typically one of our prime months for surf.

Notable observations and surprises from 2022

• Second consecutive summer of consistent surf. There were no flat days this summer if you were in the right place at the right tide. I even recorded 12 days of fun chest high surf in June and July. The kids have been scoring for summer vacation. In regard to summer camp there were many days big enough to be challenging for beginners.
• An August with no days bigger than waist high is definitely a surprise but it may have set us up for a September to remember. 3 of my top 5 days fell in September, each associated with a named storm.
• I don’t know if it was a lack of surf or personal water time in August but I didn’t notice a severe jellyfish outbreak this year like we’ve had the past several years.
• The December hard freeze is probably still fresh in everyone’s mind. This contributed to a 10 degree water temperature difference between New Years Eve 2021 and New Years Eve 2022. 12/31/21 – 65.5 degrees F, 12/31/22 – 55.5 degress F.
• Notable but not surprising, 3 of what I considered the best days of the year fell within September. September is a good time of year to be in a lot of places for surf but it’s the best time of year for the advanced surfer here in Fernandina. Also the month with the most days of offshore wind (January) also had the most flat days, be careful what you wish for.

Top 5 days of 2022 – in chronological order.

• 9/13 – One of my waves this day reminded me of a heavy California beach break, a set wave from a solid 15 second ESE swell courtesy of Hurricane Earl. This day featured a clean morning session and a clean evening session.
• 9/22 – This was the standout day from Hurricane Fiona. My wipeouts were as spectacular as my makes and surfing felt like a full contact sport. There was a mix of a solid 15 second swell and a solid 10 second swell both out of the ESE. This led to a lot of waves doubling. You had to pick the right ones.
• 9/30 – Erosion and damage from Hurricane Ian closed beaches across the state and we were joined by one of Florida’s finest in Corey Lopez and his family for what some might consider the day of the year. It was burly however, especially at daylight, and due to the proximity and size of the storm, at times there were 3 or more overlapping swell periods. Again it paid to be on the right waves. Corey’s wave selection and choice of line paddling into them made it look easy. The photos made the waves look better than they were. It was powerful, erratic, and exhilarating.
• 11/11 – Another great day of surf coinciding with significant beach erosion across the state thanks to Hurrican Nicole. It took some time to clean up this day and we were racing the tide a bit before it got too shallow but it was a bit easier to read the waves than Ian. Often the 9 – 12 second swell periods like we had with Nicole can hit our sandbars with a little better shape than the 15 second periods we had with Fiona and Ian.
• 12/22 – Overhead set waves in the morning and offshore winds all day. This day featured 9 second periods similar to Nicole. A heavy morning session gave way to a friendlier, playful evening session as the tide turned back in.

Honorable Mentions

• 1/16 – A major South “suck-up” swell ahead of a front. Well overhead on 1/16, flat on 1/17. Bradley Dunham got the shot. There was one wave I’d like another shot at after witnessing the approach of Corey Lopez and his son during Hurricane Ian.
• 3/8 – There was a run of waves where we were all surfing around the leading edge of the dredge/beach renourishment project. This was one of the best days from that run with a nice 10 second swell running. These projects happen so frequently here that even with the wave log I get my years and seasons confused. We always cross our fingers that the decent sandbars they cover will come back with similar form.
• 9/6 – 9/10 – One thing that was so great for our students about this season was the consistency. Earl produced and produced… starting around 9/6 the waves were over chest high until 9/14. Around this time we also had a sandbar that worked for pretty much any tide. When the wind and power came together on 9/13 many of them were ready to take advantage.

Data

1) Wave Heights

2) Water Temperature

3) Wind: Onshore vs. Offshore (Choppy vs. Clean)

4) General Wind Wave Direction

5) Swell Period in Seconds

When I started the Wave Log I had an agenda to show myself and others that the waves are decent, even consistent around here. Starting this year I’ve made a change to the data section to make it a little more honest. Onshore vs. Offshore now has 3 sections: Onshore (all day), Mixed, and Offshore (all day). There were almost twice as many onshore days as offshore days in 2021.

Notable observations and surprises from 2021

• Slow start. On an honest, down note there were no head high + days and only 6 chest to shoulder high days in all of January and February combined.
• 17 second swell in June. On 6/22 if you were attending our 4th week of Summer Camp you experienced waves that originated off the coast of Brazil. A similar thing occurred during mid-June of 2017
• Active July. Including the surf from Tropical Storm Elsa there was a 4 day run of chest high surf from 7/12 – 7/15 and a 5 day run of chest high surf from 7/24 – 7/28. Many campers had personal best rides but just as many had to summon their courage in some pretty intense situations.
• Slow, windy August. There were no days in August with notable swell periods of 12 seconds or greater and every head high + day of waves had onshore wind for the entire day.
• Mild New Years Eve. 2021 ended with the warmest water temps since I’ve been recording. The mean water temperature on Dec. 31 was 65.5 F compared to 58.5 F in 2020, 59.5 F in 2019, and 61.5 F in 2018.

Top 5 days of 2021 – in chronological order.

• 6/28 – It was more of a late afternoon or evening than a “day” but Tropical Storm Danny produced a pulse of swell that kept improving all the way up to sunset. The wind and tide switched almost simultaneously and I can still remember the feeling of some of the bottom turns from that session, a rarity in June.
• 9/8 – Day 1 of the Larry swell. With patience I was able to put together 3 memorable tube rides. Hurricane Larry felt like the first proper long track, MDR (Main Development Region) fish storm we’ve had in years. If the local winds cooperate you can get multiple days of quality surf from these systems and we were blessed with 2.
• 9/9 – Day 2 of the Larry swell. There was a bit of morning sickness due to a moderate South wind but it didn’t take long for the wind to switch and the waves to shape up. My most memorable ride wasn’t a make, I got bounced off pretty deep in what felt like a stand-up tube. I was left wanting to study Gabriel Medina’s approach at his home beach break, Pauba, to be ready next time.
• 11/7 – The Right Whale Festival. The weather that canceled the first day of our local Right Whale Festival and Red Bull Night Riders Saturday slowly gave way to offshore winds and clear skies on Sunday. The morning high tide was high enough to affect the consistency of exceptional waves but at daybreak I saw one of those waves like you would draw in your school notebook when you were a kid.
• 11/22 – At just 8 seconds this was the shortest period of the “top 5” days but sometimes that just means more waves. There was a 10 AM high tide that never got too high and straight offshore wind all day. November ended up being a standout month for surf, if a bit cold.

Honorable Mentions

• 3/3 – I always like to recognize the first standout day of the year. I was out of town but I watched the forecast develop, checked the buoy, and saw one video along with a couple photos that made me think this was it.
• 7/15 – I pulled into a closeout barrel during the Summer Camp snack break. Because of the popular conception of surfing we often struggle to convince parents that clean barreling conditions aren’t good for their first time surfers. It was a great summer for 3rd and 4th year surfers not so much for first year.
• 7/27 – This is where the waves started to feel comically consistent for Florida summer. I was reaching my Groundhog Day like wits end watching everyone else surf. Luckily some of our most experienced students were out and about for me to live vicariously through. This being the 2nd quality high pressure swell of the month they were starting to get really comfortable. When the swell from Larry would arrive in a month and a half they would be ready.

Peak Jellyfish encounters occurred between 8/22 – 9//3.

There were 12 head high + days with offshore wind out of a total of 37 head high + days.

Data

1) Wave heights

2) Water Temperature

3) Wind: Onshore vs. Offshore (Choppy vs. Clean)

4) General Wind Wave Direction

5) Swell Period in Seconds

When I imagine a typical day of surf in North Florida it’s probably knee to waist high with 8 to 10 second intervals. 2020 had 224 “knee to waist high” days and 229 days with swell periods ranging from 8 to 11 seconds. So even if only in this one respect 2020 was pretty normal.

Disclaimer: This data is not rigorously precise or quality controlled. This spring I was recovering from a surf related knee injury. During that time frame there were more extrapolations from buoy data than normal. There was also a period of time where the Fernandina Buoy (41112) was offline and Gray’s Reef (41008) and St. Augustine (41117) were used to fill in the gap.

Notable observations and surprises from 2020

• Extremely mild water temps in March. There were 7 days with water temperatures in the 70’s in March. In 2018 we didn’t see 70 degree water until May. In 2019 the first day of sustained 70 degree water was April 11.
• A cool start to June. With several North wind events the first half of June featured mostly water temperatures in the 70’s. Combine this with the fact that the water dipped back into the 70’s as early as Sept. 22 and you have almost 40 fewer days of 80 degree + water than in 2019.
• Windy fall. There were a lot of head high + days in 2020 (51 by my Floridian standards) and half of those fell in September, October, and November. All of the head high + days in September and October featured onshore wind and only 2 of the head high + days in November had sustained periods of offshore wind. There were a lot of big days and days with offshore wind in 2020 they just didn’t line up very often. By my account only 13 of the 51 head high + days had any sustained periods of offshore wind.
• The Jellyfish were back. This time multiple daily stings in the surf zone occurred along Fernandina’s coast from at least 8/22 through 9/6. The culprit seems to be in the Class Cubozoa and Order Chirodropida containing the box jellyfish or “sea wasp”. I give credit to any of our students who continue to surf after encounters with these. Long sleeve rashguards and leggings are the best deterrent. Most pain relief methods only have limited efficacy.
• A record Atlantic hurricane season didn’t produce more quality surf locally. The main culprit was wind, both Paulette and Teddy followed excellent tracks to produce great surf but the arrival of the swell coincided with persistent onshore wind. Isaias and Eta produced a day each of the type of iconic surf we hope for, but aside from that if you wanted to surf you had to navigate secondary wind waves cutting across the swell from the storms.

Top 5 days of 2020 – in descending chronological order.

• 11/12 – When Eta came across the state from the gulf as a tropical storm the midday surf was a drifty, board-breaking mess. Some time in the afternoon the wind clocked around a few degrees from S to SW and it quickly came together as the best quality surf of 2020 hands down.
• 8/3 – The day of Isaias’ closest pass had some of the largest ridable surf of the year. Similar to the Eta swell it started off early as a nearly unridable mess and shaped up gradually throughout the day until the conditions became nearly as good as it gets here. (There was an hour of the Eta swell where the surf was as good as it gets).
• 8/1 – Groundswell from Isaias showed up a couple days before the storm and provided some powerful, fun warm up waves for the much larger surf on 8/3.
• 7/27 – Only 11/12 and 8/3 were obvious “Top 5” days this year. 7/27 was nowhere near the biggest surf of the year but it was the first day of our “Advanced Week” of Summer Camp (The last week of Nassau County summer vacation has had bigger waves than we’re comfortable teaching beginners in almost every year since we’ve been in business). This day offered an excellent summer swell with great winds for our students with a couple years of experience.
• 4/13 – Similar to Eta in the way a strong South wind clocked to Southwest throughout the day. This was a classic “suck-up” swell ahead of a front and the best day of surf locally during the beach closure.

Honorable Mentions

• 10/22 – Part of the run of surf from Hurricane Epsilon.
• 9/23 – The wind finally got a little lighter before the swell from Hurricane Teddy faded out.
• 9/14 – Part of the run of surf from Hurricane Paulette.
• 4/7 – A light crowd boated, walked, and paddled in to City of Jacksonville Parks to surf during the beach closures.
• 1/25 – This morning I saw Dylan Jenkins get a wave so good it made me want to try my knee. Caught two waves and came in, wasn’t quite up to it yet.

Data

1) Wave heights

2) Water Temperature

3) Wind: Onshore vs. Offshore (Choppy vs. Clean)

4) General Wind Wave Direction

5) Swell Period in Seconds