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Originally posted by justal
Hi Mikey,
Lancaster isn't the best of places to be located for surfing I'm afraid. You're unlikely to get any real surf on any of the local beaches and there isn't really anywhere nearby thats any good either.

So, you are going to have to travel in order to get in the water. (or start windsurfing or kitesurfing as the conditions around you are pretty good for that!)

Really you have two options, head to the East Coast where there are quite a few breaks from easy beach breaks to gnarly reef breaks, or head to North Wales (Hells Mouth probably).

Hells Mouth is fairly consistent in the autumn and winter and a decent place for someone of your standard. It usually has slightly blown out beach break waves, but can produce waves of a better quality. The usual SW storms expected at this time of year priduce swells that travel up through St. Georges Channel towards Hells Mouth. The SW winds associated with these low pressure systems tends to blow the waves out though. There are a couple of other better quality waves around here suited to more experienced surfers too.

The East Coast can be surprisingly good as well. Water temps are lower (averaging 5†C in Feb/Mar and 14†C in Sept...although it has dropped as low as 2.5†C and can get to 17†C!). There are certain complicated weather patterns that produce swells along the NE coast... Big Low pressures between Scotland and Scandivia produce swells from the north and can be cleabed up nicely if a ridge of high presuure follows it. These sweels usually last for a few days, but can last up to a week if the low pressure fills slowly over Norway. Low pressure moving from SW England to SE Scotland, strong E-SE winds can produce a southerly swell which can get pretty big (usually 4-6ft but it can go as big as 10ft!) Such swells only last a day or two...So keep your eye on the weather patterns and be flexible as to where you'll travel.

Hope that helps.

Al.

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