During the third week of April the East Coast was afire with rumors of a big swell moving towards the coast. Rumor turned to reality as a solid low started tracking east of Cape Hatteras on Thursday night (4/14). Through Saturday morning (4/15) northeast winds rose and held at 40 kts aimed right down the 24-34 degree great circle path to South Florida. At the Diamond Shoals buoy just southeast of Cape Hatteras northeast winds were clocked at 35 kts with gusts consistently to 45 kts while seas of 15 ft @ 12 secs built to 18 ft @ 15 secs through Saturday AM. And further off the coast buoy 41001 reported seas consistently at 25-27 ft @ 14 secs under 40 kt northeast winds.
A cruise ship made the mistake of trying to push through the fetch, where a rogue wave reported to 70 ft impacted the vessel. Fortunately damage was relatively minor. A solid swell started to develop pushing south with the core passing under the Canaveral buoy Sunday (3/17) morning. There seas of 12-13 ft @ 15 secs were recorded. A few hours down the coast Matt Kechele was positioned to score at a private little spot he had scoped on previous trips, and the effort paid off well as the pictures attest. Yes, Florida does deliver the goods.
|
