Pat Caldwell, the Oahu surf forecaster not the bodyboarder, is retiring at the end of the year. He has been my number one source for surf forecasts for as long as I've been online. As long as he's not on vacation I felt no need to check anywhere else just the buoys. I guess I'll be back to checking charts and graphs or maybe paying for Surfline. I remember back in the day paying for a phone call to George Mason or a fax from Bruce Pleas.
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End of a era, Pat Caldwell is retiring.
- Thread starter kelly7873
- Start date
Ha! must be a trend, my favorite out here in the Canary Islands just became a "producer" and now all of a sudden, no mention of her usual "the surfers will be happy tomorrow! because...".
seriously underestimated just how much i had come to depend on her, she never got it wrong.
seriously underestimated just how much i had come to depend on her, she never got it wrong.
Used to use the weather office at the SB Airport to look at surface pressure maps for the N Pac....and heavy use of the weather radio waiting and analyzing long periods across the set of buoys as a swell progressed toward the coast. Also used the LA Times weather map with awesome results Then discovered Pat's forecast....early or mid 90's I think....game changer for longer term "plans".....
Thanks Pat for all that....!!
Thanks Pat for all that....!!
And this is part of the reason your lineup is so crowded. No longer are you relying on your own wits to predict the surf but an expert who sells her expertise to everyone. Add in the cameras which allow you to see the waves as they break and you have a recipe for every Kookstormer to crash your break between zoom meetings. The sooner we get rid of both, the sooner the lineups empty-out.
when i surf alone - often - its cause some website flubbed the forecast.
i know i sound like a dinosaur - but choo gots to be in it to win it.
i know i sound like a dinosaur - but choo gots to be in it to win it.
An Empirical Method for Estimating Surf Heights from Deepwater Significant Wave Heights and Peak Periods in Coastal Zones with Narrow Shelves, Steep Bottom Slopes, and High Refraction
Patrick C. Caldwell† and Jerome P. Aucan, 2007
Patrick C. Caldwell† and Jerome P. Aucan, 2007
that's actually 100% opposite the actual truth.
you'd think thats how it would work, normally I'd agree.
here though, as soon as Viky Palma retired is when the line ups got busy, wierd huh?
it's the fooking influencers with GoPro securely fit between their teeth streaming every barrel fest session.
should have given out multiple slaps as soon as they came... luckily, I'll be out of the game physically within a few seasons, and I lately only go when it's big, long period swell, when all the Karen's have their boards in ding repair, or mysteriously come down with a 24 hours flu that ends with the swell fading.
Noooooooo 2020 sucks.
Pat was my go to. He usually had some little nuggets written in to his reports that you'd have to decipher to get what he was saying. He wouldn't put it ALL out there. Gonna miss him.
Pat was my go to. He usually had some little nuggets written in to his reports that you'd have to decipher to get what he was saying. He wouldn't put it ALL out there. Gonna miss him.
worst part about my local weather lady getting promoted to producer is that the new guy only calls out RED ALERT! STAY AWAY FROM THE COASTS AT ALL COSTS!!!
huge difference from viky and her "the surfers will be happy tomorrow! Because...".
another side effect from this I've noticed is sweetie pie and moms are all scared now when it's big. used to be they'd just know I was happy and that was enough for them. Since bozo boy started with his alerts and stay aways at all costs, they both ask me not to go the night before when hearing that come out his mouth. same swell, same sizes, just thanks dork boy for those "alerts"!!!
huge difference from viky and her "the surfers will be happy tomorrow! Because...".
another side effect from this I've noticed is sweetie pie and moms are all scared now when it's big. used to be they'd just know I was happy and that was enough for them. Since bozo boy started with his alerts and stay aways at all costs, they both ask me not to go the night before when hearing that come out his mouth. same swell, same sizes, just thanks dork boy for those "alerts"!!!
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Caldwell's report has always been free. Wave forecasting has been around for a long time, if you were using your wits to predict the surf you were probably surfing along side of Greg Noll. But I do remember a few years back when all the buoys were down all winter the crowds seem way down on big raising swells. The leash and good wetsuits have a lot more to do with the crowd then better forecasting. As for cameras, I can't think of one time when I wasn't planning on surfing but looked at the cameras and changed my mind but plenty of times I was planning on surfing and looked at the cameras and didn't go.
There's a chance that after he retires that he will strike out on his own and start up his own website like he had before he was adsorbed by the NWS. I think that if he did his website would easily pick up enough hits that he could get some sponsors to pay for itself.