Moruya Breakwall • Statistics for November

November: Summer Knocking on the Door

November is where the low-quality season begins in earnest. The average period falls to 7.9s, the shortest of the year, and ideal wind drops to 20 percent. That isn't to say the breakwall is flat - ENE (21 percent), E (17 percent), ESE (14 percent) and NE (7 percent) keep the east window active, with average heights around 4ft (1.2m). But the majority of that energy is short-period windswell, generated by the strengthening summer ridge and local sea-breeze fetch rather than distant Southern Ocean storms. Wind directions are dominated by NNE (15 percent), NE (11 percent), SSE (11 percent) and S (12 percent); the all-important SW-WNW offshore quadrant is down to around 7 percent, and the bad NE-ENE-E-ESE sector climbs to 24 percent. Water temp warms to 18.2°C and air reaches 17.2°C, but rainfall ticks up to 2.76 mm/day with convective showers. The surfer who scores November usually does so on a very early tide before the seabreeze puts the chop on top.