Collecting some numbers...

There are a few spots that I like to surf, but they are far away so I want to be sure the waves will be good so I don't drive far and not surf. I thought I knew how things worked, tide, swell, etc. but I've been burned a few times. I've decided to make note of the conditions when I get it good (or bad when I thought it should be good.) Get-John-chells: 11ft@14sec from 290deg. Tide range from 1.5 to 0.5. This was in March I think, and the swell was just enough to make it worthwhile, any smaller or further North and I don't think it would have come together. It was shoulder with some bigger sets. Some wait between waves but not too much. Rides from mid-cove to past the point, so short. Didn't make it down to the suck-up on any waves. The next cove up looked good the whole time as well. Ona: On Monday of this week I double dipped on either side of low tide. The swell was mixed 2-3ft@17 from north and south, tide bottoming around 0.5ft. I thought this would have been a magical combination but the waves were lackluster and soft with few wedges. The hour centered on low tide was the best, but was also clogged with rippers. I surfed before and after that and got a few weak waves. On Thursday of this week I spent 12 hours on the beach watching. 5.5ft@14sec from 300 deg, 1.something @14? from the south, tide range 1.5 to 4.0 to 1.5. Head high, a few bowls but no big wedges. Much more fun than Monday. The thing is as I watched it I saw surf-able waves all day. Certainly it was softer at high tide, but nobody was around and there were waves to ride. For the afternoon low tide more people showed up and it quickly went from a few of us to 8 people scrambling for any wave around. Seems like if there is enough swell from the NW then mid-tide sessions are worth the crowd dodge. GoPro: Got one from the wife for my b-day a few months back. Brought it out Monday using the head strap as a chest strap. This put the camera just below my collar bone, high enough to still paddle a board. Videos came out good enough to see what's happening, but I kept forgetting to turn it on when a good wave came. Didn't bring it out Thursday, but probably should have since the waves were much better.