seas

hi there can anyone tell me the difference between swell and seas thanx


wazzbat's picture

Posts: 977

Date Joined: 19/01/10

My understanding is that the

Mon, 2010-02-22 19:57

My understanding is that the seas are winds and swell and current etc combined ie, wind waves.  Well that's what I always thought it was???

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I fish for the future - Cause I can't bloody catch anything!

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

Waves

Mon, 2010-02-22 19:58
  • Sea waves: waves generated by the wind blowing at the time, and in the recent past, in the area of observation.
  • Swell waves: waves which have travelled into the area of observation after having been generated by previous winds in other areas. These waves may travel thousands of kilometres from their origin before dying away. There may be swell present even if the wind is calm and there are no 'sea' waves.

Posts: 105

Date Joined: 03/06/09

cool what about the gap

Mon, 2010-02-22 20:01

cool what about the gap between the swell waves do you kno what that is called cheers

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

I stand to be corrected, it happens often

Mon, 2010-02-22 20:08

however, my understanding is that is called the trough, and the distance between the troughs is the swell interval. It is the same with the sea waves, and the seas are measured vertically between the top of the wave and the bottom of the trough preceeding it (Height). 

grayzeee's picture

Posts: 2283

Date Joined: 09/07/09

swell (groundswell) what

Mon, 2010-02-22 21:04

swell (groundswell) what surfers look for - clean sets of waves generated by winds from a long way away.

 

seas - what you'd see looking out from perths beaches most summer afternoons, heavy local winds causing mixed up chop.very poor for boating

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If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.