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Glossary

Glossary
Terms that are on use on this site.

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There are 156 entries in the glossary.
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Term	Definition
"Wind's On It"	Condition when there is too much wind blowing which causes the swell to be choppy and sectioned.

A-Frame	A perfect barreling wave that breaks evenly to both the left and right, allowing two surfers to catch the same wave going in opposing directions.

Acid Drop	This is when you make the drop into a wave and the bottom of the wave suddenly jacks up or drops out leaving you free falling down the face.

Aerial	This is a maneuver when both a surfer and his board completely leave the water and successfully lands to continue the wave. Countless tricks can be performed while doing this expert but basic move.

Aggro	Short for "aggressive". Anger can get the best of people sometimes, especially it seems when you have 100 kooks chasing the same waves. Tensions can and do flare.

Amped	A feeling of excitement and anticipation. Stoked. Fired-up. Banzai!

Angular Spreading	Waves spread out in front of a swell train in a radial pattern as the winds pushforward. The area the energy is directly aimed receives the peak energy while the remaining lesser energy lags behind and spreads out. For example, a swell may leave the region southeast of New Zealand aimed directly at Peru. Peru will receive the most energy while Hawai`i sees just a small bump. In fact, most south swells that reach our Hawaiian shores are edge-passes due to angular spreading. Without this phenomenon, our summers would be even more flat! As waves in a train leave a fetch, they may leave at different angles to the main direction of the wind within the fetch. Thus, swell waves may arrive at a forecast point though it may lie to one side or the other of the predominant wind direction.

ASP	ASP is an acronym for the Association of Professional Surfing. These guys look after the professional side of surfing. Visit their site at www.aspworldtour.com

Barrel	The "barrel" is the part of the wave that is hollow when it is breaking. Often referred to as "the tube", most surfers and bodyboarders dream of clocking as much time as they can tucked underneath the throwing lip.

Beach Break	Also known as "shore break", a beach break is a wave or surf spot that breaks over the sandy sea bed. Typically occurs when the sea floor ramps up rapidly from deeper to shallower water. Makena's Big Beach is a prime example of a beach break. Experienced surfers and especially bodyboarders can find very hollow barrels, but these waves are much more powerful and can cause serious injuries and even death.

Blown Out	This condition occurs when onshore wind blows the surf into unrideable mush. Although surfers and bodyboards usually despise these conditions, kiteboarders and windsurfers look forward to it.

Board Shorts	Board shorts are quick drying, lightweight shorts worn in warmer climates. Check out these mens board shorts, ladies board shorts, and kids board shorts.

Bottom Turn	This is the turn that is made at the base of a wave when dropping in and coming down off the face. It is usually the first move made after dropping in and gets a surfer or bodyboarder in position for the next move or trick.

Capillary Waves	Small waves where wind is often the disturbing force and surface tension of the water is the restoring force.

Carve	Semi-symmetrical fluid turn. Also used to describe the abilities of a surfer. Example: "That bruddah can really carve."

Caught Inside	A situation in which a surfer is caught between the shoreline and breaking waves. Usually this requires a surfer to wait for a lull between sets for a chance to paddle back out.

Channel	A relatively deep spot where the waves don't normally break or a channel of deep water where receding water flows back out to sea allowing easier access to the lineup.

Chop	Description of a very small wave created by local winds. Example: "The surf is all chop; not even worth paddling out."

Cleanup Set	A set of rogue waves that break outside of the lineup. These generally catch everyone in the lineup too far inside and washes them into the impact zone.

Close-out	When waves break all the way across a bay or normally safe channel rendering a surf spot unrideable because surfers can not paddle-out to the line-up. Example: "Waimea was so big it was closing out the bay."

Cloud 9	A floater; to traverse across the lip of a breaking wave as it closes out and then dropping back into the face to continue/finish a ride.

Cnoid Wave	As waves reach shallow water their shape changes to something called "cnoid" which has a short, steep crest and long shallow trough - condition exhibited by what surfers see as waves approach them from the horizon.

Cold Front	The leading edge of an advancing cold air mass that's under running and displacing the warmer air in its path. Generally, with the passage of a cold front the temperature and humidity decrease, the pressure rises and the wind shifts (usually from the southwest to the northwest in the Northern Hemisphere). Precipitation is often at and/or behind the front and may spawn a squall line ahead of it.

Combo-Swell	A combination of swells from varying directions which will create peaky and crossed up sections as waves converge. Combo swells are great for most beach breaks but break up the perfect lines at most reef and point breaks.

Consistent	Condition of sea state when waves are coming in at regular intervals and breaking in a predictable manner.

Contour	Nautical map/chart indicator representing points of equal value compared to datum or starting point. Exhibited as lines on a map.

Core	A dedicated surfer who goes out in all conditions no matter what the air/sea temp is or how good the waves are. The typical core surfer is often someone that has been at it a long time and is more often than not, quite a good surfer because of his dedication. Hardcore.

CPI - Central Pressure Index	The lowest atmospheric pressure measured in the eye or center of a storm, used to estimate wind velocity. The lower the CPI, the greater the wind velocity.

Cross-Chop	Condition occurring when side shore (parallel to shoreline) wind is strong enough to cause the peaks of waves to be blown out of a line.

Curl	The curled portion of the wave lip; the inside face of a pitching wave.

Current	Parallel flow of water along a beach or shoreline.

Cylinder	A fast moving wave that throws out in a symmetrical manner as it begins to break. Synonym: Tube, Green Room or Shack.

Dawn Patrol	To get up extra early to catch the best wave conditions before weather or tide changes make them less optimal.

Decay	The lessening of strength that occurs as waves leave a wind generation area...the fetch. It's factored into wave height predictions and models due to a known occurrence that wave trains lose a portion of their energy as they propagate. This can be due to many factors such as local area winds, shoaling, etc.

Deep Water Break	Surf spots where swells have a drastic transition from deep to more shallow water. Includes breaks like Peahi (aka Jaws) where Long Period (16 seconds or more) swell hits the reef and rapidly jacks vertically.

Degrees	Used to measure Latitude and Longitude; with minutes and seconds used as fractional measurements between degrees.

Delaminate	When the bond between the fiberglass and foam core of a surfboard breaks down and separates. it's usually caused by water breaching the fiberglass due to ding or fracture. Affect can also occur when a surfboard is over exposed to direct sunlight or heat.

Diffraction	Occurrence when waves encounter a surface-piercing obstacle, such as a breakwater or an island.

Ding	An indentation or crack in the outer surface of a surfboard. Damage that causes the integrity of the glassed surface to crack or separate from the foam core. Minor or "pressure" dings (not requiring repair) are caused by riding choppy or bumpy waves and are illustrated by small circular indentations on the board surface.

Doggy Door	The opening between two sections in the lip on a wave that's closing out. Generally it's the best exit point from a wave that closes out. Typically found at sectiony, peaky beach breaks.

Double Overhead	Less than scientific approach to measuring a wave that's two times as tall as a rider.

Double Up	When one wave overtakes or combines with another. Often creates very powerful waves that can be unpredictable.

Drop-In	The initial downward slide on the face of wave after taking off and before the bottom turn.

Drop-Knee	Style of bodyboarding where the rider elevates from a prone position at takeoff literally dropping one knee upon the board deck while the placing the other foot flat on the front of the deck. Modern incarnation of ancient paipo board riding. Originally pioneered by Jack "Da Rippa" Lindholm, also known as "Jack-Stance".

Dropping In	Catching a wave that's already occupied. To take off on the shoulder in front of someone who's deeper and has the right of way.

Duck Dive	Technique used to dive under a wave at its' base to avoid getting worked.

Epic	Beyond the usual or ordinary. Generally used in the positive sense. Example: "The surf was epic today."

Exposure	How surf breaks within an area will receive an incoming swell relative to its approach angle.

Extra-Tropical	Description to indicate that a hurricane or typhoon has lost its "tropical" characteristics and has begun to weaken.

Face	The front part of the wave...where a surfer rides is the face of the wave

Face Height	The height measurement taken from the front of the wave. Measured from the top of the crest to the low part of the trough.

Falls	The pitching lip of the wave. Top portion of a wave generated as it throws toward shore not unlike a waterfall. The phrase "over the falls" means the surfer essentially free falls.

Feather	The mist blowing off the lip of a breaking wave by offshore winds.

Fetch	Distance over which wind blows in a swell generation event. Also one of the central tenets in wave generation along with Duration and Velocity.

Flat	Still-lake type condition when there are no waves. Generally characterized by a long period of high pressure being positioned over a geographical area.

Freight Train	Describes an extremely fast and usually sketchy wave setup that causes a wave to suddenly thrust up and pitch to form a hollow tube. The Ma`alaea Freight Train, a.k.a. Freighttrains, is a perfect example of this type of wave... hence the name. Requires exceptional skill to ride successfully and consequences are usually more severe.

Fujiwara Effect	When two tropical storms rotate about each other. This is caused by the lack of steering winds in the upper atmosphere so the storms end up affecting each other.

Fully-Developed Sea	A sea state whereby all potential wind (wave producing) energy has been transferred into the water.

Gale Warning	An advisory issued for a weather event when sustained surface winds are reported or forecasted to be in the range of 34 to 47 knots over the water.

Glassy	Condition of calm on the ocean. The optimum conditions to surf in; when there's just clean breaking swell with no wind on it.

Green Room	The vortex or location on the wave face where the surfer is covered by the pitching lip.

Grom	Derived from grommet, description of a young surfer. Usually issued in a positive way to describe a young local surfer who really rips.

Ground Swell	Waves formed over great distance, very well formed and powerful. Greater than 11 seconds in a period between wave crests.

Hang Loose	eing in a relaxed metabolic and clear minded state. Inverse application of up Tight, Circa '60s.

Hang Ten	All ten toes on the nose. Gotta be on a log to do this one.

Haole	An ancient Hawaiian greeting where one would come face-to-face with another and offer an expression of "ha," by the expelling of breath. The literal translation of ha is "the breath of life." It was a way to give of oneself and show another a deep sense of love and respect. When foreigners first came to Hawaii, they did not exhibit this same respect for others. They were called haole, ha-ole, meaning "without ha."

Head-High	When measuring the from the back of the wave, the wave height is as tall as a grown man's head (head to toe).

He`e Nalu	Hawaiian language for riding a surfboard; surfing; which literally translates as wave sliding.

High Pressure	A high pressure system is an area of relative pressure maximum that has diverging winds and a rotation opposite to the earth is rotation. Fair weather is typically associated with high pressure.

Hindcast	The act of using past weather information to forecast the wave characteristics for a concluded weather event. As in "You Should Have Been Here Yesterday."

Howzit	A greeting exchanged among surfers when one pulls up to check a break and encounters another already assessing the situation. As in How is it?

Hydrodynamics	Branch of Physics concerned with the application of forces producing motion in fluids. As Surfers we are all students and practitioners of this science.

Impact Zone	Point where the waves break for the first time. Shore side of a breaking wave.

Isobar	Lines of equal atmospheric pressure on a weather chart. The proximity to each other and degree of closeness indicates wind velocity within the isobars.

Jack	What happens as deep ocean swells approach the more shallow water near land or object (reef, rock, etc.). The energy is translated into an upward motion whereby the wave builds in height and power.

Kama`aina	Someone who has lived in the Hawaiian islands a very long time.

Karma	Your inner spirit. Your Chi, Bruddah. It makes surfing and riding what the ocean has to offer such a life enhancing experience.

Knot	Unit of measure to judge speed/velocity. It equals approx. 1.2 miles per hour on land.

Knowledge	Knowing the slight nuances of your local surf spot; wind, tides, type of bottom (sand, rock, reef) and swell directions. Facts accumulated by mankind.Local

Kook	Beginner or inexperienced surfer that's less than adept at surfing. Generally an insult.

Latitude	The distance measurement from the Equator (north or south) calculated in degrees along a meridian line. Each degree of latitude equals sixty nautical miles at that specific location.

Leeward	Converse application of Windward. Spot, area, side sheltered, or otherwise away from prevailing wind direction.

Left	A breaking wave peeling to the left. Left/Right is always stated from the perspective of the rider facing toward shore or with back facing the wave.

Lines	The visible waves appearing on the horizon as they approach.

Lineup	Place in the water just outside where the wave breaks. Where surfers line up for the sets.

Localism	Territorial or aggressive behavior over a surf spot or a particular peak. Generally includes outsiders getting "vibed" or in extreme cases being subjected to violence.

Locals	Those who regularly surf at a particular break or area. Locals may or may not live at or near the spot, but their regular sessions mean they're accepted by the local surfing community.

Long Period Swell	Swell conditions caused by low intense pressure systems. Much more powerful and substantially bigger potential for size exists than with a trace swell.

Longitude	The distance from the prime meridian (east or west), from Greenwich, England as measured in degrees along a line. Each meridian line runs in a north-south direction and starts/ends at the north/south poles.

Longshore Current	Water movement in the surf zone that runs parallel to the shore as a result of waves breaking at an angle to the shoreline. Synonym: Littoral Current.

Low Presure	A low pressure system is an area of relative pressure minimum that has converging winds and rotates in the same direction as the earth. This is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Stormy weather is often associated with low pressure systems.

Lull	A moment of time in between wave sets. A lapse in the surf action.

Macking	Cranking or extremely heavy surf. Derived from what it would feel like to get hit by a Mack truck. It's said that this is believed to be similar to the feeling of getting worked in the impact zone of a particularly heavy wave. Macker.

Mean Wave Direction	The measurement in degrees from true North corresponding to the energy level of the dominant wave period.

Neap Tide	A tide that occurs when the difference between high and low tide is least; the lowest level of high tide. neap tide comes twice a month, in the first and third quarters of the moon.

Offshore	Wind blowing from the land into the ocean. Also a description of a surf condition.

Onshore	Condition when the wind is blowing from the ocean onto land.

Outside	Reference to where you are in the line-up or a place relative to the break. Outside would be beyond the area of where waves break.

Overall Height and Period	The significant wave height and dominant wave period that has been traditionally available. Significant wave height is the average height of the highest third of the waves. If both swell and wind-waves are present, it should equal the square root of the sum of the squares of the swell and wind-wave heights. Dominant period is the period with maximum energy and is always either the swell period or the wind-wave period.

Overhead	Wave heights that are greater than the height of an average surfer. Often used as a measurement scale of waves such as a foot overhead, three feet overhead, double overhead, triple overhead. etc.

Parallax	Process surfers use to line up the ideal takeoff spot for a break. When at the peak he identifies two stationary objects on the same line of sight, one near and the other farther away. As he moves off the peak, the objects will move out of alignment which allows him to know exactly where he is in relation to the ideal takeoff spot. Process is similar to "Triangulate" where a third reference point is added. Useful at heavy breaks or spots where the takeoff is especially critical.

Party Wave	A large enough wave to accommodate several surfers at once.

Peak	The bump in the middle of an approaching wave. Becomes more prominent as it starts to hit more shallow water and defines which way a surfer should go. Frontside or backside.

Peak period	The time during a weather event when the most concentrated energy of a swell reaches a specific area.

Period	Time interval between waves. Wind swell less than about 10 seconds /approx/ 12 seconds and longer is ground swell the energy / power of a wave is proportional not only to its height but its period.

Plunging Wave	A wave that occurs when swell comes out of deep water and hits a shallow sandbar or reef. Fast waves that generally break top to bottom.

Point Break	A setup where waves wrap around a point of land creating perfectly lined up, peeling waves. Consistent, hollow and generally yield a longer ride.

Prevailing Wind	A wind that blows from a given direction more frequently than any other during a given period, such as a day, month, season, or year.

Propogate	The technical definition for the movement of swell/waves through the ocean. Swell and waves "propagate" from a weather event to surf breaks.{mosimage}

Quiver	An individual collection of specialized surfboards. A board bag that holds several boards.

Reef Break	Waves that form over an underwater reef or rock. Very consistent, but can be somewhat dangerous, especially if you get caught inside.

Refraction	When a wave bends as it drags over the bottom or an uneven ocean floor.

Respect	What you should always have for the sea, the waves, nature and everyone in the lineup.

Right	A breaking wave peeling to the right. Left/Right is always stated from the perspective of the rider facing toward shore or with back facing the wave.

Rip Tide	Ocean flow characterized by strong out-flowing current. To get out of a rip current, simply swim or paddle to the left or right parallel to the shore until you no longer feel the effects of the ripcurrent. Do not swim against the current or you may exhaust yourself... this is when people drown.

Sea State	The definition for the present condition or state of the sea.

Seine Waves	Deep water swells that are very well-approximated by pure sine waves. Steep - refers to angle or pitch of wave face. Waves formed close to the shore by local wind conditions, unorganized, tendency to be slop.

Shaka	Hawaiian pidgin for "Right On." Also a common hand gesture used by making a fist and extending the thumb and pinky.

Shaper	The surfboard manufacturer who planes and sands a blank to the desired shape prior to glassing. Requires incredible skill, patience and experience. Synonym: Foamright, Foamster, Shapester.

Shoaling	The effect of when waves slow down as they begin to drag across the ocean floor.

Shorebreak	A wave breaking over very shallow sand onto the beach. Big Beach and Ka`anapali Beach are prime examples of beach breaks.

Short Board	Most common surfboard ranging from 5' to 7'6, and tend to be used for high-performance contest-style surfing. Shortboards usually have pointed noses and three fins, although other configurations are common. A shortboard sacrifices paddling and floatation for the sake of performance.

Shoulder Hopper	A surfer that drops in way out on the shoulder far from any danger or excitemnt and often cuts off another surfer who clearly has priority.

Sideshore	Wind indicator meaning that it's blowing parallel to a coastline.

Significant Wave Height	The average height of the highest one-third of the waves in a wave train.

Sketchy	Not a sure thing. The possibility that something won't occur as expected or desired. Also used to describe conditions.

Skimboard	Glassed plywood or fiberglassed board for riding shallow beaches on the waters' edge.

Slack Tide	Dead-low tide or condition where the influence of the moons gravitational pull is seen least.

Spring Tide	The exceptionally high and low tides that occur at the time of the new moon or the full moon when the sun, moon, and earth are approximately aligned.

Standing Wave	A stationary wave formed by very fast moving water as it rebounds off an immovable object and is redirected against the predominant direction of flow. Often found in rivers, this type of surfing has become more popular in recent years.

Steepness	The ratio of wave height to wave length as an indicator for wave stability. When wave steepness exceeds a 1/7 ratio; the wave becomes unstable and begins to break. Ratings are Swell, Average, Steep, Very Steep.

Stringer	The piece of wood that runs down the centerline of a surfboard. Thicker stringers offer more strength and durability, but result in a heavier board.

Talk Story	The reciting of tales related to ones surfing experiences. When a crew gets together this can be quite an entertaining event, because these are generally loosely based on facts - at least in their mind.

Tide	The rising and falling of the ocean water caused by the gravitation pull of the sun and moon. During high tide the water flows in toward the land. During low tide the water flows out toward the ocean horizon. There are usually two tides in a 24 hour period, sometimes more.

Toes-On-The-Nose	To ride a wave with all ten toes curled over the nose of the board.

Trade Winds	Two belts of prevailing winds that blow easterly from the subtropical high pressure centers toward the equatorial trough. Primarily lower level winds, they are characterized by their great consistency of direction. In the Northern Hemisphere, the trades blow from the northeast, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the trades blow from the southeast.

Translatory Wave	A wave in which both the wave form and water move forward. A breaking wave is considered to be in a "Translatory" state as the water particles are significantly projected forward with the energy.

Trough	A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure, often associated with fronts.

Tube	The cylindrical vortex or cone shaped hole created when a wave lip pitches out far and clean enough to create a space between the wave and the lip.

Velocity	The strength that wind blows in a swell generation event. it's also one of the central tenets in wave generation along with Duration and Fetch.

Victory-At-Sea	Blown out, stormy, mixed up surf conditions. Also just plain "victory."

Vog	Volcanic smog is formed when the combination of sulfur dioxide and other pollutants expelled from an erupting volcano mixes with oxygen, moisture and sunlight. Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawai`i belches out about 2,000 tons of vog on a "normal" day.

Waist-High	When measuring from the back of the wave, the height is as tall as a grown man's waist (waist to toe).

Warm Front	A warm front is the leading edge of an advancing warm air mass that's replacing a retreating relatively colder air mass. Generally, with the passage of a warm front, the temperature and humidity increase, the pressure rises, and although the wind shifts (usually from the southwest to the northwest in the Northern Hemisphere), it's not as pronounced as with a cold frontal passage. Precipitation, in the form of rain, snow, or drizzle, is generally found ahead of the surface front, as well as convective showers and thunderstorms. Fog is common in the cold air ahead of the front. Although clearing usually occurs after passage, some conditions may produce fog in the warm air.

Wave Group Velocity	Forward speed of a swell or a set of waves. It's equal to 1.5 times the swell period between successive waves in the group. The waves within a group travel at twice the speed as the overall group (3 times the swell period). If a swell has a period of 10 seconds, individual waves will be moving at 30 knots, while the group as a whole will be moving forward at 15 knots. As each wave travels forward within the group and reaches the front, it will fall back to the rear and the cycle repeats.

Wave Spectrum	The approach to determining wave frequencies and wavelengths (distribution of energy) within a given fetch.

Wave Train	A series of waves propagating together in the same direction as a group. Also referred to as a set.

Wavelength	The distance as measured between successive wave crests

Wax	Wax is rubbed onto the deck of surfboards to provide traction or grip. The perfectly sticky coating helps your feet grip the board instead of sliding off resulting in a wipe out.

White Water	This is the white foamy water that falls from the lip of a breaking wave. Strong offshore winds can blow up the face of a breaking wave blowing the white water off the back of the wave resulting in beautiful feathering spray.

Wind Chop	Waves produced by winds blowing near a surf spot. Characterized by white caps and generally choppy or churning seas.

Wind Swell	Waves produced by local vicinity surface winds. Characterized by generally unorganized conditions; shifty peaks, whitecaps, chop and not generally good for surfing.

Wind Wave Direction	The compass direction in degrees from which wind waves are coming.

Wind Wave Height	Vertical distance in meters between any wind wave crest and the succeeding wind wave trough (independent of swell waves).

Wind Wave Period	Time interval in seconds that it takes successive wind wave crests or troughs to pass a fixed point.

Windward	Of or on the side of an island or point break exposed to the wind or to prevailing winds.

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