Heading that way for a family thing this week and some big SE winds have me itching to bring a short board, can any recent visitors update me on the channel movements? Any sailing inside the bar or in the river in front of the camp ground would be great if there is enough water for the angle to be right, have had a few good sails in previous years and cannot find the forum thread sorry.
All advice gratefully accepted.
Peter H
Hey Peter.
I was up there a few days over Australia day long weekend. Only had a muck around sail on my sup inside the second bend. Was really shallow inside there. Worse than when I was there around Anzac day last year.
I don't think it would have been much fun at speed where I was on anything with a longish fin
Didn't make it into the main section near the mouth this trip. It was way too busy with Kites and Jetskis.
Maybe the outside channel could be a better option.
Crazy busy when we were there. Easy 50 or more easy ups on the beach on Australia Day.
I was flat out finding a place to get back to the beach on the way back.
Hopefully a bit quieter when you are there.
Cheers, Brad.
Sail straight off the beach from the car park to the RHS of the caravan park closer to the SLC , head out across tbe back of the bar , back into the river mouth etc, just need to avoid full outgoing tide , and don't sail too close to pincushion island, weird currents and even weirder wind there.
its a great spot to sail in med to high tides.
Also if you want flat water and it's nuking, cross the river to twin waters and take off from 'Noojar' rd boat ramp head to the red marker near chambers island, it's gusty as and no good at low tide or full incoming.
Thanks for all the advice, glad I took a few toys to cover all directions and strengths. 2 kayaks great for trips down around Chambers Island with my wife, I call that sandbank reconnaissance.
On Wednesday there was a stiff northerly and a lack of kiters so I hit mid tide. Great sail on 140 litre Xcite with 6.6 cammed sail. Often i did a high pointing leg to the waves inside the bar and the ride back on the swells was lovely. Glad I used my daughters short fin for less performance but less sand mining also. I think the phase of the moon with high lows and low highs helped a lot so there was no big tide to suck the life out of me.
When the big SE kicked in, it was very gusty and the same gear was challenging so I changed over to my first run on my Fanatic Pure 10'6" windsup. Never thought it would be so much fun once I worked out the terminal speed of the setup. Got on a few long rolling swells and even did a few nose rides once I worked out I wasn't really sailing but surfing instead.
And every day on the sup just inside the upstream groin was just wonderful, although I think the thruster fins for a bit of control will go in after I went a little close to the backpackers.
Definitely worth packing the toys.
Sorry about the grainy picture.
Peter
