Wednesday
Light winds low tide - where to sail???

Encouraged by JV Jonn and Bribie John (pope) decided to tackle the swell of Bribie passage (launch from Sth esplanade- Bongaree) to play in the flat water out by the shallows way in front of sandstone pt.

When I arrived yes it looked flat but where was the wind??
I saw John coming in on his JP SLW with a small sail (7.5 Ezzy) which indicated there must have been wind







(3 goes at getting photo correct orientation - I give up)



He had been out earlier on his new 9.5 Ezzy Cheeter (shock Horror John using a big sail ). Says he gave in and decided big will give him much more TOW. He reports a very pleasing result. The thought of John getting more TOW when he is out every windy day is retirement bliss

Anyhow decided to rig the 9.5 Lion and go out searching. The wind had gone East and the shore was in a bit of a shadow.

Cautioned to take it easy out through the swell - felt like I was sailing out through the Himalayas

I met up with JV John out over the flat water. He was in his Big Board - old school F2 Sputnik 120l with 8m sail

Had a lot of fun chasing John back and forth. I'm sure he slowed occasionally to let me catch him. Lovely venue able to stand up at either end of the runs. Even managed a carve Gybe ( that's 3 completed carve gybes now - I'm counting 2000 to go! )

After a couple of long tacks back I managed to get high enough have a go at planing in back over the swell of the passage. What an exciting ride - wahoo. All went well - heart in mouth kind of well until the wind shadow coincided with me coming off the plan and then planting the nose of the board into the next wave. Perled myself over the front - almost ready for the forward loop. No damage - just a difficult start uphauling and getting going in the swell

A slow sail back to the beach - such a great afternoons sailing

Thanks to the two Johns for encouragement and support

Life is great

Cheers Jeff

Had a 0830 exam this morning so was down the beach by 1130 to check out the already building 10+kn NE breeze. Got on the phone to Adam and Jeff to see if they wanted to give Philip Street a try and it was a date. I rigged the 8.5 for the Magic and got into the water first whilst the other guys were still on the way over. First few runs were a bit slow but then it started to come in a bit and was quite good. Adam used his 8.5 and the 150 GO and that was a perfect combo for him, he was sailing as good as I have ever seen him sail. Jeff took a bit longer thanks to his Navman trying to take him to Moreton Island instead of Beachmere but he finally got there and rigged a 9.5 on his JP SLW board. Quite testing NE sideshore/onshore conditions at first that eased a bit as the tide dropped and the wind swung more north, Adam and I had the waves sussed a bit, however Jeff was doing a few wheelstands on the SLW as the chop really didn't suit that board. Anyway, it was an awesome little high tide session with nice clean water and sand beneath the feet, pouring down sunburn, happy Friday and time for a nap.

I'm on family BBQ duties tomorrow but am keeping my eye on Sunday arvo for another Beachmere high tide session. BOM model shows the wind coming through D'bay and Redcliffe again from the NE and high tide is around 2ish.

Pleasant afternoon sailing this arvo at Beachmere. The wind never really came in like elsewhere in the bay but it was still a pretty cruisy sail, zipping around here and there and catching a few little swells and just being at the beach. Jeff dropped over late for a bit of beach time after a sunday nap, no sailing for him but he's more than earned a rest after him sailing for the last 4 or 5 days. Looks like a few days of big northerlies coming up.

Bwahaha, Pete always said it could be sketchy getting back there. Nice afternoon for bobbing around in the passage though Adam. I'm getting a Windsup for those conditions.

#getoffandswim

Hoping to get to Turner's camp around lunchtime and will be able to sail for a couple of hours at low tide just have to walk out to the sand spit.

It's a pedicure alright, I just like being pampered when there's no wind. Anyway, I'm going to buy a beach barge tomorrow morning I reckon and then I'll have the last laugh when I'm cruising past in 5kn winds with a 6m sail and a pina colada with a little umbrella.

No wind early, so started onto some brownie point accumulation. Hope if you are over there that the breeze kicks in.
See those of you who are going at GB tomorrow.

Mid morning high tide and 0-5kn conditions this morning so a great opportunity to try out part two of my two board quiver, the BIC Windsup. Not exactly the greatest conditions as the wind wasn't constant but it was a cracking morning down the beach at Philip Street. First impressions are that it's not as good performance wise as Jane's Longtail Rio that I used in the September school holidays, it doesn't feel as stiff and feels more like the flex of a Malibu surfboard. But as a general purpose, lightwind board that kids and adults won't be able to destroy, this thing's the bomb. I rigged a 7m sail, cruised the sand banks and just dropped the rig and sat down to enjoy the vista when the wind dropped right out. As usual, it was just me and the jelly fish with a few kayakers down the beach a bit. Adam was having a bit of a sleep in and the WW guys were off to Golden Beach today. I think it's time for the SS crew to drag out the longboards, 6m sail limit, and put a bit of a longboard marathon on the schedule, maybe Beachmere to Bribie or Sandstone? Tomorrow is forecast as 15kn WSW through the morning with a mid morning high again, I might have to beg the boss for a couple of hours off and fire up the Magic.

Interesting experience today.
Great to go sailing with you John
Posted video in the shortboard thread

SE winds predicted. - hoping to get out to sandstone point over the next few days

Cheers Jeff

Yeah, it's a different spot hey Jeff? A lot more open than Sandstone, I wouldn't want to sail with much more south in the wind than today, it'd be too rough. I've only sailed there a couple of times through winter with a westerly, that's the first good SW blow today and by far the strongest wind I've sailed it. I've sailed it in NE over the last couple of weeks and been pretty happy with how it handles that too as it seems to get more wind than Turner's Camp. I'm impressed how you sailed the wind line right out today when I had to take off home, it looked like the wind changed direction out there and had a lot more west in it. Thanks for coming up, I really enjoyed the sail today.

I'm 99kg and learnt to sail on a nice heavy Starboard Express, the extra kg's certainly made things a bit more stable when the wind got up. There have been a few people who were amazed at how well the big Express went in our nasty bay chop considering its 100cm width. Christmas is coming, get stuck into the fruit mince pies and a few rums and you'll be up to 70kg in no time

Howdy Rio, everyone's getting keen for Thursday so you should have company at Sandstone if you're back up our way.

Great! Cheers, Chris