I'll be living in Canberra from Jan 09.
Where does one sail in the ACT?
Or do I sell my gear?

Cheers

Simon.

When you get there go and see Scotty at Wetspot, he will point you in the right direction.

During summer you can sail on the lake, from Yarralumla Bay. A lot of warm summer afternoons get an easterly which will blow in at about 15knots. This is usually good for a few hours of post work day sailing.

During most of the year the odd westerly can blow in at anything from 10 to 25knots, unless strong it can be pretty gusty. For this direction you can sail from a similar place as in Easterlies or head down to Tuggeranong lake (only very short runs down there and very gusty)

In under 2 hours you can be at the coast (Batemans Bay) or in about 2.5+ hours you can be hitting the surf of Gerroa, argueably one of the best wave sailing spots in NSW. Or for flat water you can get to Sanctuary Point which is near Jervis Bay in about the same time. Many guys head to either of these spots on weekends.

Winter...go snowboarding. I lived down there for 11 years and only tried to sail during winter down there once, it was just too cold. For most the season in Canberra ends in late April/May and starts up again late September.

Yeah its probably a good idea to take up new hobbies like setting off fireworks and buying naughty DVDs.

I remember seeing people sailing in Lake George. This was about 22 years ago. Unfortunately the lake dried up. The NSW south coast has great spots for windsurfing so thats your best bet, join the Friday night exodus for Batemans Bay.

I grew up in Canberra and learned to sail/windsurf there and you'd be surprised to know that there is a large windsurfing community there. In summer when the easterly's are working it's not uncommon to get 20+ sailors out on the water.

Depending on the sort of gear you have no you certainly might have to upgrade to ensure the lighter end of the scale is covered as that's predominantly the wind strength. It will also teach you a LOT about sailing in shifty/gusty conditions and getting the most out of every bit of wind because the W-NW'rs there are notorious.

On the whole the windsurfing community there is great and there are some awesome sailors. And yes go see Scotty at Wetspot Watersports, he'll give you the run down :)

I moved to a place that's not unlike Canberra (inland, colder, etc.) a few years ago.

Advice is: pick-up freestyle, mate, wind's only average and gusty on the lake. Great for after-work sailing though, Canberra being small you will live close by.

Take up camping and spend weekends at Bateman's, great spots around there.

> Cold

I windsurfed the lake in Canberra once in July, no wetsuit, for a dare at work. Freestyling, falling and all. I was running to the car like crazy once I got out... My girlfriend lost my services for about 2 days.

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aus301 said...
A lot of warm summer afternoons get an easterly which will blow in at about 15knots. This is usually good for a few hours of post work day sailing.

If the 8 o'clock easterly is only 15k then I'm damn good at planing in marginal conditions, its usually a bit stronger than that...
canberra has one of the best sailing communities I have ever encountered, the stoke that is there with everyone out in an easterly blow is really cool and there are some very good sailors in town.
While the lake might not be the best place for sailing in the world, I will admit its a touch dirty and usually just a bit gusty, I rate it as one of the most fun places I have sailed flat water.
and in a mild winter, those keen enough, or with very good wetties sail right through, although canberra has a range of other great options, a world cup mountainbike course, great whitewater if it rains and the snow is close if freezing your ass off in LBG isnt your thing.

Aaaaahhhh!!!! the days of living in Canberra.

I did the opposite, lived in Canberra for 25 years and finally saw the light and moved to WA. Then about 8 of my mates all moved over here over the course of a few years.

I must agree though, Canberra has / had a great community of windsurfers. As the conditions aren't great you make more effort to get out when ever you can. This always tended to keep the stoke pretty high.

Lots of trips to the coast and when it had water lake George was insane fun.

Big hi to all the Canberra boys


Cheers

Marco

Thanks to all who inputted. Thought it was the end of my sailing life.
I've been in WA for about 3 years and have really gotten back into windsurfing.
Wish I could stay just to sail, but life has many facets.
I'll sail when possible and dust off my ski gear.

Cheers.

Simon.

Jetskiing is banned on Burley Griffen I believe. I used to live in a town around an hour and half north west of Canberra, Crookwell. Although I had my gear with me, I didn't windsurf that much, a few times in Batemans Bay. The main dam up there, Pejar Dam, had dried up. There are a few dams on farms which had a fair bit of water in them. I guessimate a 200 meter run at the most. I didn't ask for access as I wasn't that keen.

The thing is, it does get quite windy up there, even in summer when its pretty hot. However on those really dry, hot summer days there isn't too much wind at all.

Never actually sailed in Batemans Bay. Noreasters blow harder at Nth Broulee 10 minutes to the south, that's where you'll find the Canberra sailors. Even mid week, on a good NE forecast there'll be 2 or 3 , sometimes 5!, windsurfers out, and half a dozen kiters. Hope you've picked a Canberra employer with some sort of a flexi-time system? If the BOM anemometer at Moruya Airport is reading 12-14 knots NE at midday take the afternoon off. Gerroa, being a bit longer drive, takes more planning, but the noreasters up there are generally stronger and more reliably forecast. The noreasters on the coast don't clash with the Canberra easterlies. A southerly on the coast brings in the best after-work easterlies.

Yes, as Ian says, BOM for Moruya is a good indicator for commiting to a day trip to the coast. If no net access, the AWS at Moruya Airport is also reliable (4474 0971).

The river mouth at Tomakin is good for NE and S. Runs are shorter than Broulee, but swell is clean (Broulee can be choppy). Good area to rig

Best (IMHO) is Merimbula; < 3 hours away.

To my knowledge, there are no sailboard shops on the south coast, south of Sydney, so you need to carry spares. Scotty will advise.

Good move, Simon!

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Bristol said...

To my knowledge, there are no sailboard shops on the south coast, south of Sydney, so you need to carry spares. Scotty will advise.

There is Dr Surf in Sanctuary Point
www.machelp.com.au/drsurf.html

> I've been in WA for about 3 years and
> have really gotten back into windsurfing.
> Wish I could stay just to sail, but life has many facets.

I never let work nor GF get in the way of windsurfing. Of course, I lost in the long run, but had a ball on the way...!

Perth is awesome, but you can still have a good sail in Canberra. I reckon we had the most windless season ever last season, so this one should be better.
Join the NSW Wavesailing mob, good crowd and fun comps.
www.nswwavesailing.org