Has anyone speedsailed the Augusta river mouth?



Was down there yesterday, blowing a solid 25-30 knots. The dunes to the right of the picture front onto the beach, and the wind was blowing pretty much straight across them. Water looked really flat from where I was standing! You've just got to get across a shallow bar to get there, didn't look that hard to do. Once you're over there the rivermouth is looong... a couple of k's at least.



Anyone sailed there?

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Chris Porter has.
And you didn't have your kit

Speed sailed the river-mouth (top middle of the photo) with John Norton and Peter Volwater in Jan 2014.

Quite gusty getting up there, the dunes play havoc with the wind.

At the river mouth the dunes are lower so it's less gusty, with some nice flat water but short runs.

That day we were getting 36 to 38 knots runs - 3 days before PV got a 44 at the same spot

Well worth the effort, crystal clear water at the river mouth. JJ

Yep it's a nice spot. I was spewing I couldn't make it yesterday. I'm keeping an eye on the weather maps cos at first chance I'll be there. And only an hour away! You get a NM in there and need SE or SSE for it to work best.

And chrissy day could be howling if you can get away. Or my local (Busselton) if I can't.

I used to sail there regularly many years ago, pre-GPS sailing. Was a fantastic speed sailing spot with strong winds and flat water. I've tried a couple of times in recent years and given up on it - the sand bar is now way too high, creating too much interference with the wind

Nebs,
even though the sand dunes make it a bit gusty you can still get some nice flat and colorful water to blast around on. Just beware the odd tree branches with weed caught up around them about half way down in the middle, may be gone by now. As others have said dunes a bit lower at the distant mouth, with a pocket of flat water close to bank that runs into a shallow bar. When you head back from the distant mouth tend to follow the channel around this bar and point back up again, can be a bit hard in arvo' with sun glare trying to gauge depth at times. Best to explore on a low tide if you can, otherwise pretty safe place and nice spot to rig.

On my 8.7 I sailed down the inlet, then out the far mouth and played a bit there and then returned back via the surf into the near mouth/entrance to which is to the right of you're pic.

Yeah and its great when it's on
I was there when PV was pulling 40s was a good day

Fantastic info there guys, thanks so much.

Spotty those pictures had me salivating all over my keyboard. Suddenly a howling SE'er has options available to it

And it's only half an hour down the road

Ta, muchly

Nebs, I had a couple of sessions with a 32cm Goldwing, it allowed me to get to a fair portion of the river. You do need to take care as others have said, there are sand bars and branches and it is gusty as but wow, some super flat sections. Also found the locals to be super friendly.

I sailed there earlier this year. That shallow bar was not there, but they had only just opened the channel to the ocean at this end, so maybe it has built up as a result of that. That may also influence the depth of the water at the other river mouth.
The run up to the river mouth was very gusty owing to the variable dune height. Kites had clear wind but it was very on/off for me.
Still a good option for you in SE.

I went down on Wednesday and had a quick blast around. About 10 kites up but was pretty gusty. Tide was real low too. past few days its been blowing its box off, just look at the weather at cape leeuwin!

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BSN101 said..
I went down on Wednesday and had a quick blast around. About 10 kites up but was pretty gusty. Tide was real low too. past few days its been blowing its box off, just look at the weather at cape leeuwin!

Yeah I know all about it today, took my ledge to lancelin gear down there to dust off the cobwebs and make sure everything fits before the race.

Note to self, a 7m sail is too big for 30 knot gusts. Sooo gusty, shallow in spots, difficult to get out to the 'spot' but the water is really flat when you get out there...

Think I'll take the kite next time I go there, or just sail on the other side of the sand bar.

Sailed there years ago when I use to use a 4.2 for speed sailing. The height of the dunes made it impossible on my small kit even though the kiters were having a great time in fairly windy conditions. I know it will have changed since I was there but I can't imagine the dunes getting smaller.

Spotty with his large sail in the lighter conditions where the wind will get back down to the water sooner perhaps has a better impression than most of us would experience. But then again Volwater had huge speeds not long ago in windy conditions.

Maybe that is the key. If you can rig a tall enough sail to compensate for the eddies at water level then maybe you will have a good time.

Gave this a whirl yesterday, pretty disappointing. The dunes are too high! Spoke with a local, since they moved the river exit to the west (this year) the dunes have gotten much higher.

Peter Volwater sailed there sometimes...... www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=user&val=141912&uid=3303

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racerX said...
Gave this a whirl yesterday, pretty disappointing. The dunes are too high! Spoke with a local, since they moved the river exit to the west (this year) the dunes have gotten much higher.

Man that's bad luck considering how it was blowing today. 25knts or more since 630am with max at 41knts. Today would have been great! I squeezed about an hour in dec 28th (that's all the time I had. Water a bit low but still had quite a few good runs on 6.5 NP Ryde. I'll go on Friday if it's like today. Mmm Cow Town bakery feed too.

We sailed the ocean side yesterday and it was pretty gnarly! Kites were having fun on the inside section but way too much weed for us. Surprisingly warm.
Outside was choppy as but with some nice rollers (up to mast high in places) to scoot down and gybe in the flats in front. Very onshore so picking a line out required some wave experience. Well powered on 4.7 which was nice.
Worth it as a no wind any where else option and a bit of a challenge.