This place looks like having some great places to sail & it's windy & warm this time of year.

Choco,
Luca Sansalone should be able to give you the heads up on Townsville. I know they regularly travel to Bowen (and pass air Ayr on their way ). Travelling up last week Bowen looked like a fantastic spot and seems to get some consistant wind across the bay.

PS -interested to hear how the SDM mast went in the Blades too.

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sausage said...

Choco,
Luca Sansalone should be able to give you the heads up on Townsville. I know they regularly travel to Bowen (and pass air Ayr on their way ). Travelling up last week Bowen looked like a fantastic spot and seems to get some consistant wind across the bay.

PS -interested to hear how the SDM mast went in the Blades too.

Thanks sausage i wonder if Luca has sailed near that break water?

One day i'll get to test the 7.7 on the sdm mast,Monty sent me the cams over 3 weeks ago to try out but been sad here at the moment wind wise from what Monty has told me 2011 Blades from 7m and up will be supplied with both SDM and RDM cams the smaller sizes will be equiped with RDM cams only,the new rdm Bico masts look real nice though they are the best of both worlds getting slightly wider through the middle of the mast
7.7 rigged on Loft 100% SDM mast 2cm off max downhaul

Warm yes.... windy.... not so much. There are times when we get strong wind warnings and we struggle to get 10 knots. The strong wind usually comes from a SE direction and because Townsville coastline juts in we struggle to get good wind.
The breakwater works on a SE but there are alot of buildings around so it gets quite gusty and is hard to get off the beach on gear that you need for 18-20 knots. We dont really sail there and we dont sail the point in your other photo because you cant get to it.
The third photo is Alva beach and it has potential for flat water. Although the tide moves fast and the beach sits to the NE so the SE and E winds are not really good. I have been on my speed board in there once with flat water but the run wasnt long enough and you had to zig zag on the run. There are alot of sand bars which makes you very nervous on some runs.
Bowen is the best place we sail as there is bays that face every direction and the water is clear. Its nick name is BLOWEN because its always blowin' in bowen. There is a bay we sail that on high tide its waist deep for a kilometre... very nice.
cheers,

Some say the wind blew the L out of BLOWEN at BOWEN

Yes and Bowen is on again now ,lookin good for fri and sat.

Ricky / Luca,
As Choco posted, Cape Bowling Green north of Alva (approx 16km) looks the goods for flat water with a decent SE'ster. Can you drive up the beach or launch a boat in the bay immediately north of Alva. Looks very croc infested although once out on the point they shouldn't bother.



Photo of Cape - pity it's only 2.5km long ooh imagine the bear away on starboard tack......................drool

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sausage said...

Ricky / Luca,
As Choco posted, Cape Bowling Green north of Alva (approx 16km) looks the goods for flat water with a decent SE'ster. Can you drive up the beach or launch a boat in the bay immediately north of Alva. Looks very croc infested although once out on the point they shouldn't bother.



Photo of Cape - pity it's only 2.5km long ooh imagine the bear away on starboard tack......................drool


looks great obviously need a boat to get there,keep forgeting you guys have got crocs , just bite them first.

freestyle heaven.

Hey Choco, Google the Daintree River mouth, has a nice long sand bar and shallow water

Hey Choco,Luka and I have sailed the duck pond in the first photo but it has to coincide with high tide, and seeing that the large highs are only in the sumer you need to be a day in front of a cyclone or a day after one to get any sort of decent wind,no ships in the harbour and various other plannets to be lined up.Cape bowling Green involves a boat trip in very nasty weather or a Quad bike ride up from Alva.Alva is ok some times but it changes every wet season due to the amount of rain.Bowen had up until last year a good speed strip at the mouth of the Don but that has now gone so we will see what the next wet or Santa brings us.
Cheers Nigel

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firiebob said...

Hey Choco, Google the Daintree River mouth, has a nice long sand bar and shallow water

And lots of leather handbags

hi choco alva is a good spot short speed run that lines up with the river mouth
is good for very flat water blast then out the mouth for 2mtr chop action have seen it mast hi in 20nts , strong water currents are a problem as the difference
from low to high can be 1.5 to 2mtr

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luca s said...

hi choco alva is a good spot short speed run that lines up with the river mouth
is good for very flat water blast then out the mouth for 2mtr chop action have seen it mast hi in 20nts , strong water currents are a problem as the difference
from low to high can be 1.5 to 2mtr

wow, sounds like a hybrid speed/wave spot

Cape Bowling Green looks OK but its known to boaties as Cape Rolling Green because the swell wraps around and penetrates the insides, I've o'nighted there a couple of times but for hassle I'd rather go Burrum or Green Is.

This is the sand bar at Alva. I dont know what it is like now but back then when you stepped off the bank it went straight down.



As you can see the ripples on the water aren't too big. I sailed a 5.5 on a sputnik 270 when i took that pic at Alva.

Its a nice place to sail Alva. As Luca said out the back can get some big waves. I snapped a carbon mast there on year when i got thrown over the falls.