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waricle said..
I'll be there and I'm bringing EVERYTHING

Never not bring something as you can guarantee it will be what you need!

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ballast said..
Calling this sequence, "The carve dive"











That's better Jeff.

That looks like it would hurt..

Apologies for the lack of a photo Pete but we were too busy having fun to take one. Another lovely afternoon at Sandstone Point with the wind starting to finally drop down after 4 days of strong southeasters. The experienced guys Brad, Tony and Pete were zipping all over the place in the gusts and Jeff debuted his new 'precious' and kindly let Pete strut his stuff on it and hurtle across the horizon and show off with a few gybes.

Our grand master Pete has trained us well, after only windsurfing for the first time ever at the last Windwanderers social day at Golden Beach he has got us a hell of a long way in only 4-5 weeks. Adam and I are continuing on our upwards learning curve and we're both getting much more confident with the harness now, beach starting is becoming the usual and in sub 15kn wind we're not falling off much at all. I've found the limits of my one and only sail (5.5m) on these lighter days and am now looking for something with a bit more grunt, Adam has already made the move up to a 7m sail borrowed off Tony so I've gotta try and keep up with him.

I think the hoarding bug may have started to rub off on me from hanging around Jeff too long and so now I'm starting to look for a bigger sails to try and get the old Express up and boogying in the lighter winds and also because my car looks too empty in the carpark. In fact everyone's car looks empty if it is parked next to Jeff's wagon or Brad's trailer. Thanks to Brad I've scored a 6.2m Diablo sail to rig on my current 430 mast and I'm seriously thinking of getting something 7-8m with a 490 mast too.

I've got an old 7.5 but it takes a 460 with a BIG extension ( at least 400 mm ) or a 490 mast.
Isnt it marvellous how quickly this simple easy sport becomes complicated.
When you first learn you say "yes Pete" and after you get a few miles under your belt and start making your own decisions you think " mm id like one of those ones that he's got.."
you gotta love windsurfing

We're still saying 'yes master' but I'm going totally caveman on this one ................ "must get bigger sail to keep up with Adam" ............ nothing complicated

...and so it begins.
we all started out with only one sail and one board.
They are like coat hangers, they just seem to accumulate.
Matter of fact I got another one yesterday

...and so it begins.
we all started out with only one sail and one board.
They are like coat hangers, they just seem to accumulate.
Matter of fact I got another one yesterday

So what did you go and buy Pete? I'll track down a 490 mast somewhere and give your 7.5 a go.

Looks like low tide gentle sailing this arvo at Turners camp wed and ?thu

Strong Ne winds Friday - hope to get a before work sail early at turners camp

Saturday (pending negotiation with Jane ) may make Southside for a before afternoon shift sail with SE winds - RQ beach?

Sunday windwanders Xmas party at Weyba

Cheers Jeff

Another gusty seabreeze afternoon at Turner's Camp, great wind conditions for me to start using the 6.2m sail instead of the 5.5m. It was the best move ever, immediate increase in power and starting to get planing on the bigger gusts but not being able to keep it going when the gusts dropped off. Anyhow, under the watchful eye and advice of grand master Pete, Adam and I are progressing with our learning, the sail sizes are going upwards and we're getting faster and more confident every time. Big shout out to this Sandstone crew for all the help and also providing gear to learners either for free or for the right price, you know who you are and I appreciate all the help

A rather unusual day today at Pebble Beach, it was blowing ridiculously hard for us learners first up so we sat and watched it for a bit and I saw what looked to be a decent sized shark jump right out of the water over on the edge of the deeper water, Adam and I made the call to sail when the wind dropped a little, the wind and waves then started to pick up a bit again and whilst my nice wide Starboard wasn't too badly affected, Adam was having a bit of trouble on the Funster and wasn't having fun at all. Adam then let me know that he saw fins pop up right near my last tack so we pulled the pin as the water was a bit stirred up and it was a bit squally and overcast and didn't want to risk it.

Just in time for my holidays, a traffic reporter in a chopper has now taken an aerial picture of a big shark cruising the shallows at Sandstone this morning so it must be hanging around the joint if it's the same one ........... spewing!

www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/shark-spotted-near-shore-in-moreton-bay-20151216-gloryg.html

Foolproof way to test for sharks.

01. Dip your finger in the water.

02. Taste it

03. If its salty...it has sharks in it.

True story that, I've done enough faceplants to know the water's salty

I decided to go back to sailing without booties again. I adjusted my footsteps accordingly and went for a sail this afternoon, after my first session I hopped off the board onto something very sharp
so now I'm nursing a big toe with betadine and a band aid
tomorrow im going to readjust my foots traps for booties

Now that'd be a cool pair of sailing boots

Anyone feeding the shark this weekend?

Might be able to head out Saturday afternoon. Lesson for the day will be not falling in.

Hey Brad, I cant sail today and will probably sail tomorrow arvo on the high tide instead. I'll flick you an sms. Adam might be up for today though, he was talking about maybe going up to Cootharaba but I don't know whether he ended up going or not. Both Adam and I knocked off at lunchtime yesterday and sailed Pebble Beach, stunning afternoon session of light/moderate winds and glorious weather.

Thanks John. Not sure about tomorrow, got yet another 5th Birthday party to go to.
Why can't they just make it like horses and we can all go on the one day!!

Probably head out somewhere local this arvo. Maybe Scarborough.

Might call up there late tomorrow arvo, maybe, possibly. Looks a bit more northerly, it may end up being Turners.

Hi Guys,is anyone going to Turners Camp tomorrow ?

I should be there in the afternoon.

Yep, I'm in. I'll go around 2:30, high tide is around 5. See you gentlemen there.

Did anybody get out on the water?
Any sharks?

Yep, Adam and I sailed at Turner's Camp and Pete and Bribie John sailed from Pac Harbour out to their spot near the Avon wreck. Gusts around 15kn+ and the water was a bit churned up so we didn't even see the sharks that were there, bit of splashing and jumping over towards Pac Harbour when we got out around 6 though. Are you up at the lake yet Jeff?

Looking like plenty of wind next week, it might be a bit of a shock for us learners. Are any of you Sandstone Point kids keen for a sail on Monday morning at Pebble Beach?

I reckon most of us are up at the lake

Does look like if you get out early the wind will be ok

Cheers Jeff

Further enthused after yesterday's efforts at Boreen Point, Janet and I are (family and work permitting) planning to be at Sandstone Point tomorrow. High tide is at 12:45pm, so we hope to be there by 10:30 or so. Should be fantastic conditions.

What have we done chaps, with encouraging Janet getting back into the sport ... I caught her watching tutorial videos on carve gybes ... cheesh!

Went over to Sandstone this morning thinking it'd be out of control for a beginner like me and it was actually pretty good, which means that I must be getting more confident as there's no way I would have sailed in these conditions a few weeks ago. I waited for the AvB crew from Redcliffe and then just couldn't wait any more, so I rigged up the 5.5m sail and sailed solo. The breeze was a solid 15-20 knot southerly straight onto the beach and the sun was out which made for great conditions and allowed me to pretty much run safely along the beach, the bumpy conditions and gusty wind launched me over the bars a few times and I only made 2 out of 3 tacks but had a cracking good sail. New year's cheers to all the Sandstone crew up at Lake Cootharaba.

Actually we didn't make it to Sandstone. We got the impression there would be nobody there, so we even thought about going down to Victoria Point, where there would likely be lots of other sailors (more safety) ... but we then decided to just have a crack at Brighton, which is only 5 minutes from home at Redcliffe. Being old and out of touch, we've been too chicken to sail at Redcliffe as our skills aren't really up to the bigger chop.

Brighton was really deep right off the beach (near high tide) and even way out, I could just touch bottom. But we can't say we really enjoyed it. The chop was pretty big there too, and it was a bit freaky if you were having trouble water starting, imagining the wind and current pushing you towards the bridge.

I used the 6.6 initially, and Janet the 5.7 - which were OK. Janet points so high, and her first run was so long I thought she was sailing right back home to Woody Point, and then she ran right along the beach way towards Sandgate. She found it pretty rough too. But we got overpowered after a while. She was feeling tired and sore from the big session at Boreen on Monday so after a couple of scary crashes and burst a blister, she'd had enough and sat on the beach while I spent another half hour using the 5.7, which was nice. I did one successful gybe!

We're spoilt from sailing at Lake Cootharaba. OK, I'm a softy whimp but I love lake sailing. Today made us realize it's a long road back ahead to regain the confidence and skills we had 20+ years ago.

OK having read this Janet says she was never confident in the chop 20 years ago either, but we were definitely more brave. BNack then I used to ride my 88L Wind Action wave slalom board at Margate and loved it, but I spent a lot of time in the water too.

Sorry guys, I should have replied to say I'd meet you there. Wow, the difference in the sea conditions between Brighton and Pebble Beach is amazing, it looks like it's almost surfable down there.