I feel embarrassed to write this as I lived on the coast for nearly 10 years and only just recently worked this spot out and this weekend tested it!!!

W-SW Mooloolaba Spit! is the ducks nuts!(Slalom-Free ride!)

I will reserve the points that the wind changes direction twice on the run, its 'gust surfing' but K'm's of blue water (look out for turtles!) flat out super fast, pretty well flat nearly all the way, I had some of the fastest longest sailing ever in 25+knt gusts, then 5 knot lulls!, Was awesome!

Basically you get a bullet off the beach for a few hundred mtrs, then a lull, change of direction a little, then another bullet that will take you to about Alex headland, then it shadows a bit,,then the turbo switch is back all the way pretty much to Cotton tree!, if fact I reckon you can do a run nearly all the way to Old Woman Island and back,,I only tested Maroocy/Cotton tree distance.
MUST- be experienced as any mistakes, nest step is Fiji, and its gusty as.

For Inexperienced, there is a great flat water channel at low tide off 'Noojar Rd' (near Twin waters resort), and also at the end of North Shore Beach road also a short channel run(plus the 2 lakes) + the Man made lake at Kawana works!

I'm not sure if Mooloolaba would be so good in lighter winds??

Kicking myself I hadn't tried this run before, now I can wait for the next super windy westerley,

Pop Mooloolaba Spit into your must sail places now for the next big Westerly!

I'm kicking myself i bothered stuffing around driving to Maroochy then Caloundra then back to Mooloolaba to find you sailing there and saying it was awsome. I was sitting on my balcony earlier thinking that it should be good but everyone was saying nah it's no good you can't sail there. I shouldn't have listened and just went out and i would have been out there when you were. After you told me the wind usually dies about 3 i didn't bother because it was already about 2.15 i thought i'll wait till tomorrow. Guess what nothing. Spewin

sounds like you had a great sail. nothing worse than having to drive all day for a sail.
but i hope that huey comes to his senses and only delivers great se and nthlys for eternity.

What's your plan if you have gear breakage with a 25kt offshore wind?

Had a look at Kawana Lake on Sat when at the markets.

Looked like it would be a great flat water blast, only until the buildings get up on the western side of the strip but.

Hows the water quality?? looked tea coloured and very inland lake-ish.

Anyone tried it before?

Cheers

Sounds great Jonesy but .............. what do you do if the wind dies when you are 500 metres of the beach ? ...... or you hav'nt enough wind to beat back to the beach ? What volume board did you use ?

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Haggar said...

Sounds great Jonesy but .............. what do you do if the wind dies when you are 500 metres of the beach ? ...... or you hav'nt enough wind to beat back to the beach ? What volume board did you use ?

At Currumbin, you swim the gear in. Happens a lot on southerlies.
Otherwise, it's a dump and paddle.
I used to sail SW out the front of Elliott Hds, but made sure I had a sandbar to sail to, and hang on during the lulls.
Darren, would not have been a good idea for you to go out in a SW, don't feel bad for missing it.

The prob is when you break gear for sure... but I guess if it's worth a dump and you got the bucks then why not.

I spose in side off surf is often worth it lol, and if there is no bar, bank or bay and it's open ocean i'd have some friends with.

I remember when I was 18, there was this one time I went out at le parouse in NSW, it was 35+knts. I got carried away with the fun, until I realised how far out I was. I was alone, it was SW, it was cold, I was on a 4.4 and I went straight into the middle of the entrance where the massive swell met eachother. With the swell rolling it was so deep and everytime I got to the bottom I couldn't see around me and the shore would disapear. I got scared and then got catapult. That was when the thought of broken gear came into my mind, that plus deep cold water... It was pretty scary... I knew I was already drifting from the moment I fell in, so you feel the need to water start very fast. Which just makes you stuff it up.

Anyway, after sitting in the a while water I waterstarted and headed back.

Don't think I'd do that alone again.

To my mind it's just not worth it to go out in obviously dangerous conditions like offshore winds.

hey guys think i did mention, Mools W/SW not for beginers, the other spots suit better for learners or not strong swimmers.

Guess everyone to their own fitness levels etc for saftey, 1-2km swim in flat water not an issue for me, flat water makes self rescue techniques pretty easy also.
5 knots to 25knts+ gusts pretty full on at times, tests the arms!
109ltr JP and 6.3m was my weapon of choice(my only weapons!)
Compared to wave sailing Coolum beach in big SE and getting smashed in white water, much easier and safer!

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JonesySail said...

hey guys think i did mention, Mools W/SW not for beginers, the other spots suit better for learners or not strong swimmers.

Guess everyone to their own fitness levels etc for saftey, 1-2km swim in flat water not an issue for me, flat water makes self rescue techniques pretty easy also.
5 knots to 25knts+ gusts pretty full on at times, tests the arms!
109ltr JP and 6.3m was my weapon of choice(my only weapons!)
Compared to wave sailing Coolum beach in big SE and getting smashed in white water, much easier and safer!

Fair enough. We all have to make our own call each time we go out.

I don't think it would have been too much of an issue Ken because Mooloolaba runs roughly SE and the wind was a SW so at the beach it was directly offshore but if you go around to the spit the land swings around to roughly N or NNE so the wind there was pretty much directly side shore. So you are actually sailing right along behind the waves in offshore wind but sailing back into a cove on the return run. You would have to sail a fair way off the wind to miss it when coming back. In a way it would be kind of like sailing on the reef side at Wello in a W. You are effectively sailing in offshore conditions but there is land kind of further out from where your runs are back and forth. You do end up a fair way out though and IF you did miss the cove big trouble and if something did break also trouble. Seems pretty safe there though. In a good NE though i recon it would be unreal looking at it.

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qldnacra said...

I don't think it would have been too much of an issue Ken because Mooloolaba runs roughly SE and the wind was a SW so at the beach it was directly offshore but if you go around to the spit the land swings around to roughly N or NNE so the wind there was pretty much directly side shore. So you are actually sailing right along behind the waves in offshore wind but sailing back into a cove on the return run. You would have to sail a fair way off the wind to miss it when coming back. In a way it would be kind of like sailing on the reef side at Wello in a W. You are effectively sailing in offshore conditions but there is land kind of further out from where your runs are back and forth. You do end up a fair way out though and IF you did miss the cove big trouble and if something did break also trouble. Seems pretty safe there though. In a good NE though i recon it would be unreal looking at it.

Yeah Darren, I know a few sailors who have sailed the spit in a NE and they say it can be hot as ...........

Have to agree with that statement. Mooloolaba in a 18+ knot NE'er is the best bump and jump location in SE Qld (read bump and jump, not wave sailing). There is a small shore break to contend with from the launching area at the end of Parkyn Parade. From there you are sailing directly towards the Mooloolaba Surf Club inshore of the shark nets. There is a bank offshore half way across the run and the SE'ly swell wraps around Point Cartwright and jacks up on this bank. It is a full wave and on occassions 1/2 to 3/4 mast height and you approach the wave at a 45 degree angle. Great for jumping and for intermediate sailors like me very forgiving should you fall off in this zone. Things to look out for though, don't gybe too late near the surf club as the wind sometimes drops off and you are not very popular if you drift into the flagged swimming area. Highly recommended for intermediate to advanced sailors and for those practicing their forwards learnt in Maui this year. Huge grass rigging area, showers, food, eye candy. Parking can be a problem on weekends though.

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Flashman said...

Mooloolaba in a 18+ knot NE'er is the best bump and jump location in SE Qld (read bump and jump, not wave sailing).

I have been thinking this for a while, been living on the Sunny coast for 2 years, looking at the spit and thinking in a N/E with some swell on that Bombie it would go off.

Havent had it once though, waiting, waiting.

I have done the SW thing from there on my Kona just to be safer.

Kawana beach way more fun in a Nor-easter. The beach break is usually easy to get through. try it sometime!