Great sail off semaphore tonight. 18 - 23 knots solid breeze. Great fun on the slalom gear. Quite a few bump and jump guys out - saw a couple of forwards - great stuff. Hope for some more wind next week.

Hey Northern experts - quick enquiry - how close is the Black Pole wind reading to the beach condition at Bower road - is there a time lag - say at 230 20 knts at black pole does it take till 3pm to reach 20 knts at Bower road?

Just seems every other "coastal wind recording device" has very little relevance to what's happening on the water here in SA - but with the Black Pole one actually being on the water is it more accurate?

Its frustrating as sellicks can often read 30knts and its glassy at the beach or 20 knts and its the same on the water or Noarlunga 15 knots and its 20 + knts on the water

Cheers

Russh - The wind meters in the nothern beaches are reasonably accurate.

when the black pole says its blowing 20 knts from the SW it generally is blowing 20 at Bower road

Adelaide Airport is accurate for waters around West beach but trying to predit what Sealiff is doing from this meter is a little more difiult as you know the SE @ Sealiff have a tendency to kill the SW blowing further up the gulf. When predicting what seacliff is doing you need to take into account what sellecks is doing and what Outer harbour is doing. i.e wind strenght and direction.

the southern meters have a few problems. Norlunga on certain wind directions reads lower than what is on the water beause it gets shadowed by Buildings hence 15Kt NW's is very often 20Kt + on the water

Selecks is another story as the meter sits on top of Sellecks hill. when predicting if the wind is going to blow down out of the hill you need to look at how strong the SW seabreeze is at outer harbour.
If it's 30Kt's from the SE at sellecks and 20-25 Kts from the SW at Outer harbour its likely that on the water at selecks is 10 - 15 kts SE or less

as the seabreazes get less strength on the northern beaches Selleks starts to fire as there is less resistance from any seebreaze trying to canel the SE out

hope this has given you a little insite on predicting what the wind is going to do.
then again I could also just be full of S**T and blowing it out of my arse
you can make your mind up about that

Hi Russh,

I am definately no expert - 1st time off the coast in years. Semaphore from what i have seen is spot on what the outer harbour bom reading is. It is a very solid breeze compared to the lakes that i am used too. It even seems to be firing when seabreeze is in the red - semaphore is 15+. BRING ON THE SEABREEZES!!!!!

I understand the various wind reasons and am pretty reasonable at predicting by the weather maps as to what I think the wind will do - local temperatures, seabreeze indicators, tide in flows etc - I suppose what I am getting at is that we have really crappy wind coastal monitoring from BOM - and after sailing around the coast for a few years the only close to accurate one for windsurfing purposes seems to be Black pole. The Adelaide airport is OK if its the same direction at say noarlunga then you have an idea of what Seacliff might be doing

We actually have no true coastal monitors between hindmarsh island and black pole

I Think there is a 1800 number with a wind monitor at Brighton & Boggy - any one use it? (Simon runs it)

Yeah, I use simons wind station at Brighton. I has been out of service, Im not sure if it working yet. The number is 0400 099 263.

the wind recording at seacliff last summer was a fantastic service,accurate and reliable,i used it regularly and it saved me petrol money and time ,more importantly.
I would love to see it return this summer.
maybe as a group we could organise some wind recording centres,like approaching the post/office at sellicks to set one up
theres a few of us around the seaford area
mclovin is at middleton i think?
you could get a network going if people contribute(money that is ) and have access to it--is this a good idea or is it pie

My observation: Blackpole is normally a few knots more than semaphore. Semaphore is a few more knots than Largs. Largs has flatter water than Sem. So take your pick. I prefer Largs in summer since I am still on big kit.. and if you sail south of the peer, the beach is yours.

Carl: throw Seabreeze predictions out of the window, as it only seems to model pressure. What size Slalom board was you on at Sem ?

Ja

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gunna said...
we could organise some wind recording centres,like approaching the post/office at sellicks to set one up

what exactly is a wind recording centre? I guess some sort of anemometer, software, PC and internet connection, website? any links or further info?

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Zubby said...

Yeah, I use simons wind station at Brighton. I has been out of service, Im not sure if it working yet. The number is 0400 099 263.

WOW - Zubby red thumbs - is that seen as a commercialisation of the forum - tich tich - naughty boy

Seacliff (phone readings) has been 0 knots Northerly for a while now. Bring it back! It was a really good tool, especially when you are driving around n haven't got the internet.

Is the boggy lake station still operating?Seems a waste if it is,can it be relocated to a more serviceable location?

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Susie said...

Seacliff (phone readings) has been 0 knots Northerly for a while now. Bring it back! It was a really good tool, especially when you are driving around n haven't got the internet.

Why doesn't everybody announce conditions via citizen band ?. Go to your favourite spot. Key the scratchy, and say something like "chicken shop, cross shore, moderate". You could all use your sail numbers as your call signs . I'm sure the CB community won't mind as long as it's not abused.

Anyone heading off semaphore tomorrow night?

I'll pack the car tonight. If it's any good, I'll knock off work early and see you down there :). I haven't sailed for a month !

Hopefully 15 - 20 knots maybe even 18 - 23 - see how it goes?

Already packed - see you then.

Carl... did you go ?

Yes i did! Pretty average afternoon. Cross onshore wind - Ended up at the largs jetty in a couple of runs. Heaps of walking and glugging upwind. Got there at 3.30 and guys were coming in saying it was cranking and had dropped out. I rigged the 5.8 hoping it would pick up and it didn't. It stayed approx 12 - 15 knots till i left at just before 7. I managed 1 half decent run at the end but that was it.

Hopefully thursday might be an option if it blows????

Did you get out?

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Carl Macdonald said...

Got there at 3.30

Didn't it pick up around 6 to 7pm?

Hi quatro,

It did pick up slightly after 6 but not enough to be powered on 5.8.

Carl, was that you with the blue sail, sailing just south of the Semaphore south jetty ? (the Jetty with a hole in it).

I wasted a lot of time dicking around with my new Severne rig. I didn't get out there until 4:30, and the wind was starting to die off. I got one half decent run in

24 degree prediction today. Definitely another session tonight . I'll probably go to Largs though.

That was me with the blue sail.

Are you thinking of tomorrow night? Looks good at the moment.

Will there be wind at Semaphore this afternoon/evening too?

I have been there yesterday but the wind was already gone at 6.30 pm :-(

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surferinAUT said...

Will there be wind at Semaphore this afternoon/evening too?

I have been there yesterday but the wind was already gone at 6.30 pm :-(

There should be wind everywhere tomorrow afternoon and a good tide - this afternoon looks a little sketchy with 15-20 wnw

Today was setting up to be good. Oh well. Saturday looks like there is going to be a dodge tide.