Hello everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post. In three weeks I'm moving to Melbourne from Argentina, to work for a company, staying in the city at least 1 year in St. Kilda area.

i'm an intermediate windsurfer who this year started to sail in short boards like 95-100l. and 5mt sails. Of course I can't bring my gear with me, so I will need to buy some used one. I really appreciate your advise with:

- According to Mel wind conditions and my level, what kind of gear (board lts. and sail mts.) would you reccomend me to buy to sail as much as possible? My objetive is, if there is wind 7 days a week, get in the water everyday.

- What could be good places to buy used gear? And most important, are there places, like clubs, where I can rent a locker (cheap) to storage the equipment? I need this because I don't think i could afford a car in the first months.

Thank you very much!

Hi mate. Not sure how much you weigh, but you could probably get a lot of sailing at St Kilda (in summer) with a 5.2 and 5.8 and a 95-100 litre board. You might struggle 7 days a week as we often get hot northerlies which can counteract the predominant sea breezes. This year is an El Niño, so that often correlates to good sea breezes.
You can buy gear online here (Seabreeze) - at the Zu (windsurfing store in St.Kilda) or SHQ (a store about 15-20 mins from St Kilda).
The locker question is a bigger problem - someone else might have some ideas.

Locker - easy. Contact Elwood Sailing Club - they have lockers and fellow windsurfers to hang out with.

Select to expand quote

JonE said..
Locker - easy. Contact Elwood Sailing Club - they have lockers and fellow windsurfers to hang out with.

Legit. If not for the club, I would have quit windsurfing. My only quibble is that it doesn't quite work in Northerlies, which are cross off-shore and very gusty (although the water becomes flat), but the hot showers compensate for this somewhat (winter winds are mostly Northerlies).

Surely your quibble is with geography, rather than the recommendation?

Select to expand quote

JonE said..
Surely your quibble is with geography, rather than the recommendation?

Yeah. In a Northerly, I could pack my gear into my car and drive down to Green Point all of 5 kms... But the locker made me lazy. So I do sail Elwood even in a Northerly (I probably shouldn't since it's off-shore and there is hardly anyone else on the water there in a Northerly).

Select to expand quote

Windsurf0709 said..
Hi mate. Not sure how much you weigh, but you could probably get a lot of sailing at St Kilda (in summer) with a 5.2 and 5.8 and a 95-100 litre board. You might struggle 7 days a week as we often get hot northerlies which can counteract the predominant sea breezes. This year is an El Niño, so that often correlates to good sea breezes.
You can buy gear online here (Seabreeze) - at the Zu (windsurfing store in St.Kilda) or SHQ (a store about 15-20 mins from St Kilda).
The locker question is a bigger problem - someone else might have some ideas.

Is great to hear about that. The gear you recomend me is what I usually use here in my town when it gets a little windy. My weigh is 83kl. Now i know what to do on my first day in Melbourne, go and by the equipment haha!

Thank you very much!

Select to expand quote

MrCranky said..

JonE said..
Surely your quibble is with geography, rather than the recommendation?

Yeah. In a Northerly, I could pack my gear into my car and drive down to Green Point all of 5 kms... But the locker made me lazy. So I do sail Elwood even in a Northerly (I probably shouldn't since it's off-shore and there is hardly anyone else on the water there in a Northerly).

Thank you very much guys ! I will probably contact with the club becouse apparently is the best option for my situation. If in the future I can afford a car, everything could change. Hope to see you someday in the water.
Thanks!!