There is a 6 foot swell coming from the south west this Saturday and a 22 knot north westerly at Phillip island.

Is Phillip island the best spot?

Can anyone advise which beach to head to?

Or is point Leo good?

Flynn's reef

Nah flynns is onshore in nw. Looking at the forecast I would doubt the wind is going to be any good on Saturday. Pt leo area is straight offshore.
Normal options from nw are: gunnamatta, woolamai, 13th, Venus bay, sandy point. 6ft is too much swell for gunnamatta and woolamai though.

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Yuppy said..
...a 22 knot north westerly at Phillip island....

The height of optimism...Basing a Saturday sailing plan on a Wednesday morning forecast!

Chance of a sail at sandy point sat morning, probably lighter wind, long way to drive for an average forecast. Wish these norwesters would kick in a bit!

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Al McLeod said...
Nah flynns is onshore in nw. Looking at the forecast I would doubt the wind is going to be any good on Saturday. Pt leo area is straight offshore.
Normal options from nw are: gunnamatta, woolamai, 13th, Venus bay, sandy point. 6ft is too much swell for gunnamatta and woolamai though.

Excuse my inexperience. Won't 13th be off shore? Is that bad ?

It is cross off in nw. Nnw is too offshore. 13th is gusty at the best of times so good to have a floaty board or tackle it on a smaller day.

Al.....'sunset' at flinders backbeach on NW/W is truely awesome. Can hold any size swell.

Really?

Do the waves come right around the corner? Looks very offshore.

Do you launch near the jetty?

naaah ....on the ocean side at mushroom reef Marine Park

You been sailing it Mat? Will check it out sometime.

Fav spot Al. Best to go mid tide.

Right or wrong I decided on Phillip Island. Just got here actually.

The wind forecast is more north than NNW.

I think I'll check out flynns first. If no good I'll try woolamai.

Is anyone down here for a sail tomorrow?

I'll go to Sandy Point early in the morning tomorrow. THe wind looks more NW there. Any tide constraints? First time down there and keen to do the test!

Not much wind at Philip Island , 15 knts

I checked out flynns this morning. Not enough wind to go out. And no waves. ( except for a two foot shore break). Woolamai was light off shore with some good size waves. No option for a sail. The bigger waves at smiths had 12 foot faces.

Can someone enlighten me...

The wind was about 12-15 knot northerly, the swell was SW

Does the wind stop the waves getting into flynns?

It was low tide. Does that make a difference?

N to NE best for flynns....mid tide is good....any kiters?

No. Just two fishermen

Flynns needs a big swell.
When it is working properly the shorebreak will be nearly as big as the waves on the reef. I would say it is the easiest place to break your equipment if you make a slight mistake so it really should be left to experienced guys. Every now and then you can get small days which are a bit more mellow but this means that the waves break over the two big mushroom rocks which are very shallow/can be dry.

hey yuppy

Here are the wind directions and good spots to go for wavesail on P.I and Mornington Peninsula back beaches.

SE.........................Flinders Big Left left hander...get there early after wind change to East.
Giant bombora out back of shellys beach Phillip Island.....(bring wheel barrow for your giant balls)

SE to South...........Cat bay area Shellys beach or Cowies Beach lower end of tide ......wave period greater than 12 seconds
Flinders Big Left left hander 3 metre max swell size

South....................Cat bay Right point ....mid tide to high tide.........wave period 12 sec min

South West............P t Leo crunchies and shoreham on higher tide
South West............Pt Leo Suicide any tide is ok but outgoing tide will assist you on break

South West/West.....Pt Leo Suicide ok

West.......................Sunset and Gunnery at Flinders. Kitty Miller Bay on Phillip island. YC point near Smiths beach.

West to North/West....Sunset and Right hander at Big Left....lower tides preferred.....swell at or under 3m on swell buoy. Floaty board.

North West.............woolamai or gunnamatta on small swell at or below 2m on swell buoy ....low to mid tides. (Or Big Left on a bigger swell to a max of 3m bring floaty board and maybe a freestyle sail.)

North West to North and North.....gunnamatta, woolamai and big left ...choose depending on swell size.

North to North East......Flynns on good size swell with period over 12 seconds.

North East.............Cowies beach mid tide

East.......................Flinders Big Left left hander...get there early after wind change to East. YC point near smiths beach too.

East to South east....Flinders Big Left left hander...get there early after wind change. Swell gets chopped by east winds. YC point too near smiths beach.

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matcoburn said...
hey yuppy

Here are the wind directions and good spots to go for wavesail on P.I and Mornington Peninsula back beaches.

SE.........................Flinders Big Left left hander...get there early after wind change to East.
Giant bombora out back of shellys beach Phillip Island.....(bring wheel barrow for your giant balls)

SE to South...........Cat bay area Shellys beach or Cowies Beach lower end of tide ......wave period greater than 12 seconds
Flinders Big Left left hander 3 metre max swell size

South....................Cat bay Right point ....mid tide to high tide.........wave period 12 sec min

South West............P t Leo crunchies and shoreham on higher tide
South West............Pt Leo Suicide any tide is ok but outgoing tide will assist you on break

South West/West.....Pt Leo Suicide ok

West.......................Sunset and Gunnery at Flinders. Kitty Miller Bay on Phillip island. YC point near Smiths beach.

West to North/West....Sunset and Right hander at Big Left....lower tides preferred.....swell at or under 3m on swell buoy. Floaty board.

North West.............woolamai or gunnamatta on small swell at or below 2m on swell buoy ....low to mid tides. (Or Big Left on a bigger swell to a max of 3m bring floaty board and maybe a freestyle sail.)

North West to North and North.....gunnamatta, woolamai and big left ...choose depending on swell size.

North to North East......Flynns on good size swell with period over 12 seconds.

North East.............Cowies beach mid tide

East.......................Flinders Big Left left hander...get there early after wind change to East. YC point near smiths beach too.

East to South east....Flinders Big Left left hander...get there early after wind change. Swell gets chopped by east winds. YC point too near smiths beach.

Awesome Mat.

Have you done any wave sailing at the Honeysuckle Bommy?

- That's something I want to do.
(I remember having surfed it years ago and had a good sup there not long ago)
SW would be the best wouldn't it.

That's a great summary. Thank you!

Sandy Point on Saturday was very light but the wind was strong enough to cross the bar (no planning conditions most of the time) and surfing a nice swell the way down.

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Bondalucci said...


Have you done any wave sailing at the Honeysuckle Bommy?

- That's something I want to do.
(I remember having surfed it years ago and had a good sup there not long ago)
SW would be the best wouldn't it.

If the Honeysuckle bommie is working...its a rare event.....if so.....there are massive shorebreaks about with no air on the shore especially at high tides. Launches are hazardous here on a big day. Ive got out there on a southwest to west wind from the first reef area. Another time Ive left in front of the Surf life saving club at Leo and tracked across behind second reef to the bommie. Wind was very swirly on both occasions with gust coming down at you squashing your rig! I know of another bloke who has done it by launching from another location somewhere near the shoreham caravan park. Go the floaty board as the wind is patchy and broken up by the hills.

Perhaps you should keep the Severne Gator 6.5 Pete!

Cat Bay..........is it worth the drive?

YES...........If the wind is dead south with no west in it.......17 second period or more is awesome. If the period is under 10 seconds ....dont waste your time driving over!

awesome advice mat

any chance you could let me know when you are next heading to flinders so i can follow you out?

you really rate flinders big left. where do you park and launch?

Yup....there is a narrow asphalt road that weaves through the flinders golf course to mushroom reef ...there are two carparks that are pretty close to the water. Place is very dodgy on the full tide....water is pushed up over shallow rocky outcrops and rips move parallel to the beach in some places and at right angles at other areas. Good to go with blokes who always go there.! Low tide is alot safer......less longshore drift over hidden rocks.

Here's the track from the car park to the lagoon:



Here's the view from the golf course road:



And again but in panoramic (note the car park at bottom left):