I dont know about anyone else but I've been sailing around Perth now for around 10 years and I've always been really dissapointed in the waves situation. After starting sailing in Gero just before moving here, the wind was certainly always stronger and there was always somewhere to get a few waves after work (Point Moore, Sunset, 20 min north to the Spot or even 30 min south to the Dongara breakwater).

In Perth, you basically have the crap at Dutch Inn, shore break at Scab's or the odd wave at Mettam's which with a bit of swell is defintely the pick of the bunch by far (dont need any more people going there though) ha ha. If you want to travel the 1.5 hours to Lancelin then you get better waves and more wind but it's alway crowded. Margarets is also not an afternoon trip and the wind is pretty fickle.

So, I dont know whether this is going to get anyone annoyed by letting the cat out of the bag but in the past four months I've been sailing over at Rottnest Island at Stark bay or just west of there near the channel (dont know what that's called) straight after work and I cant believe how good the place is with no one else sailing. And I'm not talking the place up but god, besides the fact the waves break on about a foot and a half of water and you dont really want to stuff up over pretty sharp reef, the only place I have sailed better in WA is Gnaraloo. Even the Spot north of Gero is not as good a wave however it is probably a little more forgiving.

Firstly, you obviously need a boat to get over their but even if you have a small boat you just follow right up the arse of the 4pm ferry from Hillary's or Freo to make it a 30 min trip.

You have to rig up on board which is really not that difficult.

The swell is always around 1 mtr bigger at Rotto than it is in Perth so instead of a 1-2 foot onshore face, you basically have half mast or bigger epic down the line waves straight off the back of your boat which gives you a ride of around 4-5 bottom hand turns fully powered up with some big arials especially when the wave first breaks out the back.

If the wind is 18-20 in Perth, it will be 24-28 at Rotto (check out the graphs on here)

I probably dont really know why i'm sharing this info but during the past 4 months of sailing at stark bay on a regular basis, there is only one other guy I have ever seen there and that's the person that I took with me. I dont think anyone is going to be that annoyed with me sharing and given I havent ever seen anyone else there I figure it's my duty. ha ha. It's always a bit more fun sailing when there are a few people out anyway.

last bus 4.30pm

I've seen the graphs for Perth, everyday over 20 knots....stop whinging

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TerryNorth said...

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If the wind is 18-20 in Perth, it will be 24-28 at Rotto (check out the graphs on here)...........

I reckon take 3 knots off Rotto reading and take 3 knots off the OCean Reef readings - both readings are a lot higher than the actual on the water.

any room left on the boat,

kin oath, if i had the coin, i'd buy an old crayboat and sail there all yr round, E,W,SW,SE u get everythin....

seein as i'll never have the coin, next time ur over could u nuke the island and all the reefs to 20m beneath sea level;;; and let the decent stuff come to our shoreline.

Go ya halves Windy?

I totally agree....an ex-commercial / converted cray boat would rock for Rotto trips. Plenty of deck space to rig up on. Could also be used for Abrolhos trips!!

How many crew would we need to make it affordable? 6 x 30K ea = $180K....get a pretty decent boat for that!!

Whaddyareckon???

Mate,
Yes this spot is well known. I have enough trouble affording petrol for coast trips let alone a boat.

However, if you've got a boat and want to sail somewhere 'interesting', try the Alkimos wreck up near Yanchep

You could also try around 2^$&$&*(# point, or up at #$&^(#@#$# bay, but they're 'spose to be secret., and I value my friends.

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TerryNorth said...

I probably dont really know why i'm sharing this info but .............[I really want to lessen the probability of being taken by a shark]

Hey terry,
Sailing on your own messes with your head. I know how you feel - it is much nicer sailing with a few than with Pat Malone.

Ok, well the shark part is true. Dont know about anyone else but I find myself getting back on my board a whole lot quicker these days if you're out by yourself and you ever stack it out the back. Seems like the noahs have some sort of organised fight back plan happening across the country this year.

Alkimos, surely not for wave sailing. I surf there quiet often as it picks up heaps of swell however after the left hander closes out at the end you basically have about 2 seconds before it washes you up on dry reef. Easy to flick out on a surf board, duckdive the next set etc...but surely people dont sail there?? The end of the wave is the best part of the alkimos and that seems nearly impossible to avoid damage I would have thought.

terry, have u tried any of the breaks to the south of alkimos on ur windsurf kit???

whilst doing some stand up paddle , me n gazza found a big fat long
long left ....seemed like an awesome wave for a sail....mindyou it was glass n everything changes when the winds in...maybe a bit too onshore?