Wedge Waves

Had a fun day at at a beach break north of Perth on Monday, was 4.7m weather all day and got about 5 hours in. Sailing with just a few mates and some local seals. Was pretty knackered the next day but with another sea breeze forecast it was onto the slalom gear for a quick tune up. Unfortunately the wind had other ideas and died out leaving me floating about in the ocean for 30min or so. Luckily an easterly gust picked up and it was enough to get back to shore some km downwind. Thanks to www.windsurfaustralia.com for the shots!

Music Festival

With a serious lack of wind and waves lately I finally decided it was time to check out one of these Music Festivals. It sure was an eye opener, some of the people there had their eyes really wide open. The only other time Ive seen that many people in one place was at a one day cricket match or maybe at ACDC concert. Id hate to be part of the clean up crew thats for sure. Some of the pics I took below.

Summer Road Trips

Had a few road trips so far this summer but not like my little mate Al. He's clocked up a mammoth amount of kilometers in a short time along with Spotty, Myself and Col here are the fruits of our travels with a video produced with combined footage and a great edit from Al.

Margies Action

The first decent swell of 2012 was welcomed with open arms as wave heads flocked to the SW corner of WA frothing over the swell and wind charts. I was pumped after getting second at the Windshack Greenhead wave comp on Sunday in light winds and building swell.  Margies was due to fire for the late session on Monday and indications were good for an epic sail. We loaded up the Triton on Monday morning and found ourselves in the car park around 4pm rigging and raring to go. The wind was cross off and I decided to go for the 4.7 Killer and 80L Nude Chopper. It was quite gusty with some of the sets reaching double mast high (approx 8m faces). Al Mcleod scored the bomb of the day which probably went over double mast. I managed to bag a couple of good ones without getting a take down. This was a bonus as there was a bit of carnage later in the day with a few sailors coming unstuck.

Tuesday saw a significant drop in the swell so my self and Peter Volwater tried to sail at another spot nearby, the wind was super light and offshore making it difficult to get out to the break. I got one fairly good wave before heading in. Peter stayed out a bit longer and scored some great rides before the inevitable happened and he was caught in the impact zone with a mast smasher right on the head. That arvo brought a very light sea breeze and thanks to Jesper for lending his 5.7 I got out to snag a couple more before retiring to the log for a cold beer. Jesper really saved the day as that morning I'd snapped my car key off before heading out for a sail. lucky he hadn't left Perth yet and shot around to my house to grab the spare.

The next day we went on a bit of a mission to find some cooler weather, and some wind. WA is currently experiencing a heat wave with the mercury pushing 40 deg every day since Tuesday. We loaded up and went searching. A few hours and conspiracy theories later we rocked up at one of the southern beaches for a late session of wave smacking action. It was off shore, big and hard to get out but once you did the waves were unreal... Spotty had been feeling ill for a few days so opted to be on camera duty. The big falla did a great job and even managed to help out poor Devin who's all wheel drive vehicle wasn't up to the task. He got down and dirty and lifted the car out with all his might.

Some pics of the action from Spotty's eye phone Cols mega zoom and a bird I shot at Rottnest Island last week. Looks like Cyclone Iggy is bringing some more gifts this week.

West is Best

The west and south coast of Australia has been firing the last ten days. I was fortunate enough to capitalise on the conditions. First up with a 3rd in the Wedge Island Wave comp. That was follwed with a couple of days tuning slalom gear for the classic and wave sailing South Passage at Lancelin. We then opted out of the Lano Wave Classic as the forecast there was dreadfull. A sneaky mission to the south proved the goods and I scored some of the best waves I've ever had. The Mitsubishi Motor Inn racked up another 2000 or so Km and it proved its worth as a 4wd once more. With only 3 close mates out sharing the action its sure got me fired up for some more.
This imagery is from the lensmaster Col Leonheart of http://www.windsurfaustralia.com/ who braved the elements and close calls to capture the action in full. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

 

Tandem Ledge to Lancelin

With a pretty rough forecast for the 2012 Ocean Classic myself and Craig Spottiswood decided to have a bit of fun with event and take to the race on a tandem sailboard. Dreams of crossing the line in front of the 200 strong field were soon erased as the tanker had some minor navigational issues heading out to sea. Reef to the north tried to claim our vessel but she was of sturdy build and powered on through. With no warm up we managed to complete 5 or 6 legs before getting our hair wet. I oversheeted and shut down the rear guards wind, taking him down in the process. We eventaully crossed the line in a respectable 77th position in 1 hr 23 minutes falling twice along the way. The top speed of the tanker was a smouldering 18 knots. Powered along by two KA Koncepts a 7.5 at the bow and a 8.5 on the stern . The SS Gemini was Captained by Spottiswood who steared the vessel from the tail while I was in charge of cray pot spotting. At times we had all 190 kgs in the foot straps powering the 350l monster home. Gybing was a two stage process we aptley named the "flip and duck". I would flip my jib and duck the main sail as it swung overhaed. It was a good voyage and ceratainly an experience to remember. Congratulations to all that had a go in the trying conditions.

December to Remember

I Had some great sailing over the Xmas period with trips to Geraldton, Wedge Island and Margaret River. I Also scored some really good days at the local Scarborough beach break.

New years at Margies provided the goods for the 3rd year in a row, with the odd mast high set and sail sizes around the 5m mark. There were a few scattered showers that the fire stricken community of Prevally really needed to spur on the regrowth of the burnt out vegetation.

Camping down at Boranup was a stark contrast to the barren landscape further north.

It was great to meet up with some familiar faces and share the waves and beers with a few good mates. I cant think of a better way to start the year. Happy 2012 everyone.

thanks to windsurfaustralia.com for the sailing images.

Welcomed back at work today with a nice bushfire burning in between two main roads, threatening houses and airport land.