Share experiences about kiting in one of the world's wonder- GREAT BARRIER REEF.
Where are good locations to go, what do you need to bring, how can you get there...
Lets talk about this endless playground for our so beloved sport!
Off Bundaberg's coast all the way up to the Thursday Islands and anywhere in between, what do you know about it?
nice pics treed,yes i would love to get up there refry.....some inside tips on kite spots and accommodation would be appreciated by many......mmmmm bloody cold here in Noosa today,cheers
Hey treedwheeler, what did it cost to go to undine? Im heading to Port Douglas on wednesday for a week. Is it worth doing?
has anybody kited on Dunk Island off mission beach?
how about green island-- low tide there should be pretty dangerous in regards to coral...
hey mate,
i have kited both Dunk and mission beach.
Dunk can be very very dodgy and the wind seems to bounce off surrounding islands. (only had about 2 sessions tho) I did have a good session when it was blowing west one day tho.
Mission beach is much better and the wind seems to be more consistant.
Hope you get some wind! Enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Cheers
Just a quick comment from a marine biologist regarding the tide and the depth of coral growth on the great barrier reef.
Regardless of where on the reef you are, the coral can only grow to about 0.4m or 0.5m above tidal chart datum (0.0m). Above that level, and it will be killed by exposure on the winter daytime low tides.
So for kiting in reef areas where you have to cross reef flats or other shallow areas (eg Green Island, Undine, Lizard), you generally need a tide level of about 0.7m (above datum) to give you about 20-30cm of water above the highest corals. At about 1.0m tide, you have enough water to get out of a crash without touching the coral (if you keep your legs up!), and the breaking waves start to get some shape and become rideable.
1.0m to 1.7m is pretty good for all around fun, once it gets above 2m then the waves lose shape and it gets pretty choppy.
So it is crucial to plan your session or trip around the tides - the neaps are best, as you get whole days at around 1.2-1.8m and you never have to worry about hitting coral. High springs are worst, as the tide will be dropping fast and rideable areas can become too shallow within 30mins or so, which you need to keep your eye on. A good watch is vital, and you can get familiar with the whole tide curve for your location by using J-tides software (found at www.arachnoid.com/JTides/).
Of course if you have a wide lagoon area with slightly deeper sand bottom, then the very lowest tides are great as they give you excellent flat water behind the exposed coral (see black arrows on pic below). We have ridden this area on Lizard many days on tides less than 0.3m and it is a total blast, as long as you avoid the coral bits!
Andy
you are the man Andy!!!!
next 3 trips to Lizard are booked out )))
just planning oct!
this gets my vote for the best post of the month!......regards to the contributers 
a little something more to whet your appetite......
...how big do you want to go?
..and how much wind do you want??
Hey Andy i beleive your our wind meter man for our upcoming trips to Lizard. Should be sweet in September, myself and Chris (you met us on Magnetic Isl) are heading up on one of Marvin's trips on the 19th of September. Were starting to build our house in Nelly Bay so might catch you over the island some time soon.
See what you can do for lots of wind that weekend !! We dont want to have to bring any big kites!!!
Well my wife in now confirmed on the Lizard island trip on the 23-30 August 2008, should be a super fun trip, I wish I could get the time off work to tag along.
The only problem now is the fact that the smallest kite in the quiver is a 10m Flow which for a 55-60kg chick might be a bit much up at bLizzard island (I'll have to make sure Bretto packs a 7.5 bandit "demo" kite)
oh and heres another reef kiteing pic just to keep the thread on-track
*sneeky 09 kite shot
WAVE KITING on the GBR:
OK, so everyone is no doubt thinking the GBR is great for steady wind and pretty flat water, but in my opinion the best kept secret about the place is the huge number of reef locations with decent breaking surf. Not Hawaii or Tahiti by any means, but plenty of clean overhead to double overhead waves winding off reef setups. This is not hearsay, but personal observation from 20 years of working on the reef.
Most of the reefs in the GBR tend to grow in massive ovals, so the northern ends have a nice taper which catches the wind driven SE swell and wraps it around, giving a right hand wave that progressively gets held up by the wind as it changes direction.
North of Port Douglas, we have about 700km of Ribbon reefs which lie right on the edge of the shelf and catch all the deep water swell coming off the coral sea. The ribbons form almost a continuous line, BUT, every 10km or so there is a pass, and this is where the waves are perhaps at their best and offer a huge untapped potential for adventure kiting. The ribbon reef on the southern side of the pass has a right hand wave wrapping around its northern end (see pics below), and there are often triangular "delta" reefs in the middle of the pass that have perfect A-frame peaks winding waves left and right. The Cod-Hole (offshore from Lizard) at the northern end of Ribbon #10 is a classic case, with Dynamite reef sitting smack bang in the middle of the pass and throwing up heaving barrels, which several hardy souls have surfed but to my knowledge no one has kited.
TYPICAL RIBBON REEF PASS SETUP
RIGHT HAND WAVES ON SOUTH SIDE OF PASS
DELTA REEF IN PASS WITH POTENTIAL FOR RIGHTS AND LEFTS
The reefs on the northern side of the passes also have quite nice lefts as well.
Of course there is a catch, and the problem is access and launching. Ideally, we would like a sand cay close to the northern end of an outer shelf platform reef or ribbon reef. These cays do exist at multiple locations along the GBR , although we are not making their location widely known at this stage as we are still developing the logistics for tours to these spots. However, anyone with access to the net and google earth or NASA's Worldwind program could make some pretty educated guesses as to the best spots.
The big problem is that there are not many cays near the northern ribbon reefs, which have the best waves and the best wind conditions. This means you would be looking at boat launches which adds to the complexity and skill level needed to ride these spots. Added to that, the general isolated nature of the ribbon reefs, big currents belting through the passes, heavy seas, and sharks galore, means these spots are really only for riders that are on top of their game. However with the right approach, a knowledge of the effects of the tides (see my previous post) on the waves, and some good boat or jetski support, I think we will see some exciting kiting taking place right on our doorstep in years to come!
still too early Luke! hang in there bro.......
any forecast more than 7d out is not worth a pinch.
...but the general pattern seems to be the SE returning over the next 7-10 days.
Folklore has it that the months starting with A (April & August) are windy in NQ
Brett from windswell dose the day trips to Undine.
3 more weeks and im there! Blue Lagoon that is,Bring it on
Cheers
Luke
amazing fotos and info Andy!
Thanx for sharing.
Cant wait to see kiters in those fotos, maybe Bretto can make it happen on their cruises))
We will prolly once again fly to lizard on the 17th of Oct. On this trip we will have a female pro- rider from overseas with us and two other ladies )))
(its a lady lizard trip).
cant wait to follow you through the blue-ish lagoon with them..
Although, we will have a full moon on the trip of the 14th of September, id love to put some glowing sticks on the kite and ride into the moonlight.. dreaming- what are your thoughts about that Andy?
Full moon kiting at Lizard hey?
Thought about many many times - I'd love to do it!
The great thing with being out over a reef lagoon on the full moon night is that there is so much reflected light coming off the white sand, that (provided there is no cloud cover), you can see really well. We have done many night snorkels and night dives on the reef during the full moon and you don't even really need a torch to see fish and coral. Plus there is often insane bioluminescence in the water up there at that time of year....just imagine glowing green sprays coming off the board!
From a safety perspective, there are a few more things to think about, a bit like night diving. Low light means its going to be harder to see - on all counts. So harder to see other riders, harder to see your kite and bridles, harder to see your board if you lose it.
And most important of all - harder for rescuers to see you in the water if you are in trouble!
Ideally, you would have boat support. I guess you guys will not have that, so my plan of attack would be:
1. Advise the research station what you are doing, and be able to contact them via mobile or VHF if you have a rider down and drifting off into deep water. That is the nearest boat that could do a pickup, and it would be good to let them know so they don't freak out if they see light sticks dancing over the water after dark!
2. Put cyalumes light sticks on your kite, your board, and ideally wear a helmet with a cyalume gaffa taped onto the top.
3. Kite only upwind of the shoreline adjacent to Mangrove beach and 1-tree coconut, so that if you have a problem you will drift back onto the island and not out into the shipping channel.
4. carry a small but powerful waterproof torch that you could use for signalling.
5. triple check all your gear before heading out.
The tides are going to be very high just after dark on those full moon nights in September, so the lagoon is going to be pretty choppy and if the wind is on, you will have 2-3 knots of current belting downwind. You also won't have much beach to work with for launching and landing.
Would be a totally insane experience to add to your list though, very much worth doing if everything lined up right. You've got me thinking now..........
that would be truly unreal Andy!
I will do anything possible to get the full moon kiting onn the 15th of september on lizard!!!!!
Do you think the guys from the research station would be keen to get involved?
The last of your fotos Andy looks like a nice, long rolling wave... we need a boat on lizard!!!
Here is why Lizard and the Far Northern GBR get so much better wind than Cairns, Townsville and other places further south.
Buoyweather GFS wind forecast for 8th August 2008. This is from a moderate ridge along the NQ coast from a 1038Hpa high pressure system south of WA. Pretty typical of the systems we have been getting this winter. Cranking at Lizard and nothing much to be excited about from Cairns southwards.
Check how the wind band weakens at about 18 degrees S, and there is virtually no wind south of Townsville. You can also see why the coastal sites have been having such a crappy winter for wind - the trade has a lot of SSE in it, so there is a relatively calm spot close to the coast from Townsville to Cairns, with plenty of wind further out to sea.
However by the time you get to Lizard (14S), the wind band is solid right onto the coast as the direction has come more parallel to the shoreline. For a given high pressure system, the trades are always stronger North of Cooktown.
When we get a big high (1030-1040Hpa) in the Tasman, the wind direction becomes more ESE and then we also get the strong wind on the coast south of Cairns. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, we just haven't been getting those highs in the right position this year.
great insight Andy. At least i understand now why we just dont have any winds in NQ!
Lizard rocks and i cant wait to return....
Falcon Island, Pandora Reef and Herald Island should be very exciting this thursday!
I feel like escaping the calm coast of TSV once again...
Hello,
we have one spot free for a trip to Lizard Is. from 19th to 21st of September . If you are keen please contact me!
hang loose
Marvin
Snuck in a quick trip across to Eagle Island this arvo, the Kite Action / Windswell boys on the Undersea Explorer trip were having an absolute blast!
The crew riding the flat water in the lee of Eagle Island.
Lars goes big over the boat and the sandbar.
