Hey guys. Making my way up to Perth next week for the upcoming summer season. Looking for any flat water/freestyle spots along the way. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
mate, assuming your sticking to the main highway (direct route)
Port Parham, Port Augusta, ceduna, other than that its all dust and trees.
3k's south of Whyalla's main beach is near the flattest water i have ever ridden. Access is only via a downwinder from 8 mile creek but be warned many people have spent hrs walking back to Whyalla after gear failure there is around 7kms where there is no access to the land.
Port Augusta is more about survival than actually kiting and having fun, deep water very fast running tides, power lines over the water, limited access muddy rocky shelly beaches, lots of mud sticks and channel markers, mored boats, plenty of bridges and crappy gusty winds depending on conditions wind can drop 25+ kts to 0 when from the south. When from the north you will find you are chocking on dirt. It can be fun though sometimes. Just avoid the section of water from the car bridge to the 7kt marker south of the yacht club, there is way to much wind shadow in that area and obstacles that would make it impossible to kite. There are some good spots south of the power station that are better in that area.
If your not in a hurry to hit WA just follow the coast especially the Eyre Peninsula there are some great spots and lots of kiters that may show you some of there local spots that they dont want advertised on these forums.
Port Augusta... The local kiter round there is like Bear Grylls, often navigating through mangrove forests knee deep in mussel beds looking for a way out. Some say he once survived for three weeks lost amongst the mazes only by tricking the local seagull population into regurgitating their latest McDonalds meals for his sustenance. Kiting in Port Augusta will change your life kiting experience, but may also turn your crispy canopy into a poo brown sieve whilst doing so!
Parham at low tide (<1m) has the flattest water around:
But there is a price to pay - a 10min walk to the water. At low tide this is what you'll see from the carpark:
Had a sweet little sesh at lake albert. Dodgy as launch spot but was just happy to get out! Hoping to kite parham tomorrow if the wind is in!! Yoooouuuuuuuuuuu!!!!
try and hit parham mid tide on the incoming (minimum .9 tide or you will be walking forever).. start with a walk and kite all the way back to your car at the end of the session as it will reach high tide
if you are around adelaide however, SAKSA is having an open bbq at seacliff at noon if ya wanna kite with a few people from around SA :) should be fun on the Serly wherever you go really.
have fun! if I wasnt working id come and join ya!
cheers, elise
Might be a stupid question but does seacliffe work on a southerly? Looks like it comes straight off land? Also what graph do I go off for parham? Thanks guys. A lot more helpful than the WA crew!
not a stupid question at all really, will be a bit dodgy i think at seacliff, much better on a SWerly but SA has an awesome kite crew and it will be worth coming for a snag and a bit of a laugh for sure.
However it looks like Parham is gonna be on for most of the day, maybe chuck a post on seabreeze asking if anyone is heading out there today? There are some really nice people that kite there and from the barossa (for who it is their local), so you may get lucky and have some company :)
As for readings, there is no real close one to watch, but on seabreeze watch the Outer harbour (black pole) readings, and usually add another 5 knots or so as the wind travels up the coast (on summer seabreezes ive often used a kite size smaller than what i would have adl metro ).
also, just check
www.bom.gov.au/marine/wind.shtml?location=sa-adel&tz=AEDT
and compare it with google maps to get an idea of where parham is.
If you get there at a lower tide, be careful not to drive to the waterline and park your car where you rig up, cause the water can rush in pretty quickly at times and get to your stuff before you know it, best to just park next to the toilet block, launch and walk to the waterline. if it is really low when you get there, you can kite out through the channel until you get to deeper water.. may save you a bit of a walk.
have fun mate, do some boosts for me while im at work
cheers:) elise
thank you elise!
Got a session in on my 8m. WInd came cranking through and it was a hell of a walk even with the tide greater than 1m. Great times!