Not by a long shot. I agree it has been pretty bad for wind late in the arvo if you work 9 to 5, but there has been plenty of wind in general. Just need to be able to take advantage of it when it blows, if you can.
Personally, I've had the worst season in 10 years. I've hardly got on the plane.
One's perceptions of the quality of the season is very dependant on time/availability.
Theres been many an epic day that Ive mised this year because ive arrived too late. I blame it on that bitch La Nina, damn I hate her. At least she is making my garden grow very green.
you might not go back to the lake if you go to botany
a NE is stronger & more consistent there - there's no hills to block the wind, although seems to arrive a little later in the day. Worth the drive if your going to make a day of it.
Where was that run?
When windsurfing before, I always sailed a Nor easter on either the beach or close to it. Since my skills and fitness are down and living closer to Narrabeen I've been going there. However I never have experienced such gusty nor easters. I am used to gusty winds, having sailed Lake Illawarra in westerlies that were real light switch winds. Its not as much fun sailing in gusty winds as it in consistant winds.
I don't know about Sydney, but here in FNQ, 2007 was the worst season in 15 bl**dy years by far
Got my fingers crossed, good will follow bad
Used to have access to a beach house in Sydney, sailed at Botany Bay a fair bit so have that airport anemometer pretty well calibrated. Now, if I get out of Canberra it's to Broulee or Gerroa. I've got the nearest anemometers to those places calibrated also. But if you've driven for 4 - 5 hrs, and the wind wasn't quite there, and you check the seabreeze graph from Sydney airport when you get home, you come to the conclusion that Botany Bay has the most reliable good wind on this part of the coast.
Has anybody done a good comparo of the wind at Botany Bay vs up Newcastle way?
Must be all that bitumen around Botany Bay. I shouldn't have understated Gerroa though. In a noreaster it's definitely a metre or more stronger than Botany. You can see from the air on the low level Sydney/Canberra flight, it's backed by a wide flat plain with a steep escarpment to turn the seabreeze circulation. But such a strong circulation also encourages more thunderstorms to stop things. Also when the front comes up from the south it affects southerly locations earlier in the afternoon.
At the other end of the coast I've spent a hundred or so summer days at Port Macquarie over the past 20 yrs. Always take my gear but only sailed half a dozen times. But then you hear of epic days at SW Rocks.
You can see I'm thinking of shifting.
Kyeemagh is definately not the windiest place on the bay! Kurnell is always windier in NE'er. When sailing formula boards around they bay I would often launch at Kurnell in a NE'er and then sail to Kyeemagh. Every time Kyeemagh was at least 5knts lighter than kurnell.
no worst, season had for a long time. and crap direction lots of easterlies, dead onshore no power behind them.
Speaking of Narrabeen Lakes I was windsurfing there with the family on New Years day and there was a guy out wide sailing with about 8m/8.5m sail for over 4hrs straight and this guy must of nailed every carve gybe.Wind was n/e and increased a little more in the afternoon.
I'm must be wearing my polarized glasses too often, because i think it has been a great season. Hot and windy most days. Clearly not 4.5m sailing, but a huge amount of 7-9m days.... The bigger board / Sail development has made windsurfing possible 90% of the time. I actually prefer light to medium wind days to the super windy conditions i used to dream about a few years ago....
Hey Moby I just spent a week at Nambucca camping and I'll be stuffed if I could find anywhere decent to sail. The river current runs waaaaay too fast to make it safe to sail in it plus it's way too narrow and busy with boats plus all the sandbanks making it shallow as anything in the wrong tide. Did I not look hard enough or is there a secret spot I should have known about? There was no way I could get out in the ocean because the surf was basically mast high and a total washing machine. Not the best conditions for slalom sails and boards.
Pete what do you think Stuarts Point would have been like in a southerly? That's all it was blowing while I was there. Blew strong enough to rip my tarp to shreds and force me to come home 3 days earlier than planned
Southerly not good as runs due N/S
N/E espcially with a bit more E in it.
As Moby says, S/W Rocks in N/E