Gear for Bowen in August

take it all, its a long drive back if there is only a light breeze. you could leave the wetsuit at home for the extra bit of space, and what about a roof top tent to keep away from the big lizards that are prolific in the water up there these days.

their are no good waves, when I go, and I take the bare essentials I take a board and sail that will be ok for 18-25knots, considering I only have wave gear, 85l board, 5.2m sail, and 4.8 as i have space for it but usually don't use it.

If I had a freestyle or a freeride board, and a bigger sail i'd take that instead.

if you have some slalom type gear than that would be great you can do big coast runs and sail between islands, just don't try to sail to Gloster the wind can drop or change near middle and the currents can be strong.

you can do some jumps but there is not wave ridding to be had, only ankle slappers.

yep, caught up with old school mate last week and got talking about old fishing and crabbing spots (around Home Hill ) we used to frequent, they regularly see slides in the mud banks, which we never saw 30 years ago.

Hey IKW777 I often travel down there to sail from Townsville. Use the Hamilton Island BOM site for wind but drop a couple of knots off as the Bowen BOM site is not accurate. My most used combo the is a 90 FSW and a 5.2 although sometimes a 4.7 comes in handy.If it drops then I will get out on my 101 Futura and a 6.5 or 7m. As with anywhere it is good to have a big choice of gear but can be hard when traveling. So a 5m 6m and a 7.5 and 2 boards would cover it. PM me when you come up and if its on I will come down.

can you jump from a 104 to a 86 . i would bring 116 as a light wind board 104 as a moderate wind your 86 if it really kicks in . tell lungs the crocs have moved out as the water is to clean and they cant sneak up on you

Hey Ikw, I live in Airlie and sail at Bowen.
I used to kitesurf at Conway Beach which is know to inhabit crocs, but I never seen any in three years.
Anyway I prefer to go to Bowen now for the cleaner water, and less SNAPPIES.
Front beach at bowen is the go in a S/E, need at least a 2m tide for it to be at its best, otherwise have to walk out too far.
The Don River mouth is another good spot, bit more wave action, but still fairly tidal, usually find a few kiters at either spot but never too crowded.

Trying to add go-pro video to message, but can`t work out how, any advise anyone?

Never sailed that area where Sean is.
Further to the north is Kings Beach, some guys sail there, it works better in a easterly.
I usually go from Quay st. and sail towards the big mango to the S/W.( Can`t see the mango on google maps, but its near the visitor info. centre on the highway).
The water is usually waist deep with reasonably flat to a small swell at the most.
You can see where the shallow area is, and under a 2m tide be careful, no rocks that I`ve encountered, just sandy/slightly muddy.

Hey ikw777. I grew up in Tville and although havn't been sailing up there for ages am familiar with the weathers.
As you would know it pays to be a optimistic pessimist when it comes to the wind. June/July/August are historically the least windy months of the year in this area.
If you were to be leaving for bowen now for 2 weeks according to the forecast you might get couple light days on the water.
Man i would try to keep my options if possible open and base your trip around the forecast which for the se trades are generally accurate. You need those big highs sitting down south ridging up the coast. If an east coast low forms forecast next week they tend to suck the pressure/life/wind speed out of the highs, and you may get more days on the water heading south into nsw,vic. Brrrrrr S,SWesters

its still been windy up here for most of june in tsv don't worry IL bring a long board down if it drop still a great place to visit pm us on your dates

Isonic 97 carbon
NP H2 racing 7.2.

I seem to use my 7.2 most times, have trouble getting going with my 6.4,(technique needs improvement).
Also these new boards with the straps right on the rails take a bit of getting used to. Have to look down to find my back strap all the time.(Anyone else have this problem?)
Wind that day was around 18kts with a few holes in it, but still had a pretty good sesh.

As grich62 said, june has been pretty windy, but its been raining too. (very un-seasonal).

PM me when your here, I`ll come up if not working.

sorry after 3 hours of uploading it said no any way try this

i try not togo that fast so the sn8t goes down my shirt

When I lived in Townsville in the mid eighties, we used to go down to Alva Beach out of Ayr for some wave action. I notice on Google Earth that there is a huge sand bar there now. Looks like a potential speed run. Has any one been there lately?

Curac, Don't confuse waves for surf. It is North Qld.

I know Alva is a a bit of topic but it is not that far from Bowen if IKW777 wanted an alternative to Bowen.
Grich62, I Googled images and found heaps of photo's of Kiting at Alva back in 2010. Looked like it would be good for speed runs in a SE, but like you said if it has silted up there might not be much water when the sand bar is out of the water.. When we used to go there it was for high tide and the S Eastly was always stronger than in Townsville.