The forecast seems to be holding up 22-29 kts WSW morning then 22-30 kts W afternoon.
Perks mentioned the low tide at PS is not very low (about 1.1 m) so the sand may not even come up much, so a trip to Henty looks like the go.
You can count me in.If you want i can pick you up as cradle link road has been closed most mornings till they put a snow plough thru.Snow down the west coast as well so should be good fun getting in.
I may be keen Will check the forecast tomorrow and make a decision! It's going to be freezing down there!!
Just copied this from the Weatherzone site
Tasmania is well used to widespread winds and persistent showers, but this Friday will still be quite a test, according to weatherzone.com.au.
Northerly winds have been increasing over Tasmania over the last 24 hours, with plenty of cloud and patchy rain, but nothing particularly notable. Winds have only been gusting up to 80 km/h on Mt Read, hardly worth the trouble.
Tomorrow, this will all change as a cold front whips through, spreading icy westerly winds and rain throughout. This should even bring snow to 800 metres, possibly lower, with 10 to 20 centimetres expected. Understandably, this will not be an especially favourable day to drive across the highlands.
By Thursday evening, a low should form a few hundred kilometres to the southwest, causing winds to be gale or storm force over the western coasts. Winds are expected to exceed 100km/h on the coasts and higher ground during Friday morning, potentially reaching 130 km/h.
We may need our small sails
Well it was a tough day check it out and Well done Izaak
gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2010-08-20&team=27
A few shots of the trip in to Henty going across the central highlands this morning (this was a secret short-cut) ...
Awesome stuff! In other states they worry about their boards blowing up in the heat. Here in Tassie they suck themselves inside out.
Well done Izaak!
I think I might have to join you guys soon, I'm starting to get a bit excited about this whole speed thing
Hi Kaleb,
It's good fun to do this in addition to wavesailing, freeride, etc as the good conditions only happen every now and again so it doesn't impact too much on other sailing. You can use your wave mast and boom and maybe get a 5-5.5 cambered sail second hand and a second hand speed board (there are heaps available), plus a GPS and you're set (or just use wave gear).
The wind was very good yesterday - strong enough, consistent and from the right direction, just a pity the sand bar was washed out otherwise we would have had a lot more PB's I reckon.
If you ever want to show someone Tassie's wildlife, drive that track in the evening. I used to drive it regularly, and would be literally crawling along dodging all the hopping marsupial varietys, quolls, wombats, devils, possums etc. One time I had a workmate from PNG with me and he started counting animals from Derwent Bridge, by the time we got to the end of the track he'd counted 89. Of course he wanted to stop and kill every one of them to eat, as is the custom in PNG.
Wow love the photo's, looks magic, how did the Prado handle the conditions Dave?
I really thought none of you guys were going to make it to Henty with all the road closers.
Hi Easty, I've done that track at night a couple of times and yes it was absolutely crawling with wildlife. Last time, I beeped the horn every 5-10 seconds for the entire 20km to scare wildlife off the road and verges before I got to them, which (together with driving slow) worked really well!!
Hi Kazza, the Prado absolutely excelled. Managed the snow fine (no problem at all) and managed the track in and out of Henty really well. It got a well deserved pat on the dash after getting us back out after the river had flooded the track in/out.
Fantastic photo's Dave,
Prado could be a new peice of speed equipment.
Did you do anything special to manage the wind chill!!!!!!!!
Cheers Russ
A good wetsuit (4/3) and booties were fine ..., it didn't actually feel any colder than a usual winter sail. It was probably around 10 degrees, however you could feel that the river water (snow melt!!) was a little cold if you were in it for any length of time.
i had a thermal on under my wet suit and that stayed dry,as well as a beanie under my helmet witch made be too hot.but that was probably a good thing to stay on track dealing with the conditions.
I'm supposing the river was flowing - does this affect gps speeds in any way? What is the general protocol regarding recording speeds on moving water?
I had a 5/3 Promotion windsurfing suit, stretchy as anything, oversized arms, leg straps to keep out the 'Flush' and I cheat a bit I have a Hotsuits wetsuit heater (cost about $250 aud) which is a special rashie with a pocket for a small element (similar to ceiling heating elements) and battery pack so a couple of times I had to let some water in the neck to cool down and as it runs down it really warms up into your booties. One drawback definitley no peeing in this setup. The new suit is more flexible/stretchy than all the thinner o'neills I have had.
I think the ocean at the river mouth was holding back the river flow a lot, so didn't notice any more flow than usual (ie very little). My understanding is that water flow really only effects fin performance. If the flow is 5 knots and you're going with it, then the fin will be effectively travelling at 25 knots while you're doing 30 knots. However, if you're going against it, then your fin will effectively be doing 35 knots while you're doing 30 knots. Other than that, I don't think it would have too much effect on the board speed. If fins start to spin out above 45 knots, then this may all be an issue, but the new gear and fins have now passed the 50 knot barrier without any major issues.