5 categories

Green Island, QLD, AU 15-19 knot ESE- a little higher at times .Gear Iso 107 Warp 7.7 Tribal SW 33.

Nice morning session on Green Island -sailed until the tide got too high & the water state deteriorated .Sailing fitness lacking at the moment -knackered when I got off the water ... 

Followed the sail with a snorkeling session with my 13yr old -amazing fish life around the jetty -Coral trout ,giant trevally,baramundi cod ,wrasse ,cod -good times...!!

Port Douglas, QLD, AU. Sailed with Ed and Andrew at Port Douglas this afternoon. light winds to start that filled in after 3:30 pm. Riged Aerotech 6M rapidfire on the Futura 90 with 32 Weedspeed fin.  Very under powered to start with, but more comfortable as the wind picked up.  Hope Ed's spirits are not too down after destroying another boom in his first run this afternoon.

Mackay, QLD, AU

Very gusty session with big holes in the breeze everywhere. Underdone with the 6.5, CASL70 and had a major dredge sesion to get home at the end. Still good to get wet.

Port Douglas, QLD, AU

A rare day's sailing here in beautiful Port Douglas.  Wind looked more consistent than yesterday.  Headed over to Port - initially it looked to be a solid 18-20knots.  Decided to be cautious, rigged 6.5 - Ian arrived from the Hill country - and then Ed strolled in with his cup of coffee.  I had my 120 litre Atomiq and 41cm drake fin.  Nice fat tides so no long walks out.  Got the board down to the beach and noticed that the wind had dropped off a fair bit.  Went back and rigged my 7.2 twin cam.  Spent the first hour or so getting knocked down the beach due to a solid current and flukey winds.  Walked the board back up to the car park and the wind had kicked up nicely.  Had a really lovely 90 minutes cruising along.  Such a joy to be able to sail at this time of year with that kind of wind.  Tristan and Simmy came down and Tristan had his first sail in four years or so he said.  ian seemed to be having a ball just like me came in with a broad grin.  Ed Wheatley has a reputation for destroying gear and today was no exception - after destroying his chinook carbon boom in less than a season - he borrowed old mate, Rick's boom and - as you might expect - gybing out wide [5kms offshore] the boom let go.  Ed had to rig it up and crawl back to shore.  Poor bugger can't take a trick these days.  But just a great day down the beach - hope the rest of you mob got out amongst it - sorry to hear about the GI excursion.

Holloways Beach, QLD, AU

Futura 122 Convert 6.7 Drake 40

Morning intentions were to head to PD today for a sail with some of the team.  Checked the forecasts and actuals just before packing the car and made the call to go local to mitigate travel time/possible disappointment.  A trip may have been worth it in hindsight...

Ended up being a short session on the water sailing with my good mate Johnnie McGlashen in the Holloway's smooth (rough as guts).  Very light SSE wind to begin with, picked up around 3pm - changed to a 15kn onshore Easterly with holes & gusts.   

J Mac seemed to be having some fun riding some waves & planing with feet in straps on his retro rig, even in light winds at times- Kudos given there!  We thought about sailing out to the big ship anchored off the coast at the beginning of the sesh to let his missus know dinner would be on the table when she knocked off work ferrying guests to and from land.  That idea was quickly abandoned as the wind wasn't giving us much confidence.

Then just as the wind picked up a little, poor J Mac got absolutely smashed by a wave which literally bent one side of his boom to right angles and snapped every batten in the sail- not a good day for broken gear...

I managed a few short sluggish planing runs.  Felt a big thump on my fin whilst planing in front of the creek mouth...  I am convincing myself that it was just a big fish or as Ed suggested, maybe a Turtle.

Good to read some Mobbers got some time out on the water today.  So nice just to get out there!  Fingers & toes crossed for some more wind for the next 7 days whilst I am on leave. 

Sorry to hear about the boom Ed...  Hey, ripper PB's on the West Coast Billy! - especially the NM...

"Long May our Big Jibs Draw!"