hi sean,
i haven't sailed in nth qld for over 10 years and probably over 15 years since sailed at bowen, from memory the signs at the beech say stinger season between october and may for the box jelly, don't know about the other one as it was not known when i was up there. best to play it safe and wear a suit or full wetsuit(might be hot though) you can't do much about head hands and feet.speaking from experience they fing hurt, hard to describe, the severity usually depends on the amount of tentacles on the body, eg i spent a few hours in hospital under observation after swimming back to the board with t-shirt and boardies on and got hit on the back of my leg and under my bicep. if i wasn't wearing a shirt and got a lot of tentacles accross my chest,back etc may not have made it to hospital (packed up and drove my self btw) i went out and bought another stinger suit, to replace the one left below high tide level the day before

haven't sailed any of the bays, but sailed a few times at/near the harbour

hope this convinces you to buy a stinger suit,cheers

Oh I forgot,the Bom wind reading for Bowen is worse than useless its better to go off Hamilton Island and drop a couple of knots off it.But Bowen has its very own wind guru,many of my trips are made after consulting Wormy,who is more often than not spot on with his local knowledge and knack of acurate forecasting.Bowen rocks.

Due to sand bars and shallow water Alva is better these days for kiting.I have had a few very disapointing trips to Alva,but my son gets down thetre a bit with the kite.So bowen it is sorry.

What about crocs????

apparently the hurt more than the stingers????

I went sailing on the weekend (32ft trimaran) and saw two giant box jellyfish a mile or two offshore. The same day, most of the Mackay beaches were closed and this has occured several times this year (several caught each time - the surf lifesavers drag the beaches every hour and close the beach if they find any).

The best haul was 50 odd off harbour beach in one week - that is box jellyfish, the ones that if you get more than a meter or two of tenticle on you, you have about 2-3mins before wanting to have someone standing by to do CPR. Several people have also been taken to hospital with irikanji syndrome as well (the little buggers that make you sick for a few days).

This year has been very bad with the hot calm weather and rain. Strong winds should see them up the creeks and move away from the beaches but I would definitely wear a stinger suit and enter the water slowly.

Odds of being stung are low but consequence is not cool!

Don't worry about the crocs, I've only seen one this year at the harbour, they are rare along the beaches and are only interested in kiters.

It is killing me at the moment, brand new isonic 121l, mast, boom and sail and I haven't used it yet because of concerns about the jellyfish..........can't wait to get to the Burrum windfest.

Tide is crap for arvo but awsome for morning, huge tide around 9am means no walking, A bunch of us will be at the sailing club sat morning from about 7am, best time is usually between 8am and 11am although this forcast looks good for allday jobs. We will be out friday, sat and sundy morning. give me a ring for directions. 0434 718 751, If I don't answer send a text and I will call you back when I turn my phone on.

goldcoastmoz, if you wear your socks under your crocs, they wont hurt.

Plenty of crocs at Burrum, they have taken over from the thongs.

Hi Sean, say hello to John for me.

There will be at least 4 of us tuesday morning at front beach while the tide is up, from 8am to midday, feel free to join us. We have all been on 5.2 or less and its a great ride to the other side of the bay with some good ramps, clear blue water 100m west of the sailing club.

SeanAUS120 said...
So far 3 days down and no stings too ;)

be honest... how many times did you fall in?

jeez, qld has so many awesome spots with no crowds!

that is a great photo. am very jealous

Awesome. Super amp'd for tomorrow.