umm i live on townsville.. and if your gonna be in north queensland your not gonna wanna be wearing a wetsuit WAY too HOT stinger suits do fine the cover down to your feet but not your toes or heels.. i've been kiting.. swimming heree for years they do fine.. your face!! there are masks but only 1 out of 100 wear them they still don't cover your eyes or anything
chance of getting one in your face are real slim as when the winds up the waters normally rough so they hang on the bottem of the water

any stinger suit will do.. you'll feel when ones on you through the stinger suit tho its not the sting itself but the parasites living on it which get through

Now be nice Craig - or someone will ask does your chrome helmet match your chrome dome .
regards
The Windchaser

if u really wanted you'd have to loosen ur straps and i think they'd be anoying

Out today with the Yorkeys locals and everyone has a different solution. Some wear pants, some wear stinger suits, no-one wears a wetsuit. The sand is so hot it can burn your feet, so running around in a self saucing sauna suit is not practical. Water temp can get up to 30 degrees plus.
Some stinger suits have feet in them, some have heelstraps to keep them over most of your leg, and others have niether and leave you at risk because the action of the board in the water through the chop, naturally pushes the suit up your leg and exposes it. I think that is the most dangerous. When body dragging I try to keep my face away from the direction I am travelling. I think the jellies prefer to be within the first 15 metres of the shoreline, though I have seen large adults up to 100m out from Port Douglas.
I wear booties and loosen the board straps a little when in the river mouth at Machans, because the water is still calm and the jellies love the still shallow stuff. Especially around estuaries. When the wind is up and there are swells, then it's a lot safer. Some recent research has found that the adult cyronex heads to the bottom after about 3 in the arvo and has a snooze, but wakes if there is any vibration. Just to keep it interesting another species has been discovered on the reef as well.
My understanding of how stinger suits work is that there only needs to be a thin layer between you and the tenticles, enough to fool them that you are inorganic, and they won't fire. Years ago as a clubbie, we'd wear stockings - one pair on the bottom and cut a hole in the crutch of another and wear it over the chest and arms. The stinger suits take it to the next level, though it is still somewhat emasculating to wear neck to ankle lycra.
It worked for me last season - I was landing my kite while still hip deep in the water and I was pulled through an adult's tenticles (mainly in the quads). I had boardies on over the suit, and felt a few of the nematocysts fire off. It hurt a little, and was sphincter clampingly scary, but the suit really did work. I wear boardies and a rashie over the suit every time out now.
What's best? Who really knows. My neighbour wanders around cast netting without anything and gets stung by various things 10-15 times a season. He carries around a squeeze bottle of vinegar and douses himself whenever he gets stung and moves on. Perosnally I think it's crazy. But he reckons he develops a resistance to the stings, and even says it gives him a bit of a high. Then again, there are some pretty unusual types here in FNQ.
My advice - wear a stinger suit, keep vinegar handy, make sure you're covered at least neck to wrists, to ankles, avoid face planting and you'll live.

Thanks heaps guys.


Those were awesome responses.

Does the tide affect the risk factor aswell?


I thought if it is an outgoing tide it might also draw them out from the creeks?

I'm still a tad worried. Especially since I prefer kiting in the noreasters,

I am actually travelling up north in the next month. If you get stung on the hands, face, or ankles, is that potentially life threatening????
I like kiting, but is it worth it???

Hi

I'm new to kiting and relatively new to QLD.
I saw a doco on the ABC last year about the Irukandji, arent they those little ones about the size of your finger?
They said they give symtoms similar to heart attack or stroke and believe a large number of people who have died from heart attack or stroke are actually victims of these little jellyfish.
Fortunately, for me, they're north of Bundeberg.

Thanks for the advice on the suits, great topic.

boggie

Hey guys,

Very good topic, however I too have a question. I have recently moved from Perth to Cairns, I know, I know, why would I move from the wind Capitol of Aust.? Well, unfortunately due to work/career I was forced to move just as Perth was getting into there season. Anyway, when is the peak Kitesurfing Season here in Cairns, is it normally say Mar-Sep, and do you require Stinger Suits then, ie, are there always Jellyfish in the Cairns Waters? As I am terrified of them.

I haven't been on the water for ages now as my Kite stuff is still being transported from Perth, been 5-6 weeks now.

Any comments would be great.

Hey likiud

How often do you guys get to kite in Townsville this time of year?? Looking at the graphs you seem to be getting some decent NE winds, is this commnon for townsville?

I have had one half decent kite in the past two months here in Cairns!!! Summer sure does suck up here!!!!

had a pretty freakin good kite today on a N'erly didn't show up how much wind there really was on the charts.. i was nukin on my 12m for 1 and half still no reason to even be scared of stingers
lucinda seems the go but
its been blowin 20-23knots everytime its blowin n'erly
we're heading up on thur and fri

ahh see i went out at about 3 and was in by 4:30 and
the others started at 2 and were also in bby 4:30 as it dropped off like a mofo

hey andy we got room for ya to come to lucinda if ya want?
we'll prolly be heeadin off at about 10 or 11 should be nukin on thursday