High tide + easterly = insanely good fun.
Low tide + easterly = lots and lots of windsurfers to dodge.

I've only ridden Shallow Inlet on SE, E or NE winds. If there's any west in it or a straight southerly then it's going to be offshore... which is fine if you don't mind a self rescue and paddling back across the inlet.

I usually play around the sand bar when it's mid tide or go in the shallows further NW on high-tide.
Definitely worth mentioning that there's a lot of marine life swimming around that inlet, especially at the mouth of it. Some of it bigger and pointier than others.

Saturday was a good roadie - just 3 of us out sharing 2 7m kites - mate tried to put up a 10m but couldnt hold it. Had to be 30kn+

Best bit was reading the wind obs for the bay on the drive home and knowing everyone else missed out (apart from the Inverloch crew I guess).

It was gusty as - which in my experience is fairly typical for a NE - but good fun nonetheless. It isnt called shallow inlet without reason, the Altona low tide skills came in handy

koma said...

Saffer said...
I would also recommend you don't break a line 10 minutes after getting there. Its a long drive for a 10 minute kite

Ah damn, was that the road trip that i saw on MAKO?
I would've been up for it had i not been unable to walk from wakeboarding / slalom skiing the days before that one.

Yeah, poor old Matt did a drive down, rode for 10 minutes, did some huge kiteloops and then snapped a line and got rescued by a boat.

You didn't miss much though, pretty gusty wind, too westerly so it was up and down. I went from being underpowered on my 13 to be overpowered on my 13 to overpowered on my 9 to underpowered on my 13 and all in the space of half an hour.

As I said nothing about shallow inlet maybe I should add this. Have kited and windsurfed there a little over the years:
SW or W: fun in the inlet - speed runs/flat water. Also fun at Sandy Pt main beach cross/on (Waratah Bay)
SE: kite in the inlet can get some flat water on a low tide on the bank on the other side. Also can kite a little down the inlet and walk across to the surf. Warning - cross offshore with nowhere to drift to. Do this at own risk. Have had some killer sessions doing this.
NE: Cross to a touch offshore at Sandy Pt main beach (Waratah Bay). Can be fun albeit can be gusty.

Also, we always give way to the poleys on the speed strip as when it's firing it's usually frickin windy.

Thanks guys