Horrocks to Port Gregory down winder trip report

8 years ago
Reply
Register to post, see what you've read, and subscribe to topics.
Dave Whettingsteel
Dave Whettingsteel
WA
1397 posts
WA, 1397 posts
10 Jan 2018 8:22am
Did this last Saturday the 7th. Great run with a hairy ending!
Wind: 20-25 at start, 30-35 at end. Swell 1.5m total seas 3m according MidWest port seaview.
Finished up doing it on my own but with daughters following on whitecliffs road in 4wd. Logged in and out with Gero sea rescue.
WAM surfboard and 6m Neo kite.

Horrocks to Little Bay is well known country for me with nice long wave rides on the reefs.

Little Bay to Hutt River mouth is an amazing ride with the big cliffs creating a spectacular back drop. The water is fairly smooth and there are lots of Corro style crumbly waves to ride on the reefs. Right on the beach the wind gets a bit sketchy.... gusty and lighter due to the cliffs impact on the air flow, but 100-200 metres out it was normal. Loved this section.

Hutt River to the start of PG reef was OK but quite choppy and some big waves breaking all over the place. Manageable, and with a steepish sandy beach to bale to if you really had to.

Riding around the outside of the Port Gregory lagoon / reef was something else. The waves were smashing into it, bursting some 10m in the air, and sucking out in front of the reef some 2-3m straight down. You would be lucky to survive being washed onto that reef in those conditions.
At the south end of the lagoon it looks like there is a spot you could walk over the sand bar into the lagoon, but from the ocean I could not see it and didnt want to go in too close. There is also a mini gap opposite the PG jetty apparently but again with that sea state I couldnt see it.

So I slowly and carefully picked my up to the North end of the reef in chaotic seas with waves going every direction and bouncing / colliding into each other. Found the North gap which was further (or I was going slower) than expected and snuck through, with waves and rocks on either side, into the lagoon and tacked back up to the jetty. Took about 2 hours in total. Some 30k's as the crow flies. Didn't measure distance travelled.

Great run, but I think I will do some land checking for a spot to pull in before the last PG reef / lagoon in future. If you do go round the outside of the reef I would give it a very wide berth and be patient waiting for the the gap to appear. Give yourself time to respond if you get smacked.

Cheers

Dave
mazdon
mazdon
1199 posts
1199 posts
11 Jan 2018 11:37am
sounds pretty hairy!!
maybe come in at a luckier location next time, should be plenty of space to come in
and also 4WD through on beach this time of year?

good work charging around out there though Dave
cauncy
cauncy
WA
8407 posts
WA, 8407 posts
11 Jan 2018 12:52pm
Dave Whettingsteel said..
Did this last Saturday the 7th. Great run with a hairy ending!
Wind: 20-25 at start, 30-35 at end. Swell 1.5m total seas 3m according MidWest port seaview.
Finished up doing it on my own but with daughters following on whitecliffs road in 4wd. Logged in and out with Gero sea rescue.
WAM surfboard and 6m Neo kite.

Horrocks to Little Bay is well known country for me with nice long wave rides on the reefs.

Little Bay to Hutt River mouth is an amazing ride with the big cliffs creating a spectacular back drop. The water is fairly smooth and there are lots of Corro style crumbly waves to ride on the reefs. Right on the beach the wind gets a bit sketchy.... gusty and lighter due to the cliffs impact on the air flow, but 100-200 metres out it was normal. Loved this section.

Hutt River to the start of PG reef was OK but quite choppy and some big waves breaking all over the place. Manageable, and with a steepish sandy beach to bale to if you really had to.

Riding around the outside of the Port Gregory lagoon / reef was something else. The waves were smashing into it, bursting some 10m in the air, and sucking out in front of the reef some 2-3m straight down. You would be lucky to survive being washed onto that reef in those conditions.
At the south end of the lagoon it looks like there is a spot you could walk over the sand bar into the lagoon, but from the ocean I could not see it and didnt want to go in too close. There is also a mini gap opposite the PG jetty apparently but again with that sea state I couldnt see it.

So I slowly and carefully picked my up to the North end of the reef in chaotic seas with waves going every direction and bouncing / colliding into each other. Found the North gap which was further (or I was going slower) than expected and snuck through, with waves and rocks on either side, into the lagoon and tacked back up to the jetty. Took about 2 hours in total. Some 30k's as the crow flies. Didn't measure distance travelled.

Great run, but I think I will do some land checking for a spot to pull in before the last PG reef / lagoon in future. If you do go round the outside of the reef I would give it a very wide berth and be patient waiting for the the gap to appear. Give yourself time to respond if you get smacked.

Cheers

Dave


Hairy ending? Glad I didn't get invited
Dave Whettingsteel
Dave Whettingsteel
WA
1397 posts
WA, 1397 posts
11 Jan 2018 8:13pm
mazdon said..
sounds pretty hairy!!
maybe come in at a luckier location next time, should be plenty of space to come in
and also 4WD through on beach this time of year?

good work charging around out there though Dave




Thanks Mazdon, yeah girls followed on whitecliffs road and there are a couple of places you can drive to cliff edge or beach for a look.
You can drive part of the way on beach but a couple of sections has rocks down into the water and not passable.
Also used iphone tracking.

cheere
Please Register, or first...
Topics Subscribe Reply