Here's the forcast for this Saturday 14/3/09.. but it's still early days.. (it could change).

I'm thinking a nice short.. St Kilda to Sandy down-winder ( 1 1/2 hrs max ) starting about 10am.

Anyone keen ? .. Maybe some new guys (and gals) that have never done one before might be interested ?

DJ

Forecast for Saturday
Winds: Northerly 10 to 15 knots increasing to up to 30 knots during the morning
then tending westerly during the afternoon. Seas: 0.5 to 1 metre increasing to
1.5 metres during the morning.

DJ,

Roughly how far is that?

I would be interested to give it a go.

Phill

What sort of boards are you guys going to use??

Phill

I'm in!

I'm going to try to get my kids to come which means I'll probably end up on my 9'6" Naish, at least it will be fun if I do manage to get a wave! Also invited friend of my son, Chris the 14yo "machine" on his Hayden knee board - if he comes it will be interesting to see the relative speed. It's only about 8 or 9' but very fast and narrow and crazy tippy even kneeling. It would be great to get a bigger group and keep it very relaxed and low key.

I was going to give it a miss as I don't have my aircraft carrier with me and I sold my ULI, however, If you're going on your 9'6" Jonathan, I'll cut up some of those jellyfish on my Stonker. I'll definitely wearing my wetsuit - not for the cold but because of this:

I've honestly got no idea. At what temperature point do you start considering wearing a wetsuit? Is it mostly a preferential thing? And do you use a different thickness considering you're standing up most of the time?

Back home in PNG its boardies year round. I even dive just in boardshorts. Never had to consider conditions this cold before.

The weather forecast is still looking good for tomorrow (Sat) ..

DJ

Forecast for Saturday
Winds: North to northeasterly 10 to 15 knots tending north to northwesterly 15
to 20 knots around dawn then tending northerly 20 to 30 knots during the
morning then tending westerly around midday. Seas: 0.5 to 1 metres increasing
to 1.5 metres during the morning.

Hey DJ

Do you have a kickoff time for Saturday morning?

Christian,

the water is currently warm but the wind with an air temperature of 20 degrees is ferkin cold. You carry a lot more muscle than I do but I'm very acclimatised and I find the wind very cold on those gloomy days. You might be different.

A 1mm neoprene rashie is fairly good at keeping wind chill at bay and it can be combined with a wetsuit to get a little extra warmth in winter.

If you're going to stay in Melbourne over winter you can flat water SUP all through winter just in boardies and a t-shirt. Just avoid falling in and going out on windy days.

For surf use a 2-3mm steamer is the go. (2mm arms and 3mm torso). Sealed seams are better. Very stretchy is better still. Again the ability of a SUP to stay up out of the water is the key.

You can wear a 2-3 steamer all year round, switching to boardies if it's hot. Add a neoprene rashie for winter and try to avoid falling in too much.

If you're going to get full on into winter water sports in Melbourne you want a 3-4mm sealed seam steamer.

Just rang the SUP bus and they will be in their spot from about 8am. Jonathon I will try to get there a bit before 9 if you need a boardminder.

Hi Jonathan, if you could bring your starboard that would be good. There is a chance my daughter is going to come along also. The only issue now for her is she doesn't have a wetsuit down here and it's not looking that warm tomorrow.

No worries Oliver, I'll chuck in a couple of neoprene rashies and odds and ends - I'm sure we will find something for her. Do you need another paddle too? If we leave both our cars at Sandringham, Christian can give us a lift back up to StKilda, only problem is that he doesn't have roof racks so we need to leave the Stonker at the SUP bus - probably with the kids and all my boards to do the car drop...whew! DJ can't help with lifts which is fine.

OK, I'm all locked in to pick you guys up at 9am Sandy. Will have 4 spare seats.

At this point I'm not stopping at the SUP bus first but will be driving past it on the way. If theres any dramas just call me. 0424 278 245

We normally start up where the kit surfers go.. Just up a bit on the Port Melb side of them.

Actually there's a big white sign that says windsurfing/no windsurfing.. and we launch from there. (they are building a rock pier/breakwater there now)

Parking on the water side of the road will cost about $7 for the day.. but parking on the other side of the road is free for 4 hours.

I usually drop my gear off and do a U turn and park on the other side.

See you guys there for a 9.30 'sharp' start.

DJ

Well that died in the arse a bit. We made it just past St Kilda pier when the westerly front kicked in. It was gusting well above 30 knots and no way we could make it any further. Jonathon and his kids set off about 10 mins before us and they made it as far as the Marina at Elwood before they were blown onshore.

Until next time...

Here we are.. All eight of us ready to hit the water.. Check out the cloud rolling in from the west.. (left in the pic).



Ooooh... It's starting to look nasty.



Here I am thinking... Mmmmm.. Maybe this is not such a good idea.



Every one wanted to give it a go so I thought... Why not.



Looking south it looked even worse.



We hit the water anyway.



Only minutes latter we got hammered by a 40 knot west wind that blew us straight in to shore... Bugger.

It was only 10am and it was not due until the arvo.

Before (8am -10am) the wind was a perfect 20 knots gusting to 25.. and soon after we hit the water a peak gust hit us at over 40 knots..

It just goes to show that you never know..



Next time guys... next time..

DJ