Newbie here (see my post in General section "Diary of a Windsurfer" for latest update of my lack-of-skill level)

Just wondering when people first took the big step from windsurfing in the relative safety of the Swan River... went down the beach and took on the waves/ swell/ imaginary sharks/ fisherman/ etc?
How much experience did you have?
Is it pretty important to be able to competently water start before giving it a go?
Or should I just jump in the deep end and have a crack?
Do intermediate guys sail at the coast on an Easterly... or South Westerly?

Obelix said..


If you can uphaul comfortably on your board, go for it.
If the floatation is marginal, you better learn how to water start first.

And this means being able to uphaul comfortably on water which will be much choppier than the river.

Try a souwester at Pinnaroo or Leighton. You won't encounter much of a shore break but you'll get used to sailing in the chop.

Petrol these days is too expensive to travel the extra 15 Kim's there and back,never mind the extra time. Ok if you live closer to the beach. On the few times I've sailed at Leighton,have enjoyed it more than the river. You can actually see under the water,must be cleaner. Rigging up on the sand,another dislike and too many wave sailors!

This is no slur on the river, but i have never windurfed on the Swan.
Fortunately i learnt to sail at safety bay which has IMO the best location for learing. Land bound lagoon on 3 sides.
After learning to waterstart it was a simple progression over the speed bank to the open ocean.
Most of the time now i don't even have an uphaul attached to my boom (Bad Practice) but my boards sink anyways and i cant uphaul on them.

I learnt to windsurf in the ocean at Shoalwater (around the corner from Safety Bay) a long time ago.

Ah the memories...
Two weeks of trying to uphaul a Windrush Storm 9 and failing miserably. Ended up giving up on uphauling and had a go at beach starting - success! Sailed out for a bit, fell off/bailed; now what? Waterstart! Tried to waterstart, but drifted into the beach instead (a long way down the beach) walked back up and; rinse repeat... Let me tell you this was great motivation to learn to waterstart and consequently I succeeded pretty quickly. I sailed down there for about 4 years and then packed it in.

Note: No YouTube videos to watch back then. Just a book by Peter Hart - "Improve your Windsurfing" that I poured over every night and a couple of VHS videos of Robbie Nash sailing around a boat and another one where he was wavesailing.

But I digress... Fast forward 19 years - started again last October and I am having a blast.

Back to your questions... I have only ever sailed on the river a handful of times and (please no hate mail) the ocean, for the most part, is sooo much better. The last time I sailed on the river (late last year) it was 5 knts on the bank, 10 knts 30 m out and then 25 knts in the middle? It was like Melbourne weather - all seasons in one day (again, no hate mail please). The summer seabreeze on the ocean is so consistent - just hook in, get into the straps and lean back; it is always there (i.e. no holes like the river). Do yourself a favour and get down to the ocean - you will have a blast!

P.S. As a general rule; never sail in the ocean in an easterly. I have once - it wasn't a pleasant experience.

P.P.S. Don't go in breaking waves until you are experienced. A good way to break gear, or worse, yourself!