does anyone have any videos of narrowneck?

Willaus0001 said...

Also - just to make us all jealous, bowsa (seabreeze member) is currently in Oman, scoring 4 weeks of half mast - mast starboard DTL on a 4.7m everyday. bastard! haha.

I hope he has some of your gear with him to trash while he is there Will.

Personally I have never been that much of a fan of Narrowneck. Hopefully we will get a decent season, nice warm up with a drive to Merimbula and then heaps of days at Cudgen... Or maybe I just keep planning that trip to Namotu.

It's basically the land that forms a spit between Cudgen creek and the ocean running up to the entrance of Cudgen Creek at Kingscliff. Pretty much right next to the Cudgen Creek bridge on Casurina Way.

I probably wouldn't recomend Cudgen as a first attempt in the ocean, you can end up down there alone, and the area is known for a few men in grey suits lurking.

First hit out in the ocean, think north wind direction at Currumbin on the first day of wind - subsequent days the wind swell generally increases making it potentially a handful for a beginner. The angle isn't too difficult to get out, the launch is easy from the Alley as you are actually launching with the wave instead of against it and just try to avoid ending up too close to the beach at Laceys. I along with a number of others all had our first days in the waves here in the same type of conditions.

Personally I wouldn't recomend the Alley in a SE for a beginner, there are just too many variables there that can get you into trouble. The wind shadow will catch most out, the potentially long swim to Palm Beach if you get caught can knock you around and the popularity of the beach in general. It seems that no matter how windy it is out there you will always be sharing the spot with a good number of surfers and swimmers. I've never had any trouble on either tide there, but I will take others word for it that they have. Generally the surf is a little bigger on the incoming tide and there are some shallow banks on low tide that can make for some fast sucky waves, again not the best for a beginner.

For starting out, and this goes for most spots, aim for the top of the tide. The waves will be fuller and more forgiving, generally you wont encounter mast crunching waves smashing on a bank. Also beware of some spots shore break, Narrowneck in years gone by often had a big shory, it can be quite painful to both the body and ego to get smashed before you even get a chance to get on your board.

Also the southside of the Alley is only for experienced sailors if there are waves there. A lot of water moves up the beach from S to N and you can end up on the rocks in a blink of an eye. I helped some beginner surfers last year after they were washed on the rocks form the southside and can say they ended up a bit of a mess, leaving a fair bit of skin on the rocks.

My main advice, sail where others are and ask some advice before you hit the water. Most of us are hospitable, and will let you know where is safe and where is not, and probably keep an eye out for you out there if we know you are new to the ocean.

Good summary Aus301 - my thoughts exactly regarding surf sailing in SEQ.
One other thing I've noticed is that the N/NE seabreezes along the gold coast surf beaches generally tend to come in strong bit earlier (eg. 12pm) rather than 2pm like the bay (eg. wellington point) however they can get a bit gusty late arvo (after 4pm) whereas the bay will stay consistent till dark.

mahi said...

One other thing I've noticed is that the N/NE seabreezes along the gold coast surf beaches generally tend to come in strong bit earlier (eg. 12pm) rather than 2pm like the bay (eg. wellington point) however they can get a bit gusty late arvo (after 4pm) whereas the bay will stay consistent till dark.

Yeah, has always been the case on the southern end of the coast. Used to cause me trouble when I would sail up to the Alley from home at Nth Kirra as a much younger fellah and then not be able to sail home again cause I left it too late.

I believe it's attributed to the land temperature rising throughout the day and getting so hot that the seabreeze air starts to rise while still over the ocean rather than making it to the beach as it would earlier in the day. Maybe the fact Wello is in the middle of the bay and almost surrounded by water it may not be affected as much.

evlPanda said...

aus301 said...
We also used to sail Snapper Rocks in a NW/W but can't see that going down well with the 1000's of surfers out there these days.

Really? Damn. How was it?

Not great, this was well prior to anything called the superbank and even then sailing NW down there is the wrong tack to ride the superbank waves DTL.

I agree, have had some great sails at Golden Sands in a northerly. Experiences in a southerly? Could be good if sand bank is a bit further out at the time.

Is it possible that the increase in number of buildings and their height south of Narrowneck make that area less windy in a southerly?

Where is Cotton Beach?

If you/md47 were/was at Iluka isn't the beach North of Woody Point good? Recall seeing windsurfers and kiters there but arrived too late in afternoon to rig up.

mahi said...

Good summary Aus301 - my thoughts exactly regarding surf sailing in SEQ.
One other thing I've noticed is that the N/NE seabreezes along the gold coast surf beaches generally tend to come in strong bit earlier (eg. 12pm) rather than 2pm like the bay (eg. wellington point) however they can get a bit gusty late arvo (after 4pm) whereas the bay will stay consistent till dark.





Definitely agree with this.
Currumbin shuts down at 4pm on any wind, with occasional exceptions.
It's often stronger earlier on the day than most places on a seabreeze.
Weird. Lots of hot chicks though.

After opening my mouth, today was exception - blew SE from 2.30pm - 5pm.
Not that strong but was enough to waterstart with 5m for much of it.
Caught 20 waves between waist and shoulder high, super smooth faces.
I was hoping to see a few more windsurfers out.
Dave and I had the place to ourselves amongst a small hand full of surfers.

phenton said...

Also if anyone has a John Broadhurst Wind & Waves board that is collecting dust i may be interested. Not to be confused with a Wind Action as I want the thing to turn.

I haven't seen a Broadhurst board for many years, I sold my last one at least 15 years ago. Bearing in mind that John closed up shop back in 89 or 90 - my memory is fading - I wouldn't say there would be many still alive. And I haven't seen any crew that used to sail his boards on the coast for a very long time.

I had 4 or 5 boards from John in the early years, some featuring very deep channel bottoms reminisant of a Alan Byrne (Byrning Spears) surfboard. I used to love hanging out at the shop in Currumbin, and could pretty much be found there anytime there wasn't wind. I even managed to get PBC to send me there for work experience in Yr12. We sailed most days that week...

mahi said...

If you're a bit of a hoarder Phenton I could offer you an old Warren Cornish or Island Energy waveboard.
Pretty short boards with the mast track way up front. Not good for those signature backloops I herd you are renowned for. Stick the nose in and it would never pop up.
Anyone know the origin of these brands???
getting a way off Narrowneck topic now...

Don't know anything about Island Energy, but Warren Cornish is pretty well known in surfing circles and like a few of the pioneers of surfing in Australia (Bob McTavish springs to mind) he turned his hand to windsurfing at a point during the 80's. He was based in Byron Bay, I met him way back when visiting Michael down at Multi Fin Systems, but by that time he was getting out of sailboards.

Funny the evolution with these boards with the track way up front, I had a tiny 8ft board like this at one stage. Can't remember the brand. Oh I had a Sessions brand board as well that was similar but not quite as full on in design. Mostly those designs were Hawaiian, but were generally a bit low in volume to work well here.

im all for narrowneck man... I was sailing ther last summer and didn't see many folks out there... hope to see more. :(

greenleader said...

aus301 said...


I had a tiny 8ft board like this at one stage.

25 kilos sorry years ago!

Yes well some of us don't still look like we are waiting for puberty to kick in aye Greenie.

aus301 said...

Yes well some of us don't still look like we are waiting for puberty to kick in aye Greenie.

i,ve been using this jamie!

wind, what wind?

Gestalt said...

wind, what wind?

gee gesty was honking most of last week got a bruised face and stitches as a result