could anyone tell me where exactly 'the train' in Broadwater is? show me on the map if possible . thank you very much.
If you go East on the Smith St motorway it changes into North St near the broadwater. It is straight ahead when you get to the traffic lights on the Gold Coast Hwy at the end of North St. You will see a train painted on the toilet block right near the traffic lights. If the tide is up though you would be better off going to KFC which is the next sand bank North. There is too many boats moored at The Train now
Near by is KFC spot. What do you guy like about KFC ?
I have been there twice only.
and broke the fin on first occasion, cut the foot on second.
If there is specific trail that you run there to avoid shallows ?
At this moment I can see advantage such as:
-short run = plenty of gib practice every 100 meters
- almost flat water,
If there is anybody that like KFC as favorite GC spot ?
or you rather to from there to The Grand ?
KFC is shallow , we tend to go a little further north at Central Street which has a good run in N.E about 900 metres to the sand bank on the edge of the main channel. In a S.E you are better to go from the Train or elsewhere.
there use to be a full size steam train in the park there were the toilets are, hence "the train"
I sail at Shearwater whenever possible but in a NE it gets a bit shadowy from the island. Anything SSW-SE Shearwater for me if it's NNW-ESE i go to KFC. Almost any tide on a NE and only on a half tide or higher on SEers at KFC otherwise the run is very short. Like Nick said launch from closer to Central St rather than Loders Ck end. Anywhere just Nth of the green shade cloth on the sand dunes is the go and run straight across towards Seaworld in a slight banana shape and you will have no problems with the depth in a NE. On a full or fairly full tide you can run right over the top of just about all the sandbanks at KFC even on a fin around 40cm or so. You can see the sandbanks easily normally the exception has been after all the rain.
What happened to the train? It was there when I lived on the Gold Coast in the late nineties.
apparently it was bought privately to be restored. where and by who, i don't know?
anyone?
the fun police, also known as the GCCC removed it a few years back as it was "costing" them too much to maintain its "Public Safety"
They replaced it with a mural of a train on the Toilet block wall.
GP
Its nothing to do with the Colonel.
But there is a KFC on the corner of Marine Pde. A bit behind there is a grassy park.
Lots of Kitesurfer launch from there.
no moored boats, less kites, no rocks and broken glass,
Winddragon - to add to the other replies;
KFC is basically the same spot as the Train but just a different launch area and slightly further north (same current direction and wind effects)
Wavebreak island divides the train and shearwater and the ocean entrance is level with wavebreak island.
The following is a generalisation, and you do get freak days where they are still sailable outside this;
The Train / KFC - A "true SE" or "NNW through to NE" wind is the ideal direction and allows clean wind to blow right across all the water. Other wind directions result in very patchy / gusty wind, but occasionally you score a freaky day where it still works (rare). It is less tide affected than shearwater but you can still feel the current pushing or pulling you (maybe 1 - 2 knots). When the wind is outside of the ideal wind direction for the Train, one can think there is no wind when arriving at the Train, when really there is a solid 20 knots at the shearwater. Overall, the Train has sailably "flatter" if not "glassy smooth" flat water most of the time. Very high tide is choppy and not flat.
The Shearwater - "S through to SE", and "N through to NE" is ideal, but again you do get the freaky day outside that range that works (rare). The current is noticeably stronger than the train at about 3 -5 knots. Therefore if the wind is marginal, a wind-against-current combo (ideal) increases your wind, or, a wind-with-current combo subtracts from your wind. The water is not as flat as the Train, but does get flat-ish in the middle. (ideal for those learning to gybe as you can stand up in the middle)
Shearwater is all of the GoldCoast's windiest place (with the exception of North Kirra in late winter) overall in stregth and regularity, particularly for wind coming from the southerly directions, but the wrong wind/current combo and it's bigger chop can make it annoyingly difficult at times. It has many large cruisers travelling back and forth on the weekend (week days are usually fine) which makes it extra choppy. Once the wind hits a genuine 25knots+ the shearwater cleans up and has great ramps, the boats disappear, and even in a wind-with-current combo it is nice to sail as you will have plenty of wind to help stay upwind.
If you haven't already realised, a BOM average observation of 20knots = a genuine 15knots (with hand held wind meter). The BOM over exaggerates almost all of it's forecasts by 15-20%, if not more.
Hope it helps
They took the train away because Greenleaf kept peeing in the boiler as a kid so I hear.
best spot on the coast in a SE is out off Ephram island in the big bay north of the syc marina, nrth of crab island- evlpanda put me on to it. rig at Centenary drive - You can only sail 2hrs either side of high tide but it is truely fantastic, best se wind, very fast and flat behind crab island, some waves where you cross the chanel less ships, no tbaggers, but best thing is that the runs are long about 2k. - becasue it is so wide you can choose any angle, set your gear up and really get comfortable and fly - long downwinds then climb back up and so on. EvlPanda has posted a map and I went and tried it - truely excellent. I Started sailing at KFC at other tides becasue parking is easier then tack up to the bank and chanel off the train. If find it is better there than the train becasue when you are finishing or if the wind dies - it is a downwind run home, which is easier than coming ashore at the campground and carrying your gear back upwind to the train carpark.
re wind strength - BOM is measuring on the outside of the spit up fairly high. what comes over the dunes and through the trees to the inside waterway is quite a lot less than that. Except in a westerly when it is the opposite - Bom shows 15knt & it is 20knt on the inside - I have had some terrific sailing on westerlies last winter.
