Hey guys.. Got a few dilemmas! Sick of sydney!! Been border line packing up and moving to Melbourne for the last year. Every second wkend I'm keen then then back out! What keeps backing me away from moving is the overall distance I will need to travel for a suf or wave sail. Looks by pics ye guys post ye get some great conditions.
My question realy is..How often do ye guys get a wave sail in? If we moved (wife and me) we probably move somewhere between frankston and elwood just don't know where. Any recomandations, both need communting distance to city. What would I Likely to be traveling for a surf? I'm borderline moving but need that convincing! It's all come down to water time! Btw sydney sucks for windsurfing!! Great Waves but zip wind!
Cheers
I live at Bonbeach, where we have great local beach and quick access to all freeways and a train line.
Hello, Rhino,
We don't get down the line wave sailing in the bay but, on a 20-knot south wester and depending on where you are, the wave height can get to about 2m, although there's usually a lot of chop on the wave face. The wave period is only about 5 seconds.
We hope for big winds in winter (cold northerlies) and September/October (south westerly, but very frontal). One of my friends is a surf/wave sailor and he only has a wave board and his biggest sail is a 5.5m, but he seems pretty happy even when sailing in the bay (he normally travels to Phillip Island for the waves there).
Do a Google time/direction search from Mentone to Point Leo and Mentone to Torquay. Mentone is about halfway between Frankton and Elwood and Pt Leo (and surrounds) will give you access to genuine waves (as will Torquay). Both of these have surf/windsurf conditions.
Have a look here for past bay wind graphs http://www.baywx.com/graphplot.html and have a look at the surf cams here for wave conditions on a daily basis triggerbrothers.com.au/index.php?option=com_webcam&Itemid=183 (use the surf cam locations down the LHS bottom of the page), and www.swellnet.com.au/, tab Surf Report and Forecasts, select Vic.
If you decide to come here, make sure you've got a job lined up and you'll need a 4/3 wetsuit for winter (our water temps get down to about 10 deg C in August).
Hope this helps.
Hi Rhino,
i would definitely drive down here with your kit and drive round some of the surf breaks. As Windman says Pt Leo and the Island are two hot spots. Over summer when the strong SE seabreezes push in woolamai and Gunnamatta on the open beaches are great fun. You will need to experience COLD water and the windchill.The water temp might turn you off the whole idea. Summer water temperatures in the ocean can hang around 18 to 19 degrees for several months then crash later after Easter to 12 to 13 degrees over winter.
The opportunity for an optic nerve is out of the question for 8 months of the year.
For 6 months of the year you would be familiar to the water temperatures. If you live in frankston, the island is little over an hour drive, Pt Leo is just under 30 minutes. Both drives are an easy country drive on uncrowded roads. Summer will attract more motorist unfortunately.
Another possibility is to get a SUP and learn a new skill set or get a waveboard that is alot more floaty that your have now.Good luck!
Thanks guys for replies. Not fussed with cold weather! I'm Irish so have had many a winter and summer freezing my nuts off at home!
How often do ye guys get out on water? Is it possible to get a evening session in once the clock changes? How bout surfing? Any of ye travel for a surf? What's it like living say near frankston and traveling for a wave?
Will be planning a wkend down Vic soon to suss it out
For surfing exclusively....under 40 minutes easy drive from frankston you can get to lots of ground swell surf breaks. During daylight saving you can surf your knackers off and thought it was still the weekend. Over winter you will be surfing mostly reef breaks, and over summer ...beach breaks. Best to come and have a grovel though.
I think the surf here is more consistent(southern ocean) than it is in Sydney ....alot less competition....people have a healthier attitude toward one another on the break.
I rarely have a weekend of NOTHING. There is always surf when there is no wind for wavesailing.....im pretty happy with this joint!!!
We have a lot of good breaks for wavesailing, you can find a spot that works with cross-cross off conditions on nearly any wind direction which is nice. The only drawback is the consistency. Sometimes it can be weeks between good sessions...
You also need to be flexible with your time, if you can only get away on the weekends you won't get much sailing in at all.
Quite a few of the decent reef breaks are popular surfing spots so forget trying to sail if it's under 20 knots. Sometimes you still get desperadoes out when it is 25+ which can be annoying. Otherwise you can usually find empty beachies down towards Sandy Point, wind is usually pretty strong down there as well. Forget the bay for real wavesailing, if it is really windy then some spots can throw up some decent bump and jump but it is just super short period wind slop so you don't get breaking waves with proper shape.
Water is cold but with a decent 4/3 it isn't really a problem. If you are happy surfing than Vic is good, there is nearly always swell so worst case you can still have a paddle most of the time. Then occasionally you will score some pretty good sailing.
Cheers guys for info. A few wks between sails!! I'm nearly months between good wave sails here!!!!!
So far sounds like its a no brainier of a move! Helps that I'm well and truely over sydney! Must get down for a wkend soon and have a look around myself. One last question.. Where's good to move to on pensulla? Wife wants to be commuting distance to city, we were thinking Elwood or between elwood and frankston. Looking for somewhere on the coast, good vibe, few cafe & bit of night life
I would leave that decision completely to your wife.! (She would probably choose elwood.) The further South your move the less sophisticated the facilities.
Frankston is a beautiful location but has a bogan reputation. Its probably because i live there!
Frankston will make a good starting point for ya. Takes an hour to get to the city and there are heaps of beaches under an hour away to cater for any conditions be it surf or sail.
I grew up on the peninsula/Sorrento and its a fantastic place to live, would love to live in Sorrento all the time but its just a bit to far to travel to work for the wife.
Rents cheaper in frankston and gets more expensive as you head towards the city but thats to be expected.
Why limit yourself to Melb? Geelong (for instance) has some great spots close by (Torquay, Barwon Heads etc). and only an hr to the city.
Heading further out of Melb (East or West), real estate gets cheaper - wave spots increase.
Just sayin' as an option...not a city fan (sorry).
I live in Chelsea on the beach side of the Nepean and in my (biased) eyes its the greatest place ever. I rarely drive to the beach, I just walk down.
Rentals are plentiful depending on what you want to spend and how many rooms you need. Great shopping strip with its own woolies and cafes and restaurants and pub.
There is an express train to the city and the train station is 3 minutes walk depending on where you are. It takes about 45minutes to get in to the City on the train, and the carriages are always pretty empty so you always get a seat. Not so if you are further up the line the line, and you are pretty much guaranteed standing from Cheltenham.
Newish 3 bedders with double garage are around 550-600. You can probably score two bedders for 400 ish, and older ones for slightly less.
Every now and then there are some old houses that come up in the area real cheap, but they tend to be not the greatest luxury.
I've just moved down to Bonbeach from Brighton
Found a three bed double garage place for mid 400'000. Beach side and walk through onto the sand.
Make the move, you wont regret it!
Saturday sounds good windrider,
Not sure if i'll be heading up to Hotham/Falls yet though. If not i'll see you out there
^^^$400k would get you a nice 4b/r home close to the beach, a new w/s van & whole new kit here! Prob some coin left over for a holiday to Hawaii also!
Just have to keep an eye out for the whales that are prolific this time of year in our local waters .
(Herald Sun today)
www.heraldsun.com.au/nocookies?a=A.flavipes
