Aussie Training Diaries
28 posts
• Page 2 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
You managed to make it happen! Good for you AG. Looking forward to your diary reports. Drop me a line when you get back and we'll go for that beer.
- Johnny
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:50 am
Sorry, you lost me at, "...it wasn't epic down the line sailing, ..." 
Seriously, its all good! Different shades of fun are still fun!
Hope you made it to Margaret River!!!
The Day 2 pix is showing for me, can other see it?
Seriously, its all good! Different shades of fun are still fun!
Hope you made it to Margaret River!!!
The Day 2 pix is showing for me, can other see it?
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C36 - Posts: 2191
- Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:17 pm
Wi-Fi connectivity is sparse, C36! Pretty sure that was just a filler shot..
Day 3 (Jan 17), Session 3. Esperance, Twilight Beach
Photoshoot. Driving out of Esperance, we stopped for a quick spot check at Twilight Beach, which has a crazy rock formation and super clear turquoise water - an ideal place to get some shots. Rigged up 3 foil setups and went for a blast. Wind was pretty strong on the outside, but fun foiling in a pack of 3, with a drone overhead. The cloud cover never fully broke unfortunately, so we only got stints of the classic turquoise, mega clear water Esperance is known for. 44 degrees C in the parking lot, might be the hottest place I've ever sailed at!
A good break before hitting the road for 7hours, through kangaroo infested windey back roads..
Day 4 (Jan 18), Session 4. Margaret River, Harbour/boat launch.
RnD. With the first few days not amounting to much for testing and catalogue shots, we got an early start in the harbour to do the final testing of the 2019 foil boards. Wind was pretty gusty and puffy, but it allowed us to put some solid testing in. As cool as it was to be involved in the development process of next year's foil boards, I couldn't help thinking, "I didn't come to WA to foil"
Day 4, Session 5. Margaret River, Surfer's Point/Main break.
Terrifying redemption. After lunch we headed over to Main break, the spot Margaret River is known for. Wind was filling in pretty nicely - most males on 5.2 or so. Unfortunately, 5.2 was the sail I totalled on day 1, so I was on the bench until I had a 5.3 to borrow. That was ok though, as I wanted to spend a lot of time watching to figure the spot out. In the back of my mind, I recalled Johnny's mate John, saying, "After Margaret River, Hookipa is a cake walk". The spot is certainly not short on hazards, including but not limited to: strong rips, submerged rocks and reef, strong waves, limited entry and exit spots, sharks, etc.
The launch into the water is made via a "keyhole", a 4" wide, deeper water channel through the a big section of flat rock near the shore, that goes for about 7m into deeper water. Said section of Flat Rock is known as "The Surgeon's Table", for the lives it has taken over the years.. To land, you have two options depending on the tide: Option 1 (boss mode): ride a little bump on the way back in, and sniper your way into the keyhole. Option 2, if the tide allows, land a bit downwind in a sandy beach. If you miss Option 2, you end up in a no wind zone, with shorebreak dumping onto jagged rocks. Said jagged rocks span about 100m before the next patch of reasonably clear sand beach you could come in on, but you'd be swimming against the current to land there. One of the guys in the group tells me of his first session here last year, getting sucked out there and eventually/luckily getting pulled in by someone on a jet ski. Reassuring.
The waves were a "small day" by local standards, but the locals and pros didn't seem to have trouble finding logo to mast high faces.. I sacked up as best I could, and made my way over to the keyhole for the evening session, with most of the crowds thinned out. Did the gear-saving body drag technique out through the key hole (more accomplished sailors beach start and sail out) and successfully made it out to deeper water with all fins intact. 5.3/86 was just right once on the outside, but took a while to get dialed in after the morning of foiling. I seemed to be bearing off a lot to stay clear of peaking sections, so having tacked on the outside I decided to pinch quite a bit on the first bump I caught, to avoid getting caught downwind. The bump I was on was offering some serious speed and starting to wall up quickly. I start eyeing up my line to make my first bottom turn, and to my dismay I had ended up upwind of the peak, and this logo high face I'm on is about to break, 25' downwind of me. F!@#. I had done exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do, which was stay on the left shoulder of the wave for the first few, out of the danger zone... I just had time to tack out the back of that one, because trying to run it out into the flats was not looking like a feasible option, which would leave me in the impact zone over shallow rocks/reef. To my horror, there was a set coming in right behind, peaking exactly where I was. Sunk my mast as deep as I could and hung on to my boom, with my stomach in my throat. This was no small wave... watching this thing wall up to come dump on me was probably the single most terrifying moment of my windsurfing career to date. I remember thinking "that's it, you're totally f'd, the gear is gonna be totalled and you're gonna be swimming for your life in a couple seconds." I hung on for the working and thankfully my rig duck had worked pretty well, so I came out with everything intact. But another one was coming, and another one after that, both peaking right where I was. Rig ducks worked again and I survived the following two, not really sure how given the size and power of these waves.. "Sail is in one piece? Yes (thank God), time to get the f' out of here" I sail as far out as I can, to regain my composure and catch my breath.
Bigger swell seemed to be coming in now, and I remember thinking "what am I doing out here? The fun-danger-intensity ratio is totally out of wack". I was contemplating trying to sail straight back to the beach, but I wanted at least one solid ride before calling it quits. A few familiar faces sailed out past me and that worked to reassure me slightly. Tested the waters delicately on a few logo-high shoulders - starting to understand why this is considered one of the highest performance waves in the world. Even on this "small" local day, the speed I was winding up on these faces was insane. If Cape Sebastian got a board into 3rd gear, here we were in the red in 5th.
Gybed out of my shoulder ride and as I was coming back out I watched Patrick Diethelm bottom turn on this over mast high thrower (as the lip was already chucking) and smack the lip for a massive aerial into ejection rag doll. Absolutely mental.
The adrenaline basically didn't turn off after my Marg's initiation and I felt like I was gonna hurl for the rest of the session thereafter, so after piecing together what for me was the best 3 hit wave of my life, I headed for the beach. Successfully landed at Option 2, heart still going a million miles an hour, thankful that gear and body were intact.
Not sure what I had expected from the spot, to be honest, but what I experienced there during that session was something so far out from anything I had ever experienced in windsurfing to this day, 10 years into the sport. The days I got at Pistol and the Cape in 2016 were awesome and at times "scary" but I would rate the biggest moments there at 3/10 compared to yesterday at Marg's. It was something else.
Day 3 (Jan 17), Session 3. Esperance, Twilight Beach
Photoshoot. Driving out of Esperance, we stopped for a quick spot check at Twilight Beach, which has a crazy rock formation and super clear turquoise water - an ideal place to get some shots. Rigged up 3 foil setups and went for a blast. Wind was pretty strong on the outside, but fun foiling in a pack of 3, with a drone overhead. The cloud cover never fully broke unfortunately, so we only got stints of the classic turquoise, mega clear water Esperance is known for. 44 degrees C in the parking lot, might be the hottest place I've ever sailed at!
A good break before hitting the road for 7hours, through kangaroo infested windey back roads..
Day 4 (Jan 18), Session 4. Margaret River, Harbour/boat launch.
RnD. With the first few days not amounting to much for testing and catalogue shots, we got an early start in the harbour to do the final testing of the 2019 foil boards. Wind was pretty gusty and puffy, but it allowed us to put some solid testing in. As cool as it was to be involved in the development process of next year's foil boards, I couldn't help thinking, "I didn't come to WA to foil"
Day 4, Session 5. Margaret River, Surfer's Point/Main break.
Terrifying redemption. After lunch we headed over to Main break, the spot Margaret River is known for. Wind was filling in pretty nicely - most males on 5.2 or so. Unfortunately, 5.2 was the sail I totalled on day 1, so I was on the bench until I had a 5.3 to borrow. That was ok though, as I wanted to spend a lot of time watching to figure the spot out. In the back of my mind, I recalled Johnny's mate John, saying, "After Margaret River, Hookipa is a cake walk". The spot is certainly not short on hazards, including but not limited to: strong rips, submerged rocks and reef, strong waves, limited entry and exit spots, sharks, etc.
The launch into the water is made via a "keyhole", a 4" wide, deeper water channel through the a big section of flat rock near the shore, that goes for about 7m into deeper water. Said section of Flat Rock is known as "The Surgeon's Table", for the lives it has taken over the years.. To land, you have two options depending on the tide: Option 1 (boss mode): ride a little bump on the way back in, and sniper your way into the keyhole. Option 2, if the tide allows, land a bit downwind in a sandy beach. If you miss Option 2, you end up in a no wind zone, with shorebreak dumping onto jagged rocks. Said jagged rocks span about 100m before the next patch of reasonably clear sand beach you could come in on, but you'd be swimming against the current to land there. One of the guys in the group tells me of his first session here last year, getting sucked out there and eventually/luckily getting pulled in by someone on a jet ski. Reassuring.
The waves were a "small day" by local standards, but the locals and pros didn't seem to have trouble finding logo to mast high faces.. I sacked up as best I could, and made my way over to the keyhole for the evening session, with most of the crowds thinned out. Did the gear-saving body drag technique out through the key hole (more accomplished sailors beach start and sail out) and successfully made it out to deeper water with all fins intact. 5.3/86 was just right once on the outside, but took a while to get dialed in after the morning of foiling. I seemed to be bearing off a lot to stay clear of peaking sections, so having tacked on the outside I decided to pinch quite a bit on the first bump I caught, to avoid getting caught downwind. The bump I was on was offering some serious speed and starting to wall up quickly. I start eyeing up my line to make my first bottom turn, and to my dismay I had ended up upwind of the peak, and this logo high face I'm on is about to break, 25' downwind of me. F!@#. I had done exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do, which was stay on the left shoulder of the wave for the first few, out of the danger zone... I just had time to tack out the back of that one, because trying to run it out into the flats was not looking like a feasible option, which would leave me in the impact zone over shallow rocks/reef. To my horror, there was a set coming in right behind, peaking exactly where I was. Sunk my mast as deep as I could and hung on to my boom, with my stomach in my throat. This was no small wave... watching this thing wall up to come dump on me was probably the single most terrifying moment of my windsurfing career to date. I remember thinking "that's it, you're totally f'd, the gear is gonna be totalled and you're gonna be swimming for your life in a couple seconds." I hung on for the working and thankfully my rig duck had worked pretty well, so I came out with everything intact. But another one was coming, and another one after that, both peaking right where I was. Rig ducks worked again and I survived the following two, not really sure how given the size and power of these waves.. "Sail is in one piece? Yes (thank God), time to get the f' out of here" I sail as far out as I can, to regain my composure and catch my breath.
Bigger swell seemed to be coming in now, and I remember thinking "what am I doing out here? The fun-danger-intensity ratio is totally out of wack". I was contemplating trying to sail straight back to the beach, but I wanted at least one solid ride before calling it quits. A few familiar faces sailed out past me and that worked to reassure me slightly. Tested the waters delicately on a few logo-high shoulders - starting to understand why this is considered one of the highest performance waves in the world. Even on this "small" local day, the speed I was winding up on these faces was insane. If Cape Sebastian got a board into 3rd gear, here we were in the red in 5th.
Gybed out of my shoulder ride and as I was coming back out I watched Patrick Diethelm bottom turn on this over mast high thrower (as the lip was already chucking) and smack the lip for a massive aerial into ejection rag doll. Absolutely mental.
The adrenaline basically didn't turn off after my Marg's initiation and I felt like I was gonna hurl for the rest of the session thereafter, so after piecing together what for me was the best 3 hit wave of my life, I headed for the beach. Successfully landed at Option 2, heart still going a million miles an hour, thankful that gear and body were intact.
Not sure what I had expected from the spot, to be honest, but what I experienced there during that session was something so far out from anything I had ever experienced in windsurfing to this day, 10 years into the sport. The days I got at Pistol and the Cape in 2016 were awesome and at times "scary" but I would rate the biggest moments there at 3/10 compared to yesterday at Marg's. It was something else.
- AdrienGrelon
- Posts: 1062
- Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 3:17 pm
Sounds intense but after a few more sessions there you'll still be scared at times but you'll be ripping it up!
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ShonanDB - Posts: 592
- Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 5:52 pm
One beat down on arrival was kinda funny, but your experience there so far is starting to sound like the two extremes of Cape Hatteras - waist deep flat water for miles soundside and bone crunching pounding shore break and wicked current Oceanside and nothing in between.
"Run-and-hide sessions" when the "fun-danger-intensity ratio is all out of wack" are frightening for sure.
Glad you scored personal best three-hit DTL ride (and body and gear are still in tact! Congrats!!!
Hope you score something that ranks higher on the pleasure side of the equation.
p.s. Did you notice that this was post 999 for you?
- AG post 999.JPG (24.44 KiB) Viewed 15867 times
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C36 - Posts: 2191
- Joined: Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:17 pm
Excellent session log Adrien, so good I had to read it twice. Big smiles that's for sure. I've had a few moments of terror wave sailing but that sounds over the top! Like Darrel said in a few days you'll be killin it and after that you'll be ready for anything. Too bad you didn't start your trip up north and work your way into Margies!! Glad you got one nice ride in though! I can't wait to hear more. One day we will have to go back there together with a Vancouver crew.
Big smiles that's for sure. I've had a few moments of terror wave sailing but that sounds over the top! Like Darrel said in a few days you'll be killin it and after that you'll be ready for anything. Too bad you didn't start your trip up north and work your way into Margies!! Glad you got one nice ride in though! I can't wait to hear more. One day we will have to go back there together with a Vancouver crew.- Michael
- Posts: 2774
- Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:31 pm
Cheers guys! Talking to people who have sailed this wave for years, you never really get it figured out apparently. When guys like Jaeger tell you it's a hard wave, you gotta take their word for it I suppose.
Day 6, Session 6
Scenic blasting. Went to a little bay down south to get some foiling, freeride and freestyle shots. Pretty utopic looking spot, with the reefs and perfect white sand.
Fun times blasting around super over-powered on an iSonic 114 + 6.5 NCX, going back to my mowing the lawn roots. Loving the diversity in the sessions thus far: marginal light wind foiling, high wind foiling, sh!t your pants wave sailing, mowing the lawn - WA has it all!
Checked out main break in the afternoon, but the wind was very tricky, with some over mast high sets coming in, so like a lot of others, I sat that one out. Watching Koester sail in person is quite amazing: saw him make a first bottom turn back up to the peak on a logo - mast high wave. The wave must've been a bit dull for him, as he stalled at the peak, waiting for a bit more shape, and then proceeded to drop into the thing by doing a Flaka down the face: the guy is a wizard.
Day 7: Emails
Day 8, Session 7 - Marg's Main Break
Carnage. Another "small" day. Not really sure I want to know what a big day looks like here. Wind was tricky, super light on inside, but I was going to be sharing kit with a buddy again so I offered to go first. 86/5.3 again.
Timed my exit from the keyhole strategically as the wind was just waterstartable on the inside. Cruized very wide around the channel, as the shortage of wind on the inside meant that if you were caught in the wrong place you wouldn't be able to do much. On the outside, this "small" day still saw the occasional set of rolling swell that dwarfed the biggest swell I've seen on the outside at CB (except at CB there's no Surgeons Table bed rock for it to form into a point break on..). Again, I found myself thinking "this spot is scary".
Busy with kiters and not easy to catch bumps with it being so light and offshore. Caught a few shoulder rides and decided to call it before anything bad happened. Made a good exit at Option 2, despite more shorepound today.
Back in, the carnage began. Koester: injured knee; Boujmaa: broken extension, self rescue 30min paddle in; Hendrix Stone: broken UJ, swim in; Jaeger Stone: Broken clew, swim in; Local "PJ": broken foot; Other Local: Sail and mast in pieces.
Not sure I want to see what this spot can do on a big day. Next WA trip, I will definitely be keen to spend time up North. Talking to the Stone bros, who grew up in Geraldton, they said that spot is night and day easier, offers more forgiving, longer waves, and jumping. Sounds a bit more like my cup of tea! Marg's is still definitely a spot to be experienced though. That first day will go down as my gnarliest windsurf session ever, for the time being.
Heading up to Lancelin tomorrow.
Day 6, Session 6
Scenic blasting. Went to a little bay down south to get some foiling, freeride and freestyle shots. Pretty utopic looking spot, with the reefs and perfect white sand.
Fun times blasting around super over-powered on an iSonic 114 + 6.5 NCX, going back to my mowing the lawn roots. Loving the diversity in the sessions thus far: marginal light wind foiling, high wind foiling, sh!t your pants wave sailing, mowing the lawn - WA has it all!
Checked out main break in the afternoon, but the wind was very tricky, with some over mast high sets coming in, so like a lot of others, I sat that one out. Watching Koester sail in person is quite amazing: saw him make a first bottom turn back up to the peak on a logo - mast high wave. The wave must've been a bit dull for him, as he stalled at the peak, waiting for a bit more shape, and then proceeded to drop into the thing by doing a Flaka down the face: the guy is a wizard.
Day 7: Emails
Day 8, Session 7 - Marg's Main Break
Carnage. Another "small" day. Not really sure I want to know what a big day looks like here. Wind was tricky, super light on inside, but I was going to be sharing kit with a buddy again so I offered to go first. 86/5.3 again.
Timed my exit from the keyhole strategically as the wind was just waterstartable on the inside. Cruized very wide around the channel, as the shortage of wind on the inside meant that if you were caught in the wrong place you wouldn't be able to do much. On the outside, this "small" day still saw the occasional set of rolling swell that dwarfed the biggest swell I've seen on the outside at CB (except at CB there's no Surgeons Table bed rock for it to form into a point break on..). Again, I found myself thinking "this spot is scary".
Busy with kiters and not easy to catch bumps with it being so light and offshore. Caught a few shoulder rides and decided to call it before anything bad happened. Made a good exit at Option 2, despite more shorepound today.
Back in, the carnage began. Koester: injured knee; Boujmaa: broken extension, self rescue 30min paddle in; Hendrix Stone: broken UJ, swim in; Jaeger Stone: Broken clew, swim in; Local "PJ": broken foot; Other Local: Sail and mast in pieces.
Not sure I want to see what this spot can do on a big day. Next WA trip, I will definitely be keen to spend time up North. Talking to the Stone bros, who grew up in Geraldton, they said that spot is night and day easier, offers more forgiving, longer waves, and jumping. Sounds a bit more like my cup of tea! Marg's is still definitely a spot to be experienced though. That first day will go down as my gnarliest windsurf session ever, for the time being.
Heading up to Lancelin tomorrow.
- AdrienGrelon
- Posts: 1062
- Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 3:17 pm
AdrienG wrote:...sharing kit with a buddy again so I offered to go first...
Haha nice!
AdrienG wrote:...broken...carnage...
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LeopardSkin - Posts: 2729
- Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:01 am
- Location: on my phone
Yeah! awesome Adrien Sounds crazy! Not sure i'd sail therejust yet... lol
Good on ya!
Good on ya!
- Adrian L
- Posts: 193
- Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 6:01 pm
Hi Adrien, have enjoyed reading your posts, sounds insane. Glad you have had some good sessions, despite the terrifying experience at Margaret River, yikes! Looking forward to the next installment, stay safe.
- Simon
- Posts: 130
- Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 12:35 pm
28 posts
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