Thanks guys! Dave, I can't believe how much you could sail in the summer here if you lived in Perth or its surroundings, and had a bit of flexibility with work around that time. I think after a 10 day trip here, Port tack would feel as natural as Starboard.
Day 9, Session 8 - "Lanno" (Lancelin)Fun fun fun. Arrived in Lanno around 11am, white caps everywhere already. After a ghastly experience at Isabella's Cottage "the best coffee shop in Lancelin", off to beach at the main jetty launch.
The setup at Lanno is 500m of flat water, out to the reef and nice rolling breaking waves. Wind gets a bit lighter once you get out to the waves. Based on how windy it seemed, I thought 5.3 would be a bit much, but I guess the air is thinner here due to it being around 30 degrees c. 5.3 was actually just right, on the 86 again.
Out at the reef, the setup was super playful and fun; finally the fun-danger-intensity ratios were in a really good place! The wave setup was like a big brother version of udder land, with true side to side off wind, and bath warm water. Caught a few really fun ones, namely one that offered probably my biggest wave windsurfing drop yet! It wasn't a super clean face by any means, but you could catch something every ride in, so the whole setup made for an awesome training ground.
Called it much shorter than I wanted, would have gladly stayed out there for hours, but I had some deep cuts on my feet from carrying buddy up the rocks at Marg's, that weren't feeling too hot on the non stick of the board!
Back at the beach, sailors more privy to Cape Town standards found the conditions poor to mediocre.
by BC standards, however, a day like that would go down as the session of the year, to be talked about for years to come, just like '06.
That's probably it for my water time here, sadly. WA is a pretty special place, and I only experienced a handful of the countless spots on offer. For anyone considering a trip here, I would suggest a minimum of 10 days. 3 days in Lancelin, 3 days in Geraldton/Coronation, and 3 days in Gnaraloo would make for a wicked trip if the forecast lined up. You would be graduating thr difficulty of sailing nicely. Actually, a week in each spot would probably be better
I'll definitely be back at some point to do exactly that.
Flying out tonight. See you guys on the water soon.