Lonely Windsurfing Planet
WHY "THE SHALLOW" ROCKS
By James Campbell November 30th, 2001
State/Country : Western Australia
e-mail address : tabou21@hotmail.com
Name of location : Shoal Bay
Country : Australia
Date of visit (s) : lots and lots
WHY "THE SHALLOW" ROCKS...Hmmm, well where do I start. Well at the moment, it is crazy!! There is water being lifted off the sea 20 meters high and being carried off into never never land. As with any windsurfable easterly, the bay is as flat as you could imagine, then head over the other end and you have perfect conditions for anything "spock like." The other huge advantage of this place is you never need to water start, I will probably learn to Carve Jibe before Water starting, as soon as you fall off you stand up, beach start and give it another go. One thing, don't come here with a fin bigger than 30cm, because you will be playing "who can sail with out moving an inch." If you want deep water sailing, go to the deep end and have one of the most testing sails of your life, it has been said many times that if you can sail here you can sail anywhere in the world, and hey it must be true, my friend came fourth in the world mirror sailing championships. Summer is better, because the winds are more constant, but winter is just as windy, just flukier, though it has never stopped me. Despite it's great conditions, I rarely see other sailors down there, because they are all die hard speed sailors with huge fins, huge sails and miniature boards who aren't having fun unless there it is a force 8-9. If you love freeride sailing in good winds or want to learn something that requires falling off, and you do not want the embarrassment off screwing up in front of 20 other sailors, this is the place for you!!! Albany, WA, right hand side on your way out to Quaranup.
Perth is the closest airport and you can fly from there to Albany, only one hour, or you can drive for about 4-5 hrs. from Albany your head out along Frenchmans bay road to till you get to the Quaranup turn off on the left as you head to Goode beach and the on your left about half way along is the turn off into the bay. If you wanna go to the other end of the bay, drive around Little Grove (also along Frenchmans bay road) till you get to the
yacht club.
About the author;
James Campbell is your average 15 year old windsurfing addict. He didn't realize the windsurfing potential until starting the sport after seeing Robbie Radis flogging along in 7ts.
The learning curve was faster than normal and I was jumping all over the place within my first year because there was no need to flounder around learning to jibe, uphaul and waterstart. If you have a small fin and good beach start come here and spend hours on the water never swimming at all. When I am older I will be designing boards for these condition and anything else that isn't Maui, I am sure of it.
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