50-60 knots at the Prom. Has to be at least 40 here. Havn’t seen it so southerly this strong for years.

We were all reved up to go at dawn this morning but the wind had not arrived. I took the rescue boat down while I had the chance and played around with some fins and boards. Still no wind at 10am (light northerly). Then a mate rang from Melbourne and said, “Don’t unhook your trailer from your car, it will get blown away!” Oh-oh. Its on the way.

It arrived with a BANG about 20 minutes later. Very SSW. Spray, water willy-willys and sand everywhere!

The tide was already rushing in but a few die-hards had a go with 5.8’s and 5’s. Just too windy with the tide so high. Too much chop. Can’t run close enough to the bank. Too shallow. Ther is 2 foot chop 20 meters from the bank!

I thought I would just have a bit of a fun run to check it out. Played it safe with a 3.7 KA Kaos Wave sail on my 47cm board with a 280 slalom fin.

It was ok to sail and would have been great on flat water but the chop on the fast angle was diabolical. I just could not push it at all. Still managed a peak of 35.9 kts though. Came back to the carpark and escaped smartly before the tide got too high and I was stuck.

I am sitting back at the house now waiting for the tide to go out. If this wind hangs in, and it is forcast to, it will be sensational later this afternoon. There were a few people trying to sail with small wave sails when I left but I thought I would stay warm and save my energy.