I've been checking the wind on the NSW graphs daily for a while... only 5 weeks until we finally make the move to Sydney.
Is Gerroa always windy, every time I check the wind its got more wind than everywhere else around Sydney... and plenty more than down here.
How far is Gerroa from Sydney... 1 1/2 hours or so???
Cheers
Depends where you live in Sydney. It'd be an hour and a half from southern suburbs.
But yes, it's well recognised, the seabreezes are stronger and more likely to come in at Gerroa.
Tony, take a look at www.nswwavesailing.org to see how good (and windy) Gerroa is!
Gerroa is worth the drive if there is a North Easter airflow / Seabreeze and the weather is clear over Kangaroo Valley (inland from Gerroa). Also, if there is a 5 to 10 knt North Eastern showing in Kiama around 9am it's almost guaranteed to be windy in Gerroa.
If you add to that a Southerly groundswell the conditions can be all time.
In summer though you often get thunderstorms forming over Kangaroo Valley that move out to the coast early to mid afternoon. When that happens the wind usually shuts down. If that happens it can worth checking the beaches between Shellharbour and Wollongong. That stretch of coast is often spared by the storms and the wind sticks around.
Forget Gerroa in a Southerly though... there are better options further North.
tony,
where will you be living in Sydney? As I'm on the northern side of the harbour & despite Gerroa being about 160km from central Sydney it takes 2 hours (with no delays). Saying that Gerroa can be 15 knots NE by 11am and will usually blow until 6pm when it will turn more north and get a bit gusty.
Depending on how much time you have and whether you like to see your wife/family(!) then Botany Bay at Kyeemagh just past the airport is a great option in NE or Wanda (Cronulla) if you want waves.
Northern Beaches/Long Reef gets quality waves however the NE seabreeze is usually 5-10 knots less than Botany Bay and further south.
Have a look at the earlier posts from the NSWWA con'est last Sat at Gerroa. 2-6 ft waves and 20-25 knots!
On a positive note, Long Reef/Collaroy scores in S/SE and even ESE which is not very good anywhere else.
try a new post when you relocate from mexico if you need more info.
Thanks for the info... sounds like it could be a regular trek.
Ben, I've checked the site and it looks great, just wasn't sure how often its on at Gerroa.
Tom, I'll be living out near Ryde... so nowhere near anything really! Definitely looking for waves although I'll check Botany Bay if theres nothing else on offer.
Be glad to move north of the border... 18 months in Vic is about 18 months too long, but if I was located around Torquay area I may have had a different view of this place.
I send the Gerroa wind data to Seabreeze from my weather station. I put the station up a few years ago because the wind at Gerroa isn't always the same as is reported at nearby BOM stations.
Gerroa has weird winds due to the topography - it's not unusual to have SE winds blowing at the northern end of 7 Mile Beach when a Sou'Westerly is blowing everywhere else. Ive also seen days when Point Perpendicular and Kiama show no wind while Gerroa is Nuking from the NE ... This is also true for rain - in the last month when it was as wet as in Sydney we only had light drizzle - I reckon the Illawarra Escarpment has a lot to do with this.
During the windy months of August/September, we also get some of the strongest winds on the East Coast, the record gust is 140KPH on 27 September 2009 and the Highest Average over a 10 minute period was 138.0 km/h 05 September 2010 - all from the West. That's almost 75 knots or 86 MPH ...
Gerroa is defanately a special place, I'd sailed there a few times when I lived in Canberra but never really seen it for what it was. I moved here about march this year and have sailed more in this short amount of time then in the last 2 year combined. Not all sailing has been at Gerroa but there is so much good sailing to be had all around this area, Flatwater, speed, bump and jump and waves all within 40mins of where I live. Gerroa does seem to have a weather system all of it's own, if there is just a hint of a nor'easter on Seabreeze we are almost 100% in for a good sail. Is it an epic wave, No not really but on it's day it is amazing...but it's fun always.
Worth a visit for sure...see ya on the water.
Ok, rub it in JH.
Sunday, given the cloud/possible light rain, what is your Gerroa NE forecast??
I can prob skip work but got lots on with the fam anyway.
I always reckoned that the best day at gerroa was the first noreaster after a southerly, never as gusty as day 2 or 3 plus some soueast swell with any luck, so tomorrow could be good.
