I'm new... need advice for windsurfing in sydney

Hi averybody,
I'm new in this forum.

I'm an italian fella that just moved to sydney and I'm desperately looking for a nice place for windsurfing.
I don't have my own gear and I don't even have a car to hire and carry the windsurf around.
So, what I'm looking for is a place where I can hire and use the gear in the same spot.
I did my search online and I found only two places in sydney. Balmoral beach and Rose bay.

Balmoral seems good but as I'm living in bondi beach it's not easy for me to get there.

Rose bay maybe it's better as I can get there in 10 minutes with my bicicle... but I
couldn't find any info on windsurf gear hiring. There must be something as I read that there is a sailing club and I think they do windsurfing lesson.

Do you guy have any more info for me?

Of course if you have any other place to go, your advice will be very welcome.

Thanks
Gnacco

Hi David
it really seems like Balmora is the best place for me.

I had a look at windsurfnsnow, but unfortunately I don't have a car and as I will be staying here for 10 months I don't think it's worth it to buy one.

I'm also thinking of a second option:
As rose buy is very close to where I live, maybe I can buy some cheap second hand windsurf gear and find a place in rose bay where I can keep it. So in this case I can go whenever I want and I can save the money that I would spend for hiring gear and/or hiring a car to get the gear on the spot.

This Sunday I'm going to go to rose bay to figure out if there is any kind of windsurfing parking.

Thanks very much

Gnacco

I haven't thought about that... this is gonna be definitely my third option :-)
Thanks Dan!

Or you could just knick "skinny" Dans gear and take it for a spin... Last I've heard Dans local break is North Bondi. Unless it's blowing a NEer in which case it seems Dan abandons his family in favor of Wanda beach.

But seriously, giving Windsurf and Snow a call is a good start. They have plenty of great used good value gear (both boards and sails). I am sure Sam or Chris will be able to hock you up with some equipment. If you stay for longer you are probably better off buying some gear... It will be well worth your while over summer.

If you need to hire a car try Bayswater Car Rental in Kings Cross (they are based on William Street). You can get a 1 year old manual Toyota for about $150 a week there (or that's what it was when I last rented a car there). Probably the cheapest in Sydney unless you can get a corporate rate with on of the big agencies.

Sydney is great place to sail over summer... while it's not as constant as WA, when we do get a good summer it's just as good if not better given the proximity of good wave sailing to the metropolitan life style.

No matter were you go on the East Coast most people are happy to see other people on the water! Very different to WA let alone Europe.

Thanks guys... I have been to rose bay last sunday.
The cost for the membership and storage at the sailing club it's a bit expensive and the beach and the water was quite dirty... a bit disappointing.

I'm not sure yet... but probably I will choose Balmoral as my main windsurfing spot.

Windsurf and Snow it's cool... I will keep that in mind for sure. Thanks

About the Car hiring, does anybody knows if there is some one who has cars with roof racks? That would be very handy.

Cheers
Gnacco

You don't need to have sailing club membership to sail there... I believe it's only if you want to use their facilities and storage...

Regarding water quality, Rose Bay can be a bit icky on low tide. The real problem is the further you go up the harbor the worse it gets...



Try bayswatercarrental.com.au . They are pretty much the cheapest company around when it comes to renting a car ad-hock. They have Corolla Hatch backs which will fit a board, sails, masts and booms when you fold the seats back... done the many times over when my van was in the shop for a service.

Yeah perhaps buying a car like a Falcon panelvan or stationwagon will be the go. I had a look on carsales and it looks like you can pick up a half decent one for around $1500 to $1800. Parking would probably be an issue where you live. It probably depends on how long you are over here too.

Consider hooking up with the NSW Uni windsurfing club. I'm not sure if its only open to students. They are a friendly bunch and seem pretty keen. They had a lot of gear, most of it appeared to be older slalom gear.