The tide must be quieter at Bulcock beach and Happy Valley now. I remember when my kids were little we used to take them to Bulcock were they wouldn't get knocked over by waves. We put floaties on them and watched them bob out to sea.
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..
where you winging today DJ or sailing.?
I was sailing yesterday and sailing + winging today. Lots of windsurfers out today at the new bar!
We were at Bulcock beach yesterday and the new opening is now a lot bigger by the looks, the old entrance is silting up.
what's the verdict on min tide for this spot?
next weekend the wind is up but the tide is low. not super low. 0.72m L - 1.19m H
Select to expand quoteFreedo said..
Yesterday around midday.
Wow nice photos! What a way to showcase the new bar 
Yesterday I performed a centreboard survey of Pumicestone Passage and the new Bribie Bar. Sailing in the hours around a big high I didn't find bottom once and came away more in love with my new Wally LT and also this transformed paddock.
Breeze was 15 SE, and launching from the picnic shed it was an easy tack over to the new bar, marked in blue as Google can't keep up. Played there for a while just laughing at how much fun carving up 1 metre waves in new green water can be. Then explored south past Pelican Waters and north to the old Bar and Happy Valley where the waves were just as much fun. Due to a bit of recent body damage you will see I did not go out far, but will next time. A couple of decent size ships appearing right in front of me certainly woke me up.
There are still plenty of big embedded logs around, and plenty of sea grass to wrap around upright fins, but the water movement and colour made the shallow bits visible.
The LT shallow fin and board shape are really at home here, I think our Golden Pond is going to become more popular for a while. Can't wait to try it in a northerly.
Thought this may be of interest. RQYS in Bris just publicized some MSQ info on a survey of the bar. You will need to go to the MSQ site to get the links to work, but very interesting how serious the authorities are taking all of this.
I been sailing at GB last 2 weeks, high tide no worries, low tide- sail at your own risk at hitting the sandbanks etc. I'm trying to be patient with the new bar, changing conditions etc but .........
In a similar vein, Happy Valley / Bullcock Beach now has some short speed runs in a SE'er.
Given all of the sandbars that are forming, and probably still a lot of sand-movement from the new bar, Happy Valley may become a pond.
Is it likely to silt up behind that middle sandbank? Would most of the water go out through that southern channel leaving the northern parts to become a large area of shallow sandbanks?
Select to expand quoteMarkSSC said..
Is it likely to silt up behind that middle sandbank? Would most of the water go out through that southern channel leaving the northern parts to become a large area of shallow sandbanks?
If it does that its higher tide sailing only
.
Its still constantly changing. Lots of nice clean water pushing further south in the passage. Fun times in the tinny.
Just an update on the new opening - I had a good session there yesterday (Sunday) in the SE'er, on the incoming tide. The entrance is forming nicely for wave-jumping !
The southern end of the entrance has extended further south past the tower. Lots of trees/branches submerged in the end of the sandspit. Not real safe to sail too close.
The northern end has a longer west-extending sand spit - this is causing the swell to peel along it for quite some distance. There are some trees/stick close to the shoreline, so dont get too close. The waves form nicely and aren't too dumpy. And it you want glassy water, you can sail behind the sandspit.
With the wider opening than previous sessions, the out-flow current is quite a bit less -> the incoming tide was able to make its way in (which wasn't the case previously). Jumping is gumby-tack (nailed my first backloop on my gumby tack) and riding is backside (its good for one or two turns).
Launched from the lifeguard tower, then sailed upwind. I did a rec'y for sailing out from the cadets - on previous occasions it was possible to sail out from the shoreline, now there is a bit of shallow that you need to walk over.
For future sessions I think my preference will be to launch from the cadets. Best wind is S-SSE vs as it goes more SE the waveriding is too onshore'y.
Select to expand quotemathew said..
Just an update on the new opening - I had a good session there yesterday (Sunday) in the SE'er, on the incoming tide. The entrance is forming nicely for wave-jumping !
The southern end of the entrance has extended further south past the tower. Lots of trees/branches submerged in the end of the sandspit. Not real safe to sail too close.
The northern end has a longer west-extending sand spit - this is causing the swell to peel along it for quite some distance. There are some trees/stick close to the shoreline, so dont get too close. The waves form nicely and aren't too dumpy. And it you want glassy water, you can sail behind the sandspit.
With the wider opening than previous sessions, the out-flow current is quite a bit less -> the incoming tide was able to make its way in (which wasn't the case previously). Jumping is gumby-tack (nailed my first backloop on my gumby tack) and riding is backside (its good for one or two turns).
Launched from the lifeguard tower, then sailed upwind. I did a rec'y for sailing out from the cadets - on previous occasions it was possible to sail out from the shoreline, now there is a bit of shallow that you need to walk over.
For future sessions I think my preference will be to launch from the cadets. Best wind is S-SSE vs as it goes more SE the waveriding is too onshore'y.
A group of sailors from Wello sailed the entrance about a month ago in a SEer, again on the rising tide. The tidal flow was strong, but eased closer to the high tide. The water state cleaned up as the current eased. Once the tide turned it very quickly became unsailable with the waves against current.
The ramps out the back were logo to mast high. The big sets sometimes closed out across the entrance, so timing your run out was essential.
There was good backside riding on the northern side of the entrance and some good front side on reformed waves on the inside on the south side of the entrance.
We launched from the motor boat club boat ramp. The launch involved about a 30m walk across a shallow bar in the middle of the passage.
^ Great lil article. As kids we ran amok on Bribie n in the Passage. Hard to believe the Ol lighthouse is now in the water. Used to be about 200m inland.
Bribie Island Northern tip has been shrinking ever since the Govt allowed dredging of Moreton Bay Marine Park.
They SOLD all the sand to make Port of Brisbane and Sunshine coast Airport upgrade.
SOLD from a Publicly owned Marine Park??
Yeah, look that one up!
^ Looking at the water colour in those pics, its first part of Run in tide.
Easy to see where all the slow moving brown 'stagnant' areas will be.
Lots of sand moving around.
Anyone tried a sail or wing on a skimboard?
I wish they hadn't planted all those sheoaks on Bribie trying to 'stabilise' it over the years. They are just going to end up in the water.
The aerial photos seem to show a lot of brown water coming out from the housing canals. This is tidal, but I can't help thinking about all the sludge that will cover the golden sand that made the water clean and a brilliant blue or green colour. If I wanted to sail in brown water then why not just sail out on Lake Cootharaba where it is a dirty shade of brown all the time?
Mark we always get a layer of silt from rain events.
But the times they are a Changin..
35years of fun on crystal blue water may be over for our normal location.
You like skimboarding??
Plenty of sand around.
low tide pattern is frustrating at the moment. can't wait for it to swap the so big high is during the day.
