In 2 weeks, I'm travelling to Port Douglas with the family to escape the colds of Melbourne.
I'm planning to bring my gear but would like to ask if anyone can help me with some info:
1 - Location: Im staying in Port Douglas and ideally I would like to sail close to town for family reasons (although I will have a hire car). What are the best spots? Can you sail 4mile beach, and if so, are there any restrictions to watch out for (tide, jellyfish, crocs, etc)?
2 - Wind Strength: The forecast and wind readings always seem to be 15 - 20knots. For me 20kts is fantastic while 15knots is disappointingly close...To make sure Im not dragging my gear up there for nothing, can anyone tell me if this actual the wind strength on the beach is lighter than the forecast / observations or are they pretty much right?
3 - Green Island: I have read all the reviews on Green Island and I would imagine the wind would be stronger here, if I was to go there is it OK to catch a ferry with your gear or do you need to make special arrangements. Also i understand tide is pretty important, when is the best tide? and will there be anyone else sailing?
Appreciate any information.
Adam
I'm hoping that you get a reply from someone that sails there, but I was up there a few weeks ago. Hopefully someone else will chime in.
You launch from the (4 mile beach) public access at Barrier Street. I think the other beach access near the town is a patrolled swimming part of the beach, but the access at Barrier street is quite good, even though its further from town. There is plenty of parking there too.
I think with all thing crocs, its good to avoid rivermouths, and I think this is to the far far south of the beach. That said, I don't think its a regular thing to see them in the winter time, unless they are sun baking on a riverbank.
The bloke I was talking to at the beach there was suggesting that it is fine to take your gear on the ferry to Green Island each day. Its an hour to Cairns, but if I go there next time I want to make sure I go to the island as it would surely be windy there. I stayed up at Kitesurfari for a week, which is an hour north of Cooktown (near Cape Bedford/Cape Flattery), and it blew all week, yet the following week in Cairns/Port Douglas it was nowhere as windy. Meanwhile it was still blowing a gale at Cape Flattery. This suggests that Green Island was windy the whole time.
As for the wind in Port Douglas, I am curious myself. When I was there it was a bit too light, but I think the weather pattern was a bit unusual. It was overcast and raining in Cairns, which I think is not typical for this time of year.
If nothing else, it is so nice to be somewhere warm for a while in winter.
Hey guys. Port Douglas is a fantastic place for a winter sailing vacation. Winds typically 15-20 on the mainland ( I say typically, cause at present we have nothing but miserable drizzle - onshore winds bringing a lot of moisture in off the coastal waters) with 20+ offshore - Green Island/Arlington Reef.
I will say this outright, Green Island is very much dependant on the tides. You will need 1.5m of water (Min) over the southern reef flats to get the best NM's. North of the Island, you can walk out past the coral flats and play in the deeper water but I would suggest taking booties and tie up to your mast base whilst sailing.
This will explain most points I think. It hasnt changed much since 2000. Weed fins are pretty much a must in the smaller tides and there is some big snot weed beds right out on the outer edges of the southern reef.
Gear - 90 -107lt boards generally with 6.0 - 7.8m sails. You should get away with these also up at Port - its just a lot lumpier sailing, being open ocean. Dont be afraid to bring larger boards - 115-120lt, they will certainly be used, especially if you are a larger lad like me.
I would like to say that we run solid 20knts all day, 7 days a week for 3-4 months, but it is definately in the laps of the wind gods, just like else where. But you are more likely to get more consistent wind up here in FNQ at this time of the year than any other.
If you guys need any more info, feel free to PM me. The more we get involved the better I reckon. Welcome to paradise Gents.
Hey Roy
Don't forget on your way back to Cairns from Port Douglas, you've got Yorkeys Knob and Clifton Beach. Both are great spots and might be accessible if it's not blowing at 4 mile beach. Also, I think these are a bit deeper. Have fun
Thanks for the info (and great map). From my reading of tide charts next week is not looking that good for Green Island (low tide is middle of the day for most of the week). I'll keep my eye on Met Eye for the next few days to see how the wind forecast plays out.
SE'rs are hitting Sunday....Big ridge on its way up the coast Roy. Hope to see you on the beach.
Thanks for all the advice and helpful tips, I was up in Pt Douglas last week sailed 3 days in winds from 15kts to 25kts. To be fair it was a little gusty at times but the warm weather certainly was a welcome change from the 11 degs in Melbourne!
Also big thanks to the 'Parentalrite' & FNQ GPS crew who invited me out to Green Island on Wednesday. Unfortunately, family duties meant I couldn't take up the offer but I did have a good sail in Pt Douglas in the afternoon (whilst maintaining family harmony in the morning
). Green Island is definitely on the hit list for another trip.
Finally if anyone is flying to FNQ with gear, I flew with Virgin and took 1 board, 1 sail and rig in a Flying Objects Windsurf Roller bag. The total weight was less than 23 kgs so I didn't incur any additional baggage charges (you can go to 32 kgs but if you are flying economy you will be get charged extra, also its pretty easy to "support" / lift the board on the scales to shave of a few kgs). I then strapped the gear to the hire car roof with a FCS SUP soft rack which also worked very well (although I did get my wife to drive the car around the corner from the hire depot before strapping the gear onto the car!)
