Peter Volwater in Cowaramup, WA

Location: Cowaramup, West Australia.

Date: Thursday 29th November 2012, epic day!

Words by: Peter Volwater

Images by: Col Leonhardt

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Having come to WA to spend the summer, who would have thought we would a taste of winter from a big front late November. In NW Europe the temperatures associated with this kind of weather would be a typical summer’s day but anyway…

The swell forecast exceeded 8 meters, raw roaring 40′s Indian ocean swell; the spot in the South West of WA that works in these conditions and the unusual WSW wind direction is Grace Town.

Grace Town is bay with legendary surf spots, with North and South points on each side of the bay. The South point is the break that can be ridden in SW-W wind from the side, so this is the spot where went to try and pick up the best waves of this forecast.

Testing out the his new Fanatic boards.

Peter Volwater

This area is also infamous for its many shark attacks, don’t worry about that while you’re planing around on a windsurfer….. although when you end up in the water, you can’t stop your mind from wondering.

The front that came over brought lots of rain and even some hail with, at times, gale force winds. In between the squals the weather would clear up and the sun would shine momentarily and the wind would drop and pick back up.

My new wave sail, the Avanti Fenix certainly had plenty of pressure that day, it was big at 5.2 but still handled well, until this massive 45 knot gust came that sent me to the inside, hiding. I found a nice place in a little corner out of the impact zone, where I would park up and wait. With that big of a sail I just had to find those more sunny and less windy moments, while I could have been easily on a 4.5 or even 4.0 in the gusts.

Peter Volwater, taking a big one.

And on the inside.

Regularly in Margaret River this is the sail I use the most, usually going out for the early and the late sessions and even in the regular sea breezes this size is right. Today it was more then two hands full!

There was a fine crew of sailors: John and Ian Pott, Ivan Zecca, Maciek Rutkowski and Karin Jaggi all getting their wave count high and shredding it up at this unbelievable peeling wave breaking on the rocks but with quite a wide channel. Out the back the waves where huge but not for riding, we had found our little break on the inside along the rocks. It was the first time I ever sailed this spot, although having surfed here several times before, so I knew the break well.

Peter Volwater

I find that this is the best size board for my weight, still floating but not too big to ride aggressively.

Col our windsurfing Australia photographer rode a few waves too after snapping the shots and he showed to know the bay really well, just playing with the waves.

Some places were looking absolutely nasty, like the North point break and around the corner hollow barrels pounding on the rocks and roughed coastline.

It was a different taste of conditions that the WA coast has on offer, a lot of places still to be explored; so we will do just that…..to be continued!

Cowaramup, WA

All images © Col Leonhardt/WindsurfAustralia.com

Australia has one wave sailing location that stands out from all the rest, it’s a location that really needs to be seen from the air to understand how remote it is, how beautiful the landscape can be and how the wind and waves line up to provide one of the best spots on the planet.

As an aerial photographer and windsurfer I have been trying to photograph Gnaraloo for six years but the cost of getting a helicopter to such a remote location was so excessive that I thought it would never happen. Gnaraloo has never been photographed from a helicopter;that was until this year whilst working with a pilot in another part of the north west he mentioned he would be near Gnaraloo during the best time for waves (September/October).

The next issue was fuel for the helicopter, no fuel provider would deliver out to the location so we ended up purchasing our own drums and drove them out there ourselves along some very rough tracks. Then we were ready to go.

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We ended up spending three days shooting/filming on this trip with a fair few incredible sailors including Al McLeod and Ben Newson from Australia, plus several other locals.

Gnaraloo handles a large swell very well, however on this trip the expected swell didn’t arrive so we had waves from waist high up to almost mast high in a more dangerous section of reef a little further upwind. The wind starts blowing from late August to about April with the best months being September, October, March and April. December/January/February is very windy with less swell but the heat can be unbearable.

While Gnaraloo is great for wave sailing it also has a flat water bay 12km further north if you are into slalom sailing and if you are after a gentle swim there is a tropical lagoon right in front of the campsite.

Gnaraloo is private property, a working sheep station to be exact and is about 1,200 km from Perth, a nice long drive with the last 100km over quite a rough track. Accommodation is either at the campsite for $20 per night, there is no fresh water, no power, there are toilets and showers though (bore water). Further down the track is the homestead which has small basic villa’s starting from $70 per night, these have water, power and basic amenities.

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What does Gnaraloo mean to…. Ben Newson.

“Gnaraloo to me means a long straight drive in the heat of the day without air-conditioning. Dodging wild animals that run or skip the gauntlet at night. Eating servo food and loading up on Redbull to keep you awake behind the wheel. It means bouncing along a dirt track hoping to make it to the point. It means scoring epic, barreling left hand waves with your mates and a swarm of blow ins and blow flies. It means you are guaranteed to break something and swim for your life. It means having a few cold beers after a sail and passing out under a starlit sky. It means that summer is just around the corner.”

• www.gnaraloo.com

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