There are two spots in Exmouth - the Sea Front and Duck Pond. The wind and tide conditions dictate which will be best at any particular time.
In general the
* Duck Pond is better around High Tide with winds coming from the north.
* Sea Front is better around Low Tide with winds coming from the south.
EDGE Watersports - regularly update a “Daily Report” and where and when is likely to be best depending on conditions and tide. Great for picking up not only when its good but also WHY so you can better understand weather (also on Facebook )
Exmouth NCI Weather Station - under-reads if the wind has any North in it so check the Duckpond one above too. Can be offline and showing old data at times so check the error at the top - if it’s showing red and “4 hours since last update”. Click on the dials to see a history.
The Harbour Master has received complaints from boaters and skippers of larger vessels about Kitesurfers getting too close and/or hindering vessels transiting the navigation channel.
(The navigation channel starts at the safe water mark out to sea and runs along the sea front and up into the estuary).
On a busy summer day it can be intimidating for skippers trying to transit the channel when faced with a large number of kitesurfers (or a large number of any vessels for that matter) and they may have no idea of your intentions or even if you’ve seen them. You may know that you’re going nowhere near them, but they may not know that.
To keep good relations please remember
KEEP WELL CLEAR of the swimming area (between the flags)
The seafront navigation channel is only suitable for experienced kitesurfers.
Keep an eye out to windward so you are not surprised at a vessel sneaking up behind you.
Kitesurfers must keep out of the way of larger and less manoeuvrable vessels as if they are “Restricted in their room to manoeuvre” then that trumps any “Power v Sail” or “Starboard Tack” in the right of way stakes.
We can turn on a dime and need only a few inches of water so just be nice and give everyone a bit of room.
Don’t pass close in front of a vessel even if you think you will clear it. What if you fall or drop the kite?
If you are passing to stern then don’t cut it too close. Sure that wake looks tempting to launch off but if you cut it too close all the skipper sees is a kitesurfer hurtling directly towards them.
How about signal that you’ve seen a vessel with a friendly wave then take a short tack or two to give them plenty of room - it’s the nice thing to do.