VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hi all,

I am new to this part of the world (well, arrived last summer) and have yet to set a foot on vancouver Island. I was planning to change that next week, and bring my windsurfing stuff. Do Nitinat or Nimpkish work at this time of year yet? And is it even possible to get to Nitinat in a regular vehicle?

On the same subject: Would anyone like to come along or show me around the Island a bit or both?

Cheers

-Felix

hey welcome to bc. yeah the lakes will be getting breezy late april but they are fing cold! the straits will be more reliable for a few weeks yet though. you can look in the sailing log-group stats for when spots are getting sailed.
To your last point, i think with gas going up all the time there will be a lot of chat one the message board for carpools so just keep an eye out!

May is a great month for the Nat you just have to time a heat wave, hahahahaha, I crack me up.....heatwave.....this year.....hahahaha, yes, I usually get a week of great sailing in between now and the May long weekend. Nimpkish is wickedly cold, well the Nat too but not as bad it seems to me.

Check the forecast pages for everywhere else and the Port Alberni vs. Tofino weather/temps to judge if the Nat might go. Cold Tofino and 20+ degrees in Port with a westerly flow in Juan de Fuca is a good bet. The road to the Nat is just fine, maybe leave the zero clearance Beemer parked but otherwise no issue, just drive slow, take a spare in case, keep the lights on, watch for logging trucks, no probs. There is a post on this site on how to get there with pix and a step by step. It will be cold at night so take an extra blankie or snuggle up to a bear.

KUS wrote: Cold Tofino and 20+ degrees in Port with a westerly flow in Juan de Fuca is a good bet.

Everything Kus says is spot on execpt the 'good bet'. If you get those conditions its the closest to a sure thing there is in wind sports!

The Strait is pretty mellow place this time of year, the water is as warm as it gets, there are very few hazards at Gordons Beach, its a good place to get your feet wet and is flat close in but has some good swell if you go out far enough. I suspect it goes off more often than the Nat this time of year. But staying at the Nat with only one or two other campers is a real treat too!

thanks for sharing some of the local knowledge guys! See you on the water!

Good Morning,

So far this year at Niitinaht we have actually had some good days, even thought the "conditions" wouldn't have predicted wind. Today is another case in point, snow everywhere else yesterday, but not here, and we have sun this morning, it is truly it own microclimate. The road was freshly graded on Thursday so driving up would be ok in a car at the moment with no worries,

Chow
Dale
KSD

http://www.nitinaht.ca/Webcam.htm rocks Dale ... With the 'zoom' (fox) I can bring up a clear full screen image ...