VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Yesterday I was talking to Jack the Gordon s web cam host, he said that there have been some issues lately with windpeople that have the neighbors restless. He said that lately driveways have been blocked and windpeople have even parked in residents driveways. I talked to a few at the launch site and this was confirmed. Windpeople have also been seen cutting through residents property I imagine that it's kiters trying to get to the creek to launch, not picking on kiters here just no reason for a windsurfer to go there. There have been grumblings with the neighbors about talking to highways to put up no parking signs and pulling the webcam from Jacks. It is probably just the usual grumblings just would hate even the chance of losing this spot and wanted to let everyone know about this conversation.
Lets all be respectful and keep this site open.

Kiters. If you dont already, go under the bridge and hike down tugwell. 2' of water at the deepest spot. No slippery rocks with waves crashing on them, and no yards to go through. You can also park away from the crowded area.

Holy crap I head off to some foreign land for a couple of year and things starting heading into the poubelle at my favourite sailing spot

maybe I could courrier over some french wine to these neighbours to smooth things over a bit?

I suggest someone from the wind-crowd go door-to-door to meet face-to-face with the grumpy neighbours, determine their greivances and make some Gordo-rules for all wind-junkies to keep them happy... easy to say here in grenoble .

bonne chance et bon week-end

Vivre la Gordos!

cheers, Mike

Thanks for bringing this up John. This problem comes up every year but our numbers have been growing. I've heard the complaints from the residents too and I think we have to be very careful or we could lose access to this beach. It would only take a few of the residents to complain to the Ministry of Transport for them to put up no parking signs along that stretch of road, similar to what they did at Otter Pt.

Most of it is common sense. Don't block driveways, don't cut through properties and leave some room for people to get out of their driveways safely. I think 5-6ft of space is enough. It's a very dangerous corner for residents and for us visitors. If you park in front of or very close to a driveway the residents have warned me that the vehicle will be towed, which I think is a great idea. I think the residents should put up some cones or blocks so that people don't park in the wrong spot.

I think we should approach the Ministry of Transport (or whoever is responsible for the access/roadway) as a group and tell them how important that spot is to us. Maybe we can get more parking further to the E along the road, or clear out the beach access area for some parking spots. Ideas and suggestions would be good...

Also as Morewind says, talking to the residents about the problem would help a lot. But if we continue like we are doing then we could lose access to this beach, which would really suck.

EDIT: I sent an email to Jack (the Gordon's webcam host) to invite him into this conversation. He's a good guy to have on our side and would hopefully pass our ideas to the local residents.

dave

Thanks for posting this, John.

Gordon's is one of the South Island's best summer sailing spots. We need to work with the locals on a fix for this situation before we lose this precious spot. Common sense should tell us that cutting through private land or blocking the driveway of a local is a great way of aggravating the neighbours and risking a ban on parking near Gordon's. We need to self-police this area closer. Maybe we could draw a letter up to the locals and get some sort of dialogue going before it's too late? Perhaps even laminating some rules for parking and etiquette and posting them on the fence post at Gordo's could help raise better awareness and appease the locals. The odd case of beer or wine left on strategic back doors may not hurt either .

Let's sort this out before we lose this great spot!

(Edit) I just saw Dave's post after submitting this.

Working on it from the CRD and MOT front this morning in fact.

Some great ideas. This problem also already arose last year. I like one or a small group of us going door to door. If we can leave a summary of our efforts on a paper when people are not home this would help and then self-police.

Perhaps we can place BWD community no parking advisories in a patio post block at the edges of the two or three driveways with permission from the neighbors to show our support for their plight.

In the meantime I am evaluating the possibility of having the opposite roadside ditch backfilled to permit parking....this would be safer/better except for of course crossing the roadway. Also potential access to the lot for vehicles, not sure how that would work but worth looking into.

I think we need to bear in mind this only is an issue for 2 months and then only the busy 4-8 days but yeah, things have been busier with kiters also accessing the site. They might easily and in large numbers park in the pullout north of Tugwell and walk through the creek as Marty suggested since the other option is killing their feet/ankles on the beach rocks walking up to the spit....DFO probably has something to say about THAT tho
Cutting through properties is a huge bonehead move, nobody should be doing that. I moved my rig when tempted to park in a driveway and that too is a serious bonehead move We get a little frantic at times when we need that fix, help by patrolling the area when you are in the rigging area, thanks all

EDIT: ALSO PLEASE PARK CLOSE TOGETHER, LEAVE JUST ENOUGH ROOM TO BE ABLE TO OPEN TAILGATES ETC. BUT NOT 3/4 OF A CAR LENGTH!! I have voiced this quite often, we can then fit probably 30% more cars

They might easily and in large numbers park in the pullout north of Tugwell and walk through the creek as Marty suggested since the other option is killing their feet/ankles on the beach rocks walking up to the spit....DFO probably has something to say about THAT tho

I always walk through the creek to kite, but I have wondered about potential DFO finger wagging regarding this. Is there a possibility to build a trail through the bush on the far side of the Creek, or is that private land? That would be great - no wet feet/gear or potentially sad fish.

on very crowded days it would be nice etiquette to leave some room for a 'dropoff zone' right at the entry point to the rigging area. This way people who do have to park far away can easily drop their gear off and then park. Another safety issue is just walking along the side of the road with your gear hugging the parked cars as traffic screams by. At least with a drop zone you could mitigate this risk a little.

one thing ive seen there that sketched me out is someone using a driveway as a turnaround to park.. that corner is pretty dangerous - plus now we hear some homeowners are feeling intruded upon. I like to do a drive by and eye up a nice parking spot then head to the north side of the bridge to pull off and turn around.

Who owns the piece of property we actually access the beach through?

I like the idea of dropping off gear, then heading to park when it is busy. Too bad we don't have a golf cart to shuttle people back to the beach.

sorry, i think a drop zone is unecessary and would just have more potential for an accident with cars pulling in/out. Its just like Dougs beach in Washington, just grab what you need and hike it down. Its not far and theres no excuse to cram in and block someones driveway. (but then you realize you have the wrong mast. then you forgot your harness.. etc... !)
ps nice sign!

Do I look like a Sherpa, DWD? Unfortunately I'm one of those forgetful sailor who can't decide what to rig. I'll have bring a wheelbarrow next time.

Also I think it would be a good idea if we come up with some set of simple rules about parking and post them somewhere on the fence at the rigging area.

1. That would remind us how we want to deal with that
2. That would inform new comers
3. That would show locals that we care

Last time I was at the G, I was late so I parked down by the bridge. Seemed a good spot. As I was walking up to the access I recall thinking that the driveways were poorly defined and not marked at alll. One drive was so odd I had to look at it for a while, to figure it out. Country driveways are often like that. I think it would be prudent for those areas to be clearly marked ie where a driveway edges are with enough curve to get in and out for the owner. These action should be under taken by the visiting parties, that being the wind people. I know 2 things only, If someone parked in my driveway or blocked it, there would be a tow truck there in short order. And private property is private.

Thank you John, for starting the Topic. I am Jack, my wife and I have hosted the Gordon's Cam for the past 6 years.

The issues that have been relayed to me by my Co-owners of the property which the access site divides are as follows.

1. Parking accross driveways
2. Not leaving enough space to safely leave their properties or enter their properties.
3. Trespassing on the property by cutting through the lots to get access to the beach.
4. Leaving garbage behind, ie: drink containers, fast food wrapers etc. which we have been cleaning up.

We as owners enjoy watching your skills and enjoyment of the area. We have concerns as to your safety parking on the corner, climbing on the rocks at higher tides and how to assist if there is an accident on the water.

I have read some of your ideas and will begin a discussion with the other owners. We have marked the driveways in the past with cones only to have them disappear.

No owners have given permission to turn around, Park, or enter their property.

Walking through the creek I do not see as a problem as the Tidal Boundry is the bridge. Therefore the creekbed from the bridge is considered beach.

I hope through Respect and Co-operation we can avoid more drastic measures to resolve these problems.

Respectfully, Jack