VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I have to be in Bellingham WA Sat and Eugene OR Monday. I was thinking of checking out some places along the coast to kite on Sunday and maybe Tuesday before heading home.

I realize the wind may not cooperate and I'm happy to scout out some decent areas for later trips.

Having just moved to Victoria I have no idea what would be the top spots to ride on the WA and OR coast. Any suggestions?

My other option is to head to Hood River and check out the maddness there...

Vik wrote:Eugene OR Monday

Florence or further south. Check out the Forecast page for the wind model for the central and south coast closer to the dates. Also check out NOAA, although they tend to under forecast (opposite of EC):
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/eka/marine/
" Florence Oregon to Point Saint George "

and for da' Hood check out www.thegorgeismygym.com

Sounds like it will be windy there this weekend and the water has hit 22 C!!!! Bathtub time!

This is a good Gorge forecast site:

http://www.wind-speed.net/cgi-shl/09-wi ... orecast.pl

Do you guys have any recommendations for good beaches to sail on the WA/OR coast?....let's put the wind next weekend aside for a sec as I 'll be driving down as far as Euegne OR in any case so I may as well scout out good locations even if the wind isn't blowing there this weekend.

Eugene isn't exactly "close" to the Ocean, but it is at the junction of I5 and 126 to Florence. So just follow that out to the Florence jetty and there you are at a spot. I think most of the wind this year has happened on the Southern Oregon coast (Gold Beach - Pistol River) several hours south, don't think I saw many (if any) Flo' sessions logged.

Lots of local kiters there at Florence Jetty, lighter winds maybe than Southern Oregon, but a fabulous set-up for kiting. When you turn into the South Jetty access (at top of hill after you drive all the way thru Florence town and cross the bridge), you'll go thru a pay-to-park location at the park entrance - you do not need to stop/pay as you are going on through to park on the jetty which is outside their area. Jetty is a fairly long drive through the park and they do give speeding tickets. One of the few places that ever made me wish I kited - it's that good!!

Geoffy wrote:wish I kited

Treason! Blasphemy!

Geoffy wrote:
wish I kited


Treason! Blasphemy!

Busted Nanmoo ... but really, check out the signature below - and do I really need one more thing, a whole bunch more expensive toys, and even less time to work on my house than now --- hmmm, maybe for that trip to Tobago I might, where it's never windy enuf to sail that perfect wave.

Thanks very much!...I'll probably check out HR and Florence Jetty - that's a good fit for my schedule.

I'm hoping to drive down to LA in late September and I'll see what's shaking further down the coast on that trip.

Wind was light in Hood River the day I showed up..cool as well...felt like I was at Nitnaht...lol....

Check out video I shot at the South Florence Jetty.....such an awesome spot....unfortunately not a human in sight on the beach and my sense of self preservation made me decide not to kite alone in a new spot....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsTxBVXOBTg

There was one windsurfer ripping it up on the inside of the jetty, but I couldn't see any place I wanted to self launch a kite and it was such a small area it didn't look nearly as much fun as the open ocean since runs would be really short.

Oh well....I'm definitely going back there with some friends. Thanks for the tip.

Are you SURE you were in the right place???

You are in the open ocean and there's a mile long and quarter that wide of pure gentle sand to self launch, with rocks/sunken logs to tie off bar upwind of the launch (I think that's how it works for you guys.)

Oh well, if it was good I am very surprised there were not other kiters there also.
Geoff

Geoffy wrote:Are you SURE you were in the right place???

You are in the open ocean and there's a mile long and quarter that wide of pure gentle sand to self launch, with rocks/sunken logs to tie off bar upwind of the launch (I think that's how it works for you guys.)

Oh well, if it was good I am very surprised there were not other kiters there also.
Geoff

Let me clarify....there are two areas to the jetty...the open ocean shown in the video and a narrow channel behind it I didn't take any video of. There are no issues self-launching on the beach shown in the video. The issues were in the narrow channel behind the dune where there was a lone windsurfer riding.

Ohh the wind looks tasty in your video. Wish I was there!

nanmoo wrote:Ohh the wind looks tasty in your video. Wish I was there!

I wish you had been there as well. If there had been 1 other human being on that beach I would have been rigging my kite!