Looong weekend @ Nitnat

[Bobson]

I'm heading to Nitnat probably first thing this Friday(April 9th) morning, staying till Sunday. I'm looking for others who are going as it's always nicer to travel with others. I'll be tenting. Forcast is for sunny and warm which should mean some wind. Anybody..??

[windaddiction]

If you can give me a reason to go to nitnat instead of tofino I will consider it..... but the lure of surfing is pretty strong. What kinda winds can you gaurenty? Also Rob I hear that you may not be heading up as much to nitnat this year? is this true

[kitesurferdale]

hey will see you there bobson!! as for what is the lure of nitnaht? well if the weather is to do what they predict, then wind for 6-8 solid hours, an empty lake this time of year so clear sailing, camping, biking, motorbiking, hiking, friends.....so hope to see you there if not, hope tofino works out for you

[kitesurferdale]

oh, I will be there Friday in the am as well and staying also until sunday or monday depending on weather and the body. Will be coming from ladysmith, so will see you there, hope lots decide to venture out, the more the merrier I would think

[j]

Hey, my brother in law and myself are thinking of heading out to Nitnat for the first time this weekend. What size sails do we bring?
Thanks see you there.

[Bobson]

Sail size is dependent on three things, wind speed, weight, skill level. I'm guessing the wind will be 15-20 kts most of the time, less in the AM more just after lunch and less in the evening. I weigh 220 and I'm bringing a 5.8, 6.9 and a 9.0m sails. I'm in probably on the lower end of intermediate skill so does that help. I'd bring an as wide an assortment as possible just to be safe. I'm guessing for an average person in the 4.5 to 6.5 range will probably do ya! Hope this helps!

[KUS]

BIG!

[mshepard]

Looks like outflows so Nitinat will likely be warm with little wind. However, over intellectualizing gets you nothing, showing up is half the battle!

[more force 4]

Yep, kiteking, betting on the outflow shutting down Nitinat would have lost people a couple of good days. I caught one of them yesterday - pleasantly tired this morning - Nitinat is so special! Almost decided we were skunked when the wind abruptly switched from outflow 6-8 to W12-15. Three hours of mostly planing, lots of klicks on the board due to not falling - much, a couple of almost planing gybes, loads of sloppy ones. I think I'm picking up bad habits sailing the big floaty board, lets me get away with too much bad foot placement. FUN! TOW. Water WAAY warmer than I remember it in May last year - global warming?

[JL]

Yo! Bobson. How about a nitinat wrap up for those of us that, worked, or wimped out this weekend!

[Bobson]

FRIDAY
Okay, I left Friday morning on the 7:30am Brentwood-Mill Bay Ferry. Got up there at about 10am. It was about 6 kts outflow but the guys sitting on a log said it turned at Noon yesterday and blew 6.0 all day but there was more fog then. Anyways, set up camp and waited. BWD, Morewind, Tall Chris, W247 and the Russian dude showed up and waited while the wind picked up quite slowly. I rigged up and went out with shorts and dry fit shirt at about 1pm, slogged around pumping like a madman till about 2pm when it picked up to 12-15 kts when as soon as I could stay on a plane the rest of the fella's came out. It picked up to about 18-20 for probably 2 1/2 hours and fell back to 12-15 for another hour then down below 10 kts at 5:30(ish) when most people packed it in for the day except SS(Starboard Steve) who was out on his Formula gear/9.8 pumping and flatwater planning till about 6pm. Tall Chris and W247 headed home while we sat on the beach listening to Morewind and Trevor play the guitar while we ate chocolate drank beer and cooked up some soup and macaronni. So we ended up sailing from 2pm till almost 6pm. It was sunny and warm and lots of fun. Probably 12 windsurfers and about 15 kiters all together. The Russian dude lit up a campfire and we talked, told jokes/riddles and played some stupid name game that I'm not sure who came up with.
Saturday
Saturday was a good day to sleep in. You could tell it was sunny and warm as Dave only had 5 layers of clothing on..HA! Breaky was made, the guitar was played some more and we waited for the wind. At about 11am MF4 showed up and the wind was still outflow 7 kts per the Ruskies wind meter. At approx 1:30pm it was still outflow but there was wind line coming in from the West end.....at 1:45 the outflow and the inflow met where we were sitting on the beach so we had wind blowing in both ears and meeting in the middle, well I did anyways. The inflow won out but it was still light. Again, Keener Bobson went out at 2pm and pumped the Sh*t out of my 9.0 for 30 minutes then it raised above my 12kts planning threshold. Others came out at 2:30 ish and it blew 12-17 till about 5pm then down below 10 kts. Most of us packed up and left for the dusty trip home except SS again who was out flatwater planning when we left.

Wrap up

The roads in and out were much better than last year quick driving most of the way..probably 60-80 kms most of the way dry and very dusty too! You can tell the campsite was filled as there are large logs/stumps all over the sides of the roads. The beach has very little room for rigging up with all the new soon to be firewood strewn everywhere. The sauna is completely gone except the metal stove and pipes. There is one huge tree including roots right in front of the beach just west of the day beach that completely blocks the view of the windsurfers but will make for a good kite jump maybe..?? I for one, had a fantastic two days of sailing and getting to know the other windsurfers a bit better. Here are my summations: Dave needs lots of clothes to stay warm and with his light frame can only hold onto a 5.8 sail but can do a duck-grubbie 1020 with his eyes closed. Morewind sails fast and plays a good guitar. The Russian dude lights a good campfire, is a very good jyber and has some good Russian army stories. Tall Chris seems like he can jump every wave across the lake and do some weird jump/turn/sail flip/bodydrag backwinded jybe sail off in the other direction and do three huge full body sail pumps and be planning while I'm still falling in on my jybe. Oh well something to strive for. W247 is fast! That's it pure speed!! MF4 is getting better at his planning jybes but needs some clothing help. S-Steve has a pretty cook mountain bike and has proved he can plane in 7 kts of wind. NICE! He also like to wear parkas in the summer..?? The couple camped beside me in the truck-camper(sorry forgot your names) were super-nice people who pretty much knew all the Nitnat trivia.

Well, that's it. A fantastic couple of days of warm sailing and fun partying. Anyone thinking of a trip up anytime soon, put a post on the BWD page and let us all know so any of us thinking about it can join in. It's always more fun with a group! Yes Dave, I'm still feeling the effects from 1.5l bootle wine at the campfire...uggh! NO MORE MACCARONI!!

[JL]

Thanks Bobson . Good report..It's windy @ I view.

[Russian Guy]

There are those who travel and those who travel best



It wasn't warm enogh for some


For some it was too hot


Bobson



Mike ( morewind )



Morley



Rick doing some cleaning



Gang is waiting for some wind


BigWaveDave himself


Happy Pat


Morley - the best dogs' friend


Still waiting


Measuring outflow

[more force 4]

Great photos, Russian Guy. I gotta stop eating and dressing l ike that!

[KUS]

Some great people pix Andre, nice to put names to faces. The beach sure IS a mess but lotsa firewood for a few seasons I guess