VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

You could be right Dale, this summer was the first time the northwest passage was officially ice free...that might have caused a lot of weather systems to graduate their progression to the north, and allowed a lot more movement in systems at higher latitudes, due to wind/water interaction as opposed to wind/ice.
The good ol mid pacific high just wasnt strong enough to stall those more powerful northern lows this summer...is that going to be repeated as we get less and less ice and longer openings in the nw passage?

WR

After reading all of the posts and haveing been there twice this year to learn to Kite, I am impressed with everyone's comments. Living in San Juan Island, where access to any water is just about over for the Joe Worker Guy and his family, with signs that say you can't cut driftwood, nor collect it, nor remove stones, go home, shut up, go back to where you came from draw bridge mentality, I see the problem evolving with your Lake. On this side of the "pond", they have all kinds of public rules as you know, but they have one major thing different...enforcement. A park such as yours, if it were over here, would end up in anarchy the first time a windrider walked back up the shoreline after a downwind ride and "knocked" some consumer camper type's kid on the head with a board. I saw it happen in the Gorge. A guy who had been waiting all year to go camping with his huge trailer, tarps, BBQ all that parked at "rufus" on a day of one of the best winds going. The man thought "his spot" was being attacked by hundreds of cars and boards. He actually got out a gun and shot it in the air a couple of times. The result was a flurrie of cell phones going off and within minutes armed police took him away all without stepping on anyone's rigs. Here is what I see, the trees at the front need to be protected somehow. Fires must only be set in approved fire rings. Clearly designated parking and camping areas limited to one vehicle per site be it a RV, or a SUV with a Trailer must happen. Have clear paths or wooden walkways over the root systems to the "beach" with plenty of width to allow users to carry gear in both directions. There is no way you can have such an undefined public camping area without clearly pointing out the boundries. There is no way one person, with no law enforcement to back them up and not becoming the "bad" guy, can handle the upcoming "thrust" of tourists on their way there. I must compliment you Canadian wind sharer's with your great attitudes of teamwork and common desire to work together to keep a great thing going from the beginning to now, but as many of you have pointed out this place is being discovered by all. Even at the worst case of having to walk a ways to the staging area with equipment, you get to stay there! You don't have to pack it all up and drive 10 miles to a overnight camp like the Gorge. You guys got a good thing going there, don't mess it up because as you know it belongs to the People of Canada and the mission of the parks department, be it there or here is to make sure that the regular guy & his kids can safely take part in the natural beauty we have been gifted with and not be blocked by the rich guys and special interests.
See you next Spring! Shred till you're Dead!

surrounding the immediate root systems near paths with a boardwalk kind of thing is a great idea Gravel with borders might be more of a maintenance thing than those. One might be able to anchor them with rebar to keep them from floating away, help keep fire pits and vehicle tires clear. Good idea
If anyone has a portable sawmill, I'm sure a whole bunch could get cut onsite and placed in a short period of time. It's never the labor but the materials/tools/power aspect that is the sticking point for local improvements at the lake Couple that with a bobcat or hoe with thumb attachment moving the tons of rows of rotting logs from the beach leaving just one row could open up huge areas for vehicle parking without impacting the trees if tent sites are strategically placed near the boardwalk/tree roots. I'd be in support of THAT

I'd be free to do a bit of work next season..

NOW THATS WHAT IM TALKN BOUT! cooperation is a great thing. Thank you Fragile for your contribution. The boardwalk is indeed a idea that could be entertained seriously. As KUS pointed out gravel moves about and that is one of the "problems" of the existing plan to establish set walk ways etc etc, the gravel will move around each winter as it floods.

Anyhow, great to read some positives!


Dale

A small update.

The site planner came out today and gave the go ahead for fill to start being brought into the park for the future expansion and levelling of sites. A small beginning but definately a beginning!

This is just my 2 cents but here it is:

- Given the justifiable concern about the space taken up by equal paying campers I would vote to see a sliding scale charge. In this way a car would pay $10 a night whereas a full sized RV or truck pulling a 5th wheel or trailer would pay $15 a night.

- I pretty much agree with everything else that has been said here. I think we are better off working together to protect and enhance the site than we are asking for too much ministry input as they will certainly take things to an extreme and we will all end up in Kus's envisioned paved over nightmare.

Z

Thinking about the lake and proposed projects again....looking forward to more wind next summer and some warm, physically challenging days. Next year's management might give consideration to the free laborers in form of some passes for their stays when they offer to complete projects. This to separate the tried and true vacationers and their well-wishes uttered from the beach lounge from those that pitch in and actually get things done. Just a thought