VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I just moved up to the Courtenay/Comox, wondering if anyone knows of good windsurfing sites around here... I hear Deep Bay is the spot?

thanks in advance!

On a south east/ south west wind Goose Spit offers flat water blasting
and bump and jump on the in side bay. on the out side on shore wave
riding and LARGE jumps the swells are good!

On S.E Wind alders beach at high tide Huge swell on out side on inside
thick sideshore ramps BIGJUMP SPOT!!!! starboard tack


On North winds King Coho, large sand bar break nice port tack jumping
large swell on outside flat for blasting on in side

Old thread, but wondering if there are any newer updates on sailing in the Comox area. How frequent might you get 20kt+ sailable conditions? Is the Bay/Harbour only sailable on certain tides? Any fun waves to be had? Do you find yourself driving often to score sessions?

Sorry about my continuous postings... but I am always sussing out new spots, new possibilities. Seems like Comox with decent skiing and MTB nearby, could be a good option for someone who likes small towns. Just gotta make sure first and foremost, that there is a reasonably amount of sailing. Are there any stats for this spot? Too bad iWindsurf doesn't publish stats of their data.

hey fish, are you still movin out west? i think Comox is a lot windier than the locals let on, just watch the graph for Cape lazo, it seems to be the windiest spot on the strait. most sailors driving up from parts south stop at columbia beach which is an hour south of comox. just look up the stats on the columbia weather station and thats at least what you would get up in Comox. (look in the sailing log - group stats - columbia)

Unfortunately, I make decisions like this at far less than a snails pace.

The potential move is always in my mind. However, I think my wife and I know that moving to Victoria on a single civil engineer's salary ain't going to get us very far. We are committed to being a single income family until our boys go to school in 3yrs or so. Maybe that is really not feasilble anywhere on the island, but I would have guessed that if anything, futher up-island would make it more palitable on the finances. Am I wrong?

Anyway, yeah, if a place like Comox has some decent wind here and there, plus good playtime on the mtn, it sounds pretty damn attractive to me. Getting a job on the other hand, could be a big challenge!

I think the sailing log is great, but hard to interpret from a statistical overview sort of perspective. Maybe I haven't quite figured out how it works. I'll check those group stats you mention for Columbia. thx!

Comox has lots of SE wind in the fall/winter/spring. Usually 5-10 knots more than Columbia beach. Goose spit (inside or outside) and Alders are the best. Columbia is 45 mins drive south. Spring and summer brings intermittant NW winds and Singing Sands road has great sailing. Nimpkish is 2.5hrs north.
There is a larger kiting community, but windsurfers do coexist happilly.
Cost of living is certainly better than Victoria.
Mount Washington is 30 mins to the ski lift and there is world class mountain biking year round. It`s a great place for raising a familly.
Wade

Hey konabud,

Thx for the info. I notice that for the group stats for Columbia, there are almost more winter sessions than summer sessions. Sound right? What are the conditions like in a typical winter day? i.e. Air temp, water temp? Perhaps a dry bag is in order? I also seem to have turned into a bit of what some people call a wind snob. I like my 5.3 and down - 20+ is where it's at for me.

Certainly not anti-kiting... I reckon I need to try it some day, but I still get so much out of windsurfing, its hard to invest the time & funds in another wind-dependant sport. My sanity has been compromised for so long already... I need to get into a complimentary non-wind activity! And ideally something I can get my boys into early, rather than baseball yech!

Oh yeah, great website here by the way. I think it really shows how keen the community is on the island... inspiring.

this gallery (4j) has a good collection of columbia photos, you can see the typical stormy conditions..
http://www.bigwavedave.ca/gallery/index.php?cat=10345
goose spit action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2_h8baxUQ&

SE winds usually blow 20+ knots, often can be too windy 40+ knots. Those are the epic Columbia Beach days! 5.3, 4.7, 4.1, 3.5 is my windsurf quiver.

Sweet kiting video! That flat water looks like a blast actually for freestyle, but it is dominated by kiters in 20-30kts? I suppose there is lots of variety from waves to dead flat. How deep is that water though? COuld you get by with a stubby 18cm fin or is it very shallow? Was that a SE?

kook wrote:Sweet kiting video! That flat water looks like a blast actually for freestyle, but it is dominated by kiters in 20-30kts? I suppose there is lots of variety from waves to dead flat. How deep is that water though? COuld you get by with a stubby 18cm fin or is it very shallow? Was that a SE?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Varies. Likely. Indeed, Yes. Just quit dicking around back east and get yer butt out here, we got it all and unlike some people we are happy to share bring beer

I like your answering style KUS, definitely to the point. ;) I'll still fire off a bunch more though, while I have some willing contributors...

Konabud - are there many windsurfers up that way? Much of a scene?

In terms of living up there, can you describe the main differences between Comox and Courtenay, in terms of suitability for raising a family, schools, house prices, etc... Are they pretty much one and the same? Can you access the water from the south side of the harbour? Are there any ridable waves to be had during SE? Maybe out of Little River?

I think the biggest challenge would be finding work. My wife is a teacher with good experience so no worries there, when the time comes in a few years. For me though, I'll have to start to do some digging in terms of consultants and municipal government departments in that area. I'm a water resource engineer... if anyone has any ideas of where to focus my search, much appreciated...

Out of curiousity, I was comparing the Env. Canada weather normals between Kingston, ON and Comox, BC.

COMOX

KINGSTON

Kingston has year-round higher averages, but far far fewer 'very windy days'... in terms of the stat of days > than 52kph. - 29 versus 8 in fact... and for days > 63kph, 11 vs 2. High winds are where it is at for me, so if I can score a few 4.7/4.1 sessions every month during the winter and supplement summers in Nitnat or the Gorge, sounds primo.

Only reason I do the comparison is since I have been here for a long time (since 91, except 2yrs in NZ), and Kingston USED to be a relatively windy place, by Ontario standards anyway. Anecdotally, it definitely seems to be on the decline!!! It's just nice to know how a potential destination will size up relative to what you are used to...

Cheers, and thanks for all the responses.

Fish,

Scoring "a few 4.7/4.1 days each month in the winter" should not be a problem, especially living North of Nanaimo. I'm just shy of 200 pounds and sail 4.2 and 4.7 often on the Island (I live in Victoria). So, the wind part should not be a big issue for you. Unfortunately I can't help much on the work side. Good luck!

this thread full of dave's helmet cam videos will give you a nice feel for the scene..
http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2602

I will say this, having a wife with a formal profession in the public sector is a huge plus as far as having some income and family benefits secured. I married a nurse and it was the smartest thing i ever did. You obviously have some marketable skills as well so thats all in your favor. I suggest starting by researching with APEGBC if you can get registered for working in BC. Also look at their website and innovation magazine as lots of engineering jobs and ads for various firms are posted there. http://www.apeg.bc.ca/index.html

keep an eye on engineering positions in Ministries http://employment.gov.bc.ca/index.php?rLoad=1

they have flexible work arrangements (live/base in Comox, work via Nanaimo or Victoria offices) tho I cannot at any point and in good conscience suggest working for government is a healthy choice 12 years of my life wasted