VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I'm happy to announce that we have a new webcam at Willow's Beach in Oak Bay. It took many months to set up and organize - big thanks to KUS for finding the location, George for hosting the webcam and to Bosun's Locker for their continued support of the website (and to all of the other sponsors) If you see George in the parking lot working on his car stop by and say hi and thanks.

Now there are a few things to mention:

The first is timing. It's the end of the SE season and it's too bad we couldn't get the webcam up sooner. But it should be a permanent installation and it will be ready for next year.

The second is that there is a damn big tree blocking the view. GRRRRRR. I only noticed it today when I installed the cam and had my first look out the window. We will be trimming a few lower branches (some of them are dead). Also, if it really bothers us we could put the cam in an outdoor enclosure on the side of the house and this would give a clearer view.

Comments and suggestions welcome,
dave

The willows cam is awesome...The tree adds a nice artistic touch...Thank you to everyone involved. Dave's new avatar is nice as well.

Incredible! This is a very valuable addition to the webcam page. Thanks to all involved!

Cheers,
Paul

Wicked Dave and panning a bit lower and to the left might give us more beach view to judge windspeed, tide ...and less tree. The angle tho I think is awesome as is!! Besides I like the branches too

No more need for any OSR's, good thing, my cell is toast I hope we get another good local SE to save some webcam pix

Whoa... that wasn't there this morning!
Wicked cool!!!
That tree can help show the wind at the beach.
Just yesterday, among others I was thinking, I wish there was a willows cam.
Praising Dave and this site is becoming so repetitive, I wonder if it holds any wieght still.
Thanks Dave, and all involved!!!
Your not making it any easier to pry myself away from the screen.(unless I see wind)

I have never been to Willows. Now I can see it! I am thinking the branches are a good weather vein as well.

Turtle

Wow.....that's great! Thanks to all involved!! Now it's going to be a lot easier to make the decision whether to drive across town or not.
This seems like an excellent time to make another donation.......if you're home today BWD I'll drop it off.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

KUS wrote:panning a bit lower and to the left might give us more beach view to judge windspeed, tide ...and less tree.

Good idea. Next time I'm there I'll move it to the left and down slightly. We'll see what it looks like after trimming the branches a bit. I was surprised the tree was blocking most of the view since it looked perfect when I looked at it from the beach. Oh well, we can always go to an outdoor enclosure if necessary, but it might not be needed. We also might have some problems with salt spray on the window - the window was very dirty yesterday.

WindePendanT wrote:Praising Dave and this site is becoming so repetitive, I wonder if it holds any wieght still.

Sure does...it's always great to get positive feedback.

windwoman wrote:This seems like an excellent time to make another donation.......if you're home today BWD I'll drop it off.

Thanks windwoman. I'm heading out kayaking right now but you can always slip it inside the front screen door. Thanks.

Thanks to KUS for trimming the lower branches on the tree today. It looks a lot better. When you zoom in now the image isn't just of the tree
dave

New camera is indeed GREAT, may be a reason to buy barn door gear for the summer...

Don't let the lack of feedback fool you Dave, this is going to be a most useful and used cam.

Dave, what the plan for the cam#2 at Gordos? Is it getting transferred from IV again, or is that too much bother?

BTW, Judi said the Nitinat Lake cam is installed and feeding images, they just have to wait for their new budget to get a server to get them on the web.

more force 4 wrote:Don't let the lack of feedback fool you Dave, this is going to be a most useful and used cam.

Thanks Mf4. I'm also hoping that by the fall I can get a weather station going at Willow's too. I'm not exactly sure where to put the anemometer since there are 2 trees in front of the house, but we'll think of something...maybe a wireless version near the Tearoom...

more force 4 wrote:Dave, what the plan for the cam#2 at Gordos? Is it getting transferred from IV again, or is that too much bother?

Yes the IV cam#2 will be moved out to Gordon's, probably in a few weeks or so. I have to take it down from the tree at IV and do some maintenance on it before I move it out there, but it shouldn't take too long.

Lack of feedback? Okay, here's some feedback - it's awesome! Willows is really close for UVic students like myself, and now with campus-wide wireless internet we'll know whether it's worth driving down between classes... or during class

ya, I've never had the chance to sail willows yet, I've always gone to IV.
And then sometimes sat there with JL saying I wonder if Willows is better.
There have been a few times I've shown up at willows thinking I might find someone there that needs a launch or a land, and I have.
But all on days when I couldn't sail.
Lately I've been thinking more of going there.
But without knowing the conditions it has just been easier and safer to go to IV.
Now I will definitely sail there.
I think anywhere you put a new camera, will see more sailing going on.
I was also thinking it could be a popular camera on a hot, sunny, no-wind day durring the summer.

Hey everybody, let's show some more appreciation here! This is no coupla minutes of work and a few dollars Kiters and beginners in particular should welcome this one as Willows is really tough to read most days when it's marginal but it has the best sand on the south island!

Let's see some coin to go with it to pay it down and keep things going This IS an awesome cam and everyone using it regularly to save some gas, avoiding wasted trips, or checking those scantily clad during summer:

HERE"S THE DEAL: Match my $20 (or heaven forbid exceed it ) and for every $20+ donation Dave gets marked "Willows Cam" by month's end, I'll throw in another $5

This effort is sponsored by Advanced Safety of SLC Consulting Group:
AdvancedSafety@telus(delete this).net Ph/Fx 250-592-3392
Windsport Safety and Tips page available soon ...

Kus, you now owe BWD $5. Thanks for your contribution-pruning etc.