Thought I'd share my unbaised thoughts on the Wild West Watersports - Port Alberni site after finally getting a chance to sail there.

Drive - Its just around 200 km from Victoria to Port Alberni, that makes the drive considerably longer in distance when compared to Nitinat, but since you are going 100 km/h almost the entire way I did it in a hair over two hours, so quicker than Nitinat and I didn't hit one pot hole or have to wash my car when I got home.

Launch - Yes there is a pier, and most people I think are walking down the rocks beside the pier and swimming out to the windline (which yesterday was about 30-40 feet off the beach) which is quite easy. After intially going this route I opted to return and exit the water by the more adventurous route - the big blue pontoon at the end of the pier. This thing is a riot, it makes exiting and entering the water fun, especially on a low tide like yesterday. It's actually really easy, just take your time to get your balance and get a feel for the swagger of the shaft. Entering the water this way earns huge style points and impresses the local wildlife. To get back up it, first hop on the end of the pontoon whilst holding on to your boom, shake and shimmy your board towards the pontoon lift it out and you are good to go. You - Sail- Board. Stay low and probably stop for a second when a big gust comes and if you fall off, just make sure you jump the opposite way your gear is going (I never fell off, or even came close).

Boat Traffic - Pretty similiar to what I expierenced at the gorge, except the boats are smaller. I also made the mistake of trying to boost a wave several feet downwind from a 100 ft Fishing boat on the way out of Harbour which had a massive windshadow. Instead I ended up in the water with no wind and it smelled like fish. Stick to launching waves on large boats heading IN to port, not OUT.

The Good Stuff - The water is warm and really fresh, like Nitinat in June. I didn't see a single Jellyfish. I don't know what it is exactly, but the water is way smoother here than Nitinat, at least it was yesterday. There just aren't those same 1 ft "curb" like ankle breakers all the way there and back. The wind really smooths out the waves and sometimes you can find a long piece of swell and get several turns in on it, a lot like the Gorge. The exception is up by Polly's Point when the tide is running, there were some nasty jacked up standing waves here yesterday that are worth avoiding, but were also jump-able if you got the timing right. The angle of waves set up so that you can hit waves all the way back on the starboard tack (I think I have that right?) with ease, you don't have to charge way up wind like at Nitinat. Although the reach is shorter than at Nitinat, it was not uncommon to be able to boost up to 10 quality ramps on each reach so long as you carried your speed out of each jump. Comparing a 4.7 day here to a day at Nitinat, the waves are considerably larger, probably twice the size (or more) in most cases, and they don't seem to get blown out the same way as at the lake. Because there isn't the same chop in between waves I found it much easier to maintain speed and charge at every ramp I saw. Yesterday the wind was as steady as it gets across the whole reach from the Pier to the log booms with the exception of inside of the pier. Just before the pier the wind seems to crank up a notch and if you go a bit further it changes direction. For the life of me I could not figure out what was going wrong gybing here, until Rob mentioned the wind shifts a bit. Starting doing it a bit earlier and I was fine. It really messes things up, so keep your turning to 20 feet off the end of the Blue Shaft, then it's fine, in fact you will experience some of the best crazy high speed turns here.

Overall Impression - This place is really fun, it's safe to say it's more fun than Nitinat in terms of the sailable terrain, at least yesterday. My buddy Jeff showed up and when I came ashore the first thing he said is that it looked like it was/I was having way more fun, boosting more, slashing more, when compared to what he saw the 4 times he's seen me sail at Nitinat. Your hosts Sandy, Rob and Matt ooozzzeee a kind of contagious stoke you just don't find anywhere.

Disclaimer - I am basing this comparison off of 1 day at Wild West Watersports and 20 or so days at Nitinat so take it for what it is worth. But I will be back.

Excellent review Tony, well done. Glad you didn't show up on Saturday. My sailing log explains it. Although those conditions on Saturday are the exception not the rule. Also, nice to see people, who haven't experienced PA yet, come out and give it a try. It's worth it when it goes off!

I want to but I think that it will be difficult to launch with the foil kites:(
Might try it before summer ends

Perhaps Ian, with your type of kite, a trip by jet ski up the inlet would be a solution. You could do a huge downwinder and check out a lot more of the inlet.

Nice Review Tony,

Sorry I missed you on Sunday had lessons all day in Parksville.

Your review was pretty much bang on.

For experience sailors launching off the boom is the way to go. And as Tony said it is not that difficult. Launching of the inside with the rocks potential logs and wind shadow can be tough especially on a smaller board that you can not up haul. You have to catch the gusts to get up and out. (Although Rob seems to have no problem)

Also make sure your have your foot straps, harness lines, boom height all dialed in before you go out. There is really no where to land easily to reset adjustments. If your are on your on gear this should not be an issue if you are sharing gear double and triple check before launching.

That being said once you are sailing plan on being out for awhile the only way in is up the rocks and onto the pier. Coming in off the platoon is possible but you need some help.

Basically if you want to take a break you can not just sail in park your board and get a pop.

Also Tony mentioned the boat traffic, he was bang on. Catch their wakes going into Port not out.

What Tony did not mention was watch out for logs and drift wood. They are out there and can ruin your day real quick.

Finally what makes WWW so much fun for experienced sailors is Rob and Sandra your hosts.

If your are just learning to water start, getting in the foot straps and using a harness China Creek Marina 15 minutes car drive upwind would be a better place to learn those skills.

However if going to China Creek stop by and say hi to Sandra and Rob. (They are on your way)

Next year if plans go well they will have a new dock to make it more user friendly for all.

Ah yes, woody debris. I did not mention this because yesterday I did not see a single piece, but like Santa, I hear it exists.

It's actually not bad getting off the water with your gear on the pontoon. I'd recommend not getting help because I see this complicating things and potentially causing 3 (rig + 2 people) objects falling off the pontoon and possibly landing on one another.

I was there for 3 days at the start of last week, the first day the water was mostly clear with a few pieces of bark floating about. The second day i was avoiding logs all day, due to a huge ship loading logs from just upwind and seeming not being too careful about the runaway logs. And the third day was totally clear. Although with the water being relatively flat, it's pretty easy to see most things coming, with the exception of the short time before the sun sets over the horizon when the water is a blinding glow.
And as for the giant blue "thing", that's totally the best way to launch. I perfected my dock launch technique to the point the only thing getting wet was my feet. That is until i eat sh*t attempting to jump 20 meters later.

Thanks for the review. I'm working on a plan to get up there this Sept. Sounds like a great new spot to add to the arsenal.

Vik wrote:Thanks for the review. I'm working on a plan to get up there this Sept. Sounds like a great new spot to add to the arsenal.

I got up to PA on Sunday to check out WWW. Chatted with Rob and Sandra about the PA inlet. They've got a ton of stoke and the area has a lot of potential for windsports that's for sure...

Here is a link to a video I shot of a kite getting launched using the new pontoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tibiiKLgS4E

I'll post some more thoughts and photos later...

One thing is for sure - it's really nice to sit and enjoy the sight of folks kiting/windsurfing while baking under a warm sun and then being able to drive home without rattling some bolts loose on your truck!...

Wow, that pontoon sure looks different when the tide is high! It's not even steep, nor do you have 20 feet to fall!

I posted the rest of my WWW PA pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikapprove ... 732131301/

Nothing special really, but I'll keep adding to the set every time we head up to PA.