VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hey guys,
I live and windsurf in San Francisco bay are an kinda have to move up north to vancouver area. I sail usually all year around unless there is no wind.
How's the season like in Vancouver Island? How many windsurfing days can you get / year? what side is better : Vancouver or Victoria?
How much cold it gets? Water/wind?
Will my 4/3 wet suit be OK?
Any tips about most used boards in your area? Like wave/freereide/freestyle/formula/Sizes...
May be I'm asking for too much, but I wanna know what will I be dealing with doing this move !
Thank you all.
Cheers, Sofien

Hey man,

As you could see in our little Sailing log we sail all year around too, at least some of us. Sorry to tell you but as far as I can tell season here is not so good as in SF, but it's still pretty good My most used sails are 5.5 and 4.5, I also have 6.7 but I used it three times last year out of desperation. I have two boards 100l freerider and 75l wave, both are very much in use.

I have regular job and I managed to squeeze out 70 sessions last year, most of them here on the Island. I made 10 days trip down to Gorge ( which is not so far away ) in July.

By far Victoria is a place to be for windsurfing/kiting anyway. People in Van are lucky if they get 20 days per year down there.

Air temp wise the coldest in January was 32 F (Some maniacs sailed ) but it's pretty rare, usually its no lower than 6C (around 42F ) , water is usually around 10-12 C (50-55F) , therefore good wetsuit is a must. I use 5/4/3 during summer time and drysuit for the winter.

You'll like it here

what side is better : Vancouver or Victoria?
do you mean the vancouver side of the island? It gets the southeast and NE wind, while the west side gets the westerly. its all good.

Will my 4/3 wet suit be OK?
it will be fine some of the time but very chilly in the winter

Thank you Russian Guy, thank you Downwind Dave.

So like most windy spots on the west coast you get thermals( W), storms (SE SW), Clearings(NW NE). If you can count these days when it blows over 15 kts how many days would you get? exp: 60 thermal, 20 storm, 15 clearing ....
In order to sail all these directions you must drive to get to right spot. What is the driving time like?

I know kook Street is popular, I heard also gets a lots of debries is that true? Any incedents happenned? How's the current like does the flooding affect you on westerlies.

What about the whales or killer whale, It's kinda freaky!!
Do they get close to shore? I can survive the cold weather as long as other folks out there but these humongous "mammals" I don't know doo...

Catch you later, Sofien.

Sofien
Yep, the weather pattern you give works here too.

Check out http://www.geocities.com/waterose_test/island.html for locations and driving times, hazards, etc.

For wind speed frequencies, you can see for yourself from the Archives/Stats page here - just choose month and year, you can see what the conditions tend to be like. There is a little summary at the top of each graph with the number and % of days with wind > 15 kt, >20 kt, etc. For instance, June 2002 at Sheringham had 80% of days >15 kt and about 1/2 over 20 kt. It really varies year to year, as well as month to month, though.

You can see which sailing sites are near which wind reporting stations (eg use Sheringham for Gordon's/Tugwell) from the maps in the Latest Reports page. Then there is Nitinat, which doesn't have a lot of good wind data, but is super-reliable strong thermals given the right weather pattern (not too strong an outflow pressure and not raining/heavy cloud).

As for big mammals, I keep my distance, others sail right up to them with no fear. They are a rare sight, unfortunately, nowadays - only seen them once windsurfing this year. Lots less scary than GW near SF!

A 4/3 wetsuit is probably OK for summer, add a cheap but cozy 1mm liner for winter, or spend more money. Some of us sail in snow in 3/2, right Bobson?

Apparently I have one more season to go in SF (I'll knock my self out in a bit of nicer weather before I do the BIG move) but for sure I'll catch up with you guys in September or October of this year.
I'll look forward to meet you all.
one more month to go and wind will be blasting [smilie=devilfingers.gif] The spring clearings are some of the best down here .... I can't wait [smilie=drinkofbeer.gif]
Cheers, Sofien

forgot to add earlier:
If we catch you and your yankee long hippie hairdo up here surfing our wind youre asking for a good old canadian style beat down (consists of firm handshakes and exchange of pleasantries) . we will be watching out for you!

Dave, you should start your own comedy show, doo. Do you tell jokes to whales so they don't eat windsurfers?
It will be easy for me to tell where you at you by just hearing people (and whales) laughing.

well i do often hear the laughter when im sailing, but with me or at me is the question.