Van Isle 2015 (Day 1 at 'the lake')

[filipj]

Nice shots! Makes me want to get out there soon. Good call on leaving Nitinat before the cooler weather system moved in. I am curious to know where you are staying close to Tofino? Always looking for an alternative to having to book a campsite 12 months in advance...Cheers

[C36]

Nice shots! Makes me want to get out there soon. Good call on leaving Nitinat before the cooler weather system moved in. I am curious to know where you are staying close to Tofino? Always looking for an alternative to having to book a campsite 12 months in advance...Cheers

Thanks for the comments on the pictures - always appreciated!

I am staying the first two nights at Bella Pacifica (reservation usually required 6 months or more in advance for the better sites in peak season), then off to Long Beach Golf Course (less lead time required for reservation), and have heard that Surf Junction (near Ukee) will often take walk-ins and have seen people camping in the parking lot at Wya Point Surf Rental and there are a couple of other 'more rustic' options in that area as well, if you look around.

[filipj]

Gotcha. Thanks. Have a good remainder of your trip.

[C36]

The break south of Lufkin Rock looked really clean and inviting, but the sand sucking shore pound and rolly sea state proved to be rather uncomfortable. Moved over to the north side of and ran into Redbaron - still a little wind choppy with the onshore breeze, so paddled my way up to the north end of the beach and took rides working my way back down to Lufkin in the gradually glassing off conditions. That was more fun!

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[C36]

Beachy afternoon. Played family Frizbee, Ethan did drills on the trainer kite (one-handed picking-up seaweed, power strokes seated on the beach, standing steady kite at 45 degrees), quick wave-SUP (me) and surf (Ethan), then followed the Red Baron`s lead and SUP-sailed. Redbaron switch off to windsurfing hull for more speed on the wave and went into ‘attack’ mode! But I stuck with SUP for comfort and wave positioning. Tested two fin set-ups (RRD SUP Dolphin 8.5 and OEM Fanatic tri-fins with 5.8” main – OEM fins were better, as BWD had predicted at the Cape). Fun session and way easier getting out with sail in hand rather than ‘fighting’ the wind with the paddle!

Pre-Session OSR: "RB: LB > SC (more wind and wave). Gentle NW flow (just capping) and knee-high waves on low tide at LB. At Incinerator waiting to see what the afternoon brings." - Sunday July 26, 1:57PM



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[C36]

Morning hedge. Up early looking for a spot for a solo wave-SUP as nice way to start of my birthday. South Chesterman – nope – south swell was a no show. Cox Bay – nope – looked confused and very peaky. Long Beach – yup – it looked organized and clean from the beach. But once out on the water there were two swells (SW and W) and a least three wave sizes (small, medium and large) making it challenging to find the right take off position and to find clean waves to ride. Still managed to catch a few waves between the swims. Had a fun chat with one of the locals once I came in who confirmed there was actually three swells at play (two SW) which helped to explain the three wave sizes (combined swell making the ‘large’ waves). Then back to the campsite to make pancakes for the family.



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Birthday-party wave(s)! Late afternoon arrival at Incinerator Rock was well timed with the afternoon NW flow, incoming tide and finding parking. Ethan and Paige wanted to surf so I went out with them and struggled with the wind paddling the SUP for a while. Looked up to see Redbaron charging off the beach fully planing on his windsurfing board! He shouted, “Grab your gear!”, as he skipped by all smiles! Back to the beach to quickly extract the Freewave 115 from the pile of boards remaining on the roof of the van. Nice to have the freedom of planing on the outside (sometimes) and feeling the board break free with speed down-the-line! Got a frontside view of Redbaron aim for the lip on some pretty big close-outs (and getting punished for his efforts) and a view from the backside of the wave of Redbaron charging DTL to hit some foamy floaters! Cool! Best part was catching (windsurfing) a few birthday ‘party waves’ with Ethan (surfing) and Paige (surfing)! WooHoo!!! Paige confirmed some of the waves were over head-high. Somehow even sweeter the second day out.

Pre-Session OSR: RB: At I-Rock, similar to yesterday but slightly lighter and smaller. - Monday July 27, 4:38PM



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[Michael]

Morning hedge. Up early looking for a spot for a solo wave-SUP as nice way to start of my birthday.

Happy Birthday Dave!! What a great way to spend the day! Thanks for taking the time to post the pics.

[gabrielb]

Happy birthday Dave! As always great photos, I wish I was there surfing, looks like great weather.
Locally there is a 0.8 m in the next few days, I am thinking Saturday 730-9 am @ wb, or maybe ambleside @ noon. I'll keep posting, slappy,Jeff and kids may get some waves locally this year.

[ShonanDB]

Happy B-Day Dave. Nice way to celebrate!

[AdrienGrelon]

Amazing that you would score your second windsurf day ever at LB on your birthday!! It'll be one for the ages, that's for sure