1. Dawn windsurf at Pipers (5.3/115) - Sept 12
First hit off the Pipe. Headed over to Long Beach in case the forecast actually happened. Originally planned to travel straight across to arrive late Friday night. Saw orca waving its tail at the ferry on the way over to the island (good sign). Arrived in Nanaimo to the strong sense that I should slow down and sail Pipers first thing in the morning to get some wind – just in case the Long Beach forecast didn’t happen. Thanks to DavidM and Pat for putting me up on such short notice, I was able to stay within steps of Pipers! Awoke to beautiful sunrise and wind. Ate my breakfast at the beach and was on the water by about 8 am. The thermal from Cassidy had yet to bend the wind into beach so the launch was puffy side-off a bit unnerving (especially since my hands were covered with slippery sunscreen). Made it out to the wind and ended up adding outhaul to my sail twice during the session. Nice deep rolling swell and smiles and shouts from DavidM, Mike, Been and Tempy made the session fun! Fun to chat with the mutts in the full parking lot before leaving. Awesome way to start the trip!
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2. Mid-day SUP at Long Beach - Sept 12
Arrived at Long Beach around 1 pm to find BWD had already had morning SUP was interested in second session of the day in the playful waves. Clean shoulders were presented and rides were had (once I remembered to come in closer to get the steeper waves). Fun watching BWD hit the lip, again and again on the modest sized clean faces! The paddle was the second session of the day and was one I was really looking forward too!
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3. Mid-day SUP-sail at Long Beach (5.3/145) - Sept 12
I then rigged the 5.3 and went back out for a SUP-sail for session three. Relaxing session of catching waves with lots of backside rides and a few gentle frontside tries.
4+ Sunset windsurf at North and South Chesterman (6.1/115, mini-DTL) - Sept 12
Mini-DTL. Hiyo and I drove up to Chesterman to check out the evening breeze there (hoping for something a little stronger than what was on offer at Long Beach). Hiyo arrived first and reported there was 15-20 at North Chesterman. I wasn’t sure if he was kidding, but there it was! We rigged and took to the water so Hiyo could take the Freewave 115 TE for a ‘test drive’. North Chesterman was straight onshore, but offered jumps to starboard and some waves along the east shore. We shared the water with about six kites ranging from 7 m to 12 m. Once we had finished trading gear we went over to South Chesterman to hunt for mini-south swell. They were hard to see in the evening twilight, but the glow of the sunset matched the warm sensation of smooth mini-down-the-line rides! WooHoo! Session five was super fun icing on the cake of a busy day!
Special thanks to Mr and Mrs Hiyo for sharing their campsite as all the campgrounds were all full!
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5. Morning to afternoon windsurf at Long Beach (5.3/115, 4.5/92, real-DTL) - Sept 13
Special. This was the moment we had all be waiting for. Awoke to NW wind in the trees, white caps offshore at Green Point and readings of 8 mph NW at Lennard Island and the Tofino airport. All promising signs. Quickly packed up and drove down to Long Beach in my PJ’s to eat breakfast and check on the wind. After a quick chat with BWD watching a kite test the wind well below Lovekin Rock, I decided to drive up to North/South Chesterman for quick look-see when Lennard Island exploded to number 1 on the BWD latest reports table with a reading of 29!
It was blowing about 30, but onshore wind swell on the north side (and light wind up at the pavilion) and south was flat (not a wave to be seen). Then word came back that numbers were growing at Long Beach.
Arrived back to find Nanmoo, Dunkinguy, and Hiyo had joined BWD. It was filling in now and it wasn’t long before the crew was rigging and taking to the water. Three windsurfers and one kite became four windsurfers. Amazed to see Dunkinguy hang onto something in the mid-5’s the whole time!
It was a special day! Many golden moments including some of the soft clean early multi-hit rides (after one I told myself that one ride made the whole trip worth it – for me). Saw BWD do two awesome aerial off the lips, Dunkinguy smaking the lip and throwing back loops, Nanmoo riping, and Hiyo riding and jumping! Later it was like a session on the Oregon Coast with crazy gusts on the outside and super light wind on the inside (it really felt like ‘full hate’ cape mode at times). Fun celebrating this present with this group! Stoke was high for sure!
Quotes of the day:
MartyD arriving from Cox Bay at the end of the day: “Have the waves been this clean all day?”
Duncanguy post-session: “That was pretty special day!” Oh yeah, special for sure!
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Still nice to get some water time!