Ebey Landing Saturday ETA 1000am

[Chris Klohn]

Hey Guys,

Great SE sub 4.0 forecast from 1200-dark again for Ebey. No guessing as to where I'm going Like to try Columbia but it's too long from the interior with the ferry and drive. Hope it cranks for you tomorrow guys.

Cheers,

Chris

[Chuck]

Hmmm.....go on.....

[Chris Klohn]

Ebey landing solid 4.2 from 1000am until now. Wind 30 gusting 40 out of the Southeast, swell 5-7 feet on the outside. 5 windsurfers all Washington plates...........again. Good to hear Columbia is windy too.

[Chris Klohn]

Calling it a day and heading home now. Got almost 6 solid hours of powered to overpowered conditions on my 4.2 Surflite and 84L Goya Quad. The other sailors are still out on 3.5's and 3.7's.

Wind direction was perfect side shore and filled in solid to the beach. Nice smooth 5-7 foot swell on the outside with huge gusts towards mid straight. Small 1-2 foot beach break to go through getting out.

Temperatures hovered around ten degrees in broken clouds and sunshine on the lee side of the Olympics. No rain for the entire session which made it nice.

Port Townsend showed gusts to 47 knots just after 12 noon today and Smith a Island only 38 knots. A little unusual considering Smith is almost always windier than Townsend.

The TAF for Ault field was spot on today calling for 26 gusting to 40 knots as were the marine and local forecasts for Oak Harbour, Coupeville, the East Entrance to Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet. BWD and Wind Guru were both out to lunch which is pretty standard for Whidbey.

Only another month or so before the windy season winds down on Whidbey. Hopefully some of you guys will come down for a session before then Looking forward to driving 20 minutes from my house to Nicola instead of this 8.5 hour round trip.

[BigBill]

Hi Chris,

I've never kited/sailed Whidbey Island and would like to know the prime spots. I work in Anacortes occasionally and bring my gear with me. Which beaches work best for SE and NW? Does Ebey work on NW as well as SE? What is the road you turn off to get to Ebey? Thanks for any info you can give me on the area, hope to see you soon!

BigBill

[Michael]

Hey Chris, glad you scored another session at Ebey. It was a toss up between Columbia and Whidbey and this time I was really hoping Columbia would go off. I think if you just go to were I'm not you will get wind This has been a bad year for trying new spots after 4 skunks at Whidbey and 2 marginal days at Columbia I'm now counting on the Oregon coast trip to pay off. If you are around I hope you can make it down there. Still was a nice day on the Island.

[Chris Klohn]

Hi Michael,

I feel your pain too. I made two day trips to Whidbey from Kamloops only to sit in my truck all day and watch a completely flat ocean this year. I managed to get 9 solid days out of 11 so not too bad but it still stings with the drive.

It's a big commitment with the Peace Arch border and the drive and I know I would be inclined to stay local if I was living in Van. The drive time for me is only sixty minutes longer to go to Whidbey versus Centennial from the Sumas border crossing so I always go south with the usually better odds of getting wind.

I'm hoping Stump and Nicola are solid this spring again. There were lots of 4.5-5.2 days last April/May with pretty good swell for a lake. I bought a Starboard 12'6 Sup'er last year for paddling around with our six year old son. It's got a mast track so I might pickup a little 2.0 kids rig for him to try this year. He loved sitting up front at Nicola last summer when I was sailing it with my 7.2.

I'm back to work in a few days and will be home mid April. Hope to see you again up at Nicola this year

Cheers,

Chris

[Richi]

Your right about the peace arch border being a big commitment Chris. I think the last time I went to whidbey a few years ago, I got stuck at the border for over 2 hours on the way back. I guess that's why it's so hard to pull the trigger on a single day outing.

But even harder than sitting at the border idling, is reading your reports of sub 4.0 sailing in nice wave conditions non stop all day! So thanks to all your reports this year, I finally decide to apply for nexus and just sent in my application

I may still see you there this season, but for sure I will be there more often next year. Hopefully some other sailors decide to do it as well, it's probably worth it just for more point roberts trips.

Thanks again for the motivation

Cheers, rich

[Chris Klohn]

Hey Rich,

Great news on the Nexus card. It'll help out for sure at Point Bob and the Peace Arch. A bad day in the border line up will kill most people's desire to attempt going a second time. Whidbey is always a great choice if it's not happening locally. Better odds of small sail wind 90% of the time from SE to WNW. The place doesn't work in an easterly or northwesterly.

Unfortunately, your crew happened to catch it on the other 10% It's a tough sell after the drive and a few skunkings despite how good it is. I feel like the local who told his buddy it was windy in the summer at a place called Squamish only to have him drive up to glass calm conditions three times in a row.

Make sure you pick up a few really small sails and a little wave fin for the big winds down there next winter. The local sailors don't own anything bigger than 5.0. I sailed my 3.7 and 4.2 the majority of the 9 days this year at a "fit" 240 pounds

Hope to see you up at Nicola for a session or two this year too.

Cheers,

Chris