white rock wed

[Brad R]

i have sailed down there on a SW from the ferry slip and the waves were very nice.. I was just south of the breakwater that time

[Michael]

I think this is what they are talking about. I've seen the waves breaking out there on a low tide.

Screen Shot 2014-03-21 at 1.07.42 PM.png (823.22 KiB) Viewed 14000 times

[Brad R]

yes i just about made it there and the waves looked good but the wind direction was inhibiting my mobility to that point. I think i tasted the shoulder of it. I will revisit on a west wind

[Richi]

Awesome, thanks for the report, helps out for future sessions. I have to pick up a package at PR on Sunday, will check out the west shore for a more upwind launch.

Now I'm just confused about the launch SW of wreck beach? As far as I know there is a massive logboom south of wreck beach. Do you mean the southern most part of wreck beach by the rock jetty Chris? I have gone down there a few times and haven't seen anything out of this world, maybe it's very tide specific.

[Chris Klohn]

Hi Brad,

That "sandbar" you see on Google Maps is the shelf I was referring to. On a big NW day the swell will actually turn about 50 degrees breaking from the W over that shelf. It sets you up for frontside port tack rides and starboard jumps on the way out.

The lower the tide the better for the shelf. It'll never go less than about 2' deep so there's no worries about hitting bottom. An incoming tide also helps wrap the NW swell onto that outer bank.

Richi, the area that sets up sweet off Acadia is just upwind of Wreck. If you were to draw a line from the tip of the Iona Jetty to the tip of the Wreck Jetty you'd want to stay just west of that on your reaches.

Again, this is where the bottom goes from very deep to just a few feet over that long sandbar. It 's the same outer edge of the sandbar that rounds Acadia all the way to Jericho. Instead of sailing 90 degrees to it, like you do at Acadia, you're sailing parallel to it right in big, breaking waves. It works the best on lower tides.

You can ask Peter M about it from the air. At Helijet, we used to fly directly over that area at 500' ten times a day. It's very, very easy to spot as it's usually a long line of breaking waves. There's another sweet shallow sandbar break that extends north off Delta Port to the Iona Jetty. Never sailed this one though, just watched it from the air.

Cheers,

Chris

[Chris Klohn]

Hi Michael,

Your point is almost exactly where I was referring to. I would consider that the furthest south part of the shelf as it extends from there to the west-northwest.

As Brad mentioned earlier, you don't want to sail off the south side of the ferry as the wind swell will be completely blocked on a northwesterly.

You've already seen the waves breaking on that shelf on a low tide. I still think a downwinder from Tsawwassen to Lighthouse on a big northwest day with a low tide would be your best bet to see exactly where you need be. Two guys on the downwinder and two sailing at Lighthouse to drive them back.

Cheers,

Chris

[Michael]

Has anyone sailed there on a North Westerly?

[Richi]

Thanks for the great description Chris, I will do a little exploring next low tide Acadia session. I probably need to stop playing with these 18cm freestyle fins and put something on that I can cover some distance. I really need to start writing all this stuff down, whidbey, pr, wreck beach, so much to learn.