surfing vancouver - general

[Jaybrowner]

Hey bro! Always nice to hear from you. I've since moved into a home...a floating home actually..on the Fraser! I will be on the water tomorrow..if it's good. I'll also bring the passport and SUp..just in case. See you out there!

[C36]

Cross posted for easy reference.

Hi,
I was surfing wreck beach 2 days ago. Going down those stairs at 7am, nobody around, in the dark, made me realize I may need to use the buddy system. So anybody wanting to learn to surf this is the time.
Wreck beach has a spit 150 meters north (can't post inline picture, goggle map it). When Johnston strait ( http://www.ikitesurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=133 , "sisters" ) is more than 25 miles/hour NW wind, the UBC spit has a left break, Acadia may have no wind but surf still breaks at the spit. It's a rocky bottom, sandy at wreck beach. You need a full wetsuit over 5/4mm, 5mm booties, 7mm gloves (a must) ... that will allow you to surf for 4 hours with no cold. Pick a surfboard from craiglist for $175 (it seems there are many surfers around, but none in the water) if you are 6 feet tall get a 7' board with some volume, over 1 foot over your height at least (wind waves are forgiving, excellent for beginners), avoid longboards (picking waves next to the shore needs a quick exit), avoid shortboards under 6.5' (soft waves will pass you, unless you are a swimming champion). Vancouver surf usually lasts 3 hours, 1 out 3 times is crappy, and depends on the tide as well. Sessions are usually every 3 weeks. If you want to start surfing it will take 5 sessions to properly float on your board and paddle + wave selection. On your 6th-9th session you'll kneel surf on your board, 10th session you'll stand up, as long you are in some ok shape. Ambleside has surf as well, when conditions at wreck beach's blown out. So, if there are any windsurfers wanting to pick up surfing, I'll post next session (Ambleside / wreck beach) I'll help with your learning. It may look stupid at the beginning, good for your brain/well-being thereafter.
gabriel

Thanks for the insight Gabriel. Please keep us informed as to when Wreck beach could happen, whats the optimal tide for wreck?

tide range (coming in ) | Halibut Bank Wave Height min | Place to surf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4-8 feet 0.7 + Sandy Beach Ambleside
8-11 feet 0.6 + Capilano River Ambleside
10-13 feet 0.7 + Pebble Beach Ambleside
or Dunderave Pier or 29th
or Wreck Beach (see Note)
14-16 feet 0.6 + UBC spit

Note: if there is no NW wind at Jericho beach (12knots+) then you need 0.8+ wave height for Pebble Ambleside to deliver. If Pebble Ambleside is blown out then go to Dunderave Pier or 29th (it's sheltered from wind). If wind in strait is North-North-West then go to Wreck Beach, skip all others.

Most fun to surf: Sandy Beach Ambleside, 1.2+ wave height, tide 4-8 feet coming in, no wind at Jericho (i.e glassy conditions, shoulder height, long ramp for speed).

I'll post next session soon.

[gabrielb]

Richi, found some old photos. On NW winds, after windsurfing at Acadia, and wind has shut down and you have some energy left, check Halibut bank, and incoming tide. At any incoming tide (8-13ft), head to Ambleside, pebble side:





4ft to 8ft, head to Ambleside sandy side:




Too much wind... head to dunderave:


Halibut bank not delivering head to Wreck Beach:


Avoid wreck beach when it's very windy:


but this is ok (lack of photos, usually bigger with no wind):

[AdrienGrelon]

WTF!!! Those pictures are epic! The waves look much "punchier" than those of Acadia, too.

[gabrielb]

there's been a few windsurfers at ambleside, they tried it, but they fail to use the wave energy. These are well formed waves with some ride, in a controlled environment as wind forces you to shore, sometimes breaking twice.
I would use a 100litre board, line up with the wave, sheet out and surf the wave, have some fun with it.
But sadly I am more into old fashion surfing (when the wind dies I can still surf, kiters are forced to change gear ...hydro foil, bigger kites,etc).

[LeopardSkin]

!!!!!!¡!!!!!!!!!!
Unbelievable!!!!

[Faceplant]

Pretty awesome pictures. I've surfed ambleside and dunderave 10 and 3 times approximately. The best memory of it I have is one evening I was down walking the dog, and hoky crap there were glassy sets rolling in! I bombed it back to Lonsdale, got my board and by the time I got back the sun had set. My buddy and I surfed well into the dark under a moonlit, and street light lit night with phosflouresecents in the water. So every wave you'd catch you'd not only see the glowing wave breaking, but also your trail behind you. It was amazing! This was dog beach at ambleside.

[Richi]

wow! some of those waves look logo high, sure beats our booty logo session on saturday. Windguru thinks were getting another westerly this friday, hopefully its true and I can check out ambleside or wreck again with a little more wave energy.

[gabrielb]

25 knots NW in the strait ...that's the minimum for some decent surf. Friday looks doubtful. But there will be surf soon. I'll post if I see it in the forecast. I 've done this for the last 5 years not missing a session. When sandy ambleside is lit for windsurfing (5-10 foot incoming tide), I'll post that too if possible (11+ foot tide, waves will not break in sandy ambleside but you'll have a ramp, pebble side is a small beach and there is no room to maneuver ... less than 4 foot tide you'll get your fin in the sand and hurt yourself in the process).

[tweegster]

Wow Awesome shots, a heads up would be great. I have never seen anything close to that good in WR. I haven't gotten a good shortboard session since October. Edit: that was tofino, I have never had a "good" shortboard session in WR.