Hey Guys,
C36 I agree with the light and shifty remarks as well on a NW wind. The swell just doesn't wrap in enough to the point of breaking on a NW wind, although it does round out quite a bit. I've sailed that north side in 3.7 to 5.7 25-45 knot NW winds on super low tides, no water in most of the bay, and never saw peeling waves over that sandbar with a flooding tide. I guess it's just too far to wrap the way it does on a SE-S. Probably due to Roberts bank sticking out a good deal more and blocking the energy.
I've launched on the south side of the Ferry terminal in a southeasterly, sailed out past the end of the terminal, and come back on the north side a few times. I've also done the same on northwesterly going out on the north side and coming back on the south side. You get into some pretty big swell immediately after passing the Ferry Terminal with a SE wind but it takes a kilometre or so on a northwest wind to get into the good stuff
I wouldn't have too many concerns for surfing or Sup'ing. The current pulls you into the bay on a flood tide at a pretty good clip. I had the wind shutoff twice and was able to float to the south shore of Roberts Bank, well east of where I started, in under an hour.
The complete lack of wind chop on top of swell with the short fetch would make holding position easy on a SUP or surfboard even in high winds. The break is only 200-300 meters from the north shore of the Ferry Terminal. I probably showed it a little too far north in the diagram. You definitely don't feel like you are heading out to sea if something happens. The water is typically shin to chest deep all the way to the spot from the launch on the tides we are talking about. You can touch bottom all the way.
There are two hazards for this spot:
1.) If you are windsurfing and it dies you better have a floaty board and be good at going upwind off a plane. I wasn't and had to flag a guy down to call a taxi after I drifted to the south shore of Roberts Bank. I would think this wouldn't be an issue with the modern 100+ litre wave / FSW boards. 10 knots is plenty to uphaul and slog back upwind.
2.) You need to pay attention to the tides very closely. If the tide is still ebbing or starts to ebb the whole bay empties out into the Strait of Georgia at a pretty good clip. This happened to me once with a separated universal and ended with a Coast Guard pickup off Point Roberts in a big NW wind. I didn't have a clue about the tides, current, etc, back then
I would rate the spot safer than LHP at PR with a flooding tide. Not much to worry about other than trying to get all the conditions to line up at once
Cheers,
Chris