New Break

[Brad R]

Thanks for the great info!

Your drawing game strong!

I'll add this spot to my surfari list!

[gabrielb]

I am game in trying new spots. I find each break has a different kind of wave.

Yesterday at PR. Waves should've been identical than 2 weeks ago, but in the water I was having trouble catching waves with a 25 liter board, wishing I had my 35 liter board with me, they would break very slowly even at such a low tide.I'll have 2 boards handy each session from now on.

I mentioned to George/Dave how different the waves are @PR, WB, Aside.

Darrel break @PR to me looks like a great longboard break.

Yesterday, nuking, Darryl lost grip of his board, it went 20 meters flying, most extreme wind I've ever seen ... a small ding takes me 45 minutes to repair, wishing for a glassy/SUP session for everybody to enjoy locally.

As soon as I get my 35 liter back, it's game on, easier/faster to paddle, I can venture farther and try your break.

[tweegster]

I've SUP fished in there for coho and know the bank.... Didn't catch any fish.... waves may be a better bet.

[C36]

Thanks for the drawing Chris. I have poked around in that area on NW a couple of times and it seems to a receive and interesting NW swell (round wind swell) pretty well, but the wind is light and shifty to the point that is a touch spooky and requires a floaty board to get out there and get back home again.

[keeldude]

I am definitely intrigued by this spot also, but I think spooky is an apt word for it--sandwiched between a ferry terminal and a cargo ship dock. I am concerned about getting blown northward towards the port area if the wind switches pure south, or even if the SE wind ramps up beyond its windbreak. It is not a good feeling getting blown to sea with the current and wind acting in unison. When lighthouse park is breaking well on a flowing tide it similarly pushes you away from shore, but it is a much shorter paddle back in down the point a bit. For access, us it pay parking at the ferry terminal?

[Slappy]

I'm rather interested in this spot for SUP with the windbreak in effect.

The parking stated to use the last pull out on the North side https://goo.gl/maps/UCLaFyznqan

[Chris Klohn]

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

[Chris Klohn]

I am definitely intrigued by this spot also, but I think spooky is an apt word for it--sandwiched between a ferry terminal and a cargo ship dock. I am concerned about getting blown northward towards the port area if the wind switches pure south, or even if the SE wind ramps up beyond its windbreak. It is not a good feeling getting blown to sea with the current and wind acting in unison. When lighthouse park is breaking well on a flowing tide it similarly pushes you away from shore, but it is a much shorter paddle back in down the point a bit. For access, us it pay parking at the ferry terminal?

Keeldude, the current and wind don't act in unison. The current flows directly eastward and pulls you into the bay not out into the Strait on a flood tide. The wind pushes you north towards the south shoreline of Roberts Bank. It would take very little effort to hold your position on a surfboard to pickup waves in 30-40 knot winds. A SUP would require a little more paddling with the human sail effect in very strong winds. The wind shadow from the Ferry Terminal extends about 100-150 meters offshore. As GB mentioned, there's a 30+ km fetch for the swell to build and a tiny 200 meter side off fetch for the wind chop to build........smooth faces

[Chris Klohn]

Thanks for the drawing Chris. I have poked around in that area on NW a couple of times and it seems to a receive and interesting NW swell (round wind swell) pretty well, but the wind is light and shifty to the point that is a touch spooky and requires a floaty board to get out there and get back home again.

Agreed, a NW wind is shifty and blocked by the Roberts Bank Coal Terminal out at that spot. The wind is always more solid towards the east side of the bay on a big NW day.

A SE-S wind fills in better over the break but nowhere near the point of making standing on a SUP difficult compared to onshore conditions. Unfortunately, it's still an off plane point fest if it tanks and it goes against 99.99% of windsurfer's logic to launch in dead offshore winds and then sail out and downwind 300 meters.

I think SUP'ing or surfing would be the ticket or going out with a floaty FSW / Wave board. Easy to get back if the wind tanks. I was on an 80 litre wave board back then at 240 lbs. Not much fun in 10 knots I wouldn't hesitate now on a Goya One 116 Quad at 240.........very easy to get upwind in 10 knots

[Chris Klohn]

I've SUP fished in there for coho and know the bank.... Didn't catch any fish.... waves may be a better bet.

Tweegster, were you able to see the transition from uniform shallow to deep green water along the bank? The drop off is pretty gradual on the Ferry Terminal side and quite abrupt on the Coal Port side. Makes for a nice fast left that peels a long way on the really low incoming tide days with solid SE-S wind in the Strait.