SUP,Surf

[C36]

Wickaninnish Beach (2017 April 14)


Wolf. Ulu was excited to try his new ride. Saw a wolf patrolling the beach at Flo Bay when we stopped to check the conditions. Took to the water on the ProWave 119 at Wick (Lot A) with GB and Ulu. Fun glassy morning session on the rising tide. Ran into some friendly faces – BWD, Udder, and Nanmoo. Some memorable moments and some bobbles too.

Gallery (better for mobile devices)
slideshow

Long Beach (2017 April 15)


Two. Morning session at Long Beach looked glassy and smooth from the parking lot so I took the ProWave 119 out. Caught one nice wave but the water was rollie so it was a lot of work just standing out there so I came in to get the AllWave 145. Much better. That made for a relaxing session. Waves were big, but soft so it favoured long boards and SUP`s. Nice to see Mercer so keen to get out in the water with TheLaw. Fun catching waves with the big group including BWD, Nanmoo, Jessie, Udder, Ulu and GB (surf) – lots of smiles, shouts and chatter on the water! GB seemed impressed by the gear being used and skill displayed by the BWD crew.

Gallery (better for mobile devices)
slideshow

North Chesterman (2017 April 15)

Shore break. Joined Ethan for lunch at the Rhino then he wanted to surf so headed for North Chesterman based on what I had seen on my drive north (workable sets on mid-tide). Ethan paddled out without issue but struggled to catch anything from the outside on the rounder waves (seems paddling his surfboard into a wave was more work than he remembered). As we came in to take advantage of the stepper faces in the beach break, the swell size started to melt away. Sun was out and waves were ridden, but Ethan seemed frustrated.

Wickaninnish Beach (2017 April 16)


Icing. Morning splash and dash session on our travel day home. Waves looked modest, but glassy on arrival so Ethan decided to SUP (good decision). We started in the cove to warm up and then worked our way across the rip to down to Lot A. It seemed like a mixed bag of swell at first and then cleaned up into long period W swell (that kept Ethan on the inside). Ethan`s favourite ride was in the cove catching a ride then a second on the reform on the inside. I had two favourites – party wave with Ethan and one nice little right with Ethan looking over yelling `WOOHOO!` Many thanks to Gabriel and Carmen for hosting yet another great weekend of surfing at the Ukee Cabin!

Gallery (better for mobile devices)
slideshow

[gabrielb]

We loved having you both, thank you for coming! Hope we can plan another wkd soon:)

Best wave: wick beach yesterday at 7pm. On my 6 ft board, open left... hard to spot a consistent break, even then it doesn't last long. Worth the trip .

[george]

Keelan W. representing us down unda! Go Keelan, get some barrels, save the reef, have a frostie, feel sympathy for us with our dry spell. Post pics when able, and regale us with the rapture.

Give 'er dude.

[gabrielb]

I agree.
Tofino waves were dumpy 1 week ago, with no open rides, breaks were moving, except on a few waves; but excellent conditions for SUPing as they can paddle after the wave quicker before breaking and some SUP guys (windsurfers) got sweet rides ... include C36 getting one of the biggest waves (Ulu's words) . - I got lots of rides we'll just downplay it for George's sake.

locally we must've had 4 decent sessions since Christmas, at PR ... not even 1 good NW since then (maybe WB2 once).

Wetsuit is dry, board in storage. KD, post a few shots when time , there is a dry spell over here.

[gabrielb]

wave height...

stable.JPG (71.23 KiB) Viewed 14633 times

there was 1/2 hour of surf, 0.8m yesterday. Unstable 0.3->0.8->0.6m , glad I am not posting surf stuff anymore as it's not like it used to be ... but it's there.

[george]

Coast beckoning for dual/triple sessions soon. NW's will begin in earnest. Plan your days off!

[gabrielb]

Roy, Suping yesterday... local wind was there but sisters/ballenas was under 15 knots, locally it would seem there should be waves but the halibut buoy only reached 0.5m because of mild strait winds. Last year 1 session reached 1.4m (no local wind at WB), 0.7m is usually the minimum for Wb.

George, 20 knots (100km fetch) from JDF strait @ WB looked ok from Dave's pictures, but the breaks seemed not organized. My thinking is that for surfing there has to be high wind (for 4 hours) and then a sudden wind shutdown; but for kite/windsurfing that break looked great yesterday...


Nothing for a while, still NE in the morning, Friday some SW (maybe Olympic trail). Not a great year for surfing, still we got 4 good sessions since Christmas.

[gabrielb]

Google satellite image gives a good view of Iona break, it just needs a good NW, a bike, and perfect tide (hard to decipher). I'll try it this summer if nothing else.

iona2.JPG (55.8 KiB) Viewed 14497 times

iona.JPG (65.37 KiB) Viewed 14497 times

kiters may get there without a bike.

Paragone kit after a few sessions there.

Last year from UBC lookout it looked really good, not enough energy to go there after WB. A few solo sessions, it will make sense, sandy bottom too (or similar to sand).

[C36]

...sandy bottom too (or similar to sand).

Given what comes out of the end of that pipe I'm a little concerned about what "similar to sand" might include.

Seriously GB, appreciate all that you post and the information you share! Many thanks.

[Michael]

George, 20 knots (100km fetch) from JDF strait @ WB looked ok from Dave's pictures, but the breaks seemed not organized. My thinking is that for surfing there has to be high wind (for 4 hours) and then a sudden wind shutdown; but for kite/windsurfing that break looked great yesterday...

Actually one of the times I got skunked at Whidbey, I went south down west beach rd to the parking lot here https://www.google.ca/maps/place/West+B ... 22.7248081 and there were 4 or 5 guys surfing and there was no wind. I think the swell, similar to that in the video above is actually coming down the Juan De Fuca. If I recall correctly they had a massive swell forecast for Jordan River that day as well. Another day I got skunked I actually SUPed at West Beach and there was no wind then either but nice clean waves. Maybe there was just a lot of wind out in the straight but I do remember someone telling me to check the swell forecast for JR? Maybe we need someone to test the theory?