SUP,Surf

[gabrielb]

R: I like that chart. 30 nautical miles (55 km, from the island to ambleside) at 20 knots shows a wave height of 4ft (1.2 meters).
I had sessions with 1.2m at hb when strait is 25+ knots, it's higher at Ambleside as it builds up by distance (added energy by the wind) like the chart shows. By experience if Jericho has strong 20knot NW then it adds 0.2m to the wave height, a strong incoming tide also adds 0.2m to the wave at Ambleside, as there is no opposite current against the forward momentum of the wave. It's just that I had 100+ surf sessions locally, we'll see Saturday afternoon.

[Chris Klohn]

Nothing beats local experience

[gabrielb]

SE to NW has moved, forecast shapes up like this:
Sunday early morning, Wreck beach 7am-10am. Halibut bank will be 0.8meters, and no wind by 8am ... what you'll get are glassy conditions with small to middle surf breaking, tide is good as well for wb (10-12 ft).
Dave, it will be the same as last time but bigger waves.
These are perfect conditions for SUP and some surfing. Sad that wind won't hit Acadia this time for windsurfers/kiters.

[Richi]

Thanks for the heads up Gabriel, and thanks for all the minuscule details in predicting surf. Something tells me you were good at math class with all those " if train A is travelling southbound at 80km an hour and train B is travelling eastbound at 90 km an hour" questions.

Hopefully I don't see you for a Sunday morning surf session as that means I will be totally exhausted from an epic day at Centennial. But if I do, hopefully it makes up for the previous day skunk fest.

[gabrielb]

I am only good with NW wind, I have no clue with SE. Hope you guys have a great windsurf session tomorrow, Alton may need hurricane force winds to make him happy though.
Wreck Beach looks great for Sunday morning surf, if Jericho shows 12+knot winds at 5am I'll move to Ambleside (7am). You'll get some some exercise either way.
I learned the hard way, driving at 5am to a flat Ambleside and going back to sleep for an hour before work, then analyzing why it didn't deliver (with the help of my friend Taylor, SUP, from North Van, who went through the same process 5 years before) .

[gabrielb]

Wreck Beach Surf (March 14th-15th weekend):
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. Saturday I could not make it when HB was 0.8NW as surf looked small from North Van camera , soccer instead.

.Sunday morning surf was small, good for beginner SUP's. In the afternoon, not in the forecast, HB was 0.7, amazing surf conditions (felt more like 1.1meters), it was not surf for beginner SUP's, intermediate +. Long rides, waves had power for a change. Surfed from 4:30pm-7:20pm. Excellent wave windsurfing opportunity/conditions from 6pm to 7:20pm (winds over 15 knots), surf was constant and spread 400 meters, by 7pm, because of the low tide. Surfed at UBC spit at low tide, still delivers quality surf (6-7:30pm). One of the best sessions in quite some time, locally. In need of iv after those damn stairs.

Amazed at Wreck beach delivering surf at any tide (4ft to 13ft), incoming at outgoing. Sandy bottom is a plus throughout beach (don't have to replace booties as often). All that action, cloudy conditions, beach for myself, 15 minute drive, priceless.

How would I compare surf conditions yesterday... Looking at photos in this site I would say just like this one (I rather deal with those stairs than traveling to flat conditions) :

surfCompare.jpg (78.8 KiB) Viewed 17389 times

Bigger and no wind (420-6pm) than this old wb photo:

2a1d12e0e455d446958de34c8ba99a05.jpg (96.29 KiB) Viewed 17381 times

wb3.JPG (33.75 KiB) Viewed 17141 times

[gabrielb]

Random photos of ambleside by people. Tide a big factor. I'll comment on each by experience... for SUP people.

Pebble side, hb looks like 0.7, Jericho probably around 14knots, tide is too low (4 feet). I would move to sandy ambleside, or Capilano river:

Tide too low (5 feet) for any surf at pebble side, move to sandy side:

Sandy Ambleside, tide at 9 feet, a little too high, hb around 0.7 incoming, not enough for that high tide (but some sets are > 0.7 ):

Tide at 4 feet , incoming hb 0.6:

tide at 5 feet, incoming, good setup but hb at 0.7 incoming , just enough, Jericho 12 knots

tide over 12 feet at sandy side, too high even for 0.9hb, move to pebble side, plus it looks sketchy with all those logs floating

[gabrielb]

pebble side, right tide 12 ft, incoming, hb at around 0.8-1.0, and no wind.







8 foot tide, hb 0.7-0.8



sandy aside:

[C36]

GB: Glad Wreck Beach produced such a sweet surprise session! And thanks for sharing so much info with us. Looking forward to getting out there again soon.

A few sample shots from our long weekend trip to Tofino (so warm it really could have almost been summer).

S1 - Friday afternoon (surf / wave-SUP) at North Chesterman


S2 - Saturday morning (windsurf) at North Chesterman
(with bonus of four DTL runs at South Chesterman)


S3 - Saturday afternoon (windsurf) at South Chesterman


S4 - Sunday (surf / wave-SUP) at North Chesterman


S5 - Monday (wave-SUP) at North/South Chesterman


S6 - Sunday (surf + wave-SUP) at Long Beach - Incinerator Rock to Lufkin Island


Proud parent moment as my 12-year-old son shows good wave selection and drops into a decent wave at Long Beach this morning!

[gabrielb]

D:Great photos! Going there next week, glad you had summer conditions in March. He got an awesome wave. there may be some surf this Saturday, locally, early morning, but can't compare to Tofino. Windsurfing looks fun in that surf.
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Gear:
if you are thinking of sup/surf locally. Do not spend $$$ on gear, most breaks have rocky bottom, your tail will get scratched, pieces/chunks will come off. My advice is fun over gear ... if pieces come off, grab epoxy (cheapest) and do your own patches, scratches... super glue it, when you have enough of them all over your board sand your board completely to get it smooth again. Grab heaviest floor wax and wax the bottom of your surfboard for 2 reasons to seal cracks and to slide over water when catching wave.
There is this idea that it has to be watertight, having destroyed my board many times, exposing foam to water, it's still 6 pounds (let it dry for a few days before fixing). If I had to fix my board professionally it would be a $5000 board by now (surf don't care how pretty it looks).