Jericho on an easterly

[DBS]

Hi all.

First off- great site and thanks to all who put this together!

Following all you lucky kiters/surfers enjoying these past 3 days of storm winds - jealous I can't partake but great to see everyone enjoying.

I'm (somewhat) of an intermediate windsurfer (about 3 years). Still struggling with water starts but am planing in the straps. Mostly out at Jericho in 14-16kts westerlies (summer) with 7m sail and Starboard 151, so no stunts/jumps of course. Made it out a few times in the 20-25kts on the wind warning days with 5.7m sail and was struggling somewhat but adjusted.

My question is- at the tail end of storms like these past 3 days, are Easterlies okay at Jericho? I was thinking if it's 12-16kts E then at least it's not completely off-shore.

I've read through other posts that SE and S can be dangerous (off shore) of course, and if anything goes wrong, out to the Strait.

I have a 'window' to steal away tomorrow and Jericho is close for me (Tsawwassen/Centennial harder to steal away). So looking to catch some (hopefully) 10-15kts Sunday morning. Wind meter at JSCA and jerichowind shows many gusts and changes.

I missed the last westerly on Oct. 12th and can't stand it. Telling myself I had important work to do doesn't hold. Any advice appreciated!

Thanks.
-DBS

[telus022420]

I was at Jericho today just to see what East wind are like. I did not sail (my bad).
2 kiters out by Arcadia; 1 on the beach by JSA east.
2 windsurfers by the freighters; 4 near the JSA launch area.
At 4:30 I could have easily sailed 5.5m or 4.6m on a 94L.
Water looked choppy, so no organize waves near the shore.
Highest tide I've ever seen there. Water was 2m from the West beach entrance/exit at JSA.
I've never sailed on an East or NE winds there; but if it blows 15 knots on Sunday from that direction, I'll go for sure (now that I've seen what its like). I'll most likely use 143L or 118L and a 7.5m.
Wear some gloves, booties and helmet to stay warm.
NO need for weed fins.
Parking is free now.
Good Luck and Play safe

[fuji]

I had the same situation as you on Friday. Took some time off of work and went to Jericho because it was close and convenient. The wind was E, then switched to ESE, Jericho meter reading 20g40 when I arrived.

The water was pretty flat compared to what we get with the westerlies. Some very small chop but nothing all too significant. No logs at first, but they started rolling in after a bit - watch out for those, the ones that did come in were huge. Thankfully they seemed to be sitting relatively high in the water, but still - keep an eye out for those suckers sitting right below the surface.

Perhaps because it's coming right off of the land, but the wind was super gusty. When I got out it was somewhere around 15-20 kts, I was slogging with a 4.5, 92L, but there would be 30s bursts of 20 - 25 kts where you could get planing and it was a blast! Every now and then there would be a monster gust that threatened to tear the sail out of my hands. So the pattern was: slog for 20s, plane for 30s, hold on for dear life, slog for a few minutes, etc ... It was a little better far out, but coming back was a huge pain. Given that the tide was coming in, I found it surprisingly difficult to stay up wind. Probably because of the on/off planing, I didn't have enough consistent speed to counter the drift due to the wind. I also had a mini fin so that didn't help.

After a few hours of this, the wind decided to slowly switch from E to SSE and died in the meantime. I ended up swimming my gear a little more than the length of the pier back to shore (got caught in the wind shadow too). When I got back it was something like 8 kts.

Water-wise, it was pretty warm. I was very ok in a 5/3 suit, neoprene cap, boots, earplugs + no gloves. Was still ok after my swim too. Still, I would sign the Jericho winter log, so if you do get swept out at least they'll know to go looking for you. On that note, Jericho rescue was not running on Friday, since there was only one guy in the office.

[DBS]

Thanks guys for the replies.

Looks like the forecast didn't pan out at Jericho (BWD showed 15kts ESE).

Centennial again was the place to be. Need to get my weed fin!

Thanks.
DBS