Saturday SE clocking W

[Alton]

Wind chasing possibilities before End of Days:

Dawn patrol - Boundary Bay
Morning - US Border Wait
Noon - Locust Beach
Late Afternoon - Joseph Whidbey State Park
Evening - Canada Border Wait

[Tony360]

Or Jordan River - 8 ft swell and 10 m conditions. I wonder if I could get a day pass as a late Xmas gift.

[C36]

Wind chasing possibilities before End of Days:

Dawn patrol - Boundary Bay
Morning - US Border Wait
Noon - Locust Beach
Late Afternoon - Joseph Whidbey State Park
Evening - Canada Border Wait

JWSP - Whidbey NAS is still showing Wednesday? Any idea why Alton?

METAR TAF - Vancouver is showing Sat 2pm-4pm WNW 15g25, so Acadia / Gulf Road might be 'long-shot' options (although not supported by any other models from what I can see).

... 8 ft swell and 10 m conditions...

Hmmmmm. Now there's an interesting idea.

Monday looks like a stronger (NE) option locally, but daytime high of only 2 (at best) will make it a chilly one.

[Alton]

JWSP - Whidbey Island METAR TAF is still showing Wednesday? Any idea why Alton?

Xmas holidays at the naval air station?

Same issue with http://www.aviationweather.gov/adds/tafs/ (Enter ICAO station = KNUW)

[Alton]

OSR Whidbey. SW 20. Maybe 4.7/93L or 7m kite soon. With AJ and Martin. Come on out!!!

[Faceplant]

Damnit! I didn't think anyone was actually going. Have fun.

[Michael]

Damnit! I didn't think anyone was actually going. Have fun.

Same.. I would have joined you guys but too late now.

[Slappy]

I was going to go but I left too late then hit 90 minute border lines so I bailed

[8mdude]

OSR Whidbey. SW 20. Maybe 4.7/93L or 7m kite soon. With AJ and Martin. Come on out!!!

Thanks Alton for dragging my ass out despite having only 3 hour sleep.

2nd windsurfing session at Whidbey. It was much better this time than my first time. Enjoyed the 25-40 knots wind with 4-5 feet swell with 3.4m/83 L. Launching is still tricky because of that darn very strong current at the shore.

Also enjoyed 8m kite with strapless surf board.

Then had a big ass fajita --- which I'm sure I'll have lots of it next week.

[Alton]

Wind chasing possibilities before End of Days:

Dawn patrol - Boundary Bay
Morning - US Border Wait
Noon - Locust Beach
Late Afternoon - Joseph Whidbey State Park
Evening - Canada Border Wait

At 4am I decided to start the wind chase. Boundary Bay wasn't happening so I left for Bellingham at 5am (no border wait). As I waited at Woods Coffee (Birch Bay) Locust wasn't happening either so the last stop was Joseph Whidbey State Park. Undecided to go on speculation with Whidbey TAF down, G-Spot, TJ's and RASP were all aligned so I decided to pull the trigger. AJ cancelled his Jordan River trip and joined the wind chase.

Like clockwork, we arrived at 12:30pm (dead calm) and just as G-Spot, TJ's and RASP forecasted the wind started to ramp up and was full on W 25 by 1pm. Started kiting on my 10m+surfboard with Martin (10m+surfboard), AJ (8m+surfboard) and another local (8m+surfboard). It was like Deja Vu - a repeat of my last Whidbey session with Michael on April 14. Smooth foamy D-cup (shoulder to head high) waves on the inside under deep blue sunny sky - even a rainbow. I can't believe how much fun it is dropping down these waves on a surfboard then riding toeside After 1.5 hrs kiting, I felt way overpowered (W 30) on my 10m so decided to switch to windsurfing.

By 3pm the wind hit W 35 gusting 40 so AJ (3.6/83L) and I (4.7/93L) were survival sailing on our windsurfers. Totally sheeted out I was simply feathering my sail and surfing the waves. My 3.6/74L would have been more appropriate. By 4pm the shore pound got so bad my sail (batten pockets) got damaged - luckily nothing else did.

What a great way to end 2014 with an epic double session at Whidbey Island

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