Summer Wind

[Jack1587]

This will be my first full summer of kiteboarding and I have some questions. I understand Squamish wind but I was wondering what happens with SE winds and NW winds. Is it worth keeping my windalert membership to see the current wind in Boundary Bay. I want to save up for a foil board and that membership is expensive

[Alton]

This will be my first full summer of kiteboarding and I have some questions. I understand Squamish wind but I was wondering what happens with SE winds and NW winds. Is it worth keeping my windalert membership to see the current wind in Boundary Bay. I want to save up for a foil board and that membership is expensive

If you're on a budget then drop Wind Alert until next fall/winter. SE in the summer is rare. For NW the Jericho sensor is free.

[Jack1587]

If you're on a budget then drop Wind Alert until next fall/winter. SE in the summer is rare. For NW the Jericho sensor is free.

Thanks for the info Will NW wind days be often in the summer?

[Alton]

If you're on a budget then drop Wind Alert until next fall/winter. SE in the summer is rare. For NW the Jericho sensor is free.

Thanks for the info Will NW wind days be often in the summer?

Occasionally good for a light weight like you but rarely enough for a heavy weight like me

[Slappy]

You'll get some days of 12-14 knot SE but they wont be forecastable, you just have to be close by when they happen so if you think the iKite membership will help you score those sessions it might very well be worth the cost. You'll probably be too far away to take advantage though and seeing it on the sensor will just make it worse. I will say they are fun days to kite though as it's bathtub warm water and you can kite right up until 10:00 pm.

As for NW they are super rare in the summer and all the sensors for them are free anyways.

When it comes to wind in the city in the summer you will get about 4 days a week with a steady 8 knot thermal at Jericho. It's based on the gradient from Vancouver->Abbotsford so quite predictable but it can shut off without warning. At your weight you might be able to ride those thermals even without a hydrofoil.

[C36]

Jack: There are seasonal wind profiles on each of the "site info" pages.

One thing I have noticed is those days when you see Boundary Bay teasing with SE ~15 mph is that usually means Squamish is getting a sold SW 25+ mph (which is more the speed I'm looking for).

It will be interesting to see what Locust brings as the stats seem to show that is can deliver 20+ mph days 12 months of the year.

[Jack1587]

Thanks for all the info Sounds like maybe some light NW days and I guess I will miss those SE days because I live closer to Squamish than Boundary Bay. That would be awesome if Squamish goes off when there is a light SE. Squamish is still my favourite place to kiteboard of all the spots ( if only it wasn't so busy).

[Slappy]

Squamish goes every single sunny day from the start of June to the end of September with maybe 3-4 total days where for some reason the thermal doesn't happen. I recall CG posting we had something like 42 consecutive sailing days at the Spit last year.

I do like to take a break from Squamish though for the following reasons:
- freezing cold water all year
- crappy chop and no waves
- rotting necrotic salmon carcasses
- heavily favours port tack jumping

This year is going to be a really bad one for salmon. The Pink Salmon run every two years and this is a Pink year. On top of that we will have very low river levels. I know it you are reading this thinking "salmon, really? who cares" but trust me it's really rank. From Aug 15 on I imagine a nose plug will be a solid investment for the Spit this year.

[tweegster]

PINK RUN!!!

Bring your Rod & SUP and come home with fresh fish after every session!

Two years ago I only started riding and took a couple lessons in Squamish, still got my salmon though.

May-Early July had lots of fun ridable (14M @ 185lbs) days in WR and Crescent. Afternoon thermals mostly, and as slappy says morning SSE's . I found they were very good at Crescent, I think the farmland provides a thermal boost. TJ's forcast seemed to predict them fairly accuratly, although spotting them outside the bay was the best bet.

[spinmaster3000]

Until they start decaying.....no more fresh fish, only zombie-pinks! Barf.

PINK RUN!!!

Bring your Rod & SUP and come home with fresh fish after every session!
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