myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
WHERE TO WINDSURF ON THE PANHANDLE

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Windsurfing Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
bpbates



Joined: 19 Mar 2000
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:07 pm    Post subject: WHERE TO WINDSURF ON THE PANHANDLE Reply with quote

New to Pensacola, FL and loaded the car for the first time today looking to take advantage of the solid 20-30 knot winds but drove up and down Pensacola Beach and didn't see a sail or kite on the water. Anyone know where the best sites are in the area? I'm living on the Navy Base, launch looks good there but being new here I'm not sure I want to be the only one on the water until I'm more familiar with the area.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Windnc



Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Posts: 85

PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:59 am    Post subject: WHERE TO WINDSURF ON THE PANHANDLE Reply with quote

Although it was years ago, I was stationed on the Pensacola Naval Air Station and used to windsurf there all the time. We launched off the beach at the Mustin Beach Officer's Club which gave direct access to the bay. You could sail right over to Fort Pickens and also out the inlet channel to the Gulf. We also used to launch at the base beach west of there near the Navy Lodge.

Another spot was at the Naval Station Marina. We would sail from there out the boat channel to the bay and back. Of course we had long boards then with dagger boards so it was easy to sail in and out of there.

There were other spots too along Pensacola Beach and farther west of the base too off Perdido Key by the Florida/Alabama state line.

Good luck,

Chuck
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
isobras



Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 439

PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I left the panhandle before WSing existed, but having lived near or on it for 25 years and using the same principle with success all over the country, as posted by the inimitable sage isobars last year:
"when I want to WS in some spot, I don't look for signs saying "Please windsurf here. signed, God". Instead, I look ... not exhaustively ... for signs saying "NO FREAKING WINDSURFING. signed, Every law enforcement officer this side of the Pecos." It has worked everywhere I've tried it (I obviously haven't tried it in some of our more notorious, uptight, overpopulated, over-regulated states). If it's someone's front yard (literally), I'll knock on the door and ask. That's worked every time. If a park's closed, I try to find somebody in uniform and ask permission; that's also worked fine. I've always found people more intrigued with WSing than hung up on saying, "No".

To this day, Glen Taylor's published mantra "Wherever there's wind and water" gives me permission. It's up to the owners of both the water and the shoreline to dissuade me. Nobody's ever complained yet."

Your winds yesterday were probably side-onshore, so it's not like you could get swept out to sea, and in decades of swimming along the panhandle I've never seen a rock to hit. It's virtually all blinding white sand, clear water, and a few thousand landlords, none of which has ever bothered me. Unless the USN dictates otherwise, I say Go For It. You don't get many opportunities like this there. Caveat: if the water's getting murky, that changes sharks' habits for the worse.

Mike \OO/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bpbates



Joined: 19 Mar 2000
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, I may give it another shot today. I'm told quietwater beach just over the bridge to Pensacola Beach is a good spot (on the inland waterway). Thought I'd at least see a kite or two out, but the wind may have been a bit gusty and a little off shore at that spot. The surf was way up on the Gulf side, so I can understand why no one wanted any part of that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SeaDawg



Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 384

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sailed the Ft.Walton-Destin area last Dec. great launch. Search Destin ws. Do a google sat.and you can see the launch area.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SeaDawg



Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 384

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sailed the Ft.Walton-Destin area last Dec. great launch. Search Destin ws. Do a google sat.and you can see the launch area.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
flpnhndl



Joined: 28 Aug 2005
Posts: 87

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome! A couple of us were out Monday through Wednesday during Isaac but not for long on Tuesday. 15-40mph is not ideal especially when the 30-40mph gusts last for a while rather than just a few seconds. Try Quietwater Bch next to the toll booth on Pcola Bch for east and north winds. There are only a few windsurfers left here. Go figure, you have easy access to wind from all directions and all spots are minutes away. But then again, you are now living in the second poorest county in FL with a functional illiteracy rate of >.30% and off the charts obesity rates. People are not outdoors types here. Most people who were born and raised here rarely go near the water. This time of the year it's the couch, pizza and FSU football games. The rest of the year it's pizza and NASCAR. The rest of the year it's pizza and whatever is on the tube.
Maybe some SW winds Sun. Try Naval Live Oaks Park for west winds. One mile east of Gulf Breeze on Hwy 98.
Tim
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i've sailed off the beach in several spots over the years, including navarre pier, ft walton and gulf breeze. anywhere there's free parking, go out and sail.
_________________
www.aerotechsails.com
www.exocet-original.com
www.iwindsurf.com
http://www.epicgearusa.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
isobras



Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 439

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

flpnhndl wrote:
People are not outdoors types here. Most people who were born and raised here rarely go near the water. This time of the year it's the couch, pizza and FSU football games. The rest of the year it's pizza and NASCAR. The rest of the year it's pizza and whatever is on the tube.


Damn, but I envy you that. Around here we often have to fight everybody and his cousin for space in the parking lots and on the swell. Most of the summer it's bad enough that I often have to get up at anywhere from 2:00 to 4:00 AM to get good parking and/or sailing space at the best launches, and we have well over 100 miles of Gorge.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Windsurfing Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group