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MONTEREY BAY windsurfing?
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lynchmob000



Joined: 29 Aug 2001
Posts: 111

PostPosted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:37 pm    Post subject: RE: MONTEREY BAY windsurfing? Reply with quote

Im coming at this mostly as a kiter these days (havent sailed in about 5 years), but I do live part time in Monterey. Ill start off with the statement that if youre a surfer, youre going to love it, but if youre only into wind, youre going to do a lot of driving. There are a handful of wind addicts around the peninsula, but most end up sailing elsewhere for real wind.

The most consistently windy spot around Monterey is at the Del Monte Beach hotel where youve seen kites. Unfortunately, those arent guys in the water most of the time, theyre buggiers and landboarders. The predominant wind direction is nearly dead on-shore. It can get an angle at times, though. Watch for the NE winds that happen in the Fall and the S-SW winds during storms.

On a normal NW day, it is possible to aqueeze out a session by launching near the volleyball courts in town next to the harbor. Unless its an absolutely nuking NW clearing wind in the Spring, youll probably be on big gear that youll schlog out to the wind line about 400 yds offshore. From there, you can make runs northward along the beach towards the hotel and back.

Carmel Beach occasionally works for a kite on NW wind direction, but Ive never seen a sailor out on that direction. I have had a few really fun sessions in Carmel in Southerly storm winds. I wouldnt count on more than a handful of sailable days throughout the winter.

So, other than the infrequent freaky conditions, youll be driving. Lots of choices within an hour or so - Santa Cruz area, San Luis and some secret spots down the Big Sur coast (sorry, youre on your own for those!).

Try not to get too frustrated. There are tons of other things to do around Monterey in the water. See you out there sometime!
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ctuna



Joined: 27 Jun 1995
Posts: 1125
Location: Santa Cruz Ca

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:49 pm    Post subject: Two spot in Santa Cruz then everything else is up the Coast. Reply with quote

Santa Cruz has two spots in town Natural Bridges and Its Beach .
These are both spots for fairly advanced windsurfers capable of handling themselves in the Ocean in Waves. Up the Coast are several Wave Sailing spots Waddell and Davenport being the most known. Most of the people I know that live in Monterey or South either come to Santa Cruz and North or go to San Luis Reservoir. There used to be a Web Site called Windsurfing in Santa Cruz which has details.
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geohaye



Joined: 03 Apr 2000
Posts: 1437

PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:35 am    Post subject: Monterey Reply with quote

another guy asked about living and windsurfing in Santa Barbara, and there are some similarities there to what's been said about Monterey. First of all you have a gorgous area and a somewhat slower pace of life. Things worth fighting for, yes. Second of all, you have non-ideal wind conditions 95% of the time, as opposed to areas about 1-1.5 hours away.

I guess my personal take on it as a wind nut would be to definitely schedule 1, 2, or more windsurfing trips per year to somewhere really consistently windy(!). Secondly, as the guy above with the tons of info about Monterey-specific sites stated, there are tons of other things to do in Monterey.

Surfing of course. One other thing that comes to mind is Mountain Biking at Ford Ord. It is supremely undeveloped, huge, and amazingly varied, like Santa Cruz or the Peninsula 75 years ago. A blast to ride 365 days per year, Ford Ord is the holy grail among many Santa Cruz/Peninsula mountain bikers to drive to during the wet winters. The sandy sail at Ford Ord dries out and you can ride it during the rain or immediately after the rain while riding other popular spots in Santa Clara/Santa Cruz counties can be impossible/terrible or bad for the bike/bad for the trails. This is a big deal and many see Ford Ord as a total godsend because some years the "very wet trail" season can last 4-6 months, although this year was an exception.

Enjoy Monterey!
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