Sailing near Austin, TX

[wsmike]

I'm considering moving out away from the gorge after this summer, possibly to Austin. Does anybody know if there are any lakes that get windy down there? I know Corpus is there but probably 4 hours away.

[geohaye]

Austin is a great town, as you probably know, Mike. There could be worse fates! Lake Travis is the key WS spot locally. I've been there on windy days, but was just passing through. Looked like fun, but clearly not radical like the Gorge. Typical sailing would be slightly similar to sailing at Sprague Lake on a 10-20 MPH day. If you are a Gorge addict, and if you have a choice in the matter, consider very carefully.

For wind, you've gotta watch for your days. Hey - you'd need to add medium and lighter wind gear to your quiver...

iWindsurf Austin:
http://www.iwindsurf.com/windandwhere.iws?regionID=2207&is_beta=true

[surftex]

Hi wsmike,

I used to live in Austin. The best local spot is Bob Wentz Park (also called "Windy Point" by locals) on Lake Travis. The URL is http://www.co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks/bob_wentz.asp

It's about 30 minutes from downtown and is the best spot to catch the summer's south thermal winds and the winter's north storm winds. West and east winds are sometimes questionable due to the large hills on either side of the lake.

The summer thermal wind peaks in the late afternoon/early evening, around 5pm. Regretfully, you'll probably need a bigger sail than you ever needed at the Gorge... I used to see a lot of 7.0+ on Freeride boards and Formula rigs. 15-20 kts is not terribly unusual, but you'll need to check sensors ( http://www.arlut.utexas.edu/omg/weather.html ). 25 kts is a little more rare. The best part are 75+F water temps and 105F air temp. You will not regret the opportunity to get out to the lake.

Fall is hurricane sailing and winter is storm sailing. There are definitely a few nuclear days where everyone dusts off their 80L boards. Sadly, no swell.

Lake Buchanan is about an hour away and is a lot larger with a longer fetch. I've never windsurfed here, but I've sailed it a couple of times, and it develops a fair amount of swell. I've heard that there are good launches there, but I've never been to them.

And like you mentioned, there's always the gulf coast beckoning 4 hours away.

Cheers!

[wsmike]

Well, I come from a lakesailing background using sails 6.0 on really good days and 7.5-9.5 on typical days (Fern Ridge near Eugene OR). I'm a bit leary about leaving the gorge but I'm counting on the livability of Austin to make up for the lack of days on the water. To be honest, some days in the gorge I find my mind wandering in mild boredom. The hunt for "waves" in the gorge is relentless, maybe I ought to move to Maui instead.

[surftex]

I can't say enough good things about living in Austin. The windsurfing isn't extreme but it isn't bad either.

Don't forget to order the queso.

Cheers

[allen]

[quote="wsmike"] I'm a bit leary about leaving the gorge but I'm counting on the livability of Austin to make up for the lack of days on the water.

Have you been to Austin? It's about 95F w/95% relative humidity from April to Oct....an interesting form of livability...