SF Bay area fall winter sailing?

[kevinkan]

call me crazy, but i actually look forward to winter storm sailing. yes, it can be cold, and you have to be ready to rock on a moments notice, and yes you get skunked sometimes, but the rewards feel extra special when the wind isn't a sure thing. and, you get to sail w/ a group of other hardcore wind starved addicts. Having a good warm wetsuit, carrying some hot water to rinse off and warm up with, and having somewhere sheltered (like a van) to change in make winter storm sailing a lot more friendly. some of my favorite spots:

Half Moon Bay Harbor: flat water when the winds are light, and nice chop when things get crazy. wind blows onshore to a nice sandy beach, with another sandy beach on one end where you can pull out and take a break or adjust your gear... a nice bonus when you have unpredictable storm conditions. this place isn't very tide sensitive either which is really important this time of year. this is one of the only places i've sailed in the winter which can actually be good in light wind conditions. i remember sailing four days in a row there last winter in 16mph winds which were nice and steady... not likely to happen at other bay sites which have lots of wind obstructions and just are so gusty holey unless the wind is honking. i remember thinking last winter that i wish i could sail this place year round.

Alameda: best on an incoming medium to high tide w/ strong SE wind... resulting in some huge port ramps and sometimes some nice onshore wave/swell on the way in.

Ocean Beach: i've had some really fun days here on a SE storm wind. i'm not sure what makes for the best conditions, but i'm zeroing in on low tide, small swell, and the very front of the storm. if the storm or series of storms has been brewing for awhile, then things can get messy really quickly. and it seems like a low tide cleans things up quite a bit. on a S or SE wind, it blows sideshore or maybe a little side on, which makes it easy to get out and jump the waves. there can be some nice, clean waves that you can get a hit or two on... it can be quite crunchy, too, so you kind of just have to go there and take a chance. the sensor seems to read really low, too. one of my best sessions there was w/ the sensor reading 11. i launch at the the bottom of Lincoln.

Haven't sailed Oyster Point or Racetrack yet... but I hear they are fun. Another spot if you're in the north bay is Doran Beach in Bodega. Wind blows side on, but the launch is protected by a jetty, so there is no shore pound... unless you get pushed seriously downwind.

BRING IT ON!!!

kev

[boggsman1]

Choice 1: Chasingaround the bay area in rain , looking for some storm sailing, which may be OK, but probably not.

Choice 2 : hitting KT 35-40 days, maybe 20 powder days. And hitting La Ventana for a week during the ski season.


REAL TOUGH LADIES REAL TOUGH CHOICE

[jskayne2969]

I agree with Kev: Doran Beach is awesome in the winter! We also sail inside the harbor as well, as it can take any wind direction. Just go when the tide is at least 2+ ft.

Another awesome place in the fall/winter/spring is Folsom Lake on the east side of Sacramento. It doesn't get good that often, but when the northern clearing winds roll in, it's on! Huge reaches, big swell, and clear fresh water. Just watch the sensor on the dam, and when it hits 20 mph or beter it'll be at least 5.0 sailing. Check folsomlakemarina.com for lake conditons.

Julian

[kevinkan]

[jse]

Last time I went to Tahoe I couldn't wait to get outta there. 11:30 rolled around and we decided to can it and head home. Whaddya know, when we got home, it was blowin' from the Northwest. dumped the snowboards, loaded the sailboards and got a late afternoon session at Rod & Gun.

Seriously, every time I go to Tahoe, I question my sanity. Between parking lot gridlock, 70 dollar lift tickets, cafeteria lunches packed in among hundreds of stinky sweaty people, long waits in the lift line only to be replaced by longer rides in a quad with a bunch of strangers that won't talk to you... zzzzzzzzz. Not to mention the gasoline and lodging costs. All in search of that elusive powder day that never seems to materialize. Right now my snowboard is up in the garage rafters, rusting away. I'll save my money and probably do a winter trip to Bonaire, Baja or Maui to tide me over. Meantime, bring on the storms!

Steve

[SWE106]

kevin put it best: bring it on!

Temperature experience is personal, but it sure ain't cold. I windsurfed for six years in southern sweden (same latitude as southern alaska) and now that's cold in winter!

Only on NE winds can it actually get cold, but that happens only once or twice a year. The ocean is warmer than the bay, so try HMB if your cold-blooded.

HMB can be real fun, especially with the <4.2 days. As soon as the iwindsurf sensor reads above 17-20mph, it is on, and it will be very windy. I already look forward to some insane freestyle on the inside of mav's cove, with other hardcore nuts like Rich, Kev, Nils, Steve, Doug, etc. Because the next two months will probably bring light 5.9 days most of the time. I agree with Kev that the best days at HMB can be in the 5.9-5.3 range, when it is smooth, steady and often sunny and relatively warm.

Don't chase the marginal SE days (~15mph): after 3 yrs living here, I never got a good session out of that, just burned a lot of gasoline. Instead, stay connected to the ocean: buy a surfboard and go surfing, like many of us do. The waves here will be amazing... Remember, the fact that HMB has Mavericks should tell you something. Surfing is much cheaper than skiing/snowboarding and you can find some real nice uncrowded breaks.

If your into waves, try pescadero on a strong S to SSE, with a small swell: hard core side-off porttack waveriding! If we are as lucky as this year, we may get a ton of NW days in jan/febr with some big waves. This year I got at least 4 masthigh 5.3 days at waddell between jan 1 and jan 13. After that it just kept going. Wednesday's wind was porbably the end-of-summer-blow-out clearance. Prepare for winterstorm battle.

Happy storm hunting and may the clearing winds be with us.

[boggsman1]

Dear Kevin : I am too addicted I am sitting on the beach at Sugar Cove , yday was a 3.7 day and the whole week was insane, and it was also my 10 year anniversary, ha.

Dear Steve: Ive heard your negative Ski/Snowboard rant before. It sounds like your approaching the whole thing wrong. Why dont you and your son hop in the Boggsmobile this winter and Ill show you KT, the right way.

Gents :California is the spotsmans paradise, windsurf Bike Ski, abalone dive, etc etc etc luvit.

[jse]

[boggsman1]

A lot of the Crissy/Waddel crew is also seen regularly on line at KT, its a beautiful combo.

[thonmc]

[Welcome to SF Bay Area. Unfortunately we don't really sail in the winter. Sometimes, a system can come in (like Wednesday) during Fall months, but it's not reliable. During the winter months, the bay is almost glassy or no more than 5-10 knots most of the time. When a real winter system comes in from Alaska, it gives Southernly winds so Alameda or the harbor at 1/2 moon bay works well. Unless you have really large Formula equipment, wait until next Spring for winds.
sorry about the bad news. We sail alot in the summer, but don't at all during Winter months.

New here to the Bay area but I love the windsurfing over here. My number of sessions just doubled and that was with my back injured for the first half of the season.

So where do we sail around here in the Fall and Winter? What kind of wet suit is recommended. I currently have a 5.2 and 7.0, and can maybe buy a 3rd sail to extend the winter sailing. Any recommendations?[/quote]