San Luis/O'Neil Forebay

dfthrash · Joined: 21 May 1998 Posts: 27

I'm thinking of heading to SL/OFB from the mountains if the wind looks to be decent. Anyone sailed there recently? Is the Madeiras camping area open and grass mowed? Water levels seem to be holding around 220 which in years past has been adequate. Any current reports? Thanks!

jimwilkins · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 70

I was there most of the season last year, the campground is well kept. The wind can pick up at night so be sure to find good shelter for you site. Near the gate there are some good trees to shade you from wind. Nobody there too!

The reaches are short and the waterlevel drops quick. Very shallow in some areas so be carefull.

goinoff · Joined: 01 Feb 1998 Posts: 154

I camped/sailed there about a month ago and everything is OK except the
Basalt Campground (Up next to the dam) is closed until July. The ranger
said they were replacing some piping at Basalt and that's why it's closed.
As a result, the campground in the upper part of the forebay was
completely full and the Medeiros area was 3/4 full. Medeiros is OK is you
sleep in your car, but if you use a tent and it's windy, ya get pounded..
Basalt is nice because it's in a wind shadow. Anyhow, sailed on O'neil
side which had been mowed but was also full of duck shit..Get it now,
weeds on the way soon...

For more info on the area check out:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/558/files/sanluisSRA.pdf

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1126 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

The water level seems to be decent now but at the beginning of the year they were running at 216, which is pretty much empty . Check the hourly water level from the link under info for the site. I wouldn't go unless it was 219.5 and rising. I was there Wed of the week before last it was OK also for big blow about a week and half before that. Its already showing a little free floating weeds. I want to do at least one of the ABK freestyle classes withe Andy in June . Anybody else going it looks like they have plenty of slots open. Anyway back to the subject it sure isn't the great season we had last year so far . I sailed San Luis 6 times in March last year on smaller than 5.0's

christopher_cf

FYI, ABKBoardSports will be running 3 3-day weekend windsurfing clinics at the San Luis Reservoir O'Neill Forebay starting May 30. Just wanted to let you know that we'll be out there Very Happy

--Christopher
http://abkboardsports.com

salty-skin · Joined: 16 Jul 2000 Posts: 50

ABK camp...
Christopher, are you going to be at both the san luis and rio vista camps again this year? I'm trying to pick my weekend. It seems like the wind was very consistent last year for rio vista, but I don't know what it's like down at san luis.

How would you compare the two sites for the abk camp?

Anthony

christopher_cf

How's it going Anthony?

Over the past couple of years, the ABK camps at Rio Vista have been windier than the San Luis Reservoir camps. That being said, I view the two spots as serving different purposes:

San Luis Reservoir's flat water excels for working on planing jibes, carving tricks, (360, etc.), and small-pop freestyle (Vulcan, Spock, Flaka, etc.).

Rio Vista's rapid fire chop is best if you want to get air (chop-hop, jump jibes, shove-its, loops, etc.).

San Luis's water is very clean (reservoir), Rio Vista's water is not.

San Luis is stand-up shallow everywhere but the channel, Rio Vista is only shallow in the playpen.

Rio Vista gets hotter on its hottest days than San Luis.

Rio Vista can get crowded with many other windsurfers and some kiters. We usually have San Luis all to ourselves and no kiters, nor boats nor fishermen to deal with.

But after all that, I really enjoy sailing and teaching windsurfing in both places. I will most likely be at all 5 camps.

See you there,
Christopher

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1126 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

There are three San Luis Camps listed, is Andy a the first?
I'm just trying to get verification but it looks like he's only at the second and third according to there schedule I didn't get a reply to the Emails I sent.

christopher_cf

I just talked to Andy last night as he is currently running the ABK Long Island New York clinic. Andy Brandt, Matt Case, and I will be teaching at all of the ABK California camps in May and June. --Christopher

ctuna · Joined: 27 Jun 1995 Posts: 1126 Location: Santa Cruz Ca

But there are no double stars on the schedule for the first camp . This usually means no freestyle group . Is this correct and does it even make a difference?