Long Island sailing

[cuegis]

I come with wisdom only recently discovered..
first of all...if you are coming from NYC you can shave 12 miles off your drive and sail at a far better location than hecksher.
it is situated exactly where heksher is only 10-12 miles more west..

i will give you a reference point to focus on which is a fine place to sail in its own right but there are many wonderful spots within a 2-3 mile radius of it.
Tanner Park...James Caples Park,,,,these are 2 spots in amityville on the great south bay.

now listen carefully...
as far as the summer months go, if you show up earlier than 3-4pm you will get back in your car and leave..
BUT......i sailed pretty much every day last summer and this one from 4-ish--8..
just so we are clear about what my definition of sailing is..
I am either on a 5.8 ezzy special edition or an 8.0 retro and i am cranked..

i thought i was dreaming...but it is windy every single day AFTER 3-4PM!
if you were to drive up at 1-2pm and look out, you would say..no way will there be wind today..

where i go is right next to a kiteboarding school so i get the buzz from them about what is going on...
now..as for sheer beauty of nature..
as you sail out toward gilgo beach which is on the other side of where you are positioned on the bay, there are hundreds of teeny little islands with nothing but the best of LI's natural resources to marvel at.

i i tend to go earlier and SUP which i just got into about 2 years ago...just to enjoy the day and see whats going on "out there"
as for weeds...i use either a 12.5 or 16.5 blade and never had a problem..
all around this area are well kept secret tiny parking lots that hold about 5 cars and are always empty....

it is paradise..
if you are familiar with google maps etc. start honing in at tanner park just as a starting point and go from there...
the zip code is 11701

[wstt]

This thread has been really helpful in learning about the area. I've also been following the Long Island windsurfing group on Yahoo (when they do talk about windsurfing) to hear about the different spots.

I've noticed that people often make comments about the tides being good or bad. Can someone shed some light on this?

I've got lots of ocean sailing experience, but only on Maui where the only thing to worry about with tides is when the reef is exposed. I've heard about the tides in San Francisco and people getting sucked out if the wind dies. Is that the risk here also with an outgoing tide? If you were to break down, even with a side on wind, you would get sucked out? (I did see that post on the PeconicPuffin's site about the Demo breakdown.)

I've finally got all my gear here, and I'm ready for some sailing. I was out of town that week where it seemed to blow every day and it was killing me reading the LI windsurfing group talking about how great it was. Let's get some wind on the weekend now.

Oh, are there any websites other than iwindsurf that give frequent wind readings (more than 1 update every hour) as I can't get the wind readings from iwindsurf on my phone? It seems everyone follows the GSB meter, which I think you can only get from iwindsurf, is that correct?

Thanks in advance for any answers here and thanks for the previous posts. Hopefully soon, I'll meet you all out on the water.

Ted

[RickCronk]

Through the 60's and 70's, I grew up surfing on LI, living in Babylon Vill, and we always appreciated the benefits of being a town resident. Surfing Cedar, Overlook, Suck Out, Hemmie's, etc. without crowds. When my folks still lived in Babylon, we would throw our windsurfing gear in off the east side of the parking lot at the Babylon Village Pool and sail out to the flats across the bay. No problems back in the 90's.
Isn't Tanner Park a Babylon Town Beach, and don't the same residency rules apply as at Cedar/Overlook? Those "lost lagoons" across the bay are a hoot if the tide is high enough not to drag your fin through crabbing grounds. Have the kiters totally taken them over?
Regarding the fishing gear/ORV permit for surfing off the outer beaches, surfers have gone so far as to set up a rod, beach chair etc next to their 4x4 as per the rules for driving the beach. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the real fisherman and beach patrol caught on to that ploy. Now, you must be attending your fishing rig. Sucks, the surfer's groups have been trying unsuccessfully to deal with this for some time.
I don't know about now, but access to Demo was allowed by boat. As kids we used to pull in behind the sand bar for some fine surf sessions. No regulations, no hassle, no crowds. I guess with nearly every LI household owning an SUV, there are lots of 4x4's out there now. All fishing? Probably not.
Do they still have a surfing beach at Fire Island State Park? Used to be Field 5, and if so, don't they allow windsurfing anymore?
Alas, today I suffer upstate during the summer doldrums. Good luck, enjoy Hurricane Danny. RC

[RickCronk]

Oops, Deleted. Repeat Post. RC

[kraeva]

[PeconicPuffin]