# of sessions this year?

[jbryja]

Has El Nino resulted in more or less good quality sessions where you live?

[dllee]

Too simplistic a question. El Nino affects different areas differently, so it's not all a rainy washout everywhere in the world at the same time.
Also, scientists have not really defined "El Nino" in a sense that specifics can be taken from it. It's general term for possibly more rain more often, but not specific to every spot in the world, or every spot in your state.

[isobars]

It has definitely messed up the quality, frequency, and duration of Gorge winds. Those nice, fairly common, 3-4-day strings of steady (by gusty Gorge standards) thermally boosted winds have been replaced by one-day frontal crap usually separated by a week of virtually nothing or at best driving all over Hellenbach to sail big slalom gear. I don't even bother with the windy days whose data plot looks like a delta dirac function at spots upwind of my launch:


The only thing you can do with those is drive preemptively, rig a few sails before the wind arrives, get out a couple of boards, put on your wetsuit, stand there looking at the water upwind, plug'n'play for a few minutes when the wind hits, then hope you can slog back to your launch when it pukes. That's not windsurfing; it's Powerball ... and the cost of a ticket includes a wad of cash, sailing vastly over- and/or under-powered, making damned sure you stay upwind if possible, and hoping to HELL you don't end up walking your $#!+ back upwind for an hour after a lousy 20-minute session .. just in time for the corridor and Wall sailors to arrive to nothing.

That, or stay home. Given an option, I often choose the latter if the evidence is that clear. Pay close attention to both iW and Temira's forecasts and to the wind plots to your west; these frontal sneezes are often forecast and/or evident.

Or, of course, all that means nothing and the post-peak wind remains strong or a least decays slowly.

Overall, my overnight (i.e., back-to-back days of wind) trips have been exceedingly rare these past two seasons. El Nino and/or an absent NPH has saved me a LOT of fuel money, because I drive my Winnebago for overnighters and an SUV for day trips.

The other effect has been on wind quality. This frontal crap can be brutally gusty -- sometimes downright dangerous -- even by Gorge standards.

[joethewindsufa]

don't care who is to blame or what you call it
once in my life i windsurfed here in December
had to break through a thin crust of ice to get out to the open water

this year i was out three(3) times in December with NO ice and the last one was on the 27th
(quantity and NOT quality ...7/10 sessions - rate 'em all)

so, these pro windsurfers from warmer regions did not realize it is usually MUCH colder here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HoBtOa1_vo

less than 2 weeks later - there is one set of tracks going out on Lake of Two Mountains here and they are mine - people barely started ice fishing !!! and stay close to shore



i was checking to see if ready for ice windsurfing NOT
BAD ice , rained since with instant freeze and somewhat better ...

[wdsurf]

Got 100 days in 2015.8days in December 7 of those days were gale warnings 4.5 or smaller for me at 190lbs.on Lake Erie.2016 has been frigid 2015 we were still sailing till this date then winter from hell came.12 degs. As I write this and the gales continue

[rigitrite]

Worse. Sailed 29 days in 2015, which was better than 2014 (like....25 days). Good years around here will have 40-70 days, even with full time job.
It's hard to get good at a sport that you only get to practice about once every two weeks, and then can't do for three months because it's either frozen or it's so hot that it even kills all the wind. Yet I still keep doing it.......

[DelCarpenter]

2015: 100 days sailing with a windsurfing rig: 59 on water(Kona One, Fanatic MegaCat, F2 Comet, Starboard Start, Mistral Screamer), 34 on parking lots (Carveboard, MBS <Blade, Mongoose, Warrior, Razor, Sol 1.6 & Grom.6>), 5 on snow or ice (2 different ski sleds & a modified toboggan). Sail sizes ranged from 3.8 to 9.0.

2016 so far: 3 days land sailing & 3 days snow sailing. My goal for the year is a total of 120.

In 2015 the packages of used gear I bought from 5 private sellers included 27 sails, 7 windsurfers, 13 mountain boards, one snow/ice board, 7 two-piece masts, 8 booms, more than 10 extensions, & a variety of mast bases and other miscellaneous: all for less than $2000. My mountain board disposing went quite well, I ended the year with 4, one fewer than when the year started. For the other types of items I still need to figure out what to dispose of and how (44 sails is too large a number).

[tm00]

I also found that the 2015 wind was unusually gusty in terms of the cycle and strength.
Also saw the wind shut down a lot quicker that prior years.

[cgoudie1]

In 2015 I got about 65 days planing in the Gorge. What Mike says about
gusty is correct in my view, it was gustier than usual (and that's saying
something in the Gorge). What people are saying about quick shutdowns
in the Gorge also my view last year...........except, Easterly days were
not only longer than typical, but they were later in the day than typical
usually peaking around 11 or Noon, and they held longer and shutdown
slower than usual. This was just great for those of us that stay
late into October, as you don't have to freeze in the early morning to get
your jollies, and you don't have to bolt off the river when you feel a little
softness in the wind.

Will 2016 be similar? I'll let ya know ;*)

-Craig

[Brian.bigfella@gmail.com]

If El Nino fills Lake Isabella it will increase my sailing days exponentially.