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Flat Water in Ontario?
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pawelj



Joined: 16 May 2000
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mitchel's Bay Lake St Clair. Perfectly flat water.
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wavespire



Joined: 06 Oct 2015
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 9:00 am    Post subject: flat Reply with quote

The launch site is along the facing west shoreline of Lake Ontario Park, off King Street West. Drive in to the south, look west and down and you'll see the breakwater. Disregard the do not enter signs and park down along the shoreline facing out to the breakwater. The best launch will be obvious.

Not many sail there as the swells are epic in the gap a little further to the west, Everitt Park, the preferred venue in a south. Lake Ontario Park is only used occasionally by those wishing to "hide" from the full effects of a gale. That said, it happens rarely and with no forecast guarantee. The wind has to be pure south (usually means heavy rain too) and over 30 knots for this place to be viable.

Lows that produce south set up overnight here and local lore is that the best to get is got before noon. Dawn patrol rules.
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bmertens



Joined: 04 Sep 2000
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree that Oliphant has potential, I have photos somewhere of me sailing powered up 4.7 over 200 metres from shore and a buddy shooting pictures of me in knee to waist deep water and that chop is about 3 inches.

Roundeau park on Eries has potential, most sailing sail up by the dock in the park and the chop is big in a good SW blow, if you sail from Shrewsbury instead there is no fetch for the chop to build and it can be quite good.

Doesn't Frenchmans work? I seem to remember sailing there years ago and there are times when you sail in the bay and the water is coming in off the beach and the bay is very flat. Someone in the TO area should know this one better, it has been at least 15 years since I was there.

Speaking of TO, can you sail inside the breakwall along the stretch of lake west of Ontario place around the rowing club?

The real catch here is basically you need to be sailing offshore winds, seems to me you can do this at Long Point in Collingwood, I remember doing dawn sessions on summer SW winds. At that place the wind is undisturbed and you are really 200 yards offshort but you sail off a cross shore launch. the safety is not too bad, you have about a 50 yard safety margin downwind or you miss the point. Not sure what the water levels are like now, I remember watching the rocks go by through the glassy water sailing 4.5s at sunup.

How about trying a harbour setup where there is a pier/breakwall you can charge in behind for the flatwater, this is possible at Port Stanley SW/W and I believe Goderich NW/N.

20 or 25 years ago we used to sail inland resivoirs in the spring like Guelph Lake where there is a dam with a large wide valley below the dam, when the wind blows up the valley and over the dam there is a very nice speed setup if you sail 100-200 yard away from the dam. We have done this a St. Marys, Pittock, Guelph, Lake Belwood, Lake Connestoga but we never seem to go to small lakes anymore.

BTW Any interest in a classic speed board? I have a 8'6" by 16" speed board built by Dill Custom and Jimmy Lewis in the late 80's. It was clocked at 41mph in 1988, wonder what it could do with modern sails?? It has been sitting around in my garage for years and would be willing to sell it to someone that was really going to use it.

Barron (519-433-1233)
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J.MACINTOSH



Joined: 04 Jun 2001
Posts: 41

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wavespire: Thanks for the guidance - I'll keep my eyes open for a ripper S wind. I haven't seen anything else this promising.

Pawelj: Sounds cool. Where do you launch from?

Snowy/Bmertens: I think I can deal with 3 inch chop. Where do you get onto the beach from at Oliphant? I've never sailed Sauble. I've got all my stuff in a Sprinter van - I don't know if that'll go on the beach without getting stuck.

Re Frenchmans: It's occured to me that this might be a good spot, but I've never tried it. Isn't the bay kind of small? I think there are also some trees on the south that might interfere with the wind. Anyone else got any info?

Re the breakwall near the rowing club: I've also wondered about that one. I'm not sure that it would work very well, though, because the break wall is not continuous - there are gaps in it. The waves that get through bounce off the shoreline and create a jumble of chop and waves in between the shoreline and the breakwall. Having said that, I've never actually tried it.

That sounds like a cool speed board. 41 mph on old gear is truly awesome. Unfortunately, I just bought a speed board (which I haven't used yet).
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J.MACINTOSH



Joined: 04 Jun 2001
Posts: 41

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyone have any information about Erieau at the SW corner of Rondeau Bay? On Google Earth, it looks very interesting, with potentially very flat water just inside the bay. I'm not sure where you'd launch, though.
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snowy



Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 3:05 pm    Post subject: Oliphant Reply with quote

As far as I know, on a south you can sail in knee deep water with great wind. zero chop, On a NW there might be more chop but its so shallow there wouldn't be that much,

Best time I think would be on a south west, Ive see Sauble blow well over 30 knots, And Oliphant is only a bay or 2 north........

Bring a helmet and mouth gaurd!

www.maps.google.com you can search the entire coast line of the great lakes.
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logosz85



Joined: 22 Feb 2007
Posts: 24
Location: Birmingham, MI

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are willing to travel over to Michigan then Harsens Island out in Lake St. Clair which is real good on a Southwest or a West blow. Only problem is on weekends when the boaters all pile into this bay and make a mess out of the place in the summer. Spring and Fall are quite good. Water is about 4 feet deep with sand bottom. Link below will give you some more suggestions for around Michigan if you want to do the drive.

http://www.greatlakeskiteboarding.com/kitespots.html

Also here is a link to a weather station on the island so you don't waste your time making the drive.

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KMIHARSE2
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boardhead62



Joined: 06 Oct 2015
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:52 pm    Post subject: Re: flat Reply with quote

The Lake Ontario Park speed site can also be accessed by launching at the popular wave spot, Patterson Park, just to the west. I have sailed from there to do speed runs behind the breakwall on a few occasions. The best time of the year for this is June when the water is highest because this minimizes the disruption of the airflow across the breakwall. When the water is low, you will get buffeted by gusts, so you will have to hold on to a bigger sail than you would otherwise use. Also the the bay can get a bit weedy in near shore late in the season. But as Wavespire says, this site is great on a due south gale, and if you have the balls to sail right next to the breakwall, the water is glassy calm.

- Phil
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pawelj



Joined: 16 May 2000
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very good sailing in Rondo Bay. If You go to sensor notes You will get the directions to launching site("The rigging area and parking for windsurfers is off the main road behind the canteen at the bay shore. "). If there is a chance for any SW wind in the area You can add 5kts in Rondo. So if they say there will be 15kts SW wind in the area almost for sure in Rondo will be 20kts SW.(Access from Erie lake narrows and than widens onto bay) Weeds are the problem so have your weed fin ready. SE, E, NE are great in Shrewsbury at boat ramp. Shore is concrete blocks there, but on the right side of the pier there are small concrete steps and sand access. Any East direction there is great.
Andrey
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Rondeauboy



Joined: 06 Jan 2001
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:51 am    Post subject: Rondeau Reply with quote

Rondeau Bay (from the main launch inside Rondeau Park) has huge potential for flat-flat-water speed sailing, when the wind is blowing strong from the West. There is a weed bed that runs parallel to the shoreline which blocks the small chop generated on the west wind. It is possible (and many people do this) to sail this west wind direction a few feet from the edge of the weed bed in 30 knots of wind, and have chop no greater than 3-4 inches. The weed bed is around 800m long. It is quite exciting to do this! The sound of your board flying over 3 inch chop is also really cool.

Remember: Rondeau; West wind; late-summer or fall; stay west of the Big Dock.
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